It's not surprising to hear reports of the Israelis losing the war in Lebanon coming from the media.  After all, defeatism and terrorism cheerleading is what they do best.  However, I have started to see a lot of the same things coming from commentators that would be considered conservative, whether it's from National Review, WSJ, or the NY Post (hat tip:  Instapundit).

Most of their arguments dwell upon the PR war, rather than militarily.  Israel isn't necessarily losing ground; it simply isn't gaining ground fast enough.  While these and several other statements were made before Israel moved into Eastern Lebanon and expanded its ground assault, it'll be interesting to see how a number of the defeatists can explain this one.

Of course, the rules for Israel in this offensive are not the same as they have been for wars past and present.  As Frank Gaffney states in OpinionJournal today, the US would have never accepted the limitations or condoned the condemnation that Israel has been subject to in this war.  Israel now has to worry not only about Hezbollah and their supporters as they move from town to town, but they have to worry about a "clock" of sorts that is rapidly ticking away that will pull the plug on their chances to destroy Hezbollah.  As long as Hezbollah can hang on until time runs out, they'll "win".  And it is by this clock that the defeatists are judging Israel.

However, thinking of this conflict in those terms does nothing but undermine any chance of winning the War on Terror, whether it's Israel conducting military operations or anything else.  Instead of succumbing to these limitations, and indeed, using them to judge Israel's effectiveness, conservatives should be outraged by them.  Instead of getting used to the idea that terror will be a normal fixture in the lives of Israelis, and to a smaller extent, the entire world, we should apply more pressure on the terrorist organizations, and the countries who continue to harbor them.

Lebanon, and subsequently it's government, has been labelled a "moderate" Islamic country, and with a significant Christian community it's resistance to Syrian intervention was lauded for not falling prey to Islamic fundamentalism.  But as we are seeing, "moderate" Muslims condemning occasional attacks are only the tip of the iceburg to end radical Islam.  Instead, actions need to be taken by not only the respective governments that have terror in its midsts.  The destruction of Lebanon is a perfect example of a government and of a society that was more than willing to make excuses and allow the existence of terrorism, and look what it got them.

To call for a premature ceasefire before the elimination of terror in that country, and to also  force Israel to make a "prisoner swap" (which is absolute garbage, as those soldiers were kidnapped, not arrested) gives the upper hand to those organizations who feel they can commit terror in order to gain concessions.  You're going to see more terrorism, along with more liberties being taken against not only Israel and it's military, but also the United States.  Conservatives should realize the grave mistake that exists if this is allowed to happen and rally against it, rather than wallow in pity because of the appeasement mentality of the internationalists.