Marc Cooper excoriates U.S. “scuttle diplomacy,” noting NY Times reporting on fast-track weapons transfers from the U.S. to Israel. This doesn’t seem to have penetrated the thick skulls of the cable news talking heads. The U.S. is not simply giving Israel “breathing room” to hit Lebanon (although Tony Snow denies even that much, with an arrogance that makes Ari Fleischer look like a perfect gentleman).
No, the U.S. is sending Israel more bombs. Every word from the Bush administration about the supposed futility of a quick cease-fire must be understood with this in mind. The U.S. is a party to this conflict, not a bystander, and certainly not a facilitator of peace.
Marc also links to Adam Shatz’s backgrounder on Israel/Lebanon hostilities in The Nation. Shatz gets it, unlike the ultra-lefties reciting Hezbollah’s talking points about prisoner exchanges (or in the case of “antiwar” leader George Galloway, declaring unrepentant support for Hezbollah — more here and here). Shatz writes:
The Syrian President warned former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in their last meeting before Hariri’s assassination, that if he pushed for Syria’s withdrawal Assad would “break” Lebanon. With Hezbollah’s raid, Assad may have found a way to get Israel to break Lebanon for him–a wish that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz were more than happy to fulfill. Damascus may be facing renewed threats, but Assad can now bask in Nasrallah’s glow without directly engaging the Israeli military….
Meanwhile, civilian casualties mount on both sides. While Galloway cheers Nasrallah, Israeli men, women and children are being killed and injured. The toll in Lebanon, however, is higher. Lebanese are spray-painting the names of the deceased on wood coffins for burial in mass graves. It’s a shameful sight, and one that Israel’s enemies will exploit for a long time.
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