Evolution in Action: Lebanon and Pakistan

Sometimes Lamarckian evolution does operate... - click through to read Ralph Peter's article also.

Hezbollah learned over 25 years of conflict, and has adapted.
Israel has put itself in a real bind by acting hastily and without thinking things through.
To "win" all Hezbollah has to do is survive as an foundational entity - Israel can't occupy Lebanon indefinitely and they just made sure Lebanon itself can not take control of the South.
Even if all the Hezbollah members are killed and their weapons and infrastructure destroyed, their younger brothers will step up in a few years. No political solution.

Simpler still, Hezbollah fights a good fight for long enough to bloody the IDF, and then pulls part of its strength north, as a future core.

If the IDF isn't careful they'll leave themselves out of ammo and with a large fraction of their strength in need of rest and refurbishment, while Syria looks on and ponders if they can act. - They probably won't but the possibility precludes the IDF from overcommitting forces to Lebanon.

Short term this strengthens the Shia factions in the Middle East, and leaves radical Sunni groups looking to one-up Hezbollah. And we step closer to war.

Israel is now asking for NATO/EU troops. This is tricky - they can't be US troops, and I suspect Turkish troops would be imprudent also. The Brits and Germans have a history to overcome, and the Brits have no troops to spare anyway. So, a French-Italian brigade? Some Dutch/Scandinavian troops?
One option is East European troops; Russia also has soldiers to spare, though I don't think Israel would accept a Russian mechanized division on their northen border.

Any good way out of this mess? I don't see it.

In the meantime, the press notices Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Program - Pakistan is building a GWth fission reactor optimised for Pu-239 breeding, ~ 200kg per year.

ISIS report on Khushab reactor construction

Khushab facility

Race is on...

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