Stabilization By Force: Futility By Design
Does anyone else thing this odd? Kofi Annan and Tony Blair calling for an international "stabilization force" to calm the hostilities bewteen Israel and the Hezbollah. Roll these word around your skull a minute… forced stabilization, hmm… Is this a new oxymoron?
Isn’t that just what the US is trying to do in Iraq after pulling the plugs on the establishment over there? Yes, Saddam was a bad boy - whatever, but he had control. There’s been none of that since we got involved. And in Afghanistan, forced stabilization is unraveling as the Taliban begins a rebound. The immortal words "But that trick never works," apply here.
Blair’s statement -
"The only way we are going to get a cessation of hostilities is the deployment of an international force," Blair said at a news conference in St. Petersburg at the end of the G-8 summit.
- is not necessarily true. Not that I endorse this, but hostilities would end when one side wins. Israel has a habit of winning the wars they fight. If Hezbollah insists on firing rockets into a sovereign state, insists on clinging to their terrorist reputation despite inroads toward civility, then they deserve what they get. Unfortunately for them, Israel hits what it’s aiming at.
I would love to see a peaceful solution. Bringing in a third group to the party, armed and armored, can only confuse the situation. Doing so cannot bring peace or stability. Unless one considers the situation stabilized as a result of mutual annihilation.
Any UN "stabilization" forces would only be able to witness events, like having front row seats to the execution.