The below was written by a friend, Tom Lewis, chairman of the Colebrook (CT) Democratic Town Committee. I judged his views insightful and worthy of posting.
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Israel and Its Enemies
The destruction caused by Israeli aerial warfare in southern Lebanon, especially the southern parts of Beirut, is very heavy. For a photographic view, go to the
Washington Post website and look at the panoramic photos. Notwithstanding that this is photography and photographs can give a highly selective view, the scenes look like something out of WW II. The death and destruction in Gaza is equally disturbing.
Israel has made mistakes in recent years, the worst effects of which have been caused by the extensive settlements, which were essentially religious incursions backed by military power into land bounded by the truce line at the end of the 1967 War. The complex domestic politics of Israel have made changes in the settlements policies very difficult but changes had begun to be made. Israel had begun pulling the settlements out. With respect to Gaza, the relatively slow pace of the changes was overrun by the Hamas victory and Hamas assaults on southern Israel, and the Israeli response to those assaults. Hamas as an organization is essentially an arm of Syrian policy.
There are no Israeli settlements in Lebanon. The current war with Hezbollah is the second part of a long-term war that began 20 years ago. Hezbollah was founded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and is an instrument of the Iranian government. The government of Lebanon is both victim and instrument of Damascus and Tehran. It was Hezbollah that drove the US Marines out of Lebanon 23 years ago. That is an illustration of the limits of American power in the region.
The goal of Syria and Iran is the elimination of Israel as a nation. Between Hamas and Hezbollah, they threaten Israel along much of its northern, eastern and southern borders. The use of rockets supplied by Tehran and Damascus extends the reach of Hezbollah into much of Israel. These rockets are not like big hand grenades. They are heavy artillery.
Israel must be permitted to live safely within its borders. Israel has not vowed the destruction of every Arab in the region. But Syria and Iran have vowed the destruction of Israel and the Jews who live there. So there is nothing even-handed about this confrontation.
Hezbollah and Hamas, presumably acting in concert and under direction from Damascus and Tehran, have provoked a two-front war with Israel. Israel has responded by attempting to destroy as much as possible of the Hezbollah capability to threaten Israel. Israel is using the tools it has. Israel does not have the luxury enjoyed by Damascus and Tehran of sitting back and having "insurgents" fight its wars for it. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is saying nothing about Damascus and Tehran. She is blaming only Israel.
Hezbollah and Hamas are not governments. If they were, they might take more responsibility for the people under their control. They are armies and they use the people under their control as pawns in a war. It is Hezbollah that has put the people of southern Lebanon at risk. It is Hamas that fires rockets at Israeli communities inside the permanent borders of Israel.
Build a government. Build an infrastructure and a permanent educational system. That is what governments do. But Hamas and Hezbollah are not governments. They are armies, they exist to fight wars and they have taken on a life of their own without the responsibilities of true governments. Israel can flatten southern Lebanon and drive all its people into refugee camps but Hezbollah will continue to exist, will hide itself among the people of its territory, will rebuild its military capabilities and will attack Israel once again. It is Hezbollah (Tehran) that caused this war and it is the people of Israel and southern Lebanon who suffer for it.
Israel will do what it has to do to protect itself. I cannot pretend to be "even-handed" in my feelings about this. I have no sympathy for Syria and Iran and their proxy armies. This war may have been provoked by the kidnapping of three soldiers but it is not about kidnapping. It is about coordinated invasions of Israel on two sides, a military threat to Israel by well-armed, determined armies who are directed by the leaders of two nations eternally hostile to Israel.
When Israel is accused of a disproportionate response, it is being accused by people who are either figureheads (the prime minister of Lebanon who is propped up in office by Syria and Iran), or its enemies or people who are at no risk (the UN commissioner for human rights). What would a proportionate response have been? Kidnapping a couple of Hezbollah soldiers? Hezbollah would have probed and poked with more and more force. Israel will always respond with disproportionate force because Hezbollah and Hamas have no tanks, no airplanes, no ships. But those are Israel's weapons.
The truly cynical player here is the Bush Administration that sees Israel only as a tool in the war against global terror and does not know how and does not care to practice the kind of interventional diplomacy that might have supported Israel in its long-term policy of withdrawal from the settlements and that might have at least tried to influence the corrupt Palestinian Authority and the Hamas warlords to work toward a truly responsible government on the Palestinian side of the border, and that might have influenced Syria to control Hezbollah in southern Lebanon instead of using it as a proxy weapon against Israel.
Under the Bush Administration, American diplomacy as an instrument for preventing war and achieving long-term stability and peace does not exist. This is a tragedy for the American people and, we now see, a tragedy for Israel and its neighbors. When we look at the bombed out buildings in Beirut and Gaza, and we see images of civilian death and injury, we should not forget to include in the scene a holograph of President Bush and his very weak Secretary of State.