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Official Justification for Israel's Invasion on Thin Ice
As Lebanon
continues to be pounded by Israeli bombs and munitions, the
justification for Israel's invasion is treading on very thin ice. It
has become general knowledge that it was Hezbollah guerillas that first
kidnapped two IDF soldiers inside Israel on July 12, prompting an
immediate and violent response from the Israeli government, which
insists it is acting in the interest of national defense. Israeli
forces have gone on to kill over 370 innocent Lebanese civilians
(compared to 34 killed on Israel's side) while displacing hundreds of
thousands more. But numerous reports from international and independent
media, as well as the Associated Press, raise questions about Israel's
official version of the events that sparked the conflict two weeks ago.
The
original story, as most media tell it, goes something like this:
Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol station, killing six and
taking two soldiers hostage. The incident happened on the
Lebanese/Israel border in Israeli territory. The alternate version, as
explained by several news outlets, tells a bit of a different tale:
These sources contend that Israel sent a commando force into southern
Lebanon and was subsequently attacked by Hezbollah near the village of
Aitaa al-Chaab, well inside Lebanon's southern territory. It was at
this point that an Israel tank was struck by Hezbollah fighters, which
resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the death of six.
As the AFP
reported, "According to the Lebanese police force, the two Israeli
soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aitaa
al-Chaab, near to the border with Israel, where an Israeli unit had
penetrated in middle of morning." And the French news site www.VoltaireNet.org
reiterated the same account on June 18, "In a deliberated way, [Israel]
sent a commando in the Lebanese back-country to Aitaa al-Chaab. It was
attacked by Hezbollah, taking two prisoners."
The Associated Press
departed from the official version as well. "The militant group
Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes Wednesday across
the border in southern Lebanon, prompting a swift reaction from Israel,
which sent ground forces into its neighbor to look for them," reported
Joseph Panossian for AP on July 12. "The forces were trying to keep the
soldiers' captors from moving them deeper into Lebanon, Israeli
government officials said on condition of anonymity."
And the Hindustan Times on July 12 conveyed a similar account:
"The
Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah movement announced on Wednesday that its
guerrillas have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
'Implementing our promise to free Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, our
strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon,' a
statement by Hezbollah said. 'The two soldiers have already been moved
to a safe place,' it added. The Lebanese police said that the two
soldiers were captured as they 'infiltrated' into the town of Aitaa
al-Chaab inside the Lebanese border."
Whether factual or
not, these alternative accounts should at the very least raise serious
questions as to Israel's motives and rationale for bombarding Lebanon.
MSNBC
online first reported that Hezbollah had captured Israeli soldiers
"inside" Lebanon, only to change their story hours later after the
Israeli government gave an official statement to the contrary.
A report from The National Council of Arab Americans,
based in Lebanon, also raised suspicion that Israel's official story
did not hold water and noted that Israel had yet to recover the tank
that was demolished during the initial attack in question.
"The
Israelis so far have not been able to enter Aitaa al-Chaab to recover
the tank that was exploded by Hezbollah and the bodies of the soldiers
that were killed in the original operation (this is a main indication
that the operation did take place on Lebanese soil, not that in my
opinion it would ever be an illegitimate operation, but still the media
has been saying that it was inside 'Israel' thus an aggression first
started by Hezbollah)."
Before independent observers could
organize an investigation of the incident, Israel had already mounted a
grisly offensive against Lebanese infrastructure and civilians, bombing
Beirut's international airport, along with numerous highways and
communication portals. Israel didn't need the truth of the matter to
play out before it invaded Lebanon. As with the United States'
illegitimate invasion of Iraq, Israel just needed the proper media
cover to wage a war with no genuine moral impetus.