All you need to know

Charles Krauthammer writes in the Washington Post:

"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 . . . that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not."
-- Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader, Aug. 27

So much for the "strategic and historic victory" Nasrallah had claimed less than two weeks earlier. What real victor declares that, had he known, he would not have started the war that ended in triumph?

For Krauthammer, the idea that a leader who led his forces in to a costly war with an indeterminate outcome would actually admit his miscalculation, and further say that if given the chance, he would avoid said mistake, is a sign of grave weakness and defeat.

Suddenly, the modern conservative makes total and complete sense. And that's all that really needs to be said about that, I think. Of course, me being me, it is not all I have to say about that.

The only useful tidbit to take from K's column is that Hezbollah's post-war popularity bubble seems to be popping fast. If true (and there's no reason to suspect Krauthammer has any proximity to the facts) this is most definitely a good thing. But what's funny is that Krauthammer can, with no sense of irony, write the following paragraph:

In a country this weak, outsiders can be decisive. A strong European presence in the south, serious U.S. training and equipment for the Lebanese army, and relentless pressure at the United Nations can tip the balance. We should be especially aggressive at the United Nations in pursuing the investigation of Syria for the murder of Rafiq Hariri and in implementing resolutions mandating the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Only in America can pundits who - not more than a year ago - scorned, mocked, and slandered both Europe (full of anti-American anti-semites, it is!) and the UN (oilforfoodoilforfoodoilforfood!) now place their hope in those same institutions. Even more depressing for them - if they had any self-consciousness whatsoever - is the fact that the dream of America unilaterally imposing it's will on the Middle East is (by their own implications) dead, rotting, and just waiting to be buried.