Libya: Fury in the Isolation Ward

Lebanon's crisis has made Gaddafi fume at almost everyone

Israel's blitz into Lebanon and its brutal stranglehold on Beirut have aroused doubt, controversy, criticism and apprehension in the U.S. and within Israel itself. But one side effect of the episode is likely to be received as good news in both Washington and Jerusalem. Whatever damage it has done to the long-term interests of the U.S. and Israel, the crisis already seems to have increased the isolation of Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Gaddafi has close military ties to the Soviet Union, a propensity for sending expeditionary forces elsewhere in Africa (to Uganda and...