Bush to Siniora: Drop Dead
Israeli war planes struck Lebanese army targets on Tuesday: "Israeli warplanes pounded an army barracks east of Beirut in an overnight raid in which 11 troops, including four officers, were killed and 40 injured, an army statement said Tuesday."
That wasn't a Hizbullah barracks. That was the regular Lebanese army, the one the Israelis say they would trust to patrol the Lebanese border with Israel, and which they wish would take on Hizbullah. So why are they bombing the Lebanese Army?
As for the government in charge of the army, it was pleading pretty pitiably. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora (a Sunni Muslim businessman) pleaded for an immediate internationally-sanctioned cease-fire on Tuesday. Xinhua reports:
' Siniora vehemently condemned Israel's continued aggression against the battered country, saying the international community must have been aware that Israel was committing massacres against Lebanese civilians, including children, women and elders. He said that Israel was acting to destroy "everything that allows Lebanon to stay alive". He added that the Israeli troops continued its bombing attacks on Tuesday, targeting Lebanon's gas stations, civilian residences, roads, army barracks and posts, food processing mills and vehicles carrying foodstuff. '
Siniora came to power as part of an anti-Syrian political movement supported by the Bush administration, dubbed by the American press "the Cedar Revolution."
Here is what George W. Bush said about Siniora in April of this year:
' PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, we just had a really interesting discussion. I told the Prime Minister that the United States strongly supports a free and independent and sovereign Lebanon. We took great joy in seeing the Cedar Revolution. We understand that the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the street to express their desire to be free required courage, and we support the desire of the people to have a government responsive to their needs and a government that is free, truly free . . .
We talked about the great tradition of Lebanon to serve as a model of entrepreneurship and prosperity. Beirut is one of the great international cities, and I'm convinced that if Lebanon is truly free and independent and democratic, that Beirut will once again regain her place as a center of financial and culture and the arts.
There's no question in my mind that Lebanon can serve as a great example for what is possible in the broader Middle East; that out of the tough times the country has been through will rise a state that shows that it's possible for people of religious difference to live side-by-side in peace; to show that it's possible for people to put aside past histories to live together in a way that the people want, which is, therefore, to be peace and hope and opportunity.
And so, Mr. Prime Minister, we're really glad you're here. I want to thank you for the wonderful visit we've had, and welcome you here to the White House.
This is the first sentence of a news item today: "George W. Bush on Tuesday warned Syria to stay out of Lebanon as he signalled to Israel that it would have more time to carry out its military campaign . . ." I swear to God, it really says that. Then comes this gem: "He said Israel had been asked to ensure that the government of Fouad Siniora survived, but the White House declined to comment on repeated Israeli strikes against Lebanese army units."
What you have to admire most about W. is how he stands by his friends.
posted by Juan Cole @ 7/19/2006 06:24:00 AM
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Incredible to see Israeli bombs landing in the Christian villages and towns and suburbs like Byblos, the port in east Beirut, Zahle, Hadath...and the terrible suffering of 500,000 displaced persons.
I guess the masterplan is like in '48 - a major ethnic cleansing and re-drawing of the maps.
But in the end this strategy cannot work because racialist ideologies always fail in the end - they are ultimately less efficient than tolerant multi cultural societies.
Many people in the West are shocked by our own governments' silence in the face of mass ethnic cleansing. But the role of the "mainstream media" in framing the issue is a big issue of course and the government in America needs lots of foreign conflicts and wars to divert attention from the inadequacy of health and education services to so many Americans.
What is the nationalist leader of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, saying?
"This is the first sentence of a news item today: "George W. Bush on Tuesday warned Syria to stay out of Lebanon as he signalled to Israel that it would have more time to carry out its military campaign . . ."
I swear to God, it really says that. Then comes this gem: "He said Israel had been asked to ensure that the government of Fouad Siniora survived, but the White House declined to comment on repeated Israeli strikes against Lebanese army units."
Bush thinks the US sphere of influence is permanent. The Chinese have a saying, "A long time is not forever."
There is this thing called Peak Oil. Bush should have been watching Nightline Monday instead of figuring out how to say something stupid. T. Boone Pickens, geologist and really rich dude, is certain Peak Oil has occurred. Peak Oil means we won't be able to afford our suburbs anymore. When we can no longer afford our suburbs, we no longer pay off our mortgages and the US financial system is based on increasing the supply of debt based capital.
Here's the "Bush accessible" summary. The US sphere of influence will shrink and Israel will no longer be in it.
"What you have to admire most about W. is how he stands by his friends."
What I respect most about our Arab friends is how well and how long they remember.
How can it be that every day brings another new low to our country?
>"George W. Bush on Tuesday warned Syria to stay out of Lebanon as he signalled to Israel that it would have more time to carry out its military campaign . . ."
This is starting to reek of ethnic cleansing.
The following is not really an analysis.
There are two pictures by AFP:
Little Israeli girls writing messages on bombs ready to be dropped on targets in southern Lebanon.
The next one is of two men mourning the deaths of three children, killed after an Israeli jet dropped a bomb on a canal in Tyre, Lebanon.
The children were playing in the water when the missile hit.
I am thousands of miles away from that. And I consider myself a calm person, and as a social scientist, I would always try to understand actions in terms of the conditions and contexts and perceived realities within which they take place. But still, seing these, I am just speechless. I can't even imagine the suffering of innocent Lebanese civillians.
Do Israelies who support this (apparently %60 think that it is justified) really believe that this will help with their security? I mean, really, could they really believe that?
I think that the fact that the oil peak has been reached is the reason explaining why the US invaded Iraq and why they are trying to make the whole ME their zone of influence. They are trying to keep the actual ressources for themselves, preventing the Chinese and Indians who have growing needs to get at it.
The actual conflict between Israel and Lebanon may be a concerted plan in order to subsume both Syria and Iran. Then they have an axe going from Israel to Afghanistan and control all the oil.
The US is actually inebriated by its power and no better than the Third Reich and Hitler. She is conducting wars of aggression only in order to extend its power. This is even clearly stated by the neocons.
We the rest of the world and particularly the EU are looking at it in dismay, but unable to oppose to it seriously. The French have tried but they have seen that it comes at a cost and now, like the rest of the EU they are waging a more "Real Politik", almost on the same line as the US.
Prodi in Italy and Kofi Annan are calling for an immediate cease fire, but what can you do against the more powerfull army in the world ? only a guerrilla war of attrition while the civilians are the ones suffering.
We can only cry our indidgnation while the US is infringing all the human rights.
The Waste, I Want No Part Of.
by "Gene S. "
I have recently spent far too much time watching CNN, FOX, BBC, ABC and many, many other news related networks that are reporting on the controversial war in Israel. I usually tend to observe without being judgmental, but right now I can’t help thinking that the Lebanese / Palestinian people a primarily poor and frustrated. If I was a citizen living and working simply as any of us in the United States, and let us say my elected government did something stupid in the case of kidnapping of the two Israeli Soldiers. Then I could relate, because I feel that my own government is continuing to act in similar behavior on a daily basis. Many issues, our own citizens do not even know! I regret my decision use my vote to elect our President Bush into office. Well let me get to the point less I digress my perception of how I now see things. I feel as if our tax dollars have been wasted on a powerful terrorist government, the Israeli Government. What?!!! Everyone knows that the United States of America supports financially the country of Israel. I say this because if you were a business owner, home owner and citizen living in this region and you had invested your life blood into the community and the neighboring country decided to destroy the metropolitan area that I lived in. And rather than seeking the higher moral ground and resolve the issue through serious diplomatic negotiation. Made a selfish decision to annihilate the region from which the problem originated. Then I hate to admit I would have no choice but to sympathize with my people, after experiencing the daily pounding and destruction. It is easy to say that you should throw the government out. However let us consider our success in Iraq and Afghanistan. I also supported this venture in the beginning. However, how successful were we so far? Good luck! There needs to be order. If I were living in Hollywood California and the gangs in neighboring Los Angeles did something stupid. Then I would be upset! and look for solutions through mediation, but I would in no way destroy the city and ghettos and infers structure and hurt innocent human life to make a point! This is insanity! I feel for the people that are being displaced and hurt from the actions that have begun to unfold from and by political nut-jobs with penis envy that control the strings. They're Fed up, but good! I can not see how any positive results are being achieved on either side from this conflict. I am not naïve enough to believe that a region like this is easy to achieve a utopian paradise. But I believe our country and the United Nations, needs to impose serious sanctions not on Lebanese people, but on Israel! Cut them off! Being that if they can not resolve their issues better, the political figures need to be spanked as well. We look at North Korea as using power to subjugate people; well this is exactly what Israel’s Government is doing right now! Spend our taxes, on our people, in our own damn country! Right now if you made it to this point your probable thinking I’m an A.-Hole. I don’t care. I’m a Vet that has seen too many needless wars, with innocent people dying and suffering at the hand of Jack Ass Politicians that talk out of their rear end. They still go home to their mansions, while me and you bust our butts to be robbed of our taxes and stay middle class. For Congressman and Senators blow our future as if they won the Big Lotto! We the people screwed up by allowing the politicians to have such power over our lives! I believe all people are created equal, and our governments allow us to suffer their stupidity. I am Christian but I love everyone the same I do not believe the people in Israel are at fault only a flawed government. I feel the same about Palestinians and Lebanese people who are afraid of the Hezbollah after all they too are very misguided.
Sincerely, A.-Hole: Gene S.
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