Without a ceasefire, this sort of thing happens

Haven't I been saying over and over that the longer the war in Lebanon lasts without a ceasefire, the more it will negatively impact U.S. national security?  When politics is polarized, everything gets blamed on the most powerful -- which military speaking would be us.

Christian Science Monitor writer Scott Peterson (no, not the convicted murderer) wrote an article about how the Lebanese people are blaming the Middle East war on the United States.  For national security reasons, we should have every reason to care:

With his arm raised and fist clenched, Sheikh Hussein furiously expressed a sentiment rapidly taking hold here.

"We know who our first enemy is: America," heshouted before tearful mourners at a funeral Wednesday for 30 civilianskilled by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The white-turbaned sheikh ledthe crowd in a militant chant: "Death to America! Death to America!"

Even as Israel continues to pound Beirut's southernsuburbs, and agreed Wednesday on plans to expand its four-week-oldoffensive as far as 18 miles into southern Lebanon, many hereincreasingly blame the US for its extensive military and politicalsupport for the Jewish state.

"Israel wants to stop the war, but America orders themto continue," the sheikh asserted later in an interview. "This is theAmerican freedom?"

This is the spin that ordinary citizens in the Arab world are getting.  Every second that goes by without a ceasefire hurts U.S. national security, and polarizes the Arab world to reject democratic institutions.  Bush intends to promote democracy -- as do all of us.  But hopefully by now he realizes that his policies are counterproductive to his overall objective.