‘A former top American diplomat says the US deliberately resisted calls for a immediate ceasefire during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah’s military capability. Mr Bolton said an early ceasefire would have been “dangerous and misguided”.’
From the Beeb. Just in case anyone was in any doubt about the extent of U.S. complicity in the destruction of Lebanon.
You’ll no doubt remember that last year, during the height of the slaughter in Lebanon, when Siniora and Nasrallah were begging for a ceasefire, Bush and Blair conspired to block a ceasefire in Rome that would have prevented much of the killing.
(the front page of The Independent illustrates exactly who stood in the way of a ceasefire, via Mash)
When Bolton says he is “damned proud of what we did”, he’s talking about this and this and this and this.
And, courtesy of Amnesty International, this:
“Israeli forces pounded buildings into the ground, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble and turning villages and towns into ghost town, as their inhabitants fled the bombardments. Main roads, bridges and petrol stations were blown to bits. Entire families were killed in air strikes on their homes or in their vehicles while fleeing the aerial assaults on their villages. Scores lay buried beneath the rubble of their houses for weeks, as the Red Cross and other rescue workers were prevented from accessing the areas by continuing Israeli strikes. The hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who fled the bombardment now face the danger of unexploded munitions as they head home…The Lebanese government estimates 31 “vital points”, for example water and sewage treatment plants, power stations, airports etc., have been totally or partially destroyed. More than 25 fuel station and 900 commercial enterprises were hit. The number of residential properties, offices and shops completely destroyed exceeds 30,000. Two government hospitals – in Bint Jbiel and Mais al-Jebel – were completely destroyed in Israeli attacks and three others were seriously damaged.” [my emphasis]
Filed under: Israeli / Palestinian, Lebanon, News and politics, US | 12 Comments
Tags: War
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FWIW, Amnesty concluded:
In other words, the IDF engaged in a deliberate stategy of targeting civilian infrastructure. That’s what John Bolton is “proud” to have facilitated.
It is ever so easy to try and paint a one sided picture. Of course when you place it all into context it changes things. When you see that Hezbollah initiated the conflict, has consistently stated their goal of destroying Israel, violated UN resolutions, the constructs of the Geneva Convention and more.
But that type of balance isn’t ever found here.
Ozzie, capture of 2 soldiers versus the destruction of a country. Yea, let’s put things in context. There’s your balance!
Jamie, you left out the best quote from the article:
War crimes are made of morons like these.
Ozzy: Hizbullah was not the aggressor, Israel was. In any case, regardless of who was the aggressor, Israel committed gross war crimes and deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. That’s not even in dispute.
Mash:
Right, exactly. That’s what I was trying to tell people over at DKos. On certain issues, it’s pretty easy and justifiable to ‘take sides’. Like with the current boycott of the Palestinians – one side is starving over a million people, the other side is being starved. Or in this case – one side was destroying a country, the other side was being destroyed. In such cases, I feel no qualms whatsoever about making clear where my sympathies lie. As long as the arguments are still honest (and they are), there’s no problem with that.
It is balanced to talk about Israeli war crimes more than any crimes committed by Hizbullah, because Israeli crimes were of a far greater scale and, moreover, were supported by the international community.
Thanks for the quote – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: John Bolton is a shit in a moustache.
The response I get at DKos to any diary I write that remotely suggests that Israel may not be perfect is like being attacked by a plague of locusts. Its comical and predictable. Its the reason that the US policy of blind support for Israel is counterproductive for the US and Israel. These people, and they are a very loud and vocal minority in the US, will shout down any hint of open debate about Israeli policies. This kind of stupidity and mob behavior would be laughable if not for the fact that many people are dying as a result of it.
Balance means facing reality. Screaming “la la la la la…” at the top of your lungs at the very thought of facing facts is childish at best. The “self defense” argument might get some more sympathy from me if not for the fact that a generation of Palestinians have suffered through an inhuman occupation under Israel – and with American support. This kind of apartheid cannot sustain itself – and its continuation only makes prospect of peace more difficult and the likelyhood of greater and more sustained violence more likely. The summer war with Hezbollah, a war that any honest assessment demostrates that Israel lost, should be a wake-up call to Israel. It is better to negotiate a just solution from a position of strength than waiting until your situation is much weaker – at some point, Israel’s adverseries will close the gap on offensive firepower, and at that point it is inevitable that the existential threat that the Israeli right, and the American Israel lobby thrives on, will actually become reality. Then Israel will lose the ability to make peace on its own terms. That is the reality, the so-called supporters of Israel, are pushing Israel to. And along with Israel, America and the rest of the world are being dragged into this violent future. Stupidity, writ large.
Right. I mean, there are some excellent people at DKos, but a significant and – as you put it, rather mildly – “vocal” minority always seem to be able to either distract from the topic, discredit the author or the argument with cheap slurs or simply state patent untruths and, upon being confronted by the evidence, continue to do so (usually justified along the lines of, “oh well, Amnesty International has always been anti-Israel”).
The U.S. policy of almost unconditional support of Israel is as damaging to Israel as Israel’s policy of brutal occupation is. The Israeli ruling class has long sacrificed the security and well-being of ordinary Israelis for the perpetuation and expansion of the occupation, and the U.S. has proved invaluable in helping them do so.
You’re right – no one serious can doubt that Israel lost the war. Before it started, the aim was to simply destroy or incapacitate with Hizbullah in a matter of a few days, boosting the deterrence image of the unbeatable IDF in the process. In fact, what happened is that Hizbullah was able to continue firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli population centres right up until the last day of the war. The IDF’s image of invincibility was shattered, and estimates are now that Hizbullah is better armed today than it was before the war.
The capture of the Israeli soldiers on the 25th of June was provoked by the Israelis who arrested two brothers, Osama Muamar and Mustafa Muamar, on the 24th.
Oddly enough, this incident hasn’t had nearly as much coverage as the one involving the Israeli soldiers.
Ah – but that was the catalyst for Operation Summer Rains. The Lebanon war is something different (it began on July 12).
But yeh, about the Palestinian incident – of course, you’re right. It’s acceptable when Israel “arrests” two civilians, but when the Palestinians capture an Israeli soldier, then everyone goes crazy and Israel is permitted to kill hundreds of innocent people in response. Makes sense, no?
It has been well established that the Lebanon War Plan was made at least a year before the Invasion. A fact revealed by a Guardian Article, confirming Nasrallah’s assesment was also admitted recently by an Israeli cabinet minister. The capture of thw soldiers at best moved the timing up a bit.
As a Middle East, Israil_Us Inc’ watcher for three decades it did not suprise me a bit. Necons had made the Iraqi Invasion plan as part of their “PAX_Amercana” (New American Century Project) startegy long before 911. The key term for this strategy was “preemtive” , ie. “US along with Israel is not bound by standards applicable to others. WE can and should act uopn “potential danger assessments”.
The Motto: Pretexts-R-Us! If you can’t find one, create one!