In 1983, I wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine with the comically naive title, “How to Rebuild Lebanon.” The task seemed obvious: The United States needed to help this fragile little country reclaim its sovereignty and become a nation again, rather than a punching bag for the region’s warring powers.

That’s still the right mission four decades later, but we know now that it’s a nightmarishly difficult one. Israel demands a perpetual right to attack Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, which can still lob enough rockets to be a convincing menace. The Lebanese government wants to control Hezbollah, but its army is too weak. And America stands on the sidelines trying ineffectually to stop the mayhem.

In 1983, I wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine with the comically naive title, “How to Rebuild Lebanon.” The task seemed obvious: The United States needed to help this fragile little country reclaim its sovereignty and become a nation again, rather than a punching bag for the region’s warring powers.

That’s still the right mission four decades later, but we know now that it’s a nightmarishly difficult one. Israel demands a perpetual right to attack Iran’s proxy Hezbollah, which can still lob enough rockets to be a convincing menace. The Lebanese government wants to control Hezbollah, but its army is too weak. And America stands on the sidelines trying ineffectually to stop the mayhem.

The Trump administration has now waded into what Lebanese journalist Michael Young called “a graveyard for people with grand projects.” Vice President JD Vance, given the thankless job of overseeing negotiations, declared last week: “This is about regional peace. We expect Hezbollah will not fire rockets at the Israelis and we also expect Israelis to not go wild on Lebanon.”

Amen to that. I am an eternal enthusiast for helping Lebanon. But this time, the U.S. needs to enter the Lebanese octagon as a more determined and realistic referee. We have been making the same mistakes since the early 1980s. We ignore the admonition of Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi: “A small country is rarely involved in an international conflict to its advantage.”

The right starting point this time is to insist on Lebanese sovereignty. That will upset some Israelis, who see Lebanon as a kind of northern annex, to be bombed and invaded at will. But Israel has repeatedly tried pummeling its adversaries in Lebanon into submission, and it hasn’t worked. Lebanon isn’t Gaza. You can’t keep “mowing the lawn” in another country.

I’ve watched........

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