Ha'aretz on Bush, Israel, Lebanon, The Global War on Terrorism, And A Series of Unfortunate Events

... and no, we're not talking Lemony Snicket here. A piece by Schmuel Rosner in today's Ha'aretz was almost as interesting for what was not said or done than for what was.

In his weekly radio address yesterday, President George W. Bush linked the leading event of the American week - foiling the plot to blow up planes en route from London to the U.S. - to the leading event of the Israeli arena. Here, in the president's voice, Israel's war is linked to the big global war against terrorism - and that, by its very nature, is a lengthy war that is difficult to determine in one fell swoop.

The terrorists, Bush said, want to blow up planes, are attacking civilians and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and are hiding behind civilians in Lebanon. In any event these three fronts have remained open. Lebanon, like Iraq, like Al-Qaida, is not an arena that can be neutralized in one move.

On Friday Bush spoke with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for the first time since the war broke out. The American and Israeli foreign ministries had advised against it until now. Such a conversation, the advisers surmised, would be interpreted as presidential pressure or a green light.

Read it, if you care to do so, and let me know your thoughts.