Word: buffers
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...problem is that SWAPO is too militant and too radical to suit the South Africans, who would like to preserve Namibia as a sort of buffer state to the north. On the other hand, the Turnhalle coalition is too closely aligned with South Africa to suit SWAPO and its backers, which include most nations of the Organization of African Unity as well as the Soviet Union...
...operation that the Israelis chose to code-name Stone of Wisdom appeared to have been carried out with their characteristic precision. Within 18 hours the Israelis had achieved their primary military goal, which was to smash the Palestinian guerrilla strongholds near the border in southern Lebanon and establish a buffer zone, most of it four to six miles wide, along the entire Israeli-Lebanese frontier. But what remained far from clear at week's end, as Israeli forces kept pushing deeper into...
...move decisively. As one Western diplomat analyzed it, the Tel Aviv incident was "just what the Israelis had been waiting for, because they have been wanting to take over south Lebanon for a long time." Last week the Israelis proceeded to do just that as they established a buffer strip along the entire border. That leaves the Palestinians precious little breathing room between the Israeli zone and the Litani River, with the Syrian forces on the north bank, and it is by no means clear that the Israelis will not make occasional raids into what remains of the Palestinians' sanctuary...
Once the fighting is over, the Israelis would probably withdraw some combat troops but leave a large enough force to secure the buffer zone in an effort to reduce the number of terrorist raids from the north. Later, they would probably be prepared to give way to Christian Lebanese soldiers (who oppose the Palestinians), or to U.N. peacekeeping forces, or to a combination of the two. But actually, the Israelis have declared de facto control over a strip of southern Lebanon, and it looks as if they intend to retain some kind of presence. As an Egyptian foreign ministry official...
While the Israelis may be right in asserting that the terrorist attack lends credence to their oft-voiced concerns about security, they are clearly mistaken if they believe any kind of military operation--even the creation of a six-mile buffer zone across an entire border--can enhance that security. More likely, the Israeli move will inspire further terrorist activity and a continuation of the cycle of violence. Hate just breeds hate. The guerillas cannot be bombed into submission--they will emerge yet again as promised, if not from the north then from other borders or in other ways...