Tuesday, July 25, 2006
What's the point of a cease-fire?
That's the position of the Bush Administration. They want Hezbollah destroyed, and they're perfectly willing to let Israel do it, and damned be the innocent. Of course, they say that they don't want innocent lives lost, so let me offer this one bit of information - the point of a cease-fire would be, I do believe, so that Lebanon could perhaps attempt to do what you're asking (expel Hezbollah) without more people getting killed. Now, that would take skillful diplomacy, and might not work, but hell, at least people could flee without bombs dropping on their heads. And if it doesn't work, and there's 10 months of non-violence before more war, well, that's 10 months where no one got killed. I would think that would have value to someone who espoused supporting a culture of life.
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3 comments:
While I completely agree with your theory I don't believe it will work in practice. The cease fire should at least be implemented to get medical aid in and allow civilians out.
Hezbollah will never be forced out by the Lebanese people. Too many of the Muslims in Lebanon rely on the Hezbollah for basic needs that the government does not provide, usually because they are among the poorest. Hezbollah builds schools, hospitals, markets, rebuilds usable housing from slums etc. Without Hezbollah 20% of Lebanon would be homeless refugees. This isn't support from extremists, it's support from citizens in desperate need.
So how do you tell them they must turn their back on the only support they have known for the last decade? Support that provides for their very basic needs of shelter, food, religion and education.
I have always thought the only way this goes away is if Israel takes up that charge and always takes the high road. That's tough for a country that has the histroy of Israel, but they're the only ones with the power in the area. They have to say "Blow up a building? We'll build a hospital. Set off a bomb? Here's some schools." Until the other side realizes they gain more out of peace than war.
(Devils advocate here) And if I'm Hezbollah I tell my followers, "we need a new hospital, who wants to kill more Jews?!".
With the mind set of wiping out Isreal I don't think rewarding the civilians for Hezbollah's success will work.
Perhaps if the Lebanese gov. could be persuaded (UN sanctions?) to declare Hezbollah an illegal organization and start a campaign of negative propaganda blaming Hezbollah for the destruction of Lebanon they might make some impact.
This is going to take a lot of time. The short approach is to turn Lebanon to rubble which is a terrible solution but one that is attainable.
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