Hawkeye Republican

It's about time. It's also time for an opinion from your humble blogger:

Iran and Syria, who back Hezbollah with finances and weaponry, have miscalculated and lost (for the moment) whatever sympathy they had in the rest of the Arab world. Israel will crush Hezbollah and much of southern Lebanon; it has the best air attack capability in the world. Israel's recent military incursion has created a new rift between Sunni and Shia Islam and exploited it to their national advantage. Iran moves to the top of the Arab world's [insert President Bush's latest vulgarity] list, and the UN Security Council passes economic sanctions that cripple its centrally-planned economy even further.

Eventually, Messrs. Blair, Annan, Putin will convene an international peace force and produce a cease-fire between Israel and a humilitated (but strengthened) Lebanon. Could Israel's heavy-handed action, met with skepticism and disdain by many in the West, stimulate peace in the region? My inner optimist says yes. My inner realist (ha, right) says it's too early to tell.

In the meantime, my inner idealist says pray.