|
So weeks after the premeditated slaughter began the Americans and the French locked horns at the UN in New York and came up with a draft resolution that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Just to recap the real sequence of events, Hezbollah are Lebanese, they are resistance fighters that formed as a direct result of Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in 1982. The occupation is remembered for the massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps at the hands of the Israeli proxy army, the Phalangist militia led by Elie Hobeika, who was later killed by the Israelis after he announced he would cooperate with a court investigating the massacres. The Israelis partially retreated from Lebanon in 2000 after the military pain became too costly but not before kidnapping thousands of Lebanese citizens and taking them to dungeons in Israel. This is a clear breach of the third Geneva Convention. Since then the Israelis have repeatedly violated the terms of the resolution by attacking southern Lebanon with war planes and in May 2006 a car bomb killing Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub. The attacks on Lebanon became almost a daily occurrence. Israel was deliberately trying to provoke Hezbollah into action. Israel had a plan to destroy Hezbollah over a year ago and it revealed this plan to the Americans who in turn told Tony Blair. Both the British and American governments knew of Lebanon’s fate months ago but did nothing. Does their lack of condemnation of Israel make sense now the truth is coming out? This is more than acquiescence; it is assistance in the slaughter of innocent civilians. The Americans expedited the delivery of bombs to the Israelis ably assisted by the British government by helping refuel dozens aircraft at British airports and USAF bases in Britain.
After repeated provocation Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and this gave Israel a pretext to instigate their premeditated attack on Lebanon that has so far resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 citizens, the injury of several hundred thousand and the displacement of over one million Lebanese citizens. As far as the media are concerned the current conflict began with the Hezbollah operation but as the saying goes, the first casualty of war is the truth.
As the slaughter unfolded on our television screens political pressure become unbearable to even the Americans who needed to look like they were doing something and so cue the unedifying appearance of the grinning Condoleezza Rice touring the region and being snubbed by the Lebanese Prime Minister for her lack of even handedness and then on to the charade at the UN, the US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, a man so unsuited to the job even a majority Republican Senate refused his confirmation as UN Ambassador.
The draft resolution is so one-sided it is doomed to failure in its current form. The resolution seeks tie Lebanon’s hands while leaving Israel’s free to carry on the attacks. It calls on Hezbollah to cease any attack and give up its weaponry but lets Israel continue on attacking, it doesn’t call for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and makes no mention of the war crimes Israel has committed. There are no demands on the return prisoners held illegally by Israel.
The whole point of the resolution is to make it impossible for the Lebanese to accept this resolution and so let the Israelis continue destroying a democratic country while allowing the Americans to say “hey we tried to bring peace to the region”. This is proof, if any were needed, that the Americans are not interested in a lasting peace in the region, that Tony Blair values his relationship as the subservient junior partner in the so called “special relationship” over the lives of innocent civilians and that Israel is the cause of so much of the strive between East and West. Even when the fighting is over, the world will not forget the complicity of Bush, the sycophantic duplicity of Blair, the immoral silence of Beckett, the usual plea by “poor defenceless” Israel that its existence is threatened while it massacres civilians with impunity and the Cheshire style grin of Condoleezza Rice.
The text of the draft resolution:
PP1. Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004), 1655 (2006) and 1680 (2006), as well as the statements of its President on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June 2000 (S/PRST/2000/21), of 19 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/36), of 4 May 2005 (S/PRST/2005/17) of 23 January 2006 (S/PRST/2006/3) and of 30 July 2006 (S/PRST/2006/35),
PP2. Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hizbollah's attack on Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons,
PP3. Emphasizing the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasizing the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers,
PP4: Mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel,
OP1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;
OP2. Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line;
OP3. Also reiterates its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;
OP4. Calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced persons and, under the authority of the Government of Lebanon, reopening airports and harbours for verifiably and purely civilian purposes, and calls on it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the reconstruction and development of Lebanon;
OP5. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty and authority;
OP6. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:
• strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;
• full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;
• delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa farms area;
• security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN mandated international forces deployed in this area;
• full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;
• deployment of an international force in Lebanon, consistent with paragraph 10 below;
• establishment of an international embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;
• elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government;
• provision to the United Nations of remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel's possession;
OP7. Invites the Secretary General to support efforts to secure agreements in principle from the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above;
OP8. Requests the Secretary General to develop, in liaison with key international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms, and to present those proposals to the Security Council within thirty days;
OP9. Calls on all parties to cooperate during this period with the Security Council and to refrain from any action contrary to paragraph 1 above that might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution, humanitarian access to civilian populations, or the safe return of displaced persons, and requests the Secretary General to keep the Council informed in this regard;
OP10. Expresses its intention, upon confirmation to the Security Council that the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel have agreed in principle to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above, and subject to their approval, to authorize in a further resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter the deployment of a UN mandated international force to support the Lebanese armed forces and government in providing a secure environment and contribute to the implementation of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution;
OP11. Requests UNIFIL, upon cessation of hostilities, to monitor its implementation and to extend its assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the safe return of displaced persons;
OP12. Calls upon the Government of Lebanon to ensure arms or related materiel are not imported into Lebanon without its consent and requests UNIFIL, conditions permitting, to assist the Government of Lebanon at its request;
OP13. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council within one week on the implementation of this resolution and to provide any relevant information in light of the Council's intention to adopt, consistent with paragraph 10 above, a further resolution;
OP14. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
One person has commented on this article.
One thing I haven't heard mentioned is that for the US, this is their chance for revenge over the suicide bombings of their embassy all those years ago. So of course they're not serious about preventing Lebanese bloodshed.
|
