When self defence is an offence

What do you do when Hizbollah captures two Israeli soldiers? The answer's obvious: bomb civilian areas of Lebanon killing whole families, cut off the south from the capital by destroying bridges and roads,impose an air and sea blockade on Lebanon, and, just to ensure it's successful, bomb the runways at Beirut airport.

You might think the response excessive, but not according to Israeli form. After all, the kidnap of one Israeli soldier by Palestinians led to the destruction of the power supply in Gaza, the arrest of Hamas ministers and attacks which killed more than 70 Palestinians.

'Pity the nation' was the title of Robert Fisk's book on the war in Lebanon. The phrase has been in my head the past two days as the situation has deteriorated. Lebanon's fragile peace is cracking.

While many in the Middle East may envy Lebanon its natural beauty, few can envy its geography, sharing its southern border with Israel. To its east is Syria, Israel's main protagonist in the region, which backs Hizbollah.

War is spreading across the region. Predictably, George Bush has condemned Hizbollah, saying that Israel has the right to defend itself. How is bombing Beirut airport defending yourself? Hizbollah couldn't do the same to Tel Aviv airport. There is some doubt whether its rockets could reach more than a few miles into Israel.

That's because Israel is the most heavily armed country in the region and has weapons which its opponents cannot match. But the problem doesn't just lie with Israel. US and British foreign policy lies in tatters in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the region. They know that Israel is off the leash but to rein their watchdog in would be to admit defeat in these wider wars.

This particularly affects them in the fight against terrorism. The 'war on terror' is a barrier to political solutions. Its mantras that we can't deal with terrorists
or that we have to root out terrorism ignore the role that the war on terror has played in increasing terrorism.

It also ignores the different definitions of 'terrorist'. For many people in Palestine or Lebanon, Hamas and Hizbollah are not terrorists at all. They are elected representatives (in both the Palestinian and Lebanese governments), providers of welfare and services such as education, and even freedom fighters. To accuse Iran or Syria of supporting terrorism by supporting these groups misses the point that large sections of the Arab world and beyond support them.

Here too, the division of the world into peace loving democrats against terrorists
obscures more than it clarifies. But then, that's what they want to do. Otherwise someone might point out that cutting off water, food or electricity, or bombing innocent people is a form of oppression which might be called state terror.