How did we get into this mess? The prospect of a regional war in the Middle East underscores the lethal futility of our interventionist foreign policy.(MIDDLE EAST)

The Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah-infested sites in Lebanon has been carried out "according to a plan finalized more than a year ago," reported the July 21 San Francisco Chronicle.

"More than a year ago, a senior Israeli military officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail."

All that was needed was a triggering event, and one materialized on June 25 when Gilad Shalit, a corporal in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), was kidnapped by guerrillas linked to the Hamas terrorist group (which controls the elected Palestinian government) in a cross-border raid. Seven Palestinians sneaked into southern Israel from Gaza by way of a tunnel and attacked an Israeli tank crew and a lookout tower, killing two soldiers. With Shalit as a hostage, Hamas demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Shortly thereafter, southern Israel came under attack by a barrage of homemade rockets fired from Gaza.

This provoked Israel to send the IDF back into the Gaza Strip, which it had abandoned less than a year earlier. Roughly two weeks later, Hezbollah terror ists--acting in "solidarity" with Hamas--captured two more Israeli soldiers while they were reportedly on the Lebanese side of the border, and then launched a series of deadly missile attacks against cities in Israel. This provoked the Israeli assault on southern Lebanon--following the plan worked out over a year ago.

Because Hamas and Hezbollah received funding and materiel aid from Iran and Syria, the conflict…