Ehud Olmert’s Big Surprise
Written by Major Tom
Filed under: Global Politics
July 14, 2006
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Ehud Olmert is one big surprise to most international observers, similar perhaps to what comes out from a Pandora Box. Or maybe, to the right-wing Likud Part to which he once was a member of, he is one big pleasant surprise. By the time Olmert had abandoned his Likud party-mates in order to join the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the newly-formed Kadima Party in early part of this year, it was deemed that he was to become another liberal Israeli politician that had started to gain control of the Knesset at that time, a new group of leaders that is openly agreeable to come into one huge compromise with the Palestinian Authority however costly it was, approving unilateral disengagements of Jewish settlements from occupied regions in Gaza Strip and West Bank area. For months, the U.S.-sponsored road map to peace seem to be on course as Ehud Olmert suited willingly to become Ariel Sharon’s most fitting successor. He was a liberal. He had supported Ariel Sharon’s groundbreaking policies on the conflict with Palestine. He had seemed to be meek as a lamb; as he was expected to be.
But yesterday, the Israeli Defense Force rained Lebanon with air strikes, destroying and rendering ineffectual Beirut’s airport runaways and demolishing buildings where Hezbollah members are alleged to be holding office or residing at. Now, Israel is caught up with heavy military clashes at two sides, down near the Gaza border and with Lebanon up north. And there’s a great possibility of further escalation towards Syria as Israel is harking and blaming the government there for actively supporting Hezbollah and Hamas in Palestine. It is general knowledge that while America and Israel consider Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorists groups, both organizations are receiving funding support from Syria and Iran. This present eruption of conflict in the Middle East is most serious in years, or decades for that matter, ever since the very unforgettable Israeli-Arab wars in the 1960’s. Something must be done here in order to diffuse the overheated situation there. America should not just sit down and watch from the sidelines; it got to tell Israel to tone down the attacks as well as advise Lebabnon and Palestine Authority to effectively control if not decimate Hezbollah and Hamas violent activities in the concerned borders.
Now there lies a question on whether or not Israel’s latest action against Lebanon may be justifying or not? We must of course take in consideration the fact that Ehud Olmert may be too tired and full already of nonstop and incessant rocket attacks from militants across Palestinian borders that targets civilian areas in Israel. The rocket attacks comes whole-year round and militants easily do this with make-shift and crude rocket apparatus. Maybe they’ve (the Israeli Defense Force) got to do what they got to do. When Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah militants two days ago, attacking from southern Lebanon, maybe it was “the buck stops here” moment”; that Israel could take it no more. Kidnappings of Israeli soldiers and frequent rocket attacks from the militants are provocations that may justify Israel’s present bombardment of targets in Gaza and now Lebanon.
But I question the fact why such public installations such as airports and power plants need to be attacked. It becomes a punishment to the civilians who will be greatly affected by the nonuse of these utilities. The Fourth Geneva Convention (consider reading this) disallows civilian targets as well as properties that could harm non-combatants in an international conflict.
In my mind, Israel may have been gravely provoked by the militants but it needs to tone down its attack on noncombatant targets for it tends to escalate the present conflict toawards unimaginable level of tension and such conduct is highly disagreeable to the international community.
that got me worried, too. it’s a throwback to those days when lebanon was a battlefield, not a country that can afford to place an ad on cnn about their tourist sites. my heart sank when i saw the news this morning.
clearly, the hezbollah is costing both israel and lebanon too much.
the attacks remind me of the israeli attack on osirak and in entebbe.
it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.
Comment by atticus — July 14, 2006 @ 12:12 pm
If the militants themselves do not abide by the geneva convention, why should Israel do likewise? It’s obvious who’s been instigating these attacks, and the Hezbollah is either powerless or is not interested in curbing it.
Comment by snglguy — July 14, 2006 @ 2:25 pm
To atticus: That’s kinda sad actually since these attacks happens when Lebanon is still trying to recuperate from a harsh fifteen year civil war. urely, this throws them back at least a decade in economic and democratic progress. Lebanon is the most Christian country in the middle east with more than 50% of its population are christians and it is the most democratic of all Arab nation. It is so unideal that what democracy had gained there, is lost in just a day.
To snglguy: You are right sngl bout this an eye for an eye approach by Israel, since it as I said, Israel as country must have grown so tired and sick about the rocket attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah. But it comes to mind that the militants does not own Beirut and its airports. Maybe later on I’d understand why the Lebanese people have to suffer for the actions of some renegade and often foreign militants operating in their farflung southern border. Let us remember that as a country still recuperating from a harsh civil war, it couldn’t possibly have the financial capacity to border its patrol effcetively. I reckon that it is still weak as a nation and could not really stand on its own; and it wont be a far idea that perhaps the Lebanese government could still be easily harassed by highly-armed Hezbollah militants who receives major funding from rich Arab neighbors.
Israel is a member of the United nation and Hezbollah and Hamas are not. It is not the same. Israel must still be aware of international laws as a formality. It becomes today that since when bandits break the law, it doesn’t have to mean that a decent guy had to break the law to get even. There are no ifs or no buts; we have to respect international laws because without it, the world would be in a shambler situation. We need it and not even America should be allowed to ignore internationally accepted agreements and conventions.
Comment by Major Tom — July 14, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
It’s not getting any better.. in fact it is getting worse. It’s just me but I think there are people who really don’t want this conflict to end. I don’t know what the reason is but having an enemy to kill or beat up on is kind of a turn on to some people. It’s useless to carry a gun and not being able to fire it kind of thinking or sort of..prevails in some people’s minds all the time. Call it adrenalin rush or whatever.
Comment by bw — July 15, 2006 @ 3:14 am
BW> Yeah, and guess what particular culture in the Middle East celebrates ‘manhood’ by owning and carrying a Kalashnikov automatic rifle?
Major Tom> Israel, who’s been at fighting their Arab neighbors since its founding surely knows that dealing with terrorism with an iron hand is the only way it can gain respect and fear.
You have to remember that this war is not just about real estate anymore, its more about ridding the Arab world of ‘infidels’. And you know who they are reffering to.
Comment by snglguy — July 15, 2006 @ 8:02 am
Totally unbelievable!
North Korea tests 7 missiles that are aimed at and hit the sea. There is a UN Security Council meeting to discuss punishing North Korea for doing this.
BUT.
Israel fires missiles and shells every night into another sovereign state, Lebanon. Seriously wreaking havoc on its infrastructure with heavy civilian casualities and overall affecting Lebanon’s economy which it took years to develop after the civil war.
Israel vehemently defies UN Resolutions more than any country and the world and the US in particular does nothing but watch CNN from the comforts of their homes.
Very sad situation, indeed.
Comment by Daphne — July 15, 2006 @ 11:32 am
To BW: This kind of mentality makes it doubly difficult for peace to be pertaining there. As if they were stuck in a time warp where force determines who’s gonna live or die. I surely want this conflict to end considering that any serious escalation in that area could affect the world in such a bad way, including our struggling country. If hell breaks loose there, oil supply would be put to risk and oil prices would shoot up to the sky. That’s kinda delibilitating.
To snglguy: Iron hand it is but I guess there should be a limit to it like not turning a whole country like Lebabnon against Israel when only a fraction of it is actually guilty. It wont be good for the interest of Israel to gain more enemies, at many fronts. Some recent and very significant gains have been had already in that region like the road peace and the disengagement policy of Ariel Sharon but now, all this is lost in a jiffy. What appears here is that the militants got what they wanted, a full blown conflict and the scattering of the road map to peace into thin air.
To Daphne: That is semmingly sad. Although what I say here is that Israel may be just acting in retaliation for those incessant almost neverending rocket attacks from militants across the border, what I reckon is that Israel should have limited their targets towards known regions where militants are operating and if there’d be collateral damage, it may be so minimal. But attacking an international airport and power plants is like hitting a needle in a hay.
Now, it can never be told at this moment if the Lebanese government is guilty or not guilty for harboring and supporting these militant activities against Israel. Maybe the attacks are justified but as of now, there is really no proof that make me agree that the democracy-embracing people of Lebabnon should be punished for the acts of some remegade group operating stealthily in their country.
Comment by Major Tom — July 15, 2006 @ 3:54 pm
Actually, Israel is punishing Lebanon for not doing anything to rid of its country of the Hezbollah, which are primarily funded and trained by Syria. The continuing attack on Israel by these militants is nothing but a ‘proxy’ war by Syria and Iran. Did you notice, the US isn’t too keen on stopping Israel from shelling Lebanon? The truth is, Lebanon is again caught in the crossfire in a never-ending war between the Arabs and the Jews.
Comment by snglguy — July 16, 2006 @ 5:18 am
Exactly singl, Lebanon is just caught in this war without it really having something to do except that it fails to police its own borders for militant activities. They are a nation still recuperating from a harsh civil war and in my mind, they still have no capacity to do waht Israel demands of them.
Comment by Major Tom — July 16, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
Israel has all the rights to defend itself from any acts of terror, either from Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza.
By kidnapping Israeli soldiers and launching rocket attacks against Israel, Hezbollah knew that Israel, with its military superiority, would not take it lightly. It was clear that Hezbollah had planned to provoke Israel to anger, and they’ve achieved this goal. This group was asking for trouble. They knew that the world would eventually condemn Israel for its usual aggressive way of dealing with terrorism (i.e. targetted killings). So it’s also a psycho war as it is a physical one.
It’s sad that civilians were caught in the crossfire in this Middle East crisis. But these terrorists are shrewd enough to make civilians their human shields — as always. And in fairness to Israel, they’ve advised Lebanese residents to evacuate from high alert zones as IDF planned to cleanse Lebanon from Hezbollah elements. So the Israeli intention was/is not to kill civilians, but to target terrorists. Compare this to the evil intent of Hamas and Hezbollah. But of course, as in any war, there will always be civilian casualties.
Comment by Jayred — July 17, 2006 @ 10:11 am
In all honesty, Major Tom, I am rattled by these recent news reports regarding Israel’s retaliatory bombings.
You do have a valid point that Israeli ought to tone down its attacks, but it all boils down to the mindset in this part of the world spawned by this ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, which I had once mentioned — “you slap me and I slap you right back to get your respect.”
However silly or a tough-schoolyard-rule it may seem, this is the culture that the US may be cognizant of; hence its inaction.
And despite a member of UN, Israel will still adhere to this mentality, especially now that it wants two of its soldiers back alive.
Comment by eric — July 18, 2006 @ 12:13 am
To Jayred: I weas thinking more of how President Bush and Condolleeza Rice had said it that while Israel has the right to defend itself it should always be cautious about the consequences, like the toll on innocent civilians. In this case, the fledging democracy in Lebanon had been held hostage just because of a fairly small group of armed men.
But to be sure,…like you said, Israel should be well justified to defend its territories and its people.
To eric: I bet this is because Israel may have no more other recourse but to strike back hard…but it saddens me that the terrorists just got what they wanted…Lebanon was a fledging democracy in the Middle East region and its almost the only country who has that western kind of culture because of its huge Christian population. If the rest of middle east had to embraced democracy and modernity, Lebabnon had a good start in it. But now, its back to square one…
Comment by Major Tom — July 18, 2006 @ 6:19 am