Yet that leaves a large question. What are the next measures to be taken to secure peace in the Middle East? Again the terrorists have foolishly tipped their hand. They have revealed with their missile attacks that the missiles they have access to are increasingly powerful. Now they are landing them on Haifa. Next they will be landing them on Tel Aviv. In time they will be able to hit anywhere in Israel. Israel is going to have to take action to see to it that no more missile attacks are possible and that Hezbollah's suppliers -- Syria and Iran -- stop arming them.
I would think this means that Israel for the short term is going to have to take control of the border regions of Lebanon and of Gaza from which it withdrew. Reportedly some 50 percent of Hezbollah's missile-launching capacity has been destroyed. Perhaps this is accurate, but only troops on the ground will be able to ensure that the terrorists do not return with their missiles. Yet even troops in Lebanon cannot deny Hezbollah's acquisition of ever more powerful weapons. That means its suppliers are going to have to be dealt with.
Diplomacy does not seem to work with the Syrians or with the Iranians. We have been dealing with the Iranians diplomatically on their nuclear capacity for months. They remain obdurate and dishonest, and now their clients have unleashed war against Israel. The only recourse might well be the recourse taken by Israel in June 1981 when Israeli aircraft destroyed Iraq's nuclear facilities. Many, even many conservatives, get very agitated by such suggestions. Well, allow me to remind them of President Ronald Reagan's reaction when his National Security Adviser informed him in the Oval Office of the Israeli bombing. They used bombers we had sold them, the adviser harrumphed. "Well," said the Old Cowboy, "boys will be Boys." That, of course, is how Reagan expressed what is the oldest idea known to man: philosophical acceptance of the inevitable.