Stabilizing the Middle East -- then and now

By Bruce Walker Fifty years ago today, an American president successfully stood up against the Moslem tide in the Middle East and won a victory. But the anniversary may pass completely unnoticed by most of the media, and the lesson of that event remains unlearned by most Americans. On July 15, 1958, President Eisenhower began what was called "Operation Blue Bat." President Chamoun of Lebanon, a Maronite Christian, had refused to side with Arab Moslem nations against the West. The result was that within Lebanon, supported by Syria, Muslims pushed for the end of the Chamoun administration (and, tacitly, for an end to the middle course of democracy that Lebanon had long pursued.) The pro-Western government of Iraq had also just been toppled. The pro-Soviet government that took its place would in time be overthrown by the... [read full story]