The Distant Ocean

Military targets in Lebanon

Israel continues its assault on strictly military targets linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon:

Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs has accused the Israeli army of targeting food warehouses and factories during their week-old bombing campaign. Ms Nayla Moawad told Radio Netherlands that the destruction of the food production facilities was an example of the disproportionate force being used by Israel.

"Yesterday, a big food factory was destroyed in the Beka'a valley, and a Proctor and Gamble milk processing factory in the south was also bombed," says Ms Moawad.

"We're wondering if we're even going to be able to eat after all of this."

According to Minister Moawad, Israel is systematically destroying the country's infrastructure, including the agriculture industry.

She obviously doesn't understand just how critical  strong bones and teeth are to Hezbollah's military success.  Then again, she may be mistaken, since ABC reports that the warehouse stored canned goods, soap, and shampoo:

One warehouse just south of Beirut airport was still smoldering when we visited today. It's a Proctor and Gamble warehouse housing canned goods, soap and shampoo — all of which now sit scattered in the ruins.

The point remains, though: only a fool would believe that  Hezbollah can continue to capture Israeli soldiers with dirty hands and unmanageable hair.

Give war a chance

Unsurprisingly, the US stands alone in defending Israel's murderous assault on Lebanon.  But the Bush administration is going much farther than that.  First of all, they're actively working to prevent a cease fire:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected the "false promise" of an immediate cease-fire in the spreading war between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday and said she would seek long-term peace during a trip to the Mideast beginning Sunday.

And to underscore that commitment to long-term peace, the US is also rushing bombs to Israel in order to help it continue killing Lebanese civilians:

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, U.S. officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign.

(Note here in passing that for the New York Times, the fact that the US vetoes a Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop its attack, stands alone against the rest of the world in supporting Israel, and then goes so far as to  rush Israel  additional bombs to help them kill more Lebanese--and Palestinians--only creates the "appearance" that the US is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign.  One wonders what it would take for them to replace the word "appearance" with "utterly obvious fact".)

This precisely echoes the US response in 2002 during Israel's invasion of the West Bank, when Colin Powell delayed his arrival in Israel in order to give the Israelis more time to continue their rampage:

While calling on Israel publicly to end its offensive against Palestinians in the West Bank ''without delay,'' the Bush administration has privately signaled to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he can phase out the operation gradually, two US officials said yesterday. [...]

In the Middle East, many leaders weren't buying [Bush's public rhetoric], as became clear yesterday in Morocco, Powell's first of three planned stops before arriving in Jerusalem.

King Mohammed, part of the new generation of Arab leaders, greeted Powell during a photo session attended by several US journalists and wasted no time in speaking his mind. ''Don't you think it would be more important to go to Jerusalem first?'' the king asked Powell.

Taken aback, Powell responded that he had ''considered all options,'' and wanted a chance to consult with European and Arab colleagues to coordinate his mission

The Defense Department official in Washington was more explicit. Powell's itinerary, he said, was designed ''to give Sharon some more time.'

A State Department official agreed. ''The Israelis are not listening so much to what we say, but are watching what we do,'' the official said. ''And what we're doing is giving them more time to withdraw.''

(As usual, you need your translator here: "withdraw" means "kill more Palestinians," just as "considered all options" means "considered how best to facilitate Israel.")

Despite all of this, Rice actually has the unparalleled audacity to make pious proclamations of concern for Lebanese civilians:

"We are, of course, working very hard to minimize the impact of the current conflict on the Lebanese people," the State Department quoted Rice as saying in the telephone conversation.

"And I want you to know that we're not only working very hard, but we're also praying for the people of Lebanon," she was quoted as saying.

So the Israelis get missiles and bombs, and the people of Lebanon get prayers.  One wonders exactly what she's saying to her God in these little sessions: "Lord, please shield the people of Lebanon from the expedited shipment of arms we're sending to Israel, in particular the 5000-pound GBU-28 laser-guided bombs.  And please also protect them from the F-15 aircraft we've previously given Israel  to drop these bombs.  Amen."

In highly technical foreign policy terms, these events are collectively known as "chickens," and before too long they'll be "coming home to roost."  And when they do, we can look forward to more explanations of how we're so deeply hated becaused of our freedoms--and anyone who mentions Palestine and Lebanon and even Iraq will be derided or ignored.

Finally, an accurate newspaper article

Just saw an article in the Washington Times entitled "Bush, Putin butt heads".  Sure, it may be a bit puerile, but isn't it nice to see a little reality in the mainstream media for a change?

Oh, wait: "Bush, Putin butt heads over democracy".  My mistake.

"Look who's been kidnapped!"

Well worth reading:

It's the wee hours of the morning, still dark outside. A guerilla force comes out of nowhere to kidnap a soldier. After hours of careful movement, the force reaches its target, and the ambush is on! In seconds, the soldier finds himself looking down the barrel of a rifle.

A smash in the face with the butt of the gun and the soldier falls to the ground, bleeding. The kidnappers pick him up, quickly tie his hands and blindfold him, and disappear into the night.
[...]

This description, you'll be surprised to know, has nothing to do with the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. It is the story of an arrest I carried out as an IDF soldier, in the Nablus casbah, about 10 years ago. The "soldier" was a 17-year-old boy, and we kidnapped him because he knew "someone" who had done "something."

This is a welcome reminder that not all Israelis support the crimes that are being committed in their names.  And the author (the head of Courage to Refuse) makes an excellent point that I've seen a number of times now--but never in the mainstream media: that while Palestinians are currently holding one Israeli soldier, Israel has kidnapped, tortured, and in many cases effectively disappeared literally thousands of Palestinians.  And they remain in Israel's hands to this day, with no cries of outrage or demands for their release from foreign governments.

As a Palestinian, how could you avoid coming to the conclusion that your life and the lives of your loved ones matter less to the world than the lives of Israelis?

Stating the obvious

Switzerland states the obvious (which, despite its obviousness, will of course still be ignored by Israel):

Switzerland is the "depository" state of the Geneva Conventions.

They prohibit the deliberate targeting of services essential to the civilian population, like water and electricity.
[...]

There is "no doubt Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure.

"The destruction of a power station, the attack on the offices of the Palestinian prime minister, the arbitrary arrests of a large number of democratically-elected representatives of the people and ministers... cannot be justified."

Here are some more examples of what Israel has been doing in Gaza:

The large-scale military operation by Israel has had serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.

The power station that was destroyed by the Israeli forces on 28 June, provided 43 per cent of the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip. Some 700,000 people have been affected by power cuts.

Water supplies have also been badly hit as not all pumps can continue to function, and in addition there is a lack of petrol and other fuels, the Swiss government said.

As the Swiss correctly point out, these actions are textbook violations of the Geneva Conventions:

Article 54.-Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population
[...]
2. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.

That seems clear enough.  So how is the US responding to these blatant violations of international humanitarian law by its most favored client state?  You only get one guess, and the first one doesn't count:

This, then, is the American modus operandi on the current season: sit quietly and do nothing. Or, as one official said more bluntly, "let the Palestinians sweat a little."

Why do they hate us?  Those words just might suggest an answer, don't you think?