Proportionate Results = Just Deserts

The just deserts being visited upon Israel’s enemies is serving to deter them, at least until the next time.

Congressman Tom Lantos, as often, seems to be one of the few in power trying to prevent a next time. Lantos is blocking U.S. aid to Lebanon’s reconstruction to pressure Lebanon’s Hezbollah-scared government to allow UNFIL blocking the Syria border crossings to rearm Hezbollah.

"The international community must use all our available means to stiffen Lebanon's spine and to convince the government of Lebanon to have the new UNIFIL troops on the Syrian border in adequate numbers," said Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' International Relations Committee.

Lantos said he was putting a legislative hold on Bush's proposal to provide $230 million in aid for Lebanon in the aftermath of the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas.

As the top Democrat on the International Relations Committee, Lantos has the power to hold up legislation.

Most of those worrying about the esoterics of Just War or Proportionate Response or using it as propaganda during the last phase of Israel’s ongoing defense against those who could care less lacked real concern about the disproportionate tactics used or results sought by Israel’s enemies in death of a people and a nation.

Now, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah appears to have been, temporarily at least, taught the proper lesson of tempting Israel’s response: he and his followers will get their a—handed to them, and Nasrallah can spend the rest of his miserable life hiding from personal justice.
Consequently, Nasrallah says,

"We did not think that there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war of this scale and magnitude," Sheikh Nasrallah said.

"Now you ask me if this was 11 July and there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war like the one that has taken place, would you go ahead with the kidnapping?

"I would say no, definitely not, for humanitarian, moral, social, security, military and political reasons.

Ed Morrissey points out:

If all Nasrallah can get back are the bodies of his own men and the handful of jihadis who got captured during the fighting, the Lebanese people will see who really won this war -- and they will not take very kindly to Hezbollah's destruction of the nation just for the sake of their Syrian and Iranian paymasters.

But, the U.N. knowingly plants the seeds of next time, as it refuses to meet its own weak words about preventing the rearming of Hezbollah.

The United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed in Lebanon is facing further criticism after the admission that its forces will not even be allowed to intercept shipments of arms to Hezbollah from Syria.

Speaking in Brussels before heading to the region, Kofi Annan, pictured below, the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that the 15,000-strong force will not meet Israeli demands to police the routes used by the militia to smuggle missiles from Syria.

"Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear," he said. Instead, the Unifil force will only carry out interception missions if asked by the Lebanese government - which has made no such request. Syria, meanwhile, accused by Israel of re-arming Hezbollah during the recent conflict, has said the deployment of any UN forces near its border would be considered a "hostile act".

Mr Annan's disclosure of more limits on the UN force's remit will act as a further blow to its credibility as a peacekeeping force. It is already devoid of any mandate to disarm Hezbollah of its existing weapons, and now appears powerless to stop the militia re-arming. Critics point out that new stocks of weapons and missiles could end up being used against the Unifil troops themselves, should their mission go awry and end up in clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

Thankfully, decency has a Tom Lantos. Will the Left’s Netroots make him their next target to purify the Democrat Party of anyone with a spine?