Wednesday, August 02, 2006
"Chosen to Sit This One Out"?
by Ken Houghton
A country's army that "sits out" an attack on its citizens can hardly be described as a citizen's army. But it is nice to see Totten implicitly acknowledge that Israel is at war not with Hezbollah, but Lebanon itself. And Drezner refers his readers to a book one might wish W had carried around as if he were reading it.
UPDATE: Noted in fairness, the Lebanese government is not exactly disinterested:
He sounds positively Biafran (not a DKs reference).
Via Dan Drezner comes a Michael Totten post at Instapundit:
Aside from my personal affection for Lebanon, the country where I recently lived, the only country other than the US where I've ever lived, this is what anguishes me the most: The Arab world's only democracy is being torn to pieces by another democracy.
But it's telling, I think, that the Lebanese army, the fighting institution that represents democratic Lebanon and not just one totalitarian-sponsored political party, has chosen to sit this one out.
A country's army that "sits out" an attack on its citizens can hardly be described as a citizen's army. But it is nice to see Totten implicitly acknowledge that Israel is at war not with Hezbollah, but Lebanon itself. And Drezner refers his readers to a book one might wish W had carried around as if he were reading it.
UPDATE: Noted in fairness, the Lebanese government is not exactly disinterested:
Sunday's strike [on Qana], the bloodiest since Israel's showdown with Lebanon's Shia group Hezbollah began on July 12, prompted the Lebanese government to cancel a visit by the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.
Lebanon's premier, Fouad Sinioria, said: "There is no place on this sad morning for any discussion other than an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as well as an international investigation into the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now."
He sounds positively Biafran (not a DKs reference).
