Bush's Comments About Lebanon 'Pure Nonsense'

Israel is bombing Lebanon, and George Bush says that Syria wants to return there. Unlike Bush’s accusations against Hezbollah during his recorded conversation with Blair at the G-8 Summit , that is pure nonsense. It isn’t enough that the Lebanese population is being terrorized by Israel’s insane aggression, but the leader of the “free world” felt it necessary to preach civil war between those who want Syria back and those who reject them. But how does this crisis have anything to do with a return of Syria?

If the American president wants to highlight the fact that Lebanon has become an international issue, there’s no need to spread panic amongst the Lebanese. No one needs to be reminded of the links between Hezbollah, Tehran and Damascus; While at the same time, the difficulties of arranging dialogue and compromise between Tel Aviv and other parties concerned with Arab-Israeli struggle has never been as complicated as it is now. For the first time in the doomed history of the conflict, the atmosphere is filled with Arab proposals, while Israeli makes no reply. The reason is that those Arab parties [Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan] don’t have enough influence to impose decisions on war or peace.

Israel doesn’t communicate with any of the parties that could affect war or peace [Syria and Iran], and neither do these parties wish to communicate with Israel. Washington boasts about isolating Tehran and Damascus and still believes that its excellent relations with Amman, Cairo and Riyadh are enough to solve the problem. Washington is under the misimpression that brandishing the specter of Syria is all that is needed to put the solution that it seeks into place. According to Washington and Tel Aviv, the key to Hezbollah is in Damascus.

During the aggression of the “Grapes of Wrath ” in 1996, one of Rice’s predecessors, Warren Christopher, was shuttling between Israel and Syria, which was hosting his Iranian counterpart. Perhaps we should remind Washington of the process of negotiations in 1996, and also remind her of the true players in the region, and that to speak of any kind of solution without them is nothing but complete nonsense.

[Editor’s Note: Israel’s massive bombardment of southern Lebanon in 1996 was called “Grapes of Wrath.” The operation ended with the “Grapes of Wrath Understanding,” between Israel, Lebanon and Syria ].

Washington opposes a ceasefire as a means of waiting for the circumstances for a permanent solution to ripen. But how can there possibly be a permanent solution without the help of Damascus?