Hizbullah leader: 'You wanted open war. We are ready for an open war'
It started, ostensibly, as an attempt to rescue two Israeli soldiers grabbed in an audacious move by Hizbullah.
In reality Israel, shocked that their superior military force had not proven a strong enough deterrent to make such an assault unthinkable, set out to discourage future attacks by delivering a disproportionate and bloody revenge. By making clear to Lebanon that this would be the price of any future assault.
However, listening to the Israeli Prime Minister yesterday it would appear that this supposedly limited and bloody plan has been expanded. Ehud Olmert has said that his country would not halt its attacks until Hizbullah was disarmed.
That's a terrifying escalation from the original aim of simply rescuing two soldiers and almost guarantees that the Israelis will be in Lebanon for the foreseeable future. And this escalation of the Israeli armies aims has literally transformed itself within a couple of days.Brigadier General Ido Nehushtan said: "We know that it's going to be a long and continuous operation, but it's very clear: we need to put Hizbullah out of business. Our aim is to change the situation in which a terrorist organisation operates from within a sovereign territory."
Those of us who hoped for a negotiated settlement are about to be very disappointed as Israel has brushed aside all international criticism and President Bush has, apparently, given Israel his support.
Hizbullah have threatened Israel with "open war" and certainly appear to have the ability to deliver it. Not only are their missiles - unlike their Palestinian counterparts - able to travel some 40 miles, but they have yesterday attacked an Israeli ship by launching an explosive laden drone which killed four Israeli sailors and caused enough damage that the vessel had to be towed into Haifa.Hizbullah has never before used a remote-controlled unmanned aircraft to attack Israel. But in a signal of its growing capabilities, the guerrilla group has twice managed to fly spy drones over northern Israel in recent years. The drones caused great concern in Israel because they evaded the country's air defences.
Lebanon went to the UN Security Council yesterday in an attempt to secure a ceasefire and were treated to the rather bizarre sight of Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, calling on Lebanon to adhere to UN resolutions, especially UN resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming of Hizbullah and the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon. To see the Israelis, a nation who have more UN resolutions against them than any other country on Earth, demanding that other nations should respect the resolutions of "this august body" is as surreal a moment of theatre as I expect to see all year. Not since the first time I saw Cirque du Soleil has my mouth been that wide in astonishment.
Israel, having suddenly widened her brief in the conflict, is set to continue her assault's on Lebanon despite a wave of condemnation from across the globe.
President Jacques Chirac has accused Israel of possibly seeking the destruction of Lebanon as he condemned its "completely disproportionate" military offensive against Islamist guerrillas. "One could ask if today there is not a sort of will to destroy Lebanon, its equipment, its roads, its communication."
President Vladimir Putin said: "No hostage-takings are acceptable ... but neither is the use of full-scale force in response to these, even if unlawful, actions."
Tony Blair, in his role as middle man between the US and Europe, declared that there was "no split" between Europe and the US on the issue. It's a sign of how often Blair makes remarks that show his utter detachment from reality that no-one actually laughed. We've simply become inured to Tony's ability to see the world in whatever light is most politically expedient to him at the time.
So the world condemns, the US approves, and Israel - daily - continues to expand her war aims.I am still left wondering what Israel actually expects to achieve here. It's all very well stating that they intend to disarm Hizbullah, but they surely know that this is not militarily achievable.
Certainly, with rising oil prices, it's not going to be achievable in the time limit before the world steps in and forces Bush to bring an end to the madness.
The Israelis are boxing themselves into a corner from which Bush, as a friend, should help them out of by demanding a cease fire. Israel's reputation was severely damaged by it's last entry into Lebanon, and - from the condemnation currently surrounding the globe - that damage is in danger of becoming permanent.
The lessons to be learned from Hizbullah's audacious act is that Arab states might not necessarily sit by as Israel uses her military might against the Palestinian civilian population. With Syria and Iran sitting on the sidelines Bush needs to halt his madness before it escalates any further.
Or is that the plan? Let's not go there.
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