Some comparison here and some thoughts on hypocrisy:
[quote]Jonathan Gurwitz: Peacekeeper suggestions seem silly in the face of terrorism
About that disproportionate response, of which Israel is accused and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac is the chief European hand-wringer: Perhaps Chirac and his cohorts have forgotten the 77-day bombardment of Belgrade by NATO in 1999, the devastation of the Yugoslavian infrastructure and the immense collateral damage to civilian lives and property.
And that bombing campaign, in which French pilots played a crucial role, came after Serbian terrorists had crossed the Gallic frontier to kidnap how many gendarmes and after how many missiles fell on Paris? Sacré bleu!
It’s nice that the international community has taken such a profound interest in events surrounding Israel, if not literally within Israel — as when suicide bombers and Hamas rockets take their toll on civilians. But the hypocrisy and other-worldliness of the commentary are really too much.
Oh, those poor, innocent prisoners such as Samir Kuntar rotting away in Israeli prisons, allegedly snatched from Lebanon, for whose deserved freedom Hezbollah is valiantly fighting. Who is Samir Kuntar?
Smadar Haran Kaiser, writing in the Washington Post three years ago, described what happened to her husband, Danny, and her 4-year-old daughter, Einat, [b]when terrorists from Lebanon launched an attack on the northern Israeli town of Nahariya in 1979:
“As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl’s skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar[/b].”
Then there are the calls for diplomacy to end the violence. “Yes, a cease-fire,” the sophisticated set suggests. “Send Condi Rice and everyone will simply lay down their arms.”
“The simple reflexive action of asking for a cease-fire is not something that is really appropriate in a situation like this,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton dryly observed in an official statement. “How do you get a cease-fire with a terrorist organization? I’m not sure anybody’s done that before and I’m not sure it’s possible.”
And there’s the helpful suggestion of sending peacekeepers into the region. But as Michael Young, the opinion editor of Lebanon’s Daily Star, writes in Slate, that’s a tried and failed solution.
“A 2,000-man force known as UNIFIL has been present on the ground since 1978, and its expansion would be a logical step," Young notes. "But this plan will go nowhere if Hezbollah retains its weapons and can fire its rockets against Israel while hiding behind the international peacekeepers.”
On Sept. 2, 2004, four years after the United Nations had certified Israel’s complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory, the Security Council passed Resolution 1559, which called for “the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias” and "the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory."
Of course, the only thing more fickle than the international community’s commitment to help the Lebanese government achieve this goal is its selective sense of moral outrage. As the Security Council last week deliberated yet another resolution condemning Israel, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman quoted Lebanon’s communication’s minister, who said, "Damascus gives the orders, Iran supplies the equipment, Israel reacts, and Lebanon is the victim."
And he quoted another official who said, “Hezbollah has not only kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, it has taken the whole of Lebanon hostage.”
[b]Then he addressed his Lebanese colleague at the United Nations:
"Your Excellency, you know deep down that if you could, you would add your own brave voice to those voices of your brave compatriots and colleagues. You know deep in your heart that if you could, you would be sitting here right next to me right now because you know that we are doing the right thing and that if we succeed, Lebanon will be the beneficiary.
“And I believe that most members around this table, as well as many in this chamber, including our neighbors, realize this reality[/b].” [/quote]
mysanantonio.com/opinion/sto … 98e6e.html
I hope he’s right.
