Plans for a new post-war Iraqi government are already in motion, even with the war still raging on. There is no doubt that we will achieve victory. Questions still remain, however, about what to do after the battles have ceased.

While political analysts and planners are busying themselves with the concerns of establishing a U.S.-friendly Iraq, military planners are looking for the next target. North Korea is certainly an option, but logistical advantages lean more toward Syria, Iran or the fanatical Shiite Muslim terrorist group Hezbollah in south Lebanon. Which presents the most immediate threat to the United States? They all come as a package, because the ruling mullahs of Iran control Hezbollah, considered by many to be a much greater threat than al-Qaeda, and Syria still has forces in Lebanon as well.

From Israel’s standpoint, at least, Hezbollah is the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. These two combatants have been striking and retaliating for years. While viciously anti-American in rhetoric, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah is focused on the destruction of Israel. Since the United States has been Israel’s oldest and closest ally in its continuing fight to live peacefully in a pan-Israeli state, it makes sense to assist them in their fight to end the almost constant terrorist attacks on their people.

“But why do we need to go poking our heads around the world, looking for trouble with people who don’t attack on American soil?” Au contraire.

Hezbollah support cells, like the one in Charlotte, N.C., that was apprehended about a month ago, are set up all over America. They have the ability to move people across borders and give them whole new identities. They have access to a constant flow of untraced cash, military training and a network of criminal contacts to get weapons. They employ a wide array of dual-use military gear: night-vision, mine detectors, laser-range finders, blasting equipment and global positioning systems, to name a few.

As far as outstanding past transgressions against the United States that need avenging, the Hezbollah has its share: 19 Americans dead in 1996 at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, 28 murdered in 1992 at the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, and 300 killed in 1983 at the U.S and French barracks in Lebanon. They were also responsible for the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, the kidnapping of 18 Americans and the torture and murder of CIA Station Chief William Buckley in Beirut. Our casualty lists pale in comparison to Israel. Jihad indeed.

Routing Hezbollah and the Syrians from Lebanon eliminates one of the two roadblocks that have delayed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel – the absence of a safe northern border. The removal of one would lead to the removal of the other, which is the removal of Yasser Arafat, a leader who’s no friend to the Israelis.

To do so, we don’t even have to mobilize for war. We’re already set to go, it’s just a matter of turning left. The American War Machine is turned on, so it makes sense to take care of our imminent problems now while we’re fully capable.