Israeli Invasion of Lebanon- Summation

Let me conclude the discussion about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon by pointing out that there is now general agreement in Israel that the Lebanon campaign was a disaster. My own feeling is that it had none of the earmarks of the well planned Israeli campaigns of the past.

It had all the earmarks of the Bush/Rumsfeld bungling in Iraq and I would not be surprised if it was in fact planned by Rumsfeld. We keep hearing of this Administrations staunch support for Israel. It seems to me this Administration is not so much supporting Israel as using it. Israel is to test American bombs to see if they will work in a war with Iran which the Administration is ratcheting up for. As long as the Republican party rules in the U.S. there will be endless war and endless war profiteering. Our boys in Iraq are just cannon fodder for this war machine which wages war while in the process decimates our military.

Israel should never allow itself to became the pawn for this Administration in the Middle East. Ultimately the only real security for Israel is in peace and I for one have not despaired that this is possible. Land for peace is still the formula and it is not Democracy that Israel's neighbors need, but economic viability. Nor do I buy the oft stated proposition that there is no negotiating partner. Even Hamas has stated that it would negotiate if Israel would return to its 1967 borders. Yes, there are many who would settle for nothing less that the total destruction of Israel, but they would soon become an irrelevant force if enough Palestinians felt an economic stake in peace. Until they have that stake nothing will stop the carnage. I only wish we had the martyred, by an Israeli, Prime Minister Rabin. Israel's tragedy was the rise of Likud, even though it was Likud member, Menachim Begin (who like Nixon with China) negotiated peace with Egypt. There is still time, but time is running out. Too many have ben dragged into hate as a policy, which it is not, and into the believe that peace can be imposed. It is not enough for some of the settlements in the West Bank to be dismantled they must all be dismantled, but not unilaterally. They should be available for negotiations along with a willingness to spend what it takes to make a Palestinian state a viable economic unit tied by trade to Israel.

This is not a utopian dream. There are still people of good will on both sides but they are a dwindling number as every move by each side increases the divide and pushes the moderates into the ranks of the extremes. Time is running out but it has not yet. The Nancy Boymans and Jerry Wachsmans who have a cataclysmic vision of wiping all Muslims of the face of the earth are just as dangerous as the crazies on the Muslim side of the street, while the Christian fundamentalists seek only Armageddon as a biblical prophesy and see Israel as the pawn that will lead there.