Four from Strategypage

Strategypage.com is always worth reading, but these four articles struck me as particularly good:

Lebanon: Family Ties That Make Nations Die

The problem is a lack of loyalty to the nation. People are more loyal to a family, social or religious group, than they are to a national government. While a Lebanese, when asked what he is by a foreigner, will say, "Lebanese," when it comes to Lebanese politics, there are no Lebanese.

The order of battle of Iran's Terrorism Expediters:

The Quds Force has eight departments, each assigned to a different part of the world. While the one that works in the Palestine/Lebanon/Jordan area have been the most successful, the other departments have been hard at it for two decades.

A survey of Moslem minds: Islam's Secret Weapon

...when Moslems talk about all the West owes the Islamic world in terms of science, they must refer to events many centuries in the past...Many Arabs admit that Israel must go because it embarrasses the Moslem world. The despots that run most Arab countries encourage this concentrated hatred of Israel, and blaming of Israel for the regions problems, as a way to deflect criticism of their own miserable misrule.

America Learns Arabic:

...the FBI has hundreds of agents with some proficiency with Arabic, and enough linguists to translate 34,000 wiretap messages a month... its Arab translators become even more hostile to Islamic radicalism after listening to hours of people spewing their ethnic and religious hatred in wiretapped conversations.

The Forgotten

I asked him if they don’t have a hospital where they take their patients. “Mostly they die, but it happens rarely that they are taken to a hospital for treatment, because the hospital is so far from our place. The nearest hospital is 60 kilo meter away from us”, he said.

Almost sixty thousand people, and they have to take their patients to Tagab hospital in Behsood. This is after five years of Karzai government.

In the last five years billions of dollars were spent in Afghanistan, but if you ask the people if they ever received any help from the government, they answer, “we think we are forgotten and we are probably not from Afghanistan.”

Response to Maya's and Jeha's lament

You can bomb Lebanon all you want, all you achieve is kill Lebanese, destroy the country, bankrupt the economy and further Syria's control over Lebanon.

I may not like the Assad regime, but at least I know what to expect from them.

Soviet Spetsnaz paratroops subscribed to this credo:

A good person in their eyes was one who did not conceal the animal seated within him. But a person who tried to appear good was dangerous. The most dangerous were those who not only paraded their good qualities but who also believed within themselves they were indeed good people. When things get difficult good people can quickly go bad and leave you hanging.

Better to associate with people who are bad. At least then you know what to expect of them when your luck turns. [Victor Suvorov, Inside the Aquarium, 1986.]

All human beings are "dangerous". But knowing what pushes people into employing violence and betrayal is a matter of cultural understanding, whether you agree with their principles or not. Spetsnaz troops were young, but they had already experienced the betrayals of
the Communists by the time they entered the Soviet Army. Naturally, they had to follow Party propaganda and at least openly profess that they believed the outside world was even worse, no matter how "good" the West appeared to be. And the West has killed its millions: in wars, through negligence, by revolutions, and even through wilful ignorance. Consider another little nugget of this Russian wisdom:

The most loathsome disgusting criminal might kill a man, ten men or even a hundred. But a criminal will never kill people by the million. Millions are killed only by those who consider themselves good...The Robespierres of this world were the most humane types and fed squirrels from the palms of their hands...

I think everyone should reflect upon these words very carefully.
----
In the case of Lebanon-Israel relations, it's hardly surprising that Israel is considered, "at best, an unreliable ally" by many Lebanese. Israel puts first and foremost its own security first, before attending to the cares of others.

The SLA, Israel's ally of the 1990s, couldn't stop Hezbollah attacks upon
Israeli troops, the international community wanted Israel out, and Israelis were no longer welcomed in Lebanon anyway. Partners have to contribute something to an alliance. It was better to leave if Israelis could convince themselves that security would improve rather than remain occupiers, especially if leniency was assured for most of Israel's former allies.

In 2006, Israelis woke up to discover that Lebanon harbored, was partially governed by, and materially benefited from an organization actively dedicated to making Israel unliveable . It could not be borne for Lebanese to expect that they could remain
untouched while Hezbollah was making war. The principles of Torah that Jews still subscribe to as well as international law and precedent support the Israeli response. (Indeed, both Torah and precedent would support an even harsher response.)

Had Lebanese patriots been more daring and openly supported it, the West might have bought Maya's argument that southern Lebanon was like a Mafia state. The end result
would probably have been a Chapter 7 resolution forcing Hezbollah's disarmament and re-establishing the central government's authority. But instead Lebanese decided once more to "play it safe" and parroted Hezbollah's claims of "resistance". Lacking open Lebanese support, the Israelis resorted to destroying what weapons and military installations they could and departed with a mere cease-fire.

So by Maya's standard - improving the lot of the Lebanese citizen - the Israelis did
indeed fail. And that perceived failure says a great deal about Maya's mentality: she ultimately expects her country to be dominated by a liege lord, rather than governed by a free people.

Only a serf would blame her lords for damage to the farm during a hunt. Free peoples hold themselves responsible for the bulls within their fences, and what happens when they get loose.

If you wish to remain a serf, Maya, there is still a way out from under Hezbollah's thumb for you: advocate that Lebanon be placed under a U.N. mandate, like East Timor. Just don't go about saying others are responsible for the poisonous vine twisting the cedar when you're the one who claims ownership of the garden.

The REAL meaning of UNSC 1701

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is the document that ended, at least temporarily, the Israel-Hezbollah War of 2006. Blacksmith Jade and I engaged in an extended discussion to dissect its provisions and their interpretations (excerpt):

I don't remember having any conversation with you about the overflights, but your arguments wrt to them is totally wrong. Far from being a red herring, the flights serve as an excuse for Hizballah to launch attacks against Israel -

Look at Paragraph 15. That portion doesn't fall under Chapter 6. As long as Hezbollah is trying to smuggle weapons Israel has not just the right, but the obligation, under UNSC 1701, to try to prevent it. Doing so using aircraft is explicitly permitted and reconnaissance overflights are an essential element of doing so...

At first it was fun for her, but readers can witness her slowly growing horror as she discovers just how much sovereignty Lebanon appears to have yielded to Israel, the United Nations, and the international community. Of interest to grammarians and international lawyers, as well as anyone who pays attention to the middle east, is the suggestion - supported by this recent interview with a Lebanese political operator by Michael Totten - that Lebanese in general do not possess a sufficient grasp of English to understand how their words are interpreted by the West.

Also revealed: how the choice of a preposition expresses the subtle difference dividing Lebanese and Western legal thinking. If Lebanese can't change this, their chances of escaping the fascist noose will be much smaller.

Of course, "the great Solomon2" may be quite wrong in his evaluations. I encourage my readers to check "my" legal and psychological interpretations thoroughly.

Lebanon & The REAL American Revolution

Abu Kais muses:

Will the Sunni love life and move to Kesrouane? Will the Maronites love life and feel comfortable owning a house in Basta? Can the Shia marry the Sunni, and the Sunni marry the Druze?

Perhaps these things can happen if people choose their principles first, rather than what side they are on. Then - and this is really the key step - they can regroup and create new "sides" of their own, cutting across even sectarian barriers. After all, where was March 14 before Hariri was killed?

The problem with that, I suppose, is that sectarianism is built into the Lebanese system. If reform appears impossible, then perhaps an entirely new system needs to be built. That's what happened in the United States of America, as follows:

I'll begin my explanation with a shocking statement: Everything you read in the history books is wrong, because the American Revolution did not happen in 1776. The real American Revolution happened in 1787.

That's because the Articles of Confederation that united the thirteen states from 1776 to 1789 did little other than restore the situation that existed before the accession of George III to the British crown. George III tried to turn back the clock by taxing the colonies and asserting his authority, so the colonies dumped him. But the Confederation did not work very well without a monarch at the top; it lacked the power and especially the money to carry out the duties specified in the Articles themselves, and was powerless when individual states appealed for help.

Some people even suggested (plotted?) to make George Washington king, but he would have none of it:

I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable...

Lacking any other candidate, this possible coup attempt failed.

The Continental Congress finally invited states to send delegates to a Convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation". The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 created the U.S. government in essentially the same form it exists today.

However, although the Continental Congress called for the Convention that created the document, the delegates did not send the Constitution for unanimous approval by the States as the Articles required, because they suspected some states would be stubborn and recalcitrant. Instead, they called for the Constitution to be ratified by individual, popularly elected conventions in each state, and simply declared that it would take effect once two-thirds of the states approved.

By their call to ignore the Articles of Confederation, the delegates themselves broke the law, and in America's embrace of the Constitution, the entire nation - not just the bosses of the state legislatures and rapacious western land-grabbers - became revolutionaries. Bereft of popular support and interest, the Continental Congress quietly faded out before George Washington was inaugurated as president. [1]

We Americans were lucky in that we had it easy; we kicked the butt of an incompetent would-be dictator first, then had the time and security to work out our own system, afterwards; Even so, without the honor and grace of George Washington, these things might never have happened. Lebanon is suffering from the grip of cruelly confident tyrants of proven competence, so Lebanese have a harder task than the Americans did.

Yet perhaps the U.S. example can provide some helpful insight. The creation of March 14th and the desire for political unity between Shia, Sunni, Christian, and Druze - do they not signify progress? What will be the next step for you to take?

1) "The Ratification Contest", Oxford History of the American People, Morison, 1965.

Update, 2/19/07

GWB gave this excellent speech on George Washington today. Also of interest: George Washington's Farewell Address. Happy Presidents' Day!

The Best Silver Surfer Episode

Number 10: Radical Justice, Parts 1 and 2. SS is captured and tried in a court composed of the pitiful remnant populations of the planets he helped his master destroy:

The ending has an amazing moral twist. Don't miss it!

Israel "Likely" Broke Rules on Cluster Bombs? - Not!

This story is from The Daily Star, probably the best English-language Arab newspaper in the middle east:

The United States said on Monday that Israel "likely" violated an agreement with Washington in its use of US-made cluster bombs during the 2006 war against Lebanon.

"There were likely violations," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday as the department sent Congress a preliminary report on its investigation of Israel's use of cluster-bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon during the summer war.

It is up the Congress to decide whether the issue will be investigated further, he said.

Under the US Arms Export Control Act, if the US government believes a foreign country violated agreements over how US-made weapons were used, the administration must draw up a report and send its findings to Congress....

...Israel has defended its right to use cluster bombs and says it only deploys them in accordance with international law.

And this is from the "horse's mouth":

QUESTION: The State Department report to Congress about use of cluster bombs by Israel and Lebanon, could you tell us -- you were quoted this morning saying on the wires there likely were violations.

MR. MCCORMACK: Okay, let me -- we'll back up, give you the long form explanation here. We can answer questions about it. Don't believe everything you read in the wires. (Laughter.) Just kidding. Just kidding, guys. Wanted to make sure you guys were still awake up front here.

Under the Arms Export Control Act there's language in there that says that if a country has -- likely has violated the terms of its agreements with the United States, then you -- then that triggers a report to the Congress. Now, the question then becomes what kind of agreements are you talking about. Well, anytime throughout the licensing process of selling armaments and weapons to foreign countries, the United States typically will negotiate along with the licenses various end use agreements and in some cases agreements that specify under what kinds of conditions those armaments and munitions can be used.

In the case of cluster munitions with Israel, we have in place one of those such agreements. And so the question then arises, which the Israelis themselves are investigating right now, as to in what way the munitions were employed and in the manner of their use, did that in some way contravene the agreement between the United States and Israel. So after looking into the matter in the wake of the Hezbollah-Israel war, we work cooperatively with the Israeli Government, take a look at the facts, take a look at the agreement that was in place and then take a look at the legal requirements as specified in the law. And it was the determination based on the facts that we in a preliminary finding -- I have to emphasize preliminary, it's not a final judgment -- that there may likely could have been [emphasis added] some violations of that agreement....

"likely could have been" doesn't mean "likely".

QUESTION: (Inaudible) you refuse to comment on whether it would be hard to imagine if the United States Government would be -- would allow an agreement with anybody to allow cluster bombs against civilians.

MR. MCCORMACK: Look, obviously the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel was one between Hezbollah and Hezbollah fighters which engaged in an act of aggression against Israel. They crossed an international border. They started a war. So clearly the conflict was between those two parties.

Now, you and your editors will decide exactly how it is you describe my comments. I can't write your copy for you. Sometimes I wish I could. It's just an area that I can't get into. It gets into the realm of classified information. We are trying to be as forthright and open as we possibly can with regard to this matter. I know it's of interest to you, but there are certain lines that I can't cross.

(Note: The Daily Star heavily based its article on this story from Associated Press.)
________

Then why is the U.S. investigating Israel's use of cluster bombs at all? To tantalize and appease the Arabs? Perhaps, but the September 2006 Library of Congress report contains this oddity: the Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls also reportedly is conducting an investigation focused on whether Israel violated confidential agreements with the United States that restrict Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied cluster munitions to certain military targets in non-civilian areas.

A very strange twist, I think: Israel may have violated U.S. "confidential agreements" by going after some military (but not civilian) targets that the U.S. wanted left alone. That could be the "real" purpose of the State Department's investigation into Israel's use of cluster bombs. So it appears that the accusation the rest of the world keeps tossing around, that Israel's use of cluster bombs was an inhuman violation of international law, may not an issue with the U.S. at all.