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<p>Hi all,<br>
<br>
Following is an important article suggesting that not only did our <br>
government aid and abet the war on Lebanon but it even instigated <br>
it. This is an important talking point for our lobbying efforts, <br>
which are going gangbusters. Please contact me at 212-480-2955 or <br>
<a href="mailto:kmabbadi%40adc.org">kmabbadi@adc.<wbr>org</a> to let me know how you want to be involved!<br>
<br>
KMA<br>
ADC-NY<br>
<br>
<a href="http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/081406PARRY.shtml">http://baltimorechr<wbr>onicle.com/<wbr>2006/081406PARRY<wbr>.shtml</a><br>
RECENT *LOST HISTORY*<<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?">http://www.amazon.<wbr>com/gp/redirect.<wbr>html?</a><br>
link_code=ur2&<wbr>tag=webrider&<wbr>camp=1789&<wbr>creative=<wbr>9325&locationfil<wbr>tered=%<br>
2Fgp%2Fproduct%<wbr>2F1893517004%<wbr>3Fv%3Dglance%<wbr>26n%3D283155><wbr>:<br>
<br>
Israeli Leaders Fault Bush on War by ROBERT PARRY<br>
<br>
Bush even urged Israel to attack Syria, but the Olmert government <br>
refused to go that far.<br>
<br>
Sunday 13 August 2006--Amid the political and diplomatic fallout from<br>
Israel's faltering invasion of Lebanon, some Israeli officials are <br>
privately blaming President George W. Bush for egging Prime Minister <br>
Ehud Olmert into the ill-conceived military adventure against the <br>
Hezbollah militia in south Lebanon.<br>
<br>
Bush conveyed his strong personal support for the military offensive <br>
during a White House meeting with Olmert on May 23, according to <br>
sources familiar with the thinking of senior Israeli leaders.<br>
<br>
Olmert, who like Bush lacks direct wartime experience, agreed that a <br>
dose of military force against Hezbollah might damage the guerrilla <br>
group's influence in Lebanon and intimidate its allies, Iran and <br>
Syria, countries that Bush has identified as the chief obstacles to <br>
U.S. interests in the Middle East.<br>
<br>
As part of Bush's determination to create a "new Middle East" - one <br>
that is more amenable to U.S. policies and desires - Bush even urged <br>
Israel to attack Syria, but the Olmert government refused to go that <br>
far, according to Israeli sources.<br>
<br>
One source said some Israeli officials thought Bush's attack-Syria <br>
idea was "nuts" since much of the world would have seen the bombing <br>
campaign as overt aggression. In an article on July 30, the <br>
Jerusalem Post referred to Bush's interest in a wider war involving <br>
Syria. Israeli "defense officials told the Post last week that they <br>
were receiving indications from the US that America would be <br>
interested in seeing Israel attack Syria," the newspaper reported.<br>
<br>
While balking at an expanded war into Syria, Olmert did agree on the <br>
need to show military muscle in Lebanon as a prelude to facing down <br>
Iran over its nuclear program, which Olmert has called <br>
an "existential" threat to Israel.<br>
<br>
With U.S. forces bogged down in Iraq, Bush and his neoconservative <br>
advisers saw the inclusion of Israeli forces as crucial for <br>
advancing a strategy that would punish Syria for supporting Iraqi <br>
insurgents, advance the confrontation with Iran and isolate <br>
Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.<br>
<br>
But the month-long war has failed to achieve its goals of destroying<br>
Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon or intimidating Iran and Syria.<br>
<br>
Instead, Hezbollah guerrillas fought Israeli troops to a virtual <br>
standstill in villages near the border and much of the world saw <br>
Israel's bombing raids across Lebanon - which killed hundreds of <br>
civilians - as "disproportionate.<wbr>"<br>
<br>
Now, as the conflict winds down, some Israeli officials are ruing the<br>
Olmert-Bush pact on May 23 and fault Bush for pushing Olmert into the<br>
conflict. <br>
<br>
Building Pressure<br>
<br>
Soon after the May 23 meeting in Washington, Israel began to ratchet <br>
up pressure on the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian <br>
territories and on Hezbollah and other Islamic militants in Lebanon. <br>
As part of this process, Israel staged low-key attacks in both <br>
Lebanon and Gaza. [For details, see Consortiumnews.<wbr>com <br>
<<a href="http://consortiumnews.com/">http://consortiumne<wbr>ws.com/</a>> " A 'Pretext' War in Lebanon. <br>
<<a href="http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/080806.html">http://www.consorti<wbr>umnews.com/<wbr>2006/080806.<wbr>html</a>>"]<br>
<br>
The tit-for-tat violence led to the Hamas seizure of an Israeli <br>
soldier on June 24 and then to Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza. <br>
That, in turn, set the stage for Hezbollah's attack on an Israeli <br>
outpost and the capture of two more Israeli soldiers on July 12.<br>
<br>
Hezbollah's July 12 raid became the trigger that Bush and Olmert had <br>
been waiting for. With the earlier attacks unknown or forgotten, <br>
Israel and the U.S. skillfully rallied international condemnation of <br>
Hezbollah for what was called an unprovoked attack and <br>
a "kidnapping" of Israeli soldiers.<br>
<br>
Behind the international criticism of Hezbollah, Bush and Olmert <br>
justified an intense air campaign against Lebanese targets, killing <br>
civilians and destroying much of Lebanon's commercial <br>
infrastructure. Israeli troops also crossed into southern Lebanon <br>
with the intent of delivering a devastating military blow against <br>
Hezbollah, which retaliated by firing Katyusha rockets into Israel.<br>
<br>
However, the Israeli operation was eerily reminiscent of the <br>
disastrous U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Like the U.S. <br>
assault, Israel relied heavily on "shock and awe" air power and <br>
committed an inadequate number of soldiers to the battle.<br>
<br>
Israeli newspapers have been filled with complaints from soldiers <br>
who say some reservists weren't issued body armor while other <br>
soldiers found their equipment either inferior or inappropriate to <br>
the battlefield conditions.<br>
<br>
Israeli troops also encountered fierce resistance from Hezbollah <br>
guerrillas, who took a page from the Iraqi insurgents by using <br>
explosive booby traps and ambushes to inflict heavier than expected <br>
casualties on the Israelis.<br>
<br>
Channel 2 in Israel disclosed that several top military commanders <br>
wrote a letter to Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the chief of staff, <br>
criticizing the war planning as chaotic and out of line with the <br>
combat training of the soldiers and officers. [Washington Post, Aug. <br>
12, 2006]<br>
<br>
One Israeli plan to use llamas to deliver supplies in the rugged <br>
terrain of south Lebanon turned into an embarrassment when the <br>
animals simply sat down.<br>
<br>
Reporter Nahum Barnea, who traveled with an Israeli unit in south <br>
Lebanon, compared the battle to "the famous Tom and Jerry cartoons" <br>
with the powerful Israeli military playing the role of the cat Tom <br>
and the resourceful Hezbollah guerrillas playing the mouse <br>
Jerry. "In every conflict between them, Jerry wins," Barnea wrote. <br>
Olmert Criticized ...in Israel, some leading newspapers have begun <br>
calling for Olmert's resignation: "You cannot bury 120 Israelis in <br>
cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month and then <br>
say, 'Oops, I made a mistake.'" Back in Israel, some leading <br>
newspapers have begun calling for Olmert's resignation.<br>
<br>
"If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be <br>
able to remain prime minister for even one more day," the newspaper <br>
Haaretz wrote in a front-page analysis. "You cannot lead an entire <br>
nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and <br>
remain in power.<br>
<br>
"You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis <br>
in shelters for a month and then say, 'Oops, I made a mistake.'" [See<br>
Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2006] For his part, Bush spent July and <br>
early August fending off international demands for an immediate <br>
cease-fire. Bush wanted to give Olmert as much time as possible to <br>
bomb targets across Lebanon and dislodge Hezbollah forces in the <br>
south.<br>
<br>
But instead of turning the Lebanese population against Hezbollah - as<br>
Washington and Tel Aviv had hoped - the devastation rallied public <br>
support behind Hezbollah. As the month-long conflict took on the <br>
look of a public-relations disaster for Israel, the Bush <br>
administration dropped its resistance to international cease-fire <br>
demands and joined with France in crafting a United Nations plan for <br>
stopping the fighting.<br>
<br>
Quoting "a senior administration official" with Bush at his ranch in<br>
Crawford, Texas, the New York Times reported that "it increasingly <br>
seemed that Israel would not be able to achieve a military victory, <br>
a reality that led the Americans to get behind a cease-fire." [NYT, <br>
Aug. 12, 2006]<br>
<br>
But the repercussions from Israel's failed Lebanon offensive are <br>
likely to continue. Olmert must now confront the political damage at <br>
home and the chief U.S. adversaries in the Middle East may be <br>
emboldened by the outcome, more than chastened.<br>
<br>
As in the Iraq War, Bush has revealed again how reliance on tough <br>
talk and military might can sometimes undercut - not build up - U.S. <br>
influence in the strategically important Middle East.<br>
<br>
</p>
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