Under pressure

You cannot win a counterinsurgency with airpower.

The New York Times:

JERUSALEM, July 27 — A day after Israel suffered its worst losses in Lebanon, the government today ruled out a major military escalation for now, opting to continue focusing on wide-ranging airstrikes and limited ground incursions along the border.

While Israelis overwhelmingly back the military operations in Lebanon, a growing number of politicians and media commentators are calling for a more intense ground campaign to drive Hezbollah militants away from Israel’s northern border, where they have been launching 100 rockets or more on most days.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s security cabinet did, however, approve call-ups for up to three divisions of reserve soldiers — an estimated 30,000 troops — which suggested Israel was gearing up for the possibility of a protracted conflict.

The present wait-and-see attitude out of Washington, D.C., may let this conflict evolve on regional dynamics -- toward a larger offensive and a prolonged engagement. That would spell disaster for the global war on terrorism.

But this is the president of false visions. His ideas, his gut-feelings, are leading us to disaster.