Israel Must Pursue and Disarm Hezbollah Fast

The proper goal of this war is not to push Hezbollah back 10 km.  It is to disarm Hezbollah – to destroy all its missiles and artillery – and send it into collapse.

When the enemy is in retreat, follow in hot pursuit. Turn retreat into rout. Send it into a tailspin.

That’s the ancient maxim of war.

Above all, don’t pause. Don’t give the enemy time to regroup. That’s how to throw away your advantage.

Israel must not give Hezbollah time to reestablish internal command and communications. That’s not a way of being peaceful; it’s a way of buying more war.

It must make itself the communications center for Lebanese. And not be shy and speak in an undertone, as if it’s merely reporting to the world. It must speak in a tone that’s in command; one that can many Lebanese will listen to, when it tells them what they need to do to get peace.

It cannot stick to the logic of the gradual step by step plan of attack it formed in advance. Now that the battle is joined and the enemy is in disarray, it must follow the changed logic of the battlefield and chase the enemy off the field.

And organize the peace. Organize it with friendly forces that can take over the space the enemy used to dominate. If they don’t exist in an organized form, then put them together. Form a force that will make peace with you, police the space, and disarm what holdouts are left of the enemy.

These are the maxims for winning in war. These are also the maxims for humanity in war.

Pull the bandage all the way off. Don’t do it just half way. That only prolongs the suffering and lets the old evils come right back.

When did we forget this?

The siren song that forgets this

“Pause”. (And give the enemy time to pull itself together and perpetuate the war.)

Don’t “escalate”.

Get a “ceasefire”.

Do virtue signaling.

And proclaim only humanitarian goals for the operation, like returning Israeli civilians to their homes in northern Israel. Not strategic goals, like disarming or disbanding Hezbollah.

Waking up from the siren song

Netanyahu has outmaneuvered Biden this time. He played along with the siren song, but he went ahead with the necessary actions against Hezbollah.

The problem is now the follow-up. It is proceeding too much by prior methodical plan. And it is not given the correct objective.

The objective must be this:

To disarm Hezbollah in the entire territory of Lebanon, not just for 10 km.

This is the only way to let Lebanon be Lebanon again. It would reduce Hezbollah to one ethnic organization among many, no longer a state within a state.

Israel needs to press its advantage on this without delay. It must not leave Hezbollah the time and space to regroup. It must pursue its wounded enemy while it’s on the run. It must send it into a full tailspin.

It will also need to get creative on the political side of it. It might create, for example, a “Hezbollah Council” of its choosing, to reorganize the willing fraction of the group’s members into a normal party and disarm them – and make peace.

Something similar might be done in Gaza. Israel might appoint a government there. Hezbollah’s defeat will increase the willingness to cooperate among Gazans to cooperate, and even among some parts of Hamas remnants.

The realities we must all face

Islamism Delenda Est.

Hezbollah Delenda Est.

Hamas Delenda Est.

And the Islamic Republic of Iran Delenda Est. It is the only way to let Iran be Iran again. And to free the world of the Iranian nuclear nightmare.

Once Islamist Iran is gone, they will all make peace with Israel. First Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and the PA — and after that, finally, the entire world.