The Road To Destruction: Israel Confronts The Middle East
By Dan Lieberman
24 July, 2006
Countercurrents.orgIsrael’s similar actions in Gaza and Lebanon, in reaction to the seizure of its border guards, demonstrate that Israel is on a well-calculated strategy; control nations without occupying them – simply destroy them - which is a sinister forecast to the future of the Middle East.
Hezbollah’s seizure of two Israeli border guards and firing two rockets close to Shlomi, an Israeli town about 15 km east of the Mediterranean coast, were criminal acts, but hardly acts of war. Acts of this type are not rare; they have occurred, and still occur in various parts of the world. China had border conflicts with the Soviet Union, Vietnam and India; all of them provoked skirmishes in which soldiers died, but they also resulted in negotiations that resolved the difficulties. Pakistan and India, Chad and neighboring nations, Russia and neighboring lands, the list is endless of border skirmishes that didn’t lead to a total attack by the stronger nation. Let’s be clear, Israel ferociously attacked Lebanon without first making local and international appeals and before Hezbollah launched its Katyusha rockets against Israeli cities. Israel’s immediate response didn’t consider locating the soldiers. It consisted of blockade and punishing missile strikes against Lebanon’s infrastructure.
The accusation of disproportionate response by Israel misses the issue and skews the debate. How can Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, and don’t forget Gaza, have anything to do with a border skirmish and abduction of soldiers? After all, Israel has not come close to freeing its soldiers and has caused additional casualties to its own people by an obvious response to its aggressive actions.If Iraqi Shiites seize a British soldier, and they have, does it mean the British can bombard Basra and destroy the city?
If Iraqi Sunnis seize an American soldier, and they have, does it mean U.S. forces can obliterate Iraq?
If the rebels in Darfur seize a Sudanese soldier, and they have, does it mean that the Sudan military can wreak havoc in Darfur?
The abductions are only an excuse for another mission – the destruction of Lebanon, and don’t forget Gaza. The issue is whether Israel is committing total destruction or near genocide in Lebanon, and don’t forget Gaza. By debating the word to use for Israel’s aggressive action, the larger debate of Israel’s actual reason for the horrific actions is sidetracked – all to the benefit of Israel. What is Israel’s actual reason for permitting a border skirmish to lead to wholesale destruction of Lebanon, and don’t forget Gaza? First, some background before arriving at the conclusive reason.Israel removed its (let’s use the correct word) occupation forces from Lebanon and Gaza, but didn’t remove its control of both areas. Israeli planes still entered Lebanese airspace at will and Israeli boats entered Lebanese waters at will. Israeli commandos and assassination teams entered Lebanon and created some havoc. Note this newsworthy event that has not been well publicized, and might have incited Hezbollah:
Israel has death squads:LEBANESE authorities have broken up an apparent Israeli spy ring whose members have claimed responsibility for a string of killings of Hezbollah and Palestinian militants since 1999. Death squad spy ring is captured, Nicholas Blanford, The Times June 16, 2006
Israel’s claim that thousands of airplane sorties and shellings from land, sea and air are striking Hezbollah targets indicates Israel has previously entered Lebanon on a large scale and mapped precisely where Mr. Hezbollah lives, eats and sleeps. The blockade, destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure and the type of Lebanese casualties, which include few Hezbollah guerillas, indicate that Israel doesn’t care about starving people or the accuracy of its missiles.
Israel made a big fuss about having left Gaza, as if it ever legally owned anything in the Palestinian land. Lost in the overpowering rhetoric is that Israel still controls the air space over Gaza, blocks the sea lanes to Gaza, fences Gaza on two sides and enters with impunity. Before Israel “left” Gaza, its military destroyed thousands of homes along the Gaza border with Egypt which Human Rights Watch states "has no justification on military ground." Israel bombed Gaza towns, performed targeted assassinations of Palestinians and obliterated much of Gaza’s infrastructure, including its airport, fisheries, roads and factories. And after “leaving” Gaza, Israel has continued its mayhem.
SWISS INFO
July 21, 2006 - 6:25 AMIsrael kills 4 in Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian medics said Israeli shelling of a home in Gaza on Friday killed a Hamas militant and three civilians, as tanks and troops withdrew from a refugee camp following a three-day assault. Earlier on Friday, Israeli tanks and troops pulled out of central Gaza's Maghazi refugee camp after a three-day sweep in which 15 gunmen and civilians were killed. "Yes, our forces are out, but it is important to emphasise that operations in Gaza continue," the spokeswoman said. Israel has killed at least 115 Palestinians, around half of them militants, during its offensive.
It is obvious that Israel removed its occupation troops from Gaza and Lebanon because it has determined it does not have the material and physical resources to occupy other lands. Hezbollah’s biggest failure is that it has given Israel an opportunity to prove it can succeed in its new design for subduing the Middle East. Israel’s new design emerges from the U.S. failure to “bring democracy to the Middle East.” Israel’s realist government must have noticed what others have observed: The worst method for bringing democracy to the Middle East is to have democratic elections.
The democratic election in Iraq brought militias to parliament where they confused the legislative process and made sure nothing happens, especially against them. The democratic election in Palestine brought Hamas to office and Israel used the election to detach itself from any peace initiative. The democratic election in Lebanon brought Hezbollah into the Lebanese parliament where it made sure the government would not implement UN Resolution 1559 that calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament. It’s hypocritical that many nations condemn Lebanon of for not applying UN Resolution 1559 while aware that Israel has refused to comply with any of the tens (or is it hundreds) of UN resolutions
Iraq, previously Israel’s greatest antagonist, has been destroyed; an example to Israel of how it can resolve an adversarial situation without using its foot soldiers. Now, in responses to capture of its soldiers, first in Gaza, and then in Lebanon, Israel established a pattern that leads to a conclusion - recognizing that it doesn’t have the resources to control by occupation, it will use brutal missile power to destroy adversary infrastructures and create mayhem to reduce their populations to barren lives. Syria and Iran are obviously next on the total destruction list.
The eventual attack on Iran is not the end of a beginning; it might be the beginning of an end. What will happen if Iran, or some other antagonist to Israel’s polices, created a military force to rival that of Israel? Considering Israel’s “blast them now and answer questions later,” philosophy, it is possible Israel will move up its weapons of mass destruction by one notch and use nuclear armaments to achieve its purposes
The war on the Arab world, which started after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, is almost complete. The 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement that created artificial borders and divided the Middle East into areas of influence for France, Great Britain and others, has been replaced with new protagonists; the U.S and Israel. Most Middle East nations are already subservient to U.S. interests. The remaining opposition is being brought into a new order.
Actually, earlier in history, a supposed border skirmish precipitated a great war.
After several delays the German army crossed the border in the dusk of 1 September 1939 without declaration of war. In the night before the SS had forced concentration camp inmates to dress up as Polish soldiers and feign an attack on a German broadcasting station near the border. Hitler's press communiqué therefore announced that German troops were "returning the fire." http://www.colby.edu/personal/r/rmscheck/GermanyE3.html
It is presumptuous to conclude that Israel’s attacks against relatively defenceless nations are similar to those of Nazi Germany or will precipitate World War III (or is it WW IV?). Nevertheless, it is chilling to see images of Israeli tanks lined up for invasion at the Lebanon border. It recalls the 1940 images of German tanks lined up at the Luxembourg border for an invasion of France through the Ardennes forest. It is frightful to witness the bombing of Beirut and its surrounding provoke a greater human catastrophe than the German WWII bombings of Warsaw and Rotterdam that shook the sensibilities of a civilized word. Israel seems to be more an armed encampment than a nation. Where do they keep all the military equipment, armaments production, depots, maintenance, air fields and logistics to supply their armed forces? Where do the Israelis have room to live and play?
Dan Lieberman is the editor of Alternative Insight, a monthly web based newsletter.http:www.alternativeinsight.com
