Land War
| 13:40 UK time, Monday, 17 July 2006
Israel's ground incursions into Lebanon (in contrast to the massive air strikes) have been small and limited - so far.
The military logic I'm hearing, as described by intelligence analysts, suggests that the lull will only last so long.
The Lebanese government reports that Israel has offered outline ceasefire proposals through Italian mediators. The release of the two captured Israeli soldiers and a 30 km Hezbollah exclusion zone along the southern Lebanon border are the main demands.
But there are some factors which suggest Israel may take a tougher line to try to achieve what it would see as a more lasting outcome.
A return to the status quo would mean a return to random rocket attacks and occasional Hezbollah raids across the border.
The government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz is new, has the backing of the majority of Israelis, and might see greater advantages in pursing the military rather than the diplomatic logic for now.
Disrupting Hezbollah is not enough, according to that logic.
An international force separating the two sides would certainly not be enough for most Israeli politicians. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon UNIFIL has been in the south of Lebanon since 1978.
Eliminating the weapons, destroying Hezbollah's social and political infrastructure and chasing the fighters back into Syria might still not be enough for the Israeli hawks. They want regime change in Damascus.
But an outcome that is costly for Hezbollah might at least be claimed as a success.
Reserve israeli officers were called up last week; a reserve divison was called up over the weekend.
Diplomacy may slow down the momentum towards ground invasion, or to the great relief of Lebanon's frightened people, stop it altogether.
But another, more alarming possible explanation for the lack of coordinated ground assault is that forces are still being prepared while the Israeli airforce continues to find targets.
Comments
Excellent article on the Middle East. I am angered that innocent lives have to be lost because of the false prides of these politicians.
Dear Dan,
I'm disappointed in the manner in which you and most every Western journalist reports on "terrorism" -- especially as relates to Israel's response to terrorist attacks.
This morning at 0545 (USA, East Coast) I heard a guest on your show say that Israel has limited options in responding to Hezbollah's attacks -- one reason being that it did not want to incur military casualties by putting its troops on the ground in Lebanon; and, consequently, one option being implemented was the bombing of civilian infrastructure within Lebanon in order to impel the Lebanese population to pressure its government into action to curb Hezbollah.
Yet, this option -- attacking civilian infrastructure in order to achieve a political goal -- obviously fits most any definition of terrorism.
*** Webster -- Terrorism: "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."
*** US Defense Department -- Terrorism: "The unlawful use of -- or threatened use of -- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives."
*** United Nations -- Terrorism: "… criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable…"
I imagine some might argue the meaning or intent of the words "unlawful" and "criminal," but the above definitions are clear to any layman.
So, Israel is using terrorism in order to fight terrorism… That's a point of departure seldom acknowledged among educated and influential Western journalists.
But let me come straight to the point: The West, including Israel, has long used terrorist tactics as part of a broader military strategy. (Read Ramsey Clarks "The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf" for a well documented accounting of US terrorism in the first Gulf War.) And the bombing or destruction of civilian infrastructure -- with the attendant killing of innocent civilians (most notably the Palestinians) -- has long been a favored tactic of Israel.
Unfortunately, the West and its journalists seldom acknowledge or discuss the fact that the U.S. and Israel -- owing to overwhelming military superiority vis-Ã -vis their enemies -- are two of the largest purveyors of terrorism on the planet. This type of thinking and reporting would not enable us to retain the moral high-ground we so zealously protect.
It would have been refreshing to hear you respond to your guest this morning by saying, "But doesn't the bombing of civilian targets in order to compel a political solution fit the definition of terrorism; and, therefore, it seems Israel is fighting terrorism with even greater terrorism."
But, let's return to the real world…
Regards, Keith Renn
Thanks Keith, I've been ranting on various blogs about how israel-american propagandists are subversively misusing the word terrorist in order to lead all naive voters to believe that terrorists (i.e. people who threaten american innocent civilians without declaring war) are one and the same as those who are fighting israel in a war that's been going on for decades... i disagree with the tactics of Hizbollah kidnapping soldiers, but without having formally made peace and having RETURNED ALL LEBANESE PRISONERS you can't say they were doing anything "unprovoked." By strategically starving the Lebanese population to death, Israel is indicating nothing but a desire to be rid of the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples, so they can rule the entire region entirely uninhibited by non-Jews. I wish they'd prove me wrong and negotiate, for God's sake.
ISRAELI air raids in Lebanon camouflages the ongoing quiet massacre of Palestinians nearby.
After the world was duped to ditch Palestinians to their own fate so Israeli now can do its hangman job in peace the whole world is now blind to the atrocities being commited every minute in Palestine.
And Palestians have none to look forward to even their own brothers and sisters in the cowardly Arab world!