Middle East Meltdown and US Foreign Policy.

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Tradermaji: Quite a few years ago during a visit to India I met a very elderly gentleman. He was an Indian Government honored Freedom Fighter against the British occupation of India. He was tortured and jailed by the Brits when they were the occupiers, branding him as a terrorist. However, once independent, the Government bestowed honors on him. This goes to show, how the words guerillas and terrorists are dependent on your outlook.



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August 5, 2006

SouthAmerica: We don’t have to go to far to find a relevant example: “Menachen Volfovich Begin” went from terrorist to Israel’s prime minister and finally to winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Can the Hezbollah organization some day win the Nobel Peace Prize?

I would not rule them out and if “Menachen Volfovich Begin” and Arafat for that matter were able to qualify - maybe even Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Ladden also will get a Nobel Peace Prize in the future.

The rest of the world don’t consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization anyway; just the usual suspects, but regarding tomorrow anything is possible – you never know what kind of surprises the future has in store for all of us.


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August 8, 2006

SouthAmerica: A frontpage article on a major Brazilian newspaper published on August 8, 2006 mentioned that a document published by the United Nations on Monday says that Israel violated international rights of the Lebanese people.

Kofi Annan also mentioned on the document the opinion of the Red Cross International: “To let the civilian population know in advance that an attack is eminent does not exempt Israel of their obligations under norms and principles of international human rights.”

The United Nations document was very critical of Israel’s military actions against the civilian population in Lebanon.



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“Relatório da ONU acusa Israel de violar direito internacional”
A Folha de Sao Paulo – August 8, 2006


O secretário-geral da ONU, Kofi Annan, disse em um relatório divulgado na segunda-feira (7) que o ataque israelense contra o povoado libanês de Qana, que matou pelo menos 28 civis em 30 de julho, é "um exemplo das violações do direito internacional" cometidas por Israel na guerra contra o grupo extremista libanês Hizbollah.

O relatório de Annan sobre o massacre em Qana havia sido solicitado pelo governo libanês, pelos países da Liga Árabe e pelo Movimento dos Não-Alinhados (NAM). No texto, Annan fez um novo apelo a Israel e ao Hizbollah "para que respeitem suas obrigações no âmbito do direito internacional humanitário".

"O ataque em Qana deve ser visto no contexto global do que pode ser, baseado em informação preliminar disponível para as Nações Unidas, incluindo relatos de testemunhas, um exemplo de violações do direito internacional, incluindo o direito humanitário Internacional e a lei internacional de direitos humanos, cometidos no curso das atuais hostilidades", destacou Annan no documento aos membros do Conselho de Segurança.

No relatório, Annan pede mais tempo para uma investigação exaustiva, especialmente por ser difícil chegar à área do ataque, devido ao confronto.

Annan apresenta a versão do Exército de Israel, de que os moradores de Qana haviam sido avisados previamente do ataque. Ainda segundo as fontes militares israelenses, o local era usado para armazenar armas do Hizbollah e para o lançamento de foguetes.

No entanto, Annan argumenta que Qana, com uma população de 12 mil habitantes, tinha sido isolada pela destruição de todas as estradas, e portanto a população não pôde se retirar. Segundo o governo do Líbano, o edifício abrigava diversas famílias de refugiados..

"A Unifil (Força Provisória da ONU no Líbano) não pode confirmar nem negar as atividades militares do Hizbollah em Qana nos dias anteriores ao ataque de 30 de julho", diz Annan no relatório.

Annan também cita a opinião do Comitê da Cruz Vermelha Internacional: "Avisar previamente a população civil do iminente ataque não exime a Israel de suas obrigações sob as normas e princípios do direito humanitário internacional".

Ampla condenação

A ação de Israel em Qana foi considerada um "crime de guerra" também pelas organizações não-governamentais de direitos humanos Anistia Internacional (AI) e Human Rights Watch (HRW).

A HRW contestou o número oficial de mortos no massacre de Qana. Segundo a ONG, que reuniu dados a partir de informações médicas, entrevistas com sobreviventes e fontes do governo, os bombardeios israelenses mataram 28 pessoas e deixaram 13 desaparecidos. O governo do Líbano havia divulgado 56 mortos, 37 deles crianças.


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August 9, 2006

SouthAmerica: I have been watching the coverage of the Israel destruction of Lebanon on various television cable channels.

Most of the American channels are covering this catastrophe and they give me the impression that they could not give a more Pro-Israel coverage even if all these channels belonged to Israel. The coverage of CNN News is 90 percent in favor of Israel – it is a one-side type of coverage. CNN News reporters such as Anderson Cooper shows everything possible to put Israel in a good light with viewers. CNN News keep showing over and over again Israel putting the Israeli flag everywhere to give the impression that they are winning big battles – on top of that CNN News keep repeating this flag distribution BS over and over again. They give the impression that Lebanon in the near future will be covered with Israeli flags.

The Israeli flag deal it looks to me as if it is the strategy of someone who is getting nowhere – other than planting Israeli flags everywhere in front of the cameras to give viewers the perception of some great victories. The only way Israel is able to accomplish anything is when they drop bombs from the sky, and also when they use the latest in US technology including satellite guided missiles.

The destruction of Lebanon started almost one month ago, and it seems to me that this destruction will continue in the foreseeable future.

The United Nations is useless and powerless, and the major countries of the world are just watching and letting Israel destroy the entire country of Lebanon.

Anyway, for all practical purposes UN resolutions in general are not useful even to use as toilet paper.

I absolutely can’t understand why the Lebanese army is not joining in the fight against Israel. Lebanon is being annihilated and the Lebanese army is nowhere to be found.

Since the Lebanese army is not a match to Israel in the battlefield the minimum they could do at this point was to help Hezbollah on their guerrilla type of war. After all Lebanon is being annihilated and completely destroyed. What kind of army does nothing when your country is being pushed back into the Stone Age?

In my opinion, Israel is completely out of line regarding what they are doing to Lebanon, and the Lebanese people.

The world is watching what Israel is doing to Lebanon – and it does not matter how much PR Israel tries to spread around the world – people are watching in real time what is happening in Lebanon and people will not forget that Israel is destroying a country that has no defenses against the type of attack Israel is waging against Lebanon.

Israel is causing a major environment disaster in the coast of Lebanon, and they are depriving the civilian population of even routes to escape this Lebanese holocaust caused by Israel.

Thanks to BBC News, and Europe News channels we are able to see what is happening in the other side of the war – the Lebanese side. They have been showing the type of people that are stuck in the cities of South Lebanon – the retarded, the sick, the elderly, the very poor who had no place to go, and women and children.

The entire world thinks – and I am sure they are right - that Israel got the green light from the United States regarding the destruction of Lebanon.

What Israel is doing to Lebanon gives Iran and North Korea all the justification they need to make a case to the rest of the world regarding their nuclear weapons development program.

This destruction of Lebanon by Israel should serve as the example for any country that wants to develop nuclear weapons – why you need nuclear weapons to protect your country and your borders. I don’t see any country trying to occupy a North Korea armed with nukes, but I see an occupation army destabilizing the entire Middle East – look what happened to Iraq when they were attacked by a foreign army with a superior armament and all kinds of weapons and Iraq had no nuclear weapons to defend themselves against such aggression.

You can’t rely on the international community to stop any aggressors, and Lebanon is the poster country that shows to the world that the other countries from around the world just stay on the sidelines watching Israel annihilate another country.

The moral of the story is: if you have nuclear weapons the bullies of the world don’t mess with you.

What Israel is doing to Lebanon and the Lebanese people makes me sick of my stomach. I don’t like to see bullies of any kind annihilating weaker people.

Now that Israel is escalating the annihilation of Lebanon it is time for Syria also to take some action and come to the rescue of the Lebanese people.

I don't know what Syria is waiting for to participate directly on this war?


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August 9, 2006

SouthAmerica: The Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez confirmed on this Tuesday that his government is breaking any diplomatic relations with Israel. Then he gave all the reasons to justify such a move. Israel answered Chavez by removing its ambassador from Venezuela.

In my opinion, the other countries in South America should follow Hugo Chavez lead on this one - and they should break diplomatic relations and also any kind of business relations with Israel.



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Here is a front page story on a major newspaper in Sao Paulo, Brazil:



Chávez diz que ruptura de relações diplomáticas com Israel é "certa"
A Folha de Sao Paulo - da Efe, em Caracas
August 9, 2006


O presidente da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, afirmou nesta terça-feira que é "certo" o rompimento de relações diplomáticas com Israel.

"O mais certo (...) é que rompamos as relações diplomáticas. Eu não tenho interesse algum em manter relações diplomáticas, nem escritórios, nem comércio, nem nada com um Estado como o de Israel", que comete "uma verdadeira loucura" contra os palestinos e o Líbano, disse o presidente em um discurso televisionado.

Chávez, como fez nas últimas semanas, disse que Israel é um instrumento da política imperialista americana, "que ameaça acabar com o planeta".

"Lênin tinha razão: o imperialismo é a fase superior do capitalismo e este imperialismo é o mais feroz, o mais atroz e destrutivo de todos (...). Nunca houve um imperialismo como o que hoje ameaça a existência humana (...), por ambição desmedida de riqueza, de poder, de perda de valores humanos", reiterou.

O presidente declarou que Israel continua "bombardeando cidades, acabando com um país inteiro (Líbano), sem se importar com crianças ou mulheres".

"É uma loucura! Digam o que disserem e me critiquem (...). Nós já retiramos nossa representação diplomática do Estado de Israel, porque o que mais podemos fazer?", prosseguiu.

Na semana passada, Chávez retirou seu encarregado de negócios em Israel em protesto contra o "genocídio" de libaneses e palestinos.

Na segunda (7), o governo israelense respondeu com a retirada de seu embaixador em Caracas.


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Two more pages of jibberish!

All that is needed to stop the war is for Hizbolla to return the kidnapped soldiers and to stop rocketing Israel.

Period.
 
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August 9, 2006

SouthAmerica: This is a very interesting article published today by a German newspaper (in Germany) regarding the current conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

If the Germans finally decide to send some troops to Lebanon as per request of the Israeli Prime Minister, I wonder which division the Germans are going to send. (I am not sure what is available today and also what is left from the old German army, but these used to be some of the choices available to the Germans.)

The one thing that does not make sense to me is why the Israeli Prime Minister would want a German SS-force right on the border with Israel?

Here are some of the choices available in Germany for such international job:


1) Germanic SS:

The Germanic-SS was an SS-modeled structure formed in occupied territories and allied countries.

Germanic-SS members wore their own uniforms with a modification of SS rank titles and insignia. All Germanic-SS units answered to the SS headquarters in Germany.


2) Einsatzgruppen:

The Einsatzgruppen were special units of the SS that were formed on an “as-needed” basis under the authority of the Sicherheitspolizei and later the RSHA.

The original purpose of the Einsatzgruppen was to “enter occupied areas, seize vital records, and neutralize potential threats”.


3) Waffen-SS:

Formed in 1940, the Waffen-SS was the military component of the SS. Since the Waffen-SS was formally considered a branch of the German military, it was financed by the German government while remaining under the command of the SS headquarters.

Here is a list of possible choices of German divisions that could be sent to Lebanon: (These divisions might have different names today.)


Infanterie-Regiment (mot) Leibstandarte SS

· Regimentstab (SS-Gruppenführer Josef Dietrich)
· I.Infanterie-Bataillon (mot) - (SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Witt)
· II.Infanterie-Bataillon (mot) - (SS-Sturmbannführer Theodor Wisch)
· III.Infanterie-Bataillon (mot) - (SS-Sturmbannführer Weidenhaupt)
· IV.Infanterie-Bataillon (mot) - (SS-Sturmbannführer Jahnke)
· V.Infanterie-Battaillon (mot) - (SS-Sturmbannführer Van Bibber)


I guess this is the best the Germans can do to help the international community resolve this current crisis on the Middle East.



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“Germans Still Reticent About Involvement in Mideast Mission”
DW – World - Deutsche Welle
August 9, 2006


They may not have rejected outright Israeli leader Olmert's wish to see German peacekeepers in the Middle East, but German politicians harbor deep reservations about the controversial proposal.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview recently that he would welcome the participation of German soldiers in a stabilization force in South Lebanon.

There is no other nation that Israel considers more of a friend that Germany ... I would be very happy if Germany participated," Olmert told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung last week. "I have informed Chancellor Angela Merkel that we have absolutely no problem having German troops in South Lebanon."

The Israeli leader may have no problem, but Germany certainly does.

Ever since the publication of Olmert's interview, the country is witnessing an intense domestic debate about the rights and wrongs of such a move.

The German government has not entirely ruled out sending troops to the Middle East. Though Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected any immediate deployment of troops, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said last month that if both sides in the conflict and the international community requested German participation, it would be difficult for Berlin to decline.

"Difficult shared history"

But, many citizens and politicians remain uneasy about sending soldiers to the region.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said last month that talks about Germany's involvement in a possible international peacekeeping force on the Israeli-Lebanon border were being treated with great sensitivity.

"I think this is appropriate given the difficult shared history between Germany and Israel," he told German broadcaster ZDF.

Few doubt that more than 60 years after World War II and the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed about six million Jews, sending German soldiers to the region would be far from controversial.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler of the Social Democratic Party ruled out a direct military involvement by German troops "for purely historical reasons."

In an interview with German daily Die Welt on Saturday, Erler said German troops could possibly be involved in reconstruction and training the Lebanese army and police, but not in firing on Israeli troops, if necessary, given Germany's persecution of Europe's Jews during its Nazi past.

"It's difficult to imagine German soldiers armed with guns facing off against Israelis," Erler said….


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August 9, 2006

SouthAmerica: In my opinion, the Israelis went mad. It is insane to me, and I can’t make sense of what the Israelis are doing regarding Lebanon. ( I have never been in Lebanon, or the Middle East for that matter, and I don’t even know any Lebanese person, but I know injustice when I see one.)

This is bordering plain stupidity and a complete non-sense.

Let me see if I understand and can follow what Israel is doing.

Israel had a chance to avoid this entire crisis by exchanging Hezbollah fighters held by Israel for the 2 Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.

The exchange could have been made – as they did in the past - and they could have avoided this entire mess.

So far close to 100 Israeli soldiers died on this current conflict with Hezbollah, and Israel is willing to let another 300 to 500 of its soldiers die in the near future for a potential loss of over 600 dead soldiers on their effort to recover 2 Israeli soldiers. (and when they finally recover these 2 soldiers they might not even be alive anyway.)

In my opinion, this is complete madness. And until now, I always thought the Israelis were a very intelligent and smart bunch of people.



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“Israel decides on major offensive”
By Harvey Morris in Jerusalem
Published: August 9 2006
The Financial Times – UK


The Israeli security cabinet on Wednesday agreed a big escalation of the Lebanon war by authorising the army to advance to the Litani river – up to 18 miles north of the border – to halt rocket fire from Hizbollah guerrillas that has paralysed northern Israel.

The decision was taken as Israeli soldiers continued to battle Hizbollah forces close to the border, almost a month after they first crossed it. The army said five soldiers had been killed in the latest fighting. Arab media put the Israeli death toll at 11.

The strategy approved on Wednesday by the 12-member security cabinet – nine ministers voted in favour and three abstained – would take Israeli forces well inside Lebanon, beyond the embattled city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast.

Some ministers indicated, however, that the fresh offensive might not be launched for several days to see whether international efforts to end the fighting produced a formula Israel could accept.

There were varying estimates of how long such an operation would take. Eli Yishai, a minister who voted in favour of the new strategy, said the military assessment was 30 days, although he added: “I think it will take a lot longer.”

The security cabinet met for six hours before approving plans put to it by Amir Peretz, defence minister, and Lt Gen Dan Halutz, chief of the general staff, against the background of defence assessments that an advance to the Litani might cost the lives of 300-500 soldiers.

Israel is already counting the financial cost of the war. The defence ministry has asked the treasury for a supplementary budget of Shk5bn ($1.1bn) for the first 30 days of the war and expenditure so far of Shk10bn-13bn was above the most pessimistic forecasts, according to the Globes business daily


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