In This War - Nobody Wins
By Brita Rose
29 July, 2006
Countercurrents.orgWhile Lebanese and Israeli civilians are losing their lives daily, the powers-that-be appear to be losing their minds. Have western leaders learned nothing from the fiasco in Iraq. Have they already forgotten how resilient Lebanese fighters are from Israel's 22 year long occupation of Lebanon, that officially ended only 6 years ago. Yet they persist with an antiquated, deluded and heavy-handed foreign policy that is once again doomed to fail.
The international community, including Iraqi Prime Minister, Jawad al-Maliki, proposes an immediate ceasefire to end the bloodshed, but a conspicuous three nations oppose it - Israel, U.S., and Britain. Once again their solution is the terror of hard power - bomb them into our image whatever the cost. This is an avoidable, immoral and counterproductive war. Sound familiar?
This week's Rome gathering of European leaders was as revealing as it was disappointing. The first mistake was the failure to invite Hizbollah, Syria and Iran - how do you construct a deal if one side of the conflict is absent? While U.S. officials have begun admitting the 'urgency' of a ceasefire, they belie such sentiments with diplomatic speak such as; an agreement has to be "enduring" and must address the "root causes" of the conflict. Ironically the very things missing from Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice's, statements are the "root causes" and an "enduring" solution to the conflict. History should remind them that you cannot address a century old problem overnight, nor find a long-term solution immediately. Perhaps the Bush administration hopes to weaken Hizbollah to clear the way for an invasion of Iran, or Syria - who knows. It is no doubt part of their 'Offensive Political Realist' strategy of economic dominance over the region, otherwise known as 'reshaping' the Middle East.
As far as this latest crisis is concerned, according to early press reports, such as in the Associate Press, Israeli troops were inside the Lebanese boarder - at Aitaa al-Chaab when they were attacked. Subsequent stories quickly changed, but reportedly Israeli soldiers so far have not been able to re-enter Aitaa al-Chaab to recover the tank that was exploded by Hizbollah and the bodies of the soldiers that were killed in the original operation (an indication that the operation did take place on Lebanese soil.) There seems to be no investigation on this, but if found to be true it would make Israel the first violator of international territorial law in this incident.
Either way, even if the incursion did occur on the Israeli side, this was a battle between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers, not civilians. Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Lebanese soldiers. Scuffles on the Northern Israeli/Southern Lebanese boarder are not uncommon. Hizbollah began firing missiles into Lebanon after the Israelis started bombing. They had used some short range mortars as a diversionary tactic as they kidnapped the IDF troops, which injured 4 Israelis. That being the case, why did Israel need to launch a full scale offensive. Hizbollah are a militant resistant group, but that does not justify the invasion of an entire country. Was not Hizbollah and its military arsenal of 10,000 missiles intended primarily as a deterrent to combat Israel's occupation and protect the Shia population. It has remained relatively quiet since the withdrawal of Israeli troops in the year 2000, and its leaders have more recently shown themselves to be willing negotiators, clearly with a large support base among the Lebanese.
This invasion was not a defensive move and it could have been diplomatically negotiated - previous boarder skirmishes were handled very differently. Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, no doubt wanted to save face, but he may now lose far more than that. The IDF have better targeting capabilities than Hizbollah, yet they are killing more civilians and are also hitting humanitarian aid centers and convoys. How can this happen given the technology of the US equipped Israeli air force.The Israeli government wants to bring the Lebanese (and Iranians and Syrians) to their knees so that it can further delay any peace process with the Palestinians. I doubt the Israeli public are willing to pay the price - the loss of countless Lebanese and Israeli lives. Now once again Israel is in violation of International law for its war crimes. Nearly 600 Lebanese are dead and a staggering 750,000 displaced and destitute (Ironically the same number of Palestinian refugees that were displaced by Israel in 1948). It will accomplish nothing short of repeating history and destroying a nation that was at least starting to recover from the devastating two decade occupation. Did the warmongers forget the tragic bombing of the US Marine base at Beirut airport in 1983 that killed over two hundred troops and prompted the U.S. retreat; Or the civil war in which Israel was defeated and eventually withdrew. The only international impact of this war will be to draw more players into the conflict - not least Al Qaeda.
An international force will not be warmly welcomed, and if the Lebanese government were to back such a force, civil war would not be out of the question. Why not call Syria to help crush the Shia community while they are at it. Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouda Siniora, said that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Chebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons." The Israeli occupation of Syria's Golan Heights and her illegal settlements adds to boarder tensions, but it is the Occupation of Palestinian Territories once again that lies at the heart of this issue. Rice says she wants to secure implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of Hizbollah, but what about Security Council Resolution 242 passed after the 1967 war, which forbade of the acquisition of territory by war? It is the failure of U.S. foreign policy to support these resolutions and address the 'real' issues behind the conflict, along with their one-sided approach that are preventing a peace of 'enduring principles.'
Regarding a sustainable enduring solution, the world knows an immediate cease fire is imperative. Only then can feasible negotiations resume over boarders and prisoners, and attention be re-diverted to the real obstacles to enduring peace - the Occupation of Palestine, conditions in the territories, and the refugees that still reside in Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian refugee camps.
Brita Rose is a Graduate student of International/Middle Eastern Studies at CUNY Graduate Center.
