The Israeli attack on Lebanese civilians (55 dead so far today) continues. Chomsky goes into a brief history of Israeli aggression against Lebanon in this article. Chomsky writes:
From the early 1970s, Lebanon was drawn into the conflict as a result of cross-border PLO terror and far more destructive Israeli attacks on Lebanon, sometimes retaliatory, often not. Thus in February 1973, Israeli forces attacked north of Beirut, killing many civilians, in a raid justified as preemptive. In December 1975, Israeli bombing killed over 50 Lebanese in an attack Israel described as “preventive, not punitive”; it appears to have been a reaction to the UN Security Council meeting debating the diplomatic settlement that Israel opposed and Washington vetoed. There are many other examples.
The indiscriminate murdering of Lebanese civilians is also recognized as being futile, even by the Israeli government, despite their public statements placing blame for Hezbollah on Beirut, as documented in this Stratfor piece:
Hezbollah has demonstrated time and again that it has retained the ability to paralyze the Lebanese government and thwart any attempt to disarm the militant movement. Though Olmert has blamed the Lebanese government for Hezbollah’s actions, it is well known in Israeli political circles, and throughout the region, that Hezbollah acts unilaterally and that Beirut lacks the ability to rein the group in
Israel’s actions include not only bombing the international airport’s runways so that no planes can land, but also blockading Lebanese ports. The blockades and bombing have cut off not just contraband, such as arms and ammunition, but also cut off any non-contraband trade such as food and medicine, as this story reports:
Israeli naval vessels enforcing the siege turned away three ships carrying fuel to Beirut, a shipping source said. A local shipping agent said seaborne trade was at a standstill at the port, which handles 95 percent of Lebanon’s commerce.
As usual in the case of Middle-East strife, the US and Israel stand virtually alone against world opinion, as in the title of this report, "World Slams, US Defends Israel Lebanon "War"".
While the international community condemns Israel’s actions as being (the word of the day) “disproportionate”, and calls on Hezbollah to release the two IDF soldiers they’re holding, the US government deflects the criticism of its favourite client state in remarks like this one, from Bush:
“Syria needs to be held to account”
It is therefore Syria that is blamed, when Israeli aggression results in murder and destruction of property. Yet another shameful but unsurprising example of the moral cowardice of US officials regarding the actions of their client in the region.