One of the tactics Israel has used in responding to terrorism has been to seek out and kill individual enemies. Now Washington has started doing the same. The United States and Israel face different circumstances, however, and so the Bush administration should think twice before proceeding.
The recent fighting in Lebanon may have looked like yet another Arab-Israeli battle, but it also pitted Jerusalem against Tehran for the first time. Why did Israel strike when it did? What did it accomplish? And what should it do now to prepare for the next showdown with Iran?
Damascus did not commission Hezbollah's raid into Israel, but it did see the ensuing crisis as a chance to prove its importance. Western powers should realize that Syria is ready to be part of a regional solution -- as long as its own interests are recognized.
