Washington is giving another week to Israel to bomb Lebanon, and Condi would then fly down there to establish an international buffer zone.
In the meantime, at least 55 Lebanese died today, the highest daily toll so far.
The US’ stance on this will be remembered for a long time in the region — there will be a price to pay for backing Israel’s use of collective punishment.
Update: Congress (the most corrupt parliament among Western democracies) runs after the money, as it always does, and backs Israel.
“there will be a price to pay for backing Israel’s use of collective punishment.”
And the ‘price’, you can be sure, will be called ‘terrorism’ to avoid allegations that it is a ‘price’ resulting from their actions as opposed to the madness of suicide bombers et al.
Well, let’s hope the price won’t be terrorism – but we’ve seen how much the lack of goodwill for the US (a relatively recent phenomenon) has caused so many problems already, notably in the struggle of Arab democrats to reform their countries.
This quote is dead on – though not in the way the speaker intended it:
“Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman punctuated the day with a speech to Christians United for Israel last night, declaring that “today, we are all Israelis.”
Yeah, because the civilians we kill and wars we launch are sanctified by democracy. It’s the droit du seigneur dammit, and they should be grateful for its civilizing influence. We may be killing civilians and destroying their homes, but we dropped leaflets first.
Some parts of the Walt & Mearsheimer argument that I had thought slightly exaggerated seem to be borne out by the Israel-US neocon chorus on teaching Iran and Syria a lesson. The American public probably won’t buy it, but one never knows.
Can anyone here recall what president Hafez Al-Assad of Syria did to his own people in 1982? Robert Fisk, who was in Hama shortly after the 1982 massacre, estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 citizens were killed, but according to Thomas Friedman Rifaat Al-Assad later boasted of killing 38,000 people. Remember what King Hussein of Jordan did during his domestic war with the Palestinians in 1970? In comparison, I find that Israel is acting with extreme moderation at the moment. Its bombing of bridges, roads and runways is precise and has caused very few casualties. When it came to the bombing of the Hezbollah offices in Beirut, people living there were warned in advance to leave the area. No warnings come, though, from those firing hundreds of rockets from Lebanon into Israel with the sole objective of killing civilians.
Here is a copy of a letter I recieved in my inbox today:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
780 Third Ave
Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
July 18, 2006
Dear Senator Clinton,
I read with dismay your comments regarding the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, as printed in the New York Times, Monday July 17, 2006. As a New York constituent I feel it is my duty to write you and express my concern. In particular I was perplexed by the following comments:
“We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American values as well as Israeli ones;� and
“I want us here in New York to imagine, if extremist terrorists were launching rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would we defend America against these attacks from extremists?�
With regards to the first statement, I am truly confused as to what you are referring when you say “American values,� unless by that you mean the use of aggressive, disproportionate force against “terrorists� without any regard for consequence or collateral (i.e. innocent civilians.) I don’t suppose, by “American values,� you are referring to the indiscriminate targeting of whole villages simply because they are “Hezbollah territory;� the obliteration of the international airport (as far as I know, not a Hezbollah-run operation); the destruction of sea ports, dozens of bridges, every exit and entrance route in and out of the country, the bombing of wheat silos and of cars full of families trying to escape bombardment; the explosion of the electricity plants; the targeted attacks on Muslim areas, and the constant air strikes of major cities such as Beirut, Tyre and Tripoli.
I can’t imagine that by “American values,� you mean the entire destruction of people’s homes, livelihoods, and all their worldly possessions, simply because they live in a Muslim area. It was never taught to me that the American way was to knowingly target innocent civilians and to consciously wish to demolish a nation’s infrastructure with the stated aim of “setting the country 20 years back.� I wonder if you are aware that of the 227 people who have been killed thus far, no more than 24 of them have been affiliated with Hezbollah and the majority of them have been children.
Senator Clinton, this is not a war between Israel and Hezbollah. It is not about the West and the East, or Christians and Jews and Muslims. This is a war between politicians. This is a game in which all the innocent citizens of Lebanon are the victims. You cannot possibly believe, in your heart, that any of the grandmothers, sons, wives, mothers or uncles or aunts, or shopkeepers, or tailors, or teachers, who are being killed, maimed or displaced, have anything to do with this crisis. Or that they deserve to bear the brunt of Israel “defending itself.� Even the most liberal interpretation of “self-defense� could not justify the mass killing and destruction of individuals who have nothing to do with this conflict.
And if I had to imagine being attacked by Mexico and Canada, I pray with all my deepest convictions, that America would not react by bombing Toronto, targeting towns based on their religious affiliation, destroying exit routes for fleeing refugees, all in the name of self-defense. If these are the new American values, then I fear that America is lost.
I grew up fearing and hating war. As a Lebanese-American, born and raised here, cut off from my family there for most of my childhood, I grew up keenly aware of the utter futility and indiscriminate inhumanity of war. I cannot think of a time when bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure makes sense, I cannot think of any reason good enough to justify it – whether carried out by “extremists,� as you put it, or state-sponsored. I can’t imagine how you get up in the morning and tell yourself that any attack on civilians is a legitimate answer to the world’s conflicts. I can’t imagine how you, or any of the other politicians running this country and others, ever got so far in life that you felt you could and should justify such destruction. Aside from the physical, real, tangible annihilation these attacks are responsible for – what about the destruction to our humanity? Our ability to seek the moral high ground? And to hope for a better, peaceful future for our children? If the new American values eschew such values as peace and negotiation, I have truly lost all hope for this country, and for the world my children will inherit.
I ask you to please reconsider your statements and to call for a ceasefire. Whatever political games must be played, let them be played without the senseless destruction of a nation and its people.
Apologies for submitting a comment of that length.
I didn’t realize that Israel aspired to emulate butchers like Hafez al-Assad. And I don’t think a 10:1 ratio of civilians killed in Lebanon vs Israel is something that Israel should be crowing about. 200 civilians is “very few casualties”? Israel has targetted many more areas in Lebanon where civilians risk being killed than the reverse, and the huge difference in civilian casualties is a reflection of that. Civilians in the north of Lebanon, roads and residential areas are legitimate targets? If that’s the case, then Israel’s military adversaries should be able to attack Israeli civilians with abandon because they are all “supporters” of the military. How is Israel on the moral high ground if it declares that Lebanese civilian areas are legitimate targets because they may support Hezbollah?
Hi Issandr,
There are many, many parties that will one day be held accountable for their role in Israel’s destruction of Lebanon. The Arab governments are one of them. Israel could never have gotten away with its savagery were it not for the complicity of Arab governments.
If Arab governments were to unite in an call for an immediate end to the violence, I can’t believe that wouldn’t have a major effect. Is there anything Arab bloggers can do in this regard – like file a petition with the Arab League to call for an immediate ceasefire. I know it’s hard to mobilize public opinion in the Arab world without facing the repressive wrath of autocratic governments, but maybe the blogosphere can be an asset in this regard.
Sunship – no problem, good letter!
Peter H – very true.
I believe that the major obstacle for Arab governments right now, in terms of them uniting their voices to end the violence in Lebanon, is the fact that the winner would be Hezbollah, and by extension Iran and Syria.
Iran is fast becoming a major player in the Middle East. This is due both to its success in dealing with the US threats to its nuclear program, thus providing a source of pride to Muslims across the region, and also because it is one of the few governments to fund, equip and morally support Hezbollah. Syria, which is also forging closer ties with Iran, shares in this.
If Israel ceases fire before Hezbollah is destroyed, then Arab governments will have to deal with Iran’s ascendant star in Lebanon and Syria. If Hezbollah is destroyed, then they can rest assured that their own populations will not have any ‘saviors’ to look towards.
In my estimation, Hezbollah will come out the winner in this. Israel will have to barter for its soldiers with the Lebanese prisoners it holds and ultimately with Shebba farms as well. PM Siniora has explicitly stated that these are the conditions for peace, and for Hezbollah to disarm and stop molesting Israel.
It is ironic that the US helped to destroy the moderate movement in Iran. Leaving aside the influence and power of the mulahs, one can say that Iran is a fairly democratic country with a real political life that is both engaging and vibrant.
Of course, this is anathema to the US. The last thing that the US would like to see is an Iran that can be a model for other countries in the region. But due to their short sightedness, they have managed now to put Iraq on the same course. Though not in the US national interest, this may ultimately be a good thing…
Chris
“The US’ stance on this will be remembered for a long time in the region — there will be a price to pay for backing Israel’s use of collective punishment.”
Really? Why this one in particular? Will the US’s stance in this case be more remembered than it’s earlier unconditional backing for Israel? Its invasion and severe destabilization of Iraq, the well-publicized unpleasant activities of its soldiers there? It’s invasion of Afghanistan? It’s missile attacks against Sudan, etc…?
The US is doing nothing now than it hasn’t always done. I can’t really imagine this will change the US’s already incredibly low reputation in the region, beyond adding another item to a list of crimes in most people’s minds, another line in a Qaeda recruiting video.
Do you think Israel will be able to eradicate Hezbollah? It seems difficult to wage war with Hebollah when they hang out amongst the civilians. But, I guess Israel’s going to have to defeat these guys somehow if they plan to continue to live in security. I’m planning on starting a website to lend support to Israel. I’d appreciate it you’d like to link to my site. This is not about Arab, Israeli etc. Its about security for all Democratic loving people.I’ll keep you posted. Israelis, Arabs, Jews Muslims, Christians – we all must stand united against terror before it swallows up the entire world.