[BRIEF NOTE] Responsibility

[rfmcdonald]

I'm strongly inclined to agree with Jonathan Edelstein that Hizbullah's decision to kidnap Israel soldiers was unwise in the extreme, likely constituting a casus belli. I agree with the various bloggers and commenters who notice that Iran (directly and indirectly through Syria) is taking advantage of Hizbullah to create a distraction. I further note that Hizbullah is willing to be taken advantage of by Iran even at the cost of the lives of uninvolved Lebanese, and that an Israeli military never particularly known for its interest in Arab lives has proven itself more than willing to take up the Hizbullah challenge.

I said Saturday that Middle Eastern governments viewed people as tinder. I'd forgotten to mention that some of them were also pyromaniacs.