Middle East Conflagration Update: The Limits of Force

As we sail on directly towards the shoals of ever increasing entropy, it might be helpful to review the current situation in Lebanon. As most are aware, the Israeli Defense (!) Forces used the kidnapping of a couple of soldiers by guerrilla group Hezbollah (Chaos uses the most familiar spelling: there are many others...) to launch an all-out attack on the entire country, giving new meaning to the phrase "collective guilt," and in the process, abandoning the high moral ground, to the extent they had ever occupied it in the first place. Egged on in secret by the Empire, which evidently viewed this "exercise" as a dry run for a future invasion of Iran, the Israelis tried their own version of "shock and awe," which, come to think of it, worked about as well as when the Empire tried it back in 2003. Having accomplished the uniting of Lebanon the country behind the "greatest guerilla force in the world," along with the rest of the Arab world (which was initially reluctant to embrace the Shiite-led group), Israel was surprised to find themselves walking into a buzzsaw, having seriously underestimated the capabilities of the enemy. Further surprises ensued when rockets were fired into Israeli cities, and Hezbollah fighters inflicted significant causalties on the invaders. Bombing the infrastructure of Lebanon and killing many innocents in hopes of the population "blaming" Hezbollah were equally ineffective tactics. Hezbollah, not to be outdone, has now sewn up its victory by heading up the reconstruction of the bombed out areas. All in all, a good set of innings for the home team. Here's hoping Israel can learn a lesson the Empire cannot: people tend to resist being invaded. The mightiest military on the planet can be stymied by a small band of "insurgents," especially when the guerillas have the support of some of the population. Seems simple, no?