Former US United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told the BBC today that he was “damned proud†of how the U.S. intentionally blocked efforts to achieve a ceasefire last summer when Israel was bombing Beirut and many other locales in Lebanon.
The BBC summarized Bolton’s comments: “A former top American diplomat says the US deliberately resisted calls for a immediate ceasefire during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah’s military capability.â€
Bolton said it was “perfectly legitimate and good politics†for Israel to seek to crush Hezbollah.  The fact that the Israelis used U.S. bombs to wreak death and destruction throughout Lebanon is apparently irrelevant.  More than a thousand Lebanese civilians were killed by the Israeli government, with the Bush team cheering on each detonation.
AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in DC, bragged of its role in blocking any ceasefire. (A good critique of AIPAC’s role in the Lebanon carnage is here). Â
Bolton captures the arrogance and total hypocrisy of the Bush war on terrorism. In a meeting last August, Bolton “implied that because Lebanon harbored Hezbollah, Lebanese lives were forfeit,†according to a UN official who heard Bolton commenting in meetings at the time.
Neither AIPAC nor the Bush team suffered any backlash from Christian fundamentalists as a result of Israeli bombing of Christian villages. Lebanese Christians despise and oppose Hezbollah – but they were Lebanese so they apparently deserved to die.
As I wrote in blogs last summer, both Hezbollah and the Israeli government were guilty of mass murder. But the Bush administration’s absolute support (and re-arming) of a government that was intentionally slaughtering civilians is a crime that must not be forgot. Â
Comments & contrary views welcome at my blog here.