It’s become an article of faith on the left that any use of force by Israel works to the advantage of its enemies. We are told that by invading Lebanon, the Israelis strengthened Hezbollah and Iran. There may be some truth to this. No doubt Hezbollah is much stronger, politically, than it was before the war, but as Israel’s northern front remains quiet it seems an open question as to whether that conflict had some salutary effects. Likewise, it is presumed that the Israelis are strengthening Hamas in Gaza, and that like the war in Lebanon, there is no end game for the Israelis which will not leave Hamas able to declare victory and rearm for the next fight. I’m not so sure that’s true. We’ve seen in Iraq that terrorist groups hiding among a civilian population — even a relatively sympathetic civilian population as was the case with the Mahdi Army in Basra and Sadr City — can be marginalized through the use of force. Coalition successes in Iraq came on the heels of repeated failures, but lessons were learned and applied on the battlefield. Israel seems to have adapted as well, particularly with regard to playing the expectations game. Just look at the statements of Israeli figures over the past couple of days. Olmert says that “Israel is nearing the goals it set for itself,” essentially declaring victory before Hamas has the chance to do the same. Likewise, Israeli officials are hard at work pushing a story that has the Hamas leadership in Gaza desperate for a ceasefire:
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