[New York Times, 20Jul06] Thomas L. Friedman - This is not just another Arab-Israeli war. It is about some of the most basic foundations of the international order - borders and sovereignty - and the erosion of those foundations would spell disaster for the quality of life all across the globe. Lebanon, alas, has not been able to produce the internal coherence to control Hizballah, and is not likely to soon. The forces of disorder - Hizballah, al-Qaeda, Iran - are a geopolitical tsunami that we need a united front to defeat. The only way this war is going to come to some stable conclusion any time soon is if The World of Order - and I don't just mean "the West," but countries like Russia, China, India, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia too - puts together an international force that can escort the Lebanese Army to the Israeli border and remain on hand to protect it against Hizballah.
2006-07-21 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive