On the Eve of the Most Difficult Stage
Abdel Wahab Badrakhan Al-Hayat - 24/07/06//
Deliberations in the Security Council are a ruse designed to suggest that there is an effort to bring about an imminent ceasefire. But the deliberations will most likely concur with the Israeli military operations, covering for them and providing them with the necessary time. This is not new. The Security Council has carried out this role in different stages of the Arab-Israeli conflict, always in favor of the Israeli agenda, with or without American pressure, in answer to an international consensus - if undeclared - on the objective of war. This time round there is an almost overt international consensus, driven by a complicated set of interests and objectives. The major powers are agreed that this is an Israeli-Iranian war, and this is enough for a Western lineup favoring an Iranian reversal through the defeat of Hezbollah.
Where does this take place? What is the price and who is the victim? Nobody cared to pay attention to these mere 'details' and no one even bothered to work to reduce the number of victims. There was and still is a 'historic rapprochement' between opponents and enemies to the effect that Lebanon is the preferred location for their conflict. That is, Israel and the US on the one hand, and Syria and Iran on the other, are competing over who is the more degenerate in dealing with this country and its people, who is better able to extinguish the necessities of life in this country, and who is more sordid in disdaining its people and ridiculing their fate. Everyone won and will win because the war has not ended; it is on the eve of the beginning of its second phase, the most difficult and the most destructive.
It was just as necessary to wait for the evacuation of foreign nationals as it was to wait for the final convoy of refugees. With the end of that, the arena in the south will be ripe for a violent and fierce confrontation, and, following the US green light, the Israelis will kill and destroy and burn to their hearts' desire with impunity and absolute barbarism. The US green light will be given for Israel to begin the scorched earth phase of this war, and in order to camouflage this green light it was necessary for the great Dr. Condoleezza Rice to put forward what has been called a diplomatic plan for a solution in Lebanon. The Secretary of State has just begun work on the 'post-Hezbollah stage' in Lebanon but, no matter how smart her plan is, she will not go beyond the Israeli scenario. And no matter how hard she tries to impart a 'legal' (implementing international resolutions) nature to the plan, she will not be able to draw up an ethical framework for the positions taken by Washington since the war began.
It is clear that at this point of the war, Israel cannot consider itself victorious. The only thing it has demonstrated is that it is a terrorist State that does nothing except commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against any future for peace and co-existence in the Middle East. Because this war concerns the US, just as it concerns Israel, the next imminent phase of hostilities will be open to all possibilities, including the most dangerous and the most foul. Israel so far has used prohibited weapons in targeting civilians. Several military experts fear that Israel will deliberately resort to nuclear or chemical weapons ('smart' or 'limited') to be able to make progress in the ground offensive. The clashes of the last few days and some of the direct battles with Hezbollah fighters have proven to the Israelis the difficulty of overcoming the Lebanese Resistance with conventional weapons, no matter how powerful and concentrated they are.
Unfortunately, it did not transpire in the Security Council's deliberations yesterday that the major powers are concerned about these serious possibilities: the scorched earth policy, the use of unconventional weapons, and a major, declared massacre. All these States want is a clear victor and a defeated side so that they can put forward ideas concerning the post-disaster stage. In this way the 'international community' is making and will always make mistakes. It did not only fail to bring about peaceful solutions that would spare the people these massacres. It also failed to deal with this crisis because it is entirely subject to a US-Israeli logic that does not care for peace. This logic thrives on perpetuating the conflict, taking to extremes the desire to humiliate the Arabs. Israel is waging this war and pictures it as its 'last' with the Arabs. But is it the 'last' war for a genuine peace or for bringing the Arabs to their knees? Every day they are annihilating every hope for peace.
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