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Since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon on July 12th, the death toll

on both sides has mounted.

Lebanese evacuees are fleeing to Cyprus. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

have called for a deployment of an international peacekeeping force to Lebanon.

Is a ceasefire in sight? Today we speak to Cato Research Fellow Leon Hadar, who has recently published a book on the crisis with the Cato Institute titled Stanstorm, policy failure in the Middle East.

Are you surprised by the outbreak of violence between Israel and Lebanon?

No, I wasn't. Actions have consequences.

And in this case, we are talking about American action.

The Bush administration was hoping to remake the Middle East.

It ousted Saddam Hussein and it strengthened the power of the pro-Iran Shiites in Iraq.

It pressed for elections in Lebanon, which also played into the end of Hezbollah and finally it called for

elections in the West Bank and Gaza which led to the victory of Hamas.

So the Bush administration in many ways helped to strengthen the power of Iran and its allies

in the Middle East.

And it's so surprising that they decided to try to challenge American power in

the region by hitting one of the U.S. allies here, Israel. And I think in that that context we have to look at the kidnapping of the Israeli

soldiers both in the Israeli Lebanon border and also in Gaza

You voiced your opposition to Bush administration efforts to push democratic reform in the Middle East.

How should the Bush administration proceed?

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