What is going on?
It seems clear to me, a mere girl on the street, that things in the Middle East are not all they seem. It may appear, on the surface, that Israel are fighting against Hezbollah (and killing hundreds of innocent Lebanese in the process). On closer examination, it becomes apparent that although the fighters themselves originate from their host countries the weapons do not. Israeli people may be fighting Lebanese extremists, but it is American weapons which are trying to outdo their Iranian supplied counterparts.
What I am struggling to comprehend is what exactly this tells us. Are the US encouraging Israel to antagonize Hezbollah in the hope that Iran steps in and bingo they have an excuse to invade the bigger fish? Or do they truly believe that randomly firing missiles into Lebanon & killing hundreds of children will convince Hezbollah to pack up their weapons and go?
It is blatantly clear that Israel’s actions are never going to achieve their stated aim. So why are they doing it? Either they are stupid or they are lying about their motive.
The IRA were not persuaded to disarm by retaliatory violence. Ultimately they lost their homeland support and looked increasingly isolated. Israel’s actions appear to be doing exactly the opposite, they are in fact ramping up support for the extremists. So WHY are they causing this unforgivable death and destruction?
UPDATE:
What I am struggling to comprehend is what exactly this tells us. Are the US encouraging Israel to antagonize Hezbollah in the hope that Iran steps in and bingo they have an excuse to invade the bigger fish? Or do they truly believe that randomly firing missiles into Lebanon & killing hundreds of children will convince Hezbollah to pack up their weapons and go?
It is blatantly clear that Israel’s actions are never going to achieve their stated aim. So why are they doing it? Either they are stupid or they are lying about their motive.
The IRA were not persuaded to disarm by retaliatory violence. Ultimately they lost their homeland support and looked increasingly isolated. Israel’s actions appear to be doing exactly the opposite, they are in fact ramping up support for the extremists. So WHY are they causing this unforgivable death and destruction?
UPDATE:
posted by Holly Finch at
5:57 PM
4 Comments:
i agree, it seems to me that the whole reason that the US have got so heavily behind Israel in something that would normally be viewed by them as none of their business, apart from the fact that GW getting elected was probably one of the best things for the current Israeli regime, is the fact that the US are looking to goad Iran and Syria into action.Therefore the US will have an excuse to extend their so called war on terror to new fronts. Whoop dee dooo......not! Pippa
I believe that what is going on in Israel right now is similar to what happened here in the US after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. By somehow putting Iraq at blame for 9/11, anyone who does not support the war in Iraq is thereby unpatriotic. The US has been influencing Israeli policy for a very long time now. What is becoming more & more apparent to all of us is that yes, the US is egging Israel on in the hopes of starting a proxy war with Iran, and Syria as well. For every person who recognizes that attacking arab civilians will only further alienate Israel from the rest of the Middle East, there are other people who refute that by saying that it's "a new war" with "new rules." Here in the US, if you point out that the invasion of Iraq has put us more at risk for terrorist attacks, there are a bevy of politicians who will tell you we need to "stay the course," blah blah blah. I am deeply saddened by Israel's attacks in Lebanon and Gaza, but I believe that their vigorous defense strategies have been carefully shaped by the Bush Adminstration, who have interests that are not going to be served by negotiations of peace between Israel and its neighbors.
maybe is is because a terrorist organisation came onto Israeli land, murdered some soldiers, kidnapped a couple of others and then sent missles into Haifa, with the sole intention of killing civillians.
And maybe this terrorist organisation is happily allowed to build up the armoury in Lebanon. Any maybe it's because they have 10,000 of these missiles firing their way into Israel (civilian areas only of course)
Maybe, just maybe.
Actually it seems that one of the factors that increased pressure on the IRA to consider a ceasefire was an increase in indiscriminate "retaliatory" shootings of members of the republican community by loyalists. Morally and pragmatically, it's a scary thought.
I've also read media reports of surveys (sorry no references to hand) that showed a drop in support for suicide bombings in refugee camps after the Israelis increased retaliations (collective punishment?) against the camps.
It is a sad fact that when violence has no consequences for yourself, it is a lot easier to be casual about supporting it.
But there must be a better way to reduce support for murderous attacks than bombing people - mustn't there?
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