When
helpless Lebanon appeals to powerless UN
NEW YORK -- As a helpless Lebanon
continues to be turned into rubble by Israeli firepower, the United
Nations remains politically impotent and unable to take any action
because of a hard fact of life: the unrestrained and overindulgent
US support for an intransigent Israel. US Ambassador John Bolton
says there will be no ceasefire unless it is part of "a comprehensive
solution that lays a real foundation for peace." Until then,
he seems to argue rather ironically, Israel has the right to destroy
the whole of Lebanon just to disarm a single militant group: the
Hezbollah. Looking at it from a military perspective, the Israelis
are using a monstrous tractor to kill a fly.
![](../images/lebanon-1.jpg) |
Coffins containing the bodies of Lebanese
victims are laid in a mass grave in the southern Lebanon city
of Tyre on Friday. (AP pic Nasser Nasser) |
The UN, long viewed as the keeper of world peace,
has been transformed into a political laughing stock because it
has remained ineffective despite a desperate plea by Lebanese Prime
Minister Fouad Siniora. "Can the international community stand
by while such callous retribution by the state of Israel is inflicted
on us?" he asked in a letter to the Secretary-General and the
President of the Security Council last week.
The "cedar revolution in Lebanon" --
which introduced renewed multi-party democracy to the long-suffering
Arab nation -- was hailed by the US as a model for other states
in the region. But the Bush administration, which treated Lebanon
as one of its political allies in the region, has refused to step
in to halt the ongoing destruction of one of its user-friendly countries
in the Arab world.
In his letter to the UN, the Lebanese Prime Minister
asks: "Will you allow innocent civilians, churches, mosques,
orphanages, medical supplies escorted by the Red Cross, and people
seeking shelter or fleeing their homes and villages, to be casualties
of this ugly war? Is this what the international community calls
self defence?"
The only visible movement so far is a planned
visit to the Middle East by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
But the irony of the proposed visit was underlined by a reporter
who asked the Assistant Secretary of State Sean McCormack at a news
briefing last week: "Since she cannot speak to Hezbollah, she
cannot speak to Hamas (both considered terrorist organisations by
the US), she cannot speak to the Syrians, she cannot speak to the
Iranians (both countries considered "terrorist states"
and supportive of Hezbollah), that leaves only Israel, and what,
Lebanon?" The reporter went further: "She cannot go to
Lebanon (either) if there is no ceasefire, and you don't call for
a ceasefire. So, what is she going to do there?" And McCormack
came out with a lacklustre response: "We're going to keep you
upto date on her itinerary and the timing of her travel." End
of story.
In a statement to the Security Council last week,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan tried to be predictably even-handed
by blaming both Hezbollah and the Israelis for the current impasse.
The figures he presented to the Council gave a clear indication
of the grossly disproportionate use of Israeli firepower, mostly
against civilians. After nine days of Israeli bombings, Annan said,
over 300 Lebanese have been killed and more than 600 wounded. On
the other side of the battle zone, 28 Israelis have been killed
and over 200 wounded.
"Israel states that it has no quarrel with
the government or the people of Lebanon, and that it is taking extreme
precaution to avoid harm to them," Annan told the Security
Council. "Yet a number of its actions have hurt and killed
Lebanese civilians and military personnel and caused great damage
to infrastructure. While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, as
I've said Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use
of force is to be condemned."
Annan also came up with several proposals to contain the military
confrontation: an immediate halt to the fighting; a battle-free
humanitarian corridor to provide assistance to some 500,000 people
in urgent need of food and medical supplies; an expanded UN peacekeeping
force; and an international conference to find a long term solution
to the problems facing Lebanon. But all -- or most of the proposals
-- are bound to fall on deaf American and Israeli ears.
Meanwhile, human rights groups, along with the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour of Canada, have
been slamming Israel and "expressing grave concern" over
the killings and maiming of civilians, which could best be categorized
as "war crimes." Arbour said that international humanitarian
law is clear on the supreme obligation to protect civilians during
military hostilities.
"International law also demands accountability.
The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability,
could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved,
particularly those in a position of command and control," she
pointed out in a statement released last week. In layman's language,
it means those giving the orders to bomb Lebanon can be liable for
war crimes before an international tribunal. But then, Israelis
have always got away with murder - literally -- under a US protective
umbrella. The destruction of Lebanon will be no exception.
The protests against civilian killings have also
come from several human rights organisations, including the International
Federation for Human Rights, the National Lawyers Guild and the
US Campaign to End Israeli Occupation. While Arab countries such
as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- all American allies -- have
toned down their protests for fear of angering the Bush administration,
Iraq's US-installed Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki caught the
Bush administration by surprise when he forcefully denounced the
Israeli bombing of Lebanon. Speaking from inside the heavily fortified
Green Zone in Baghdad, he called on the Arab foreign minister's
meeting in Cairo for immediate action to stop the "Israeli
aggression." Not surprisingly, the US embassy in Baghdad did
not respond to his comments.
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