Might U.S. Discussions of the Banned Hezbollah lead to Greater Hopes for a Cease-Fire?
Courageous independent reporters try to make the difference in the Middle East as progressive scholars and political activists analyze the sudden war and struggle for the facts.
In a ghastly reenactment of George W. Bush’s original axis of evil remarks,
Israeli leaders have begun to call Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria Iran
the, “axis of hate”. They argue that civilian deaths are irrelevant
in their effort to destroy Hezbollah. And it is as though the suffering
of Lebanese civilians is even more irrelevant to them than the suffering
of Palestinian civilians has been over more than 50 years of war and
occupation.
International reporters with the BBC and other news outlets seem increasingly
helpless before such rhetoric. They often appear to be stuck when repeating
such words, confused by what one says in the wake of such remarks. And it is
the same when they cover American politicians like George W.
Bush or Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton.
Still international audiences are hearing what is being said and so we know
that: President Bush has claimed to find irony in the idea that a simple phone
call to Syria would stop Israel’s war planes and Hezbollah’s rockets; The
American Secretary of State will drag her feet on a planned
diplomatic visit to the region; The UN thinks it is too soon to try
diplomacy: And Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton of
New York, sees the bombing of Lebanese cities as a useful way to send a
message about what U.S. and Israeli leaders will not tolerate.
What is happening in the occupied territories of Palestine has been
providing only distant thunder in spite of the fact that the IDF is attacking
Gaza and killing civilians there as well with unmanned drones,
tanks, bulldozers, and rockets.
Every once in a while the comments of skeptical members of the news media
can be heard like scattered machine gun fire in the distance. There are
questions about who started the sudden war. Who should be held responsible
for the events of mid July 2006 that called forth old Israel, old voices
of aggression from 1967 or 1997 when leaders like Ariel Sharon, Benjamin
Netanyahu, and Shimon Peres, claimed negotiations were hopeless and that
the only solution to conflict was to pull out of peace talks altogether
and turn to the use of their well armed military.
If the torture of Iraqis in Abu Ghraib sharpened world opinion about the
U.S. occupation of Iraq, Israel’s bombing of Lebanese cities has put a
dagger in the heart of the our complacency about that country’s long
standing tactic of collective punishment, attacks on Palestinians
over what their leaders may say or do.
Those of us who work to supplant state or corporate propaganda with independent
news are struggling to find exact details in a situation where the details
and the truth seem to be disappearing along with Lebanon’s modern cities.
Fortunately there are many independent journalists who are willing to speak
with us for no money, and who have even gone hurtling into Lebanon even as
hundreds of thousands of people are running away. In time we can sort through
what they are saying even as they discern fact from nationalistic fictions.
But the question for those of us who will be relying on those voices who
helped us to understand the Iraq war and the Afghan war is this; How much
time do we have before regional conflicts break out and destroy even more
of the evidence along with our hopes for peace and global security.
Some of our most trusted news sources on the war in Iraq are disagreeing about some of the arguments on Syria. Veteran journalist Robert Fisk is covering the war from Beirut. He has accused Syrian leaders of planning Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli soldiers on Democracy Now.
Journalist Dahr Jamail is covering
the war from Damascus, Syria
where he is focused on Syrian reactions and growing support for Hezbollah, as well as
events at the border, large demonstrations against Israel and America, and the terror described by refugees who keep pouring over the border.
You can find his ongoing reports from Syria in Inter-Press
News Service and TruthOut.org.
We interviewed Dahr Jamail on July 18th and then spoke with scholar Conn Hallinan who writes for Foreign Policy in Focus
In that soon to be aired Talk Nation Radio program we
discuss the Project for a New American Century in the context of voices appearing in the US media to describe the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel, in addition to policy suggestions about Syria. Former CIA director James Woolsey, for example, has just called for US air attacks on Syria on FOX News. We have also been seeing former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres on US TV describing all negotiations in the region as “impossible†and explaining that they want time to “destroy†Hezbollah before they adhere to any cease-fire plans. (Bill Kristol has appeared on C-Span to talk about the violence. Kristol’s face appeared at the table during immediate talks in Lebanon between Israeli and Lebanese officials as well as UN officials.) –All are involved with the PNAC as you can see by our active link above.
In the coming week we anticipate interviews with Yifat Susskind of the
right’s group, MADRE –she has done humanitarian work in Israel and Iraq, and with other human rights activists concerned with the details about how to save lives in the Middle East. The World Health Organization is providing regular reports about Lebanon.
In addition we hope to speak with former UN chief weapons inspector
Scott Ritter
as he sorts out what is happening where potential U.S. attacks on Iran
or Syria are concerned. And we will be contacting physicians groups and
aid workers as they try to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon
and plan for possible outcomes.
Finally, we hope to keep on discussing the U.S. Military occupations of
Iraq, and Afghanistan, where violence has been increasing and U.S. forces
are intensifying their efforts. U.S. Military leaders appear to be turning to the use of heavy weapons again to cope with ongoing policy failures in both countries.
We have also planned further coverage of genocidal violence in Darfur, sudden political changes in Somalia, coverage of the U.S. congressional elections, and changes in the U.S. political climate as the American people take on the task of regime change.
We welcome your comments and hope you will find our discussions simulating
and helpful. Write to theshockvote@yahoo.com to share your views or to suggest a potential guest for Talk Nation Radio.
[...] During his travels Dahr Jamail has reported for Pacifica’s Democracy Now and Flashpoints In addition to reporting from Iraq he has also reported from Syria Lebanon during the Israeli/Lebanon War and Jordan. [...]