The Past as Prologue
Charles Krauthammer wrote last week:
America’s green light for Israel to defend itself is seen as a favor to Israel. But that is a tendentious, misleadingly partial analysis. The green light – indeed, the encouragement – is also an act of clear self-interest. America wants, America needs, a decisive Hezbollah defeat. Unlike many of the other terrorist groups in the Middle East, Hezbollah is a serious enemy of the United States. In 1983 it massacred 241 American servicemen. Except for al-Qaeda, it has killed more Americans than any other terror organization.
Charles Krauthammer wrote last week:America’s green light for Israel to defend itself is seen as a favor to Israel. But that is a tendentious, misleadingly partial analysis. The green light – indeed, the encouragement – is also an act of clear self-interest. America wants, America needs, a decisive Hezbollah defeat. Unlike many of the other terrorist groups in the Middle East, Hezbollah is a serious enemy of the United States. In 1983 it massacred 241 American servicemen. Except for al-Qaeda, it has killed more Americans than any other terror organization.
He is, of course, correct – but started from Step 2. A quick review reminds us that Israel’s problem with Hizballah is a direct result of American (and French) failure to act against Hizballah when it was our problem. The U.S., France and Italy were the backbone of the multinational force in Lebanon in 1982, overseeing the withdrawal of Arafat’s army from Lebanon following Israel’s destruction of his “state within a state” in the south. In April 1983, Hizballah blew up the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. In October 1983, Hizballah blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 American service personnel and a second bomb killed 56 French paratroopers.
France, understanding that Hizballah was an arm of Iran, conducted a raid on Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) positions in the Bekka Valley. With the same understanding, the U.S. planned an attack on the Sheik Abdullah IRG barracks in Baalbek. The U.S. raid was aborted, however, for fear that Arab states would object. By February 1984, American forces were withdrawn from Lebanon and Hizballah replaced the PLO as the operators of a “state within a state” in southern Lebanon.
Seeing our weakness, Hizballah kidnapped CIA Beirut Station Chief William Buckley in 1984, tortured and later killed him; killed Navy Diver Robert Stethem in June 1985; and kidnapped and killed Lt. Col. Rich Higgins, USMC – serving with UN forces in Lebanon – in 1988. Tweaking us, but not provoking a response from us.
Israel was too close to Hizballah to ignore it and responded to provocations in 1993 with Operation Accountability and again in 1996 with Operation Grapes of Wrath (remember Qana? Makes you wonder.) In 1993, the U.S. negotiated an “oral understanding” with Israel and Hizballah. In April 1996, a written agreement brokered by the U.S. barred cross-border attacks on civilian targets, as well as using civilian villages to launch attacks. The U.S., France, Israel, Lebanon and Syria comprised the monitoring group.
So now it is 2006 and the U.S. position has finally matured. President Bush has been admirably clear on both the nature of the provocations against Israel and the United States and the requirement to finally defang Hizballah and assert Lebanese sovereignty in the south – without trying to “negotiate” yet another “cease fire” with a terrorist organization. We are enormously impressed by the firmness of his stance, but can’t help wondering why it took the American government 23 years from the first attack to get to this point, and still await action on the sure knowledge that Iran and Syria are ultimately the culprits and no victory in Lebanon alone will suffice.