By Andrew L. Jaffee

Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has finally made a statement which reassured me — somewhat. But he won’t get any help from Russia, who is basically urging Israel not to defend itself. From the BBC:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the attacks on Lebanon will be kept up until two captured soldiers are freed.

He also insisted Hezbollah guerrillas had to be disarmed and the Lebanese army had to control southern Lebanon.

“We are not looking for war or direct conflict, but if necessary we will not be frightened by it,” he said.

The key here is the disarming of Hezbollah, which I hope really means the destruction of this Islamo-fascist terrorist group.

I fail to understand the constant litany by world leaders urging Israel to use restraint in defending itself from an enemy raining missiles down on the Jewish state. Take Russian President Putin.

His own nation has been battling Islamic radicals — inside the country’s borders, e.g., in Chechnya. Russian security forces just killed the leader of Chechnya’s Islamist terror network, Shamil Basayev. And Putin has shown absolutely no “restraint” in battling his own Islamic opponents. From Human Rights Watch:

Russian and pro-Russian Chechen forces continued to be responsible for numerous arbitrary detentions during raids, looting, physical abuse of villagers, and extrajudicial executions. Those detained face beatings and other forms of torture, aimed at coercing confessions or information about Chechen rebel forces. The forces routinely extort money from detainees’ relatives as a condition for release.

More than one million Russian soldiers have fought in the second war in Chechnya, which erupted in 1999, many returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder for which the government has not provided proper treatment. As a result, the Chechnya war not only causes tremendous human suffering in Chechnya but is also having a corrosive effect on Russian society as a whole.

But of course, Putin is still pursuing the goal of reestablishing the “prestige” and power of the former Soviet Union, and will take a contrary position to anything the U.S. and its close allies, like Israel, advocate.

There are other motives in play in regards to Russia’s position vis-à-vis the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. This “Party of G#d” is sponsored by Syria and Iran, and Russia is delightfully selling $2 billion worth of weapons to Syria and $4 billion worth to Iran.

Such are the twists and turns in realpolitik, which does nothing positive for Israel when it comes to Russia’s support, or lack thereof, in the current Middle East conflict.

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Related: Israel, Iran, Palestinians, Syria, Terrorist Groups

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