Lebanon: The Canary in the Mineshaft

The current situation in Lebanon is causing great emotions amongst everyone. There are those who feel Israel is the aggressor, showing a "disproportionate response" to the missiles being lobbed at it by Hezbollah. Others staunchly defend Israel, citing the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and Lebanon, only to get attacked in return.

Most everyone feels very sorry for the unfortunate Lebanese civilians who are caught in the middle of this, losing their homes, and in some cases their lives.

I've thought a lot and read a lot about the situation and asked myself, "What would I do if I were Israel?" We could debate strategy forever, but one thing is for sure: I would not stand idly by, while my citizens were systematically kidnapped & murdered and my cities had missiles launched at them. No responsible government would.

But rather than just focus on this particular skirmish, I think it's critical to look at the bigger picture of what's happening here. An important article on this has just been published by Mark Steyn. Among other things, he makes mention of the fact that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and others have primarily condemned Hezbollah, not Israel. Apologists for the terrorists have said that this is just because the U.S. is pressuring these Arab countries. That's simplistic and clearly false.

They know, as you should, that the biggest threat in all of this is clearly Iran. Most people don't want to admit this, let alone discuss it, but it surely is the case. If Iran does succeed in building nuclear weapons, we are all clearly in trouble, not just because they might use them or export them to their client terrorist organizations but because their very presence will allow them to continue propping up terrorist regimes until their funds from their oil reserves runs out. And they may take us well into the 22nd Century.

I realize that a lot of my friends on the left don't want to hear this and will condemn me for saying it, but the proof will be in what unfolds in the next 5 to 20 years. Unfortunately I think that such people will only wake up to the reality of the situation once a nuclear device is set off in an American city. Even then, apologists for the terrorists will still blame the U.S. gov't for such an action ... even if a hardcore left-wing Democrat is in power.

It's a beautiful, sunny day here in Vancouver but as far as our future is concerned, I see very dark, cloudy times ahead.