Originally Posted @ Voices In The Wilderness
Israel is showing the entire world why its critics are absolutely right in suggesting that they have become a destabilizing force in the region. I will be clear that I don’t agree with Hezbollah’s actions although I completely understand their logic. That being said that does not give Israel the right to bomb all of Lebanon mercilessly.
I have been hearing the lies for weeks now, “Any sovereign country would do the same”. WRONG. Russia has twice been hit with vicious attacks on their civilian population by Chechen rebels groups but under Vladimir Putin (The so called anti democratic leader of Russia) the Chechen people have not been punished because of the acts of a few. If ever there were justification for a massive response it was following the Chechen rebels attack on the elementary school in Beslan. Just as a ferocious response may have been Russia showed how a truly responsible nation should respond. They were patient, the used covert operations to get the perpetrators and were recently rewarded for their efforts after killing the groups’ leader. A massive bombardment could have no doubt been carried out by the Russian government but again they did what Israel claims to be doing now, restrained themselves. Israel is said to be a democracy and to listen to western media Russia is a ruthless autocratic dictatorship yet somehow the ruthless dictatorship showed far more care for human life than did the, “flourishing democracy”.
Not many years before that horrendous attack was the attack on a Russian theatre and again Chechen rebels murdered Russian civilians; though Russia’s handling of the situation was far from perfect they again proved to be a true world leader by restraining from collectively punishing the Chechen people.
Indonesia was bombed by Al-Qaeda and they arrested the perpetrators of the criminal act they did not unilaterally invade Pakistan and bomb their civilian population and infrastructure. There are literally hundreds of examples of nations being attacked without responding by instantly and unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation. Why then is the Bush administration and the Canadian government constantly repeating the same chorus, “Any sovereign nation would do the same thing”.
Absolutely wrong!
To my mind Israel is not different than a terrorist organization; no better than Hezbollah and no better than Al-Qaeda.
The Right Response
If Israel were truly a peaceful nation they would not have responded with bombs and other military apparatus but they would have applied pressure on the Lebanese government (which currently has the support of Washington) through Washington. Because of their recent democratic elections Lebanon has in place a government that would have been much more likely than in the past to work with Washington (maybe even Israel) to get the soldiers returned safely. Certainly it would have been a long and frustrating process but I find anyone who would argue for a military solution over a long and drawn out diplomatic solution as unwise at the core. Interestingly enough had this happened prior to the Gaza situation the response could have been much more measured without having to worry about looking weak. Putting Gaza under siege, then having Hezbollah capture 2 soldiers without responding would have made Israel look like they were unable to fight wars on multiple fronts. In essence, the Gaza offensive backed Israel into a corner (in the eyes of Israeli leaders) and as usual their leaders were not wise enough to react in a manner that would have made them look strong yet controlled (in either case quite frankly).
Iran and Syria
The western media has been beating the drums of war with Iran so it shouldn’t be a surprise that without verifying any of Israel’s claims that the missiles were Iranian missiles or that the soldiers are being transported to Iran they report it as fact. Irrespective of my contempt for the propaganda spreading American media the truth is Iran and Syria both support Hezbollah and Hamas and while the missiles may not have been Iranian missiles, Hezbollah is most probably being financed by Iran and to a lesser extent Syria.
Does this make these nations supporters of terrorist?
I see no difference between Iran’s support of Hezbollah and Hamas in the form of finances and even arms and The United States’ financial support of Israel (to the tune of 3 billion dollars a year) and their arming Israel to the utmost. There is however a perceived difference mainly due to how western media, the United States in particular, covers the two perspectives. I have yet to hear one American media outlet condemn any of Israel’s actions (From the bombing at the beach to the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure in Gaza) yet Hezbollah is time and time again referred to as a radical Islamist terrorist group. CNN even goes as far as emphasizing Hezbollah’s attacks on the U.S embassy 20 years ago (Without ever mentioning the reasons for the attacks).
Start of a greater war
This may or may not prove to be the start of something big and memorable for all the wrong reasons. Prior to the First World War there were many alliances made and treaties signed ensuring that if one nation were attacked the other nation would join the battle. It has been the simple response for decades to suggest that Germany and Germany alone started WWI (after all they signed the treaty of Versailles) but the truth is that they were not the only country invading and colonizing at the time, they were just the last. It seems quite fair to suggest that we are living in similar times; times of treaties and alliances, defense guarantees and nationalism. This could be the start of another war to end all wars but as I said, it may not be.
The Kosovo conflict of the 90’s proved that their can be civilization wars that don’t end up sparking world wars. The difference in this situation is that Israel is much more likely to attack Syria or Iran than Bosnians, Serbs or Croats were to attack Russia or the United States. The key to avoiding a world war in this situation is as it was in the Kosovo Conflict, keep the civilization leaders as supporters and sponsors and allow the proxies to do the dirty work otherwise we will be thrust into another world war.
It’s sad that it comes to this. I abhor the governments of this world.
God Bless