But, Rich, although my focus is principally on what the US should be doing rather than on the awful problems faced by Israel, it’s worth noting that, while you are quite correct that nobody has defeated a guerilla army on the basis of airpower alone, if Israel is really serious about “beating” Hezbollah (as opposed to giving it a bloody nose, degrading its infrastructure and so on) its soldiers are going to have to be in the Lebanon for a very long time indeed. And if they are, they are going to have to face the uncomfortable conundrum that the longer they stay there, the more they will stir up support for Hezbollah among those Lebanese (a solid majority of the population, incidentally) who did not support Hezbollah before. As for the American effort in confronting and, I hope, eventually defeating the wider, global challenge now presented by Islamic extremism, it ought to go without saying that a sustained Israeli campaign in the Lebanon will make matters infinitely more difficult, something that gives the White House an uncomfortable conundrum of its own to contemplate.