Blameless Lebanon
Poor blameless Lebanon. Its civic infrastructure is suffering badly under Israeli air assaults. Its southern border towns are experiencing dreadful bombardments from an Israel which has taken cautionary measures to limit 'collateral' damage as much as possible by forewarning residents and urging them to depart bombing zones. Lebanese citizens, mostly of the Shia Muslim group are being killed and wounded from fall-out of these aerial bombardments. These are mostly invader-defiant, fervently Hezbollah-supporting Lebanese, these innocently-brainwashed people furious with anger against Israel, sublimely confident their fate is in the hands of their protectors, "The Hand of Allah" terrorists.Is any of this Lebanon's fault? Haven't they suffered time and again through invasions, civil wars, destruction of their people's faith? Most certainly they have, by any reasonable yardstick of human resistence to total assimilation by another country, by any unreasonable yardstick of sacrificial lambs/civilian lives. They do, truly they do, deserve better. It's a hard world we live in. To do better, to continue to have hope, to finally make one's way through the maelstrom of a geographically-historicied storm of unrelenting continuity, one must always strive to make one's own opportunities. Deserve to deserve better.
While the government of Lebanon insists it is an innocent bystander to a war not of its making nor desire, that the country's people and its infrastructure have been sacrificed to the brutal revenge of an eternal enemy of the Arab peoples this assertion goes slightly beyond acceptable truth and reason. It is the Lebanese government in its wisdom that accepted a situation whereby 14 seats were won by Hezbollah in the country's most recent flirt with democracy. It was the Lebanese government's decision in its great hopes for the future to absorb two of those Hezbollah politicals into its cabinet. Thus effectively recognizing and rewarding a rabidly Islamist jihad-bent organization for its stellar work on behalf of Lebanon.
Hezbollah cleverly ingratiated and endeared itself to a neglected population of Lebanese in the south of the country, Shia by orientation, sad stepchildren of the majority of Lebanese. Official Lebanon acquiesced while a militant jihadist group set up badly needed hospitals, clinics, schools and civic infrastructure for an impoverished and neglected minority within the Lebanese population, earning their undying gratitude and complete support. That Hezbollah also inserted its military operations within this same population, among the very people it purported to succour and support is yet another story, but one not seen as being amiss by their grateful supporters.
Wouldn't a responsible government feel uneasy about such a situation? Having given an Islamist militia carte blanch to operate a hefty portion of the country as they saw fit? Becoming a government-within-a-government, a military entity entitled by this unconcern on the part of the legitimate government of Lebanon to do as it would, when it wished, whatever the outcome? Can that elected, legitimate government of Lebanon then sit back and declare its innocence? In Wonderland.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon states that Hezbollah has nothing to do with their parliamentary system, their military, that it acts on its own behalf, and as a result Lebanon has been victimized, not by Hezbollah and its leader Sheik Nasrallah who deliberately invited Israeli defensive reprisals in response to Hezbollah's attacks against that country, but by Israel. During an address to legislators in the United States the Prime Minister of Lebanon outright refused to condemn Hezbollah or to characterize their activities as being extra-territorial terrorist activities. While passionately calling for pity for his poor beleaguered country, and demanding a ceasefire, he also verbally assaulted Israel as the aggressor.
Reality is that Israel would like nothing better than to live in peace with her neighbours, to bask in the relief of finally achieving acceptance within the region. This simple assurance continues to elude an ever-hopeful Israel for the simple reason that her neighbours steadfastly refuse to accept her presence. Some do so now in a diplomatically acceptable way, having agreed to peace between Israel and themselves, others with viciously overt threats about whose intent no one could be ignorant.
Lebanon has been complicit with the Hezbollah, knowledgeable about their ultimate purpose, unwilling to force any unpleasant issues between the legal government and the quasi-government set up in its south. Lebanon blithely ignored the United Nations' Security Council Resolution 1559 of 2004 to disarm the Hezbollah militia and claim full sovereignty over Lebanon, governing it in a way that would protect the Lebanese people and present no threats to the security of its neighbour, Israel.
In all the important indices of a responsible government in securing the well being of its population, its infrastructure, its growth potential and security, the Lebanese government has failed dismally. So closely has official Lebanon acted with Hezbollah that during these trying times Lebanese military have acted in concert with Hezbollah militants to round up Christian Lebanese civilians who are suspected of having collaberated with Israel.
Lebanon demands a halt to the fighting, she demands that Israel cease and desist. Israel demands the utter de-fanging of the Hezbollah dragon, and a verifiable buffer zone, an undertaking by the government of Lebanon to ensure that its borders and southern territories will never again be used as launching pads to strike Israeli targets. To that end Israel is willing to agree to an international monitoring force - with the requisite teeth to detect, disarm and disallow military incursions into Israel. For their part, Lebanon states:
"We would not like to see a force - no matter how noble its mandate, no matter how good its intentions - be perceived in our country as a force that represents interests of one or more particular nations" Tarek Mitri, Lebanon's acting foreign minister, told the UN Security Council.What, exactly, would they like? Well, obviously a complete emasculation of Israel's military capability, leaving it vulnerable and incapable of repelling future attacks by crazed Islamists.
Tell us again, Mr. Siniora, how blameless Lebanon is.
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, August 01, 2006
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