Drawing on The Times commentary blog, Times News Desk: World comment: how does it end?

The New York Times reports that America has granted Israel one more week to achieve its aim of "severely weakening" Hezbollah.

"For Israelis, fighting back made all the difference. We’ve taken Hezbollah’s best shot and we’re still standing. 'We will win,' Mr Olmert told the Knesset on Monday, and this simple assertion became an instant headline and a rallying cry," writes Zev Chafets in the newspaper's comment pages.

The Washington Post asks whether this how the summer of 1914 felt. Charles Krauthammer says the crisis "represents a rare, perhaps irreproducible, opportunity" to eliminate Hezbollah: "The road to a solution is therefore clear: Israel liberates south Lebanon and gives it back to the Lebanese."

Another week to achieve objectives.

But the Op Ed is just bizzare - as frankly is Olmert's comment. It's a bloody guerilla movement, not Syria, mate. If you're proud to have 'taken Hizbullah's best shot" and "still [be] standing" your country (or you) has more neuroses than anyone ever suspect. As for winning.... well in a tactical sense, yes. Strategically, not the way you're going. Israel might profit by studying the lessons of Pyrrhus.

But my real scorn is saved for Charles "Mr Delusional" Krauthammer. Mate, if 90-00 - a good fucking decade - with a native militia backing them up and many boots on the ground did not allow Israel to break Hizbullah, border raids and air strikes are not going to. At best a short-term tactical degradation of Hizbullah capacity might, might, be achieved. That's trivial. However, as any short little trip around the American media, and even the commentary I saw when I was back in the land of brainless rarara in person, will demonstrate, Krauthammer's delusional commentary is hardly atypical.

Eerie earlier drew my attention to this note at what I believe is some silly US lefty site, but regardless is an intelligent note for all that, CNN's Lebanon Problem. Having had a sample of US domestic media as this crisis ramped up, and being a regular consumer of the Arab and Euro sat TV, it's stunning how... well Israel centric US media is. That's not healthy. Sympathy for Israel, the ally, is fine. Blindness is not.

At least The Washington Post has the self respect to publish a rather more rational piece that echoes some thoughts I have, asking, "if this is how the summer of 1914 felt." Indeed. Of course, we are not in the same situ - that is even the worst case (excepting utter madness of nuclear exchange which is a near but not zero likelihood, and I have a new respect for small probabilty events post-a rare cancer) will not generate a world war.

There is a fine take-away from WWI in re this conflict, one that is perfectly applicable: Never write an "ally" blank checks. NEVER.

Both Israel and Hizbullah are cashing checks that the drawn on parties are likely to regret paying, even if the Krauthammers of the world (on both sides of the equation) are blissfully oblivious to their own utterly magical and delusional thinking. Reread above about giving Israel another week as a blank check, think about military machines and the difficulty of winding down escalating tension.