Antiwar.com Blog

That “robust” multi-national force Condolezza Rice wants to take over from the IDF in crushing Hezbollah is looking sicklier by the moment: NATO says it is otherwise engaged, and no one except the Italians and possibly the Turks has stepped forward to apply for the job. While Rice has so far denied there would be any American participation, the wording of her statement – as I explained in this blog post – suggested a reversal might be in the works.

And so it is. Ken Silverstein, writing in Harper’s, reports:

“A well-connected former CIA officer has told me that the Bush Administration is in fact considering exactly such a deployment. … According to the former official, Israel and the United States are currently discussing a large American role in exactly such a “multinational” deployment, and some top administration officials, along with senior civilians at the Pentagon, are receptive to the idea.”

If and when American troops take on Hezbollah, at least there won’t be any debate about whether we’re fighting a war for Israel’s sake.

From the London Times:

“Three young girls and a disabled man were among 16 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip today.”

Against my better judgement tonight I was watching Larry King Live, and was witness to something that gave me a feeling that approached satisfaction — as close to such a feeling as one can get watching CNN.

Thanks to CNN transcripts, I don’t even have to paraphrase what I saw:

KING: Christiane Amanpour is in Jerusalem, Christiane, Kofi Annan is usually very diplomatic and careful. Were you surprised that he was so strikingly against Israel today?

And then here, as I watched, Christiane’s face displayed total shock — for an instant. She stuttered for about three seconds and then quickly cleaned herself up.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well I mean, you know, you make that judgment about being against Israel. I’m not sure that’s what his statement said. It asked for a full investigation and it did say that it was apparently deliberate targeting.

And then he went on to say in the statement that the observation post was clearly marked, that his top general there had been in touch with the Israeli authorities all throughout the day about this and asking them to protect it. And the UNIFIL statement that was put out about these casualties said that they had had 14 very close firings in just this afternoon alone.

Larry quickly moved on to another correspondent after being all but handed his overtly pro-Israel ass.

Later in the show, he had two vomit-inducingly identical Senators on the show, one Democrat and one Republican, of course — one must have a “balance” of opinion. They each spat at different points the requisite “Israel has a right to defend herself,” and they each repeated many, many times that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and that “they started it.”

I shut the TV off when an Israeli spinmeister came on screen. The weird part is the two American Senators were 10 times more disgusting.

Anyway: Dear Christiane,

We almost forgive you for Kosovo.

Nah.

The disturbingly graphic photographs tell only half the story: What many found more horrifying was that these civilian victims of an Israeli attack had earlier been refused shelter at a UN base. But would they really have been “safer” there or just luckier?

In what Kofi Annan today described as “apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces” of a well-known, UN observer post in Southern Lebanon, four UN peacekeepers died. Whether or not this attack was an “accident” will apparently be left up to the Israelis to investigate, but the bombing recalls another incident in Israeli-Lebanese relations. A little over ten years ago, the IDF shelled a UN base at Qana, Lebanon, where 800 refugees had sought shelter. More than 100 died. Despite witness accounts to the contrary, Israel called that an accident as well.

To coin a phrase, heh.

I was in New York last weekend and came across several rallies on both sides of the conflict. I attended the “Jewish Unity Event in Support of Israel” service at the West Side Institutional Synagogue on Sunday night. Speakers urged attendees to unquestioningly support the military policies of the Israeli government and to “speak out in defense” of the military campaign. One rabbi talked of how Israel in the old days had “exterminated 31 nations” as a result of God’s favor. He implored people to pray for divine favor this time around. He also stressed how “alone” Israel is at this time and that “we are all alone together.” Perhaps he had not heard that the House of Representatives had voted 410-8 in favor of a resolution endorsing Israeli military action. (This service occurred the day after the front page New York Times story detailing how the US government was rushing more bombs to resupply the Israeli air force, regardless that U.S. law prohibits the use of U.S.-supplied weaponry against noncombatants). I did not hear a word of concern or remorse for the Christian or Muslim civilians killed in Lebanon by Israeli bombs and missiles. (I don’t know if the Arabs or the Americans who attended the candlelight vigil for Lebanon at Union Square the night before expressed concern for the Israeli civilians killed by Hezollah rockets). The flier passed out at the service urged attendees to “get the facts” by reading From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters and The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz – two books whose credibility has long since been shredded by Norman Finkelstein.