Financial Times Editorial - The US must call time on Israel's offensive
Financial Times Editorial - The US must call time on Israel's offensive
Published: August 1 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 1 2006 03:00
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
The images of children being pulled like broken dolls from the Qana apartment block bombed by Israeli jets on Sunday will be seared into the memory of a country and a region already well-stocked with horror. The international backlash against an equally harrowing massacre at Qana - in a United Nations refugee shelter destroyed by Israeli artillery - put a brake on the last open conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 1996 and opened the way to diplomacy. It is not clear that is what will happen now, in spite of Israel's grudging partial suspension of air raids for 48 hours.
The main reason is that Israel, with the backing of President George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the prime minister, has not entirely given up its ambition to remove Hizbollah from the regional equation. This aim is not only delusional. Israel's manner of going about it is stirring up rage across the Middle East.
As one example, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shia spiritual leader who stands between the US-led occupation forces and total meltdown in Iraq, says Muslims will not forgive anyone blocking a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has turned Shia areas into a free fire zone. Three weeks into this conflict, the results are wholly negative.
First, the prestige of Hizbollah has soared, in Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim world, while there is little evidence Israel has seriously damaged its operational capability. Second, Lebanon, whose 2005 "Cedar Revolution" Washington prematurely and opportunistically banked as a success for its Middle East freedom drive, is being destroyed. Israel is delivering so punctiliously on its promise to turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years that the country could soon be a failed state.
Third, Israel's indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas can only damage its longer term security. Israel, of course, has the right to defend itself, but not to ignore the rules of war. Both sides are culpable. But of the more than 50 Israelis killed by Hizbollah with its random firing, the majority are soldiers. Israel's forces, with their precision weapons and vaunted "purity of arms", have killed nearly 700 civilians.
The US, with the UN Security Council, must now call time on Israel's offensive, and negotiate how to protect its northern border. That would of necessity have to take into account Hizbollah and its patrons in Syria and Iran. To reduce the chances of Hizbollah contesting an international stabilisation force, there will eventually have to be an exchange of prisoners. The disputed Shebaa enclave should be removed as a pretext for conflict and turned over by Israel to this force, with a clear warning to Syria to cease meddling beyond its borders. The US, moreover, needs to address not just Iran's nuclear ambitions but its security concerns. That is the only way to test whether Tehran wants a stake in regional stability that would constrain its ally, Hizbollah.
Published: August 1 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 1 2006 03:00
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
The images of children being pulled like broken dolls from the Qana apartment block bombed by Israeli jets on Sunday will be seared into the memory of a country and a region already well-stocked with horror. The international backlash against an equally harrowing massacre at Qana - in a United Nations refugee shelter destroyed by Israeli artillery - put a brake on the last open conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 1996 and opened the way to diplomacy. It is not clear that is what will happen now, in spite of Israel's grudging partial suspension of air raids for 48 hours.
The main reason is that Israel, with the backing of President George W. Bush and Tony Blair, the prime minister, has not entirely given up its ambition to remove Hizbollah from the regional equation. This aim is not only delusional. Israel's manner of going about it is stirring up rage across the Middle East.
As one example, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shia spiritual leader who stands between the US-led occupation forces and total meltdown in Iraq, says Muslims will not forgive anyone blocking a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has turned Shia areas into a free fire zone. Three weeks into this conflict, the results are wholly negative.
First, the prestige of Hizbollah has soared, in Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim world, while there is little evidence Israel has seriously damaged its operational capability. Second, Lebanon, whose 2005 "Cedar Revolution" Washington prematurely and opportunistically banked as a success for its Middle East freedom drive, is being destroyed. Israel is delivering so punctiliously on its promise to turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years that the country could soon be a failed state.
Third, Israel's indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas can only damage its longer term security. Israel, of course, has the right to defend itself, but not to ignore the rules of war. Both sides are culpable. But of the more than 50 Israelis killed by Hizbollah with its random firing, the majority are soldiers. Israel's forces, with their precision weapons and vaunted "purity of arms", have killed nearly 700 civilians.
The US, with the UN Security Council, must now call time on Israel's offensive, and negotiate how to protect its northern border. That would of necessity have to take into account Hizbollah and its patrons in Syria and Iran. To reduce the chances of Hizbollah contesting an international stabilisation force, there will eventually have to be an exchange of prisoners. The disputed Shebaa enclave should be removed as a pretext for conflict and turned over by Israel to this force, with a clear warning to Syria to cease meddling beyond its borders. The US, moreover, needs to address not just Iran's nuclear ambitions but its security concerns. That is the only way to test whether Tehran wants a stake in regional stability that would constrain its ally, Hizbollah.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 9:33 AM
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