ISRAEL’S TIN SOLDIERS FACE A REAL ADVERSARY; NO “SIX-DAY SHOOTING GALLERY” THIS TIME

(ROME) (July 26, 2006) Israeli “suicide bombers” continued to murder innocent women and children in Lebanon today. Suicide bombers you say? Yes, the Israeli state is committing suicide. Its bombs may be killing the innocents but in reality Israel is committing suicide.

     Hezbollah, on the other side, is punishing the flabby, MTV-addicted, American passport-carrying Israeli Army. Ever notice how fat Israeli generals are? There will be no cheers for a Six-Day victory this time.

     Most Americans have been drugged over the decades by Israeli-American media propaganda that Arabs are cowards, losers, incompetents, and worse. (Hint: the Nazis called them untermenschen; Israelis have the same attitude.) While the Saudi/Jordanian/Egyptian oligarchs root for Israel, it is hard not to feel that as Hezbollah bravely stands against the evil Israeli military machine we are all members of the Party of God.

     There can be no peace in the Middle East until Israel is defeated and the parties negotiate a peace agreement on a level playing field with mutual respect. Israelis have to taste defeat, to lose their swagger, arrogance, racism and contempt for their neighbors in the region. Hezbollah is moving the world closer to peace, not war.

     The Rome conference which begins today has already failed. America becomes an even bigger joke. American diplomats who support Israeli imperialism continue to pooh-pooh the Israeli massacre of Lebanon. But the world is laughing at us. We are losing an entire generation.

     Yes, the U. S. still has the power to force people to show up for canapés and shrimp cocktails. But America can no longer lead in working towards a genuine solution in the Middle East. Not yet anyway. George Bush has made all of us foot soldiers, and hostages, of Israel, Inc.

     And so, while I pray for peace, I accept that this war must be decided on the battlefield. Deep in their psyches, Israelis must also know this. But the “survival” they are fighting for is racist hegemony and oppression of the Middle East. Only when Israelis admit failure and purge their attitudes can peace come.

     Do not despair. Peace will come. The 1973 war brought peace; the 2006 war will also move the parties closer to the negotiating table as unlikely and unrealistic as that seems today.

     Meanwhile in Baghdad, George Bush is reinforcing his garrison there, three and a half years after Saddam surrendered. Bush won the Pyrrhic victory experts predicted. Americans are dying for nothing; not for democracy, not for freedom, not to fight terrorism. They are dying because Condo Rice and George Bush and Dick Cheney are utter incompetents when it comes to leading the world.

     I am a Republican, an old fashioned, traditional, stay-out-of-foreign entanglements Republican. So I have no love for Bill Clinton. But Clinton played a weak foreign policy hand exceptionally well. Bush inherited a strong hand, and has squandered his chips. America has been reduced to riding in a caboose as Israelis prepare to careen into the abyss.

     An old lawyers’ joke says “How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? When his lips are moving.” Today, “How can you tell when an Israeli is lying? When his lips are moving.”

     Oh, I know, Bush & Co. mouth the platitudes about how Hezbollah started the conflict. In a technical sense they did. But what decent human being could stand by and see the murder of helpless, unarmed Palestinians, an endless occupation, a racist regime terrorizing their homes and neighborhoods? Americans would never stand for what Arabs endure. Why do we condemn Hezbollah for fighting back, the same way we would?

     Yesterday, Israel deliberately attacked a U. N. observation post. They murdered U. N. observers with a clear, direct purpose: to intimidate nations from contributing to a U. N. peace force. The Israeli warmongers are as obstinate as the Japanese dictatorship that held out until final collapse in August, 1945.

     Israel is guilty of premeditated murder of U. N. troops. The lies about “apologies demanded” and “apologies extended” for the “tragic” incident are all a bunch of eyewash. Israelis bombed helpless U. N. observers to murder them as a warning to any country not to supply troops for an expanded peace mission.

     The reality is that Israeli leaders have never wanted peace, never worked for peace and always hungered for war. In their own way, the Israelis are as demented and as inferiority-complex ridden as the Arabs they condemn. Israelis feel they have to prove their power, just as Arabs have to redeem their honor after numerous defeats. The only way these contending forces can resolve matters is with blood. Until they are all drowning in blood and everyone says "enough.”

     Or until the American people stop allowing themselves to be used as Israeli spaniels and say "enough" and demand an end to the insanity. Until we stop swaggering about being the “only superpower.”

     Day after day the supposedly invincible Israeli forces can’t subdue a few thousand Arab warriors. They complain that Hezbollah fights guerilla-style? What did the generals expect? How did American patriots confront Hessian mercenaries in the War of Independence? With the same tactics now being used by Hezbollah.

     Nevertheless, despite my disgust for Israeli atrocities, and frustration with the unfortunate need to redeem Arab honor, I confidently and sadly predict U. S. foreign policy will suffer the most crushing blow of any participant in this kabuki. Bush and Condo will be the biggest losers.

     If only George, and as a person I like the guy, had done what he does best, and told the truth to both sides, and kept us out of this mess, there would not have been a mess. Instead, he egged the Israelis on, and he will take the blame in Israel when the shooting ends and Israelis are devastated by their defeat.

     The Middle East mess won't end until the people have democracy and freedom; on that Bush is right. But there is no democracy now, not in Israel and not in Arab nations. Democracies do not bomb helpless civilian populations. No they don't. Only military juntas show such contempt for human life.

     We can’t impose “freedom” on people who live under Israeli occupation. We can't impose freedom when we have a surrogate in the region that seeks to impose racist policies more typical of the Third Reich than Independence Hall in Pennsylvania.

     Ultimately, America and the “Israel lobby” have led Israel down the road to defeat. And Israel has led Americans down the road to defeat. Dreams die hard. But they are dying today in the Middle East.

     Hezbollah may have won the war, but more likely in the long run Bush and Olmert lost it. Their arrogance and contempt finally got them. They wanted to start a conflict; they got their war. But, as Donald Rumsfeld would say, they didn't get the war they planned for and trained for. They got the war Hezbollah prepared for. And now they are stuck with it. And Americans are stuck with them.

     When I enlisted in the U. S. Air Force Reserves in 1964 many air bases had signs saying “Peace Is Our Profession.” And it was. We kept the peace.

     Today, more than ever, America’s profession should be to move the world towards peace, not war. In a rather contrarian and counterintuitive manner, Hezbollah is leading the way to peace. It’s time for Americans to stop following, and start leading. We did it once. We can do it again. Are you listening George? Calling Car Condo?

     Peace not war. In Iraq. In Israel and Palestine. Then and only then can we defeat real terrorists and win the legitimate war against terrorism.