http://warincontext.org/2010/07/29/tension-mounts-in-lebanon/ ... with attention to the unseen Fri, 25 May 2012 02:47:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://warincontext.org/2010/07/29/tension-mounts-in-lebanon/comment-page-1/#comment-14462 Joseph Elias Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:19:00 +0000 http://warincontext.org/?p=8252#comment-14462 The tension in Lebanon goes way beyond Hezbollah and the "STL." Lebanon is under pressure due to pro- and ant-Israeli parties. The pro-Israeli party is usually identified as the "pro-West" or "pro-US" side. But, the West and the US have a proven track record of not doing anything that runs contrary to the desires of Israel. Two examples will suffice. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to defeat the PLO because of the attempted assassination of its ambassador, it was publicly known that Arafat's organization was not responsible. However, Israel wanted a war to attack the PLO and used this as an excuse. The US acted as Israel's agent by permitting Israel to exceed Tel Aviv's own line of limitation to reach Beirut. Then, the US acted as Israel's aid by preventing the UN or anyone else to halt Israel's weeks of bombardment of West Beirut. The second example is the 2006 war when the US gave unconditional diplomatic support as Israel bombed Lebanon's infrastructure. The US has never acted contrary to what Israel desires in Lebanon. The anti-Israel parties are the ones who find themselves the targets of the US and Israel. The two major parties are Iran and Syria. Both have been targeted by the US for "regime change." They both fear being attacked by Israel. They both suspect the US would also launch attacks as well. Because of Israel's desire to act as hegemon of the Middle East, the US would not try to reach an agreement with Iran that would keep it as a potential balance to Israel, nor push Israel to end its war with Syria by reaching a comprehensive treaty. Lebanon could well be the battleground again for another war by proxy. The tension in Lebanon goes way beyond Hezbollah and the “STL.” Lebanon is under pressure due to pro- and ant-Israeli parties. The pro-Israeli party is usually identified as the “pro-West” or “pro-US” side. But, the West and the US have a proven track record of not doing anything that runs contrary to the desires of Israel. Two examples will suffice. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to defeat the PLO because of the attempted assassination of its ambassador, it was publicly known that Arafat’s organization was not responsible. However, Israel wanted a war to attack the PLO and used this as an excuse. The US acted as Israel’s agent by permitting Israel to exceed Tel Aviv’s own line of limitation to reach Beirut. Then, the US acted as Israel’s aid by preventing the UN or anyone else to halt Israel’s weeks of bombardment of West Beirut. The second example is the 2006 war when the US gave unconditional diplomatic support as Israel bombed Lebanon’s infrastructure. The US has never acted contrary to what Israel desires in Lebanon. The anti-Israel parties are the ones who find themselves the targets of the US and Israel. The two major parties are Iran and Syria. Both have been targeted by the US for “regime change.” They both fear being attacked by Israel. They both suspect the US would also launch attacks as well. Because of Israel’s desire to act as hegemon of the Middle East, the US would not try to reach an agreement with Iran that would keep it as a potential balance to Israel, nor push Israel to end its war with Syria by reaching a comprehensive treaty. Lebanon could well be the battleground again for another war by proxy.

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