Mission Accomplished!

Yesterday President Bush, fresh from vacation, looked around the world, took a gander at the Middle East--Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, etc.-- and said to himself, "Self, we won that."

Seriously, the entire world has agreed upon one thing: that the last 3 weeks of bombing in Lebanon have been disasterous for Israel. Israel does not do well in long wars, and it did not do well in this one. Even with the cease fire Katyusha rockets continue to fall as I type this. Yet the Potemkin Administration managed to link Israel's agression to "the broader global struggle," which we also seem to be losing, by the way, as we have yet to screen 95% of the cargo that enters this country, we barely have enough Arabists working at the State Department to pay attention to the population in Deerborn, Michigan let alone those along the Litani River, and Afghanistan is no less a blighted pit than it was 5 years ago.

There is one thing to be thankful for, thought: This time, Bush didn't wear his nut-crushing jumpsuit to the presumptuous victory party.

Bush: Hezbollah Lost The War; It Was Part of Broader Global Struggle (AP)