William Kristol has an op-ed piece in Sunday's New York Times commenting on the war in Gaza. He points out that the negative opinions say the war is a threat to peace in the Middle East and explains why that assessment is backwards. He points out that Israel might succeed in Gaza due to the fact that Gaza does not have allies to resupply it with arms from its borders--it borders the Mediterranean Sea, Israel, and Egypt. It is very easy for Israel to cut off the resupply of Hamas.
William Kristol makes these points in the article:
"But a defeat of Hamas in Gaza -- following on the heels of our success in Iraq -- would be a real setback for Iran. It would make it easier to assemble regional and international coalitions to pressure Iran. It might positively affect the Iranian elections in June. It might make the Iranian regime more amenable to dealing.
With respect to Iran, Obama may well face -- as the Israeli government did with Hamas -- a moment when the use of force seems to be the only responsible option. But Israel's willingness to fight makes it more possible that the United States may not have to."
If the world community succeeds in intervening in this war and stopping it with a truce, it will not be a lasting truce. Hamas had made it clear that it would like to exterminate Israel and the Jewish people, and as long as they have a base to work from they will continue in that effort. The only way to peace in through an Israeli victory in Gaza that destroys Hamas' influence. This will also push back at Iran, which will also increase the chances for peace. Again the thing to keep in mind--Israel has nukes (and has had them for some time) and Hamas in Gaza was allowed to exist as long as they were peaceful--if Hamas had nukes, how long would Israel be allowed to exist?
The thing to note in this war is that even though the Arab street is doing the expected protest, it is a very muted protest. Many of the Middle Eastern countries see Iran as a bigger threat to their security than Israel is, and because they realize Iran is funding Hamas, they would not be all that unhappy to see Hamas lose. The Iranians are Shiite Muslims,and they are Persians--not Arabs. The Sunni countries in the Middle East are aware of Iran's funding and instigating terrorism in the region and would not be unhappy to see Iran stopped.
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