Judis on the war: “In their communiqué on Sunday, the G-8 nations warned that Hamas and Hezbollah threatened to “plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict,” and they also cautioned Israel “to exercise utmost restraint” in retaliating against attacks. The United States was a signatory to, rather than a subject of, the document; but when the final account of this crisis is written–perhaps years from now–the Bush administration is sure to figure as a factor. That’s because over the last few decades most, if not all, Arab-Israeli crises have occurred when the United States has been either unable or unwilling to play an aggressive role as a mediator; and most have only abated after the United States has finally thrown itself into the middle of them. This latest conflict, which has engulfed Gaza and Lebanon and could spread eastward, may not prove to be an exception to this rule.”
Michael Walzer (sub.req.) on just wars and whether that is what Israel is fighting. And Bill Arkin on how civilian deaths are the seedbed of future terrorism.
