Opinion: US Resorting to Heartless Tactics in the Middle East

After a week of massive airstrikes by the Israeli air force on Lebanon, Washington has said it will deploy US marines to the region. Not, like in 1957 and 1982, to restore peace and order in Lebanon, but rather to evacuate US citizens.

Peace and order have to wait. US President George W. Bush has made that more than clear. He is not willing to support immediate measures to end the war. He doesn't want to send his secretary of state on her way to the region for a few more days. In Washington, that will have to take "about another week."

Another week like the last one? With hundreds of civilian casualties, hundreds of thousands of refugees and billions in damage to the Lebanese infrastructure? It is absurd and inhuman to constitute a new order in Lebanon based on this suffering and misery of innocent people.

The US president apparently has a very limited perception. It seems the government in Jerusalem insinuated to him that it needs this one week to vitally weaken Hezbollah now and in the long term. The White House gives Jerusalem the go-ahead -- no matter how high the price.

Every day claims new casualties

Of course, it is certainly true that a quick ceasefire, if one were to even come about, wouldn't solve the basic problem. Hezbollah remains a powerful force in southern Lebanon. The central government in Beirut couldn't send its troops there. Sooner or later, the next cross-border conflicts could be expected. And everything would start anew.

But is the situation going to be any different in a week? Is Hezbollah going to be beaten then? In Washington, no one can predict this with certainty. Even in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the prognoses by politicians and the military vary between "several days" and "several months."

Efforts are doomed to fail if no US action is taken

In the course of its history, Lebanon has weathered through many a bleak period. It was often the Lebanese themselves who were responsible for this. But over and over, the country has also become the plaything for foreign powers.

In the current case, both play a role. Hezbollah is a Lebanese force, which nevertheless acts as an extended arm of Syria and Iran. And Israel can count on the -- so far -- unrestricted support of Washington. What could the hectic efforts by the Europeans or the United Nations to end the conflict even accomplish?

All of these efforts are doomed to fail, as long as Washington doesn't give up its stance of "wait and see." President Bush appears to be indifferent to the fact that the United States will make even more enemies in the world with this position -- and further disqualify itself from its reclaimed role of being the "world's sheriff."

The one thing that can be said for certain about Bush in this context: he has proven yet again that he is always willing to make unpopular decisions.