Israel Turns Up the Heat

The failure of international talks to get a cease fire in the Middle east has been taken by the Israelis as tacit support for an expansion of their attacks on Lebanon. The New York Times has a report here: Israel Debates Strategy Shift After Truce Talks Fail

The problem with this is that it does not tie well with what actually happened. It is now clear, retrospectively, that Condi had no intention at all of getting a peace. The American view seems to be that Israel should continue to pummel Lebanon for as long as it wants. The apparent purpose is to weaken Hezbollah, but also to punish Lebanon for not having controlled or disarmed Hezbollah. They also want to sanitize, or demolish, the swathe of Lebaonon that abuts the Israeli border.

By adopting this policy America has abandoned any vestige or pretence of being a broker for peace. It now is inextricably tied to Israel. Not that this is a surprise, but at least in years gone by the Americans tried to look as if they cared about a balanced policy. Now they don’t.

No wonder the Islamic extremists have a hold on the imagination of the average “Arabian in the street”.