As we watch this war unfold in front of our eyes thousands of miles away, the only price we pay is at the pump.
But those of us who pay taxes, we pay another price.
And Israeli weapons aren't cheap.
When an Israeli missile blows up a few homes, burns some kids alive...those are our missiles.
Our bombs.
We continue to support terrorism.
Do you want to know what our bombs just did in a little town called Marwaheen?
From the best journalist alive today,
Robert Fisk, and his
latest article in the Independent:
It will be called the massacre of Marwaheen. All the civilians killed by the Israelis had been ordered to abandon their homes in the border village by the Israelis themselves a few hours earlier. Leave, they were told by loudspeaker; and leave they did, 20 of them in a convoy of civilian cars. That's when the Israeli jets arrived to bomb them, killing 20 Lebanese, at least nine of them children. The local fire brigade could not put out the fires as they all burned alive in the inferno. Another "terrorist" target had been eliminated.
No one in their right mind can call Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists and then call Israel something else.
They all kill lots of innocent people. Period.
But thanks to us, one of these three is very well armed.
However, Hezbollah is emerging...surprising Israel with their arms and tactics. Their attacks and actions as of late, including the kidnappings, were well planned out ahead of time. Fisk goes into detail in his article:
Only now, however, is a truer picture emerging of the battle for southern Lebanon and it is a fascinating, frightening tale. The original border crossing, the capture of the two soldiers and the killing of three others was planned, according to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah leader who escaped assassination by the Israelis on Friday evening, more than five months ago. And Friday's missile attack on the Israeli gunboat was not the last-minute inspiration of a Hizbollah member who just happened to see the warship.
It now appears clear that the Hizbollah leadership - Nasrallah used to be the organisation's military commander in southern Lebanon - thought carefully through the effects of their border crossing, relying on the cruelty of Israel's response to quell any criticism of their action within Lebanon. They were right in their planning. The Israeli retaliation was even crueller than some Hizbollah leaders imagined, and the Lebanese quickly silenced all criticism of the guerrilla movement.
Even provided with high-tech weapons courtesy of the red, white, and blue, Israel is not winning this battle.
The lines between Hizbollah and Lebanon are blurring.
As long as Israel continues to occupy foreign land and as long as they continue with their terrorist attacks in Lebanon, the resistance and Hizbollah will only get stronger and more unified, and they in turn, will continue advancing in strategy, and increasing in frequency and power with their own terrorist attacks.
And as long as we occupy Iraq, so that resistance will do the same.
War is nothing but terrorist attacks. Call it what you will, whatever rhetoric you want to use..when it comes down to it, that's all it is. Israel committed terrorism today. And we helped to fund that terrorism.
By Israel's standards, the U.S. is directly involved in the war, as the close of Fisk's article explains:
The Israelis were yesterday trumpeting the fact that the missile was made in Iran as proof of Iran's involvement in the Lebanon war. This was odd reasoning. Since almost all the missiles used to kill the civilians of Lebanon over the past four days were made in Seattle, Duluth and Miami in the United States, their use already suggests to millions of Lebanese that America is behind the bombardment of their country.
I, for one, cannot support a country that commits terrorism.
But unfortunately, I already do. I have no choice.
Over the next few months, as the price of gas skyrockets and you get angry at the price you have to pay, think long and hard about the price the Lebanese are paying.
Blood costs a lot more than oil.