I wish I could remember who said, “Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it,” but I can’t. However, the world is learning this lesson this week as we watch Israel and Lebanon strafe each other with rocket fire, among other things.

Why, oh, why was it so important to bust Iraq back to it’s borders when it overran Kuwait, but we are not even looking at Israel’s gross misconduct in Lebanon? Lebanon, which I might add, is a Christian nation in the Middle East. It’s not important to me. But that seems to be important to the Right wing these days.

I haven’t been keeping up on events there. I can’t. It hurts too much. I have Lebanese friends from college. It was the flower of the Orient. Beirut was the Paris of Arabia. The people are warm and friendly.

We have such leverage with Israel and we choose to remain silent in the face of this atrocity. We could do so much with so little and yet we ignore the bully on the playground. Diplomacy and our aid money can be used without ever sending one soldier. We have a history of brokering peace. But Israel is counting on this administration’s ignorance and/or hubris to do nothing.