Tom's column today ends with:

I repeat: I don’t know if Syria can be brought around, and we certainly can’t do it at Lebanon’s expense. But you have to try, with real sticks and real carrots. Syria is not going to calm things in Lebanon, or Iraq, just so the Bush team can then focus on regime change in Damascus. As one diplomat here put it to me, “Turkeys don’t vote for Thanksgiving.”

An important point: by threatening regime change in Damascus and Teheran, while at the same time launching a full-scale occupation of Iraq, which can't succeed without at least benign neglect from Syria and Iran, we've gotten ourselves in way over our heads. And now the Israelis have started a war that will require them to occupy much of Lebanon, as well. It is inconceivable that Israel would have launched this attack without checking with Bush beforehand. But do these clowns understand that Syria and Iran may lend significant assistance to Hezbollah, and could even send their own troops into Lebanon?