Hezbollah rebuilds

Yeah, it'd be great to think Israeli military action defanged Hezbollah last summer. I'm betting not. On the plus side, UNIFIL has at least pushed Hezbollah's frontline positions much further north. And hey...maybe this time they won't be within "danger close" distances to UN observation posts:

In one case, a bunker complex 100 feet underground covering an area of almost a square mile was built within 300 yards of a UNIFIL observation post and an Israeli army position on the border, but its existence remained hidden until after the war.

"They let us see certain things like their observation posts along the border fence, but all the time they were building an underground city in the south that we never knew existed," says Timur Goksel, who retired as UNIFIL's senior adviser in 2003.

The term "Cognitive Dissonance" comes to mind

The new MNF-I Commander's aggressive counter-insurgency strategy - focused on getting troops out into the populace in order to reduce insurgents' freedom of maneuver, increase the sense of security within neighborhoods, and stiffen the backbone(s) of Iraqi Security Forces - makes a lot of sense. If, that is, at the tactical level, soldiers understand how to carry out his mandate. Reports like these leave one wondering.

Cognitive Dissonance:

a psychological term which describes the uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts at the same time. More precisely, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior.

Islamist Insurgency in Thailand grows...

...despite the best efforts of Thailand's new military (and Muslim-led) government to shift from a hard-edged to a softer approach.

Strategy vs. Tactics.

The US aids Ethiopia in ousting the ICU in order to chase after a handful of individuals...achieving a minor tactical success in the process.

Islamic insurgents go into hiding while Somalia descends into chaos.

As Ethiopia begins to withdraw, the weak Somali government propped up by the Ethiopians loses control and violence spirals upward in Mogadishu.

Likely end state?

1. The Islamists return to power.
2. People are happy with the stability they bring.
3. They frown upon the US and its allies for creating chaos in the name of chasing a handful of individuals.
4. Islamic militants have another "victory" over US-sponsored allies to fuel the jihadi movement.

So who has the greater strategic vision here?

Hrmph.

Just when I was thinking Somalia had dropped off the radar screen with the media:

I hate to say I told you so but...