All wrapped up in a nice sophisticated bow, courtesy of FP web editor Blake Hounshell:

But what is the exit plan here? Pound Hamas until they cry uncle? And why would Israel be willing to trade some temporary advantages in Gaza for a number of strategic setbacks: the effective end of the Annapolis process, a possible collapse of the peace track with Syria, worldwide opprobrium, a reinvigorated radical camp in Iran, the further undermining of pro-Western regimes in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and a Hamas that may in fact emerge stronger vis-à-vis the ever-shrinking Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction?

You have to admire this for its succinct elegance. No hyper-specific name checking of marginal Arab political leaders in a pathetic attempt to build ethos. No invoking of historical analogies that are both logically incoherent and empirically untenable. Just a nice straightforward list of unstable Middle East hotspots and the blanket statement that subsequent instability will be Israel's fault. I'd go so far as to describe it as cutting-edge.

Now you might be inclined to say something like "well OK, but if the Palestinian and Syrian tracks foreclose Israeli self-defense then they're counterproductive." Or perhaps "well fair enough, but if Egypt and Saudi Arabia are so weak internally that Israeli self-defense destabilizes them then they weren't reliable allies to begin with." Or maybe "Israeli civilians shouldn't have to sustain mortar and rocket barrages just because large swaths of the Iranian population want them to die."

But that would distract us from a more fundamental point: this list is moronic. There are costs to Operation Cost Lead that can be described and then weighed against its possible benefits: the detestation of Gaza's infrastructure, visible fractures inside Fatah, the delay of the Israeli election. But all those costs are probably justified since the Israeli government is merely fulfilling the most basic function of any state. Ergo Hounshell's erudite laundry list of everything that's really wrong about the Middle East.

Listen - Annapolis was dead anyway as long as Gaza arms smuggling continued and PA sovereignty was split between Gaza and the West Bank. The Syrian peace process was a nonstarter as long as Israelis equated giving land with getting rockets. Worldwide opprobrium was inevitable in the next few months. "Iranian moderates have a chance" was as dumb a month ago as it has been every other time foreign policy leftists has divined it over the last 15 years. Egypt was always going to get rolled by the Muslim Brotherhood anyway. And Hamas was already two months away from a formal political takeover of the West Bank. So come on.

Apparently Blake Hounshell's year-long internship at Cairo's Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies didn't include exposure to undergraduate argument: "you can't blame Israel for something that was going to happen anyway." Fair enough. But I'm amazed he didn't pick it up in one his Ivy League political science courses. Strange, that.

References:
* Israel is all tactics and no strategy [Hounshell / FP Passport]
* Israel: Gaza arms smuggling could nix Annapolis meet [Ha'aretz]
* Analysis: How does the future of Gaza fit into the Annapolis agenda? [JPost]
* Iran's New Moderate Cleric Not A Moderate, Will Lose Anyway (Plus: Even The French Are Laughing At Obama's Idiotic Iran Policy) [MR]
* Smug Liberal Sophistication Untroubled By Undeniable Evidence That Hardliners Are Winning In Iran [MR]
* Another Day, Another Sign That The Muslim Brotherhood Is Gearing Up To Roll Egypt [MR]
* Hamas Closer Than Ever To Political Takeover Of West Bank, Palestinian Authority [MR]
* Those damn Fowegners
* Columbia Middle East Expert: You Know Who Saudi Wahhabists Remind Me Of? Methodists. [MR]

Previously:
* Anti-Israel Partisans Set New Record For Decades-Old Trick Of Brazenly Rewriting History, Blaming Israel
* Counterterrorism Expert: Only A Particularly Stupid Useful Idiot Would Ever Suggest Engaging Hamas
* Temporary Israeli Restraint Won't Buy It International Legitimacy. Don't Be Stupid.