Has Israel taken the wrong road?

With the current situation in the Middle East, there have been opinions from pundants and politicians and the media asking if Israel should be going into Lebanon and cleaning out the area of terrorists.

So far, the rest of the world has been taking a 'wait and see' attitude, especially the United States. To condone Israel at this point would be to admit that our methods have not, and probably will not, work in dealing with this type of enemy.

Israel has decided that to deal with a street fighting thug, one must become a street fighting thug with overwhelming force. If you kill my children and innocent civilians, then your children and civilians are also fair game. (Reference) If you change the rules of war and conflict, then we will start playing by your rules and ignore what the rest of the world says or believes.

So the rest of the world will sit back and wait to see if Israel looses its heart, its moral compass, and its compassion. We will also see if Lebanon, the only real democracy in the Arab world, can withstand the test of an stronger, invading force without collapsing in on itself.

As always, the issue is complex, but only because we insist on listening to so many voices. It could be that the days of hearing all sides is becoming numbered. Survival will require that we narrow the variables in world issues and get back to basics.

Israel has done George Bush a big favor. It will end up proving his point, that despots and totalitarian governments should be dealt with in the sternest measures.