Israel gears up for ground war
Saint Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked him "how dare you molest the sea?" "How dare you molest the whole world?" the pirate replied. "Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor."The neo-Con effort to redefine the world's rules continues unabated.
Naom Chomsky
Pirates and Emperors, Old and New
And so we find, in this new world order, that when a Palestinian rebel group attack and kidnap a soldier from the occupation army that has oppressed them for nearly forty years, this is considered an act of "terrorism", and when that same occupation force attack and bomb the civilians of a neighbouring country, this is labelled "self-defence".
This is the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld worldview. Where you and I look and see humanitarian disaster and war crimes against an unarmed civilian population, George Bush sees a great "opportunity".
Condaleeza Rice is being despatched to the region but assures us before she leaves that it is almost certain that nothing will be achieved. "I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think it would be a mistake."
Israel and the US seem determined, as if this excuses any of Israel's outrageous behaviour, to insist that this entire operation began with the kidnap of one of their soldiers. Of course, it didn't.
Let us remember that Hamas had been operating a sixteen month ceasefire towards Israel, a ceasefire that the Israelis never acknowledged. They kept this ceasefire going even after the US, EU and Israel decided on an official policy to starve the Palestinians for having the temerity to vote for a political party that the west disagreed with.
It was only after Israel killed a Palestinian family on a Gaza beach that Hamas finally said, "Enough is enough" and called off the ceasefire.
It's worth bearing in mind what actually happened before we get to the next part of this particular nightmare.
The current US/Israeli script demands that we view history as beginning when Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. This, of course, was not the case.
We must never forget that Hamas had been forced by Abbas into a corner and had given up their historic refusal to recognise the state of Israel.
This put Israel in an awkward corner. What excuse could they now have for not negotiating with Hamas?
The Israelis, who have never wanted to negotiate with anyone but have been forced by their American co-conspirators to pretend that they seek a "partner for peace", were determined not to be forced into this negotiation with such an "unreasonable" partner. The shelling of the beach brought all such talk of negotiation to an end. I said at the time that the cynic in me was very suspicious of the timing of that shelling. For that shelling has put negotiations to one side and led us to where we stand now.
Now, rather than negotiating with Hamas, Israeli troops are massing near the border of Lebanon preparing for a ground assault.
How quickly the situation has moved from possible negotiations to Israel being "forced" once again to invading one of her neighbours.
As Israeli troops call up their reservists, it is well worth remembering the alternatives that were available only a short while ago. Hamas had recognised Israel's right to exist and the ground was prepared for negotiations for a final solution to this conflict.
The US and Israel are asking that we view what is to come as an inevitable response to Arab aggression and an attempt to free captured soldiers. One can only, realistically, ascribe to that world view if one is prepared to forget all that happened before.
Are you?
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