Sham
UN Resolution Guarantees
No End To Israel's War Of
Illegal Aggression
By Stephen Lendman
14 August, 2006
Countercurrents.org
On
August 11, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1701
jointly proposed by the US and France and with all provisions in it
signed off on by Israel before it was put to a vote. Neither Lebanon
nor Hezbollah was afforded that same right. In a UN dominated by the
world's only superpower and having to operate within the constraints
it sets, only US client states are allowed that privilege. It's victims
never are. Resolution 1701 was a revised version of the one the US and
France first proposed on August 6 which the French then backed down
on because of strong Lebanese government and Arab League opposition.
The new resolution only guarantees one thing - no end to the conflict
and no justice for its Lebanese victims. It doesn't even address the
concurrent hostilities ongoing against the Palestinians outrageously
ignoring the fact that they're raging daily with no end in sight.
Resolution 1701 calls for
a full cessation of hostilities on both sides but leaves in it a glaring
loophole big enough apparently to get Israel to accept it. It calls
on Hezbollah to cease "all attacks" immediately and implies,
but doesn't explicitly state, Hezbollah must disarm. It won't because
doing so would be to surrender. It only asks Israel to stop "all
offensive military operations" without defining what that means
or making a comparable disarmament demand on the Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF). It thus gives Israel the right to "respond" if, in
its judgment, it faces what it believes is an imminent threat. In other
words, Israel can attack Lebanon at will any time and claim, true or
not, it's only responding to such a threat. It also proposes no fixed
timetable for Israel to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and only "calls
on the government of Israel" to do so once a UN mandated force
is in place. It thus gives Israel what it wanted - more time for the
IDF to continue its assault by air and to ry on the ground to seize
more territory so when both sides agree to halt hostilities, Israel
will be in the strongest bargaining position. The resolution also authorizes
the deployment of up to 15,000 UN (UNIFIL) troops in southern Lebanon
from countries willing to supply them to assist an additional 15,000
Lebanese force.
The resolution is a litany
of outrage ignoring why the conflict began and falsely accusing Hezbollah
of starting it by launching "the attack on Israel on 12 July"
which it did not. It mentions nothing about Israel's incursions into
Lebanon by air and on the ground prior to the July 12 date when Hezbollah
forces captured (not kidnapped) two IDF soldiers who it's believed illegally
crossed the UN-monitored "blue line" into the country - something
the IDF routinely has done almost daily since it withdrew from the country
in May, 2000. It absolves Israel of any responsibility by failing to
acknowledge it's been waging a war of illegal aggression against the
country and thus, according to the Nuremberg Charter, is guilty of the
"supreme international crime" for which convicted Nazis after
WW II were hanged. It doesn't even mention the word "war"
in its text or indicate in any way that Israel is guilty of committing
war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Lebanon.
This is a resolution only
an aggressor would love. It will do nothing to deter further aggression
any time Israel believes, on its say alone and with no evidence, an
imminent threat exists. Resolution 1701 blatantly violates the UN Charter
which permits a nation to use force only under two conditions: when
authorized to do it by the Security Council or under Article 51 that
allows the "right of individual or collective self-defense if an
armed attack occurs against a Member....until the Security Council has
taken measures to maintain international peace and security." In
other words, necessary self-defense is allowed, which does not justify
what the IDF initiated on June 25 and again on July 12. Israel's extreme
response on both dates following the capture of its soldiers, known
in both cases to have been planned well in advance awaiting only convenient
pretexts to undertake them, are no acts of self-defense. They're acts
of premeditated illegal aggression.
In sum, UN Resolution 1701
is little more than an outrageous and illegal expression of victor's
justice. It allows Israel the right to resume hostilities any time it
wishes and for any reason so long as the Israelis claim an imminent
threat exists regardless of whether or not it's true. It gives no rights
to the victims who remain vulnerable and are likely to come under further
assaults just as they have almost daily since Israel first invaded Lebanon
in 1978. And it does nothing to try to end the ongoing Israeli aggression
against the Palestinians or address their long-standing grievances now
ongoing for nearly 60 years. The resolution does guarantee one thing
- no end to the conflict in either country or justice for the beleaguered
people of them both.
Stephen Lendman
lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected].
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.