ahh.. this Middle East. What is one to do?
There are photo's spashed all over the papers, of displaced Lebanese children returning to their homes, waving pictures of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Narzrallah, and reports of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad claiming a massive Hezbollah victory in Southern Lebanon..
Meanwhile, the Israeli's are quietly vacating their positions, as the rocket attacks seem to be holding off in light of this ceasefire agreement, and they await UN troops to take their place. Israel has moved back to a piont south of the Christian city of Marjayoun..
But the battle of words, of ideology continues unabated.
Itan's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is blaming the US for providing Israel with arms and materiel which 'had been used to target women and children' in Lebanon.
This is going to get far too far out of hand, and the effects could be more catastrophic and much sooner than perhaps any of us see today.
The aim of all Islamic terrorist groups is to wipe Israel off the map.
We would be naive to think that stance has changed.
It is a bit disturbing that one of the heads of our military think-tanks, Rear Admiral
Chris Parry, has commented that he believes al Q'aeda 'is a passing phase, an expression of grievance'. Rear Admiral Parry seems to believe it will either mutate into something else (God forbid), or just fade in the light of day.
This organization has been in active operation long before 911. It has financed Taliban efforts in Afghanistan for decades, and will not just fade away. Nor will the other Islamic terrorist groups, and cells, mutate into something that might meet you at an airport with a flower and a donation for a copy of the Q'ran.
We are in an ideological confrontation here, that has existed ever since the French and British ships began forming alliances in the Levant during the Napoleonic Wars.
They see us as weak-minded, an self-indulgent, as spoilt little children with the most expensive toys on the block.
And in fact, they would give anything for a Jihad which would restore the Caliphate, and turn this entire world into an Islamic State. This is their goal, and nothing short of that stated goal will appease them.
This is reality. And we would be fools to ignore it.