In the face of Bush's lies, it's left to Assad to tell the truth

It should not be forgotten that, in the early days of the Israel/Hizbullah battle that the Israelis were very quick to place the blame at the door of the Lebanese government.

I say this only because the people being blamed for the war has changed as often as the reasons for pursuing this war.

It started with the aim being the rescue of Israeli soldiers and morphed into a war to destroy Hizbullah which morphed again into the smaller war aim of harming Hizbullah's ability to atrike Israel. It was on this much smaller war aim that Peres yesterday attempted to declare victory, saying that Hizbullah's military capacity had been halved by the conflict. Considering the fact that their missile capability seemed to grow the longer the conflict raged, it's hard to take this claim remotely seriously.

Bush now wants to move the blame to Syria and Iran, saying that they were behind the war.

As far as PR campaigns go, it was a naff one, as Assad was more than willing to step into the limelight and take full credit. He declared Hizbullah victorious in their "glorious battle" with Israel.

I wouldn't have been surprised if he had asked if the US regretted forcing his Syrian troops to leave Lebanon which, it could be argued, created the situation on the ground that led to the conflict. But, in the neo-con world, history begins only when the US says it begins and the two events will remain unconnected, lest we tie the two together and imagine that this was a war that Bush always wanted. So Assad wisely resisted the temptation.

He did, though, hint at the reasons for the war:

"This is a [American] administration that adopts the principle of pre-emptive war that is absolutely contradictory to the principle of peace," he said. "Consequently, we don't accept peace soon or in the foreseeable future."

It's an extraordinary sight to have the Syrian President boasting that he does not accept peace with US. That should give some indication of the total balls up Bush and Co have made of the Middle East. It should also put paid to the Bush inspired lie that Israel have achieved some kind of victory here.

I watched a report on TV last night interviewing various Israeli soldiers who all said that chaos was rampant on the ground with troops being sent east then reverse instructions being issued sending them west. If we are seeing this kind of reporting in the UK I can only imagine how the situation is being viewed in Israel.

There certainly appears to be more of a spirit of introspection in Israel than in their American counterparts. I only hope that this spirit of introspection leads Olmert, while he still has a job, to consider entering into serious negotiations with their neighbours for the returning of land seized in 1967.

As I pointed out yesterday, people like Netanyahu are very keen to make the fact that Sharon withdrew from Gaza the reason for the ensuing violence. Such a mindset is more dangerous for Israel than any other. Those who wish to disengage from Arab lands should push forward quickly before the Netanyahu camps halt their progress forever.

In order to do this Olmert should acknowledge his defeat - to himself, even if not to others - and learn that his mistake was not wishing to disengage, his mistake was wishing to disengage unilaterally.

If he wishes history to release him from the shackles of the memory of this defeat, he needs to make it the start of something noble.

He should start multilateral talks with the aim of returning Arab land in exchange for recognition of Israel and peace deals with all the main players in the region. Who would argue, or care, whether Israel or Hizbullah won if he could deliver such a historic agreement?

Click title for full Robert Fisk article.

PS.

I'm going wireless later today so normal service should be returned at that point!