Britain’s Howells Splits from Bushevik Line on Lebanon

While the British Prime Minister may still follow the White House line on letting Israel destroy Hezbollah, and taking with it Lebanon, the Foreign Secretary, Kim Howells, has decided to be his own man. While the US is rushing precision-guided missiles to Israel, Mr. Howells has dared suggest that the war on Hezbollah is actually killing off Lebanon, and in particular, Lebanese who were not necessary against Israel.

In his own words, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday, “I very much hope that the Americans understand what's happening to Lebanon. The destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes. If they’re [the Israelis] chasing Hezbollah, then go for Hezbollah. You don’t go for the entire Lebanese nation.”

This was not a gaffe or a case of an official “mis-speaking.” He also said, the Israelis, “know only too well it is not enough just to seek a military victory, they have got to win a wider political battle. That means they have got to think very hard about those children who are dying. It is not enough to say it is unfortunate collateral damage. Every person who has got a mobile phone, every person who can take a photograph of somebody being blown to bits, or a child with a limb missing, is a reporter now.” He added, “These have not been surgical strikes. And it’s very, very difficult I think to understand the kind of military tactics that have been used.”

Indeed, Israel is in the process of using the very military techniques that will render a lasting cease-fire unlikely. The Lebanese non-Hezbollah leadership has said that the Lebanese Army will side with Hezbollah if the Israeli Defense Forces enter Lebanon en masse. In other words, the Lebanese government will opt to help terrorists rather than suffer even more “collateral damage.”

Whether they like it or not, the Israelis need a strong government in Lebanon, and the fact that it has been weak (thanks to Syrian occupation for years and continuing shenanigans) let Hezbollah become what it is. Israel is in the process of killing off Hezbollah by killing off the Beirut government as well. That will mean a failed state and a power vacuum, which will be filled by folks not well disposed toward Israel. Tel Aviv is in danger of having a successful operation in which the patient dies. Mr. Howells is a better friend to Israel by saying this than Mr. Bush is by allowing it to continue.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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