My Thoughts, Concerns Re: Middle East

Let me address some email messages I've received about some of my posts about the Israel-Gaza-Lebanon warfest because I want to clarify some points.

First, a few people (at least, among those who wrote) feel I have taken the view that Lebanon is completely innocent and Israel is completely evil. That simply is not the case; to present my views that way, I believe, is beyond just error.

First, the Israeli people are no more the war-mongering power mad egotists that the Sharon-inspired Israeli government is than Americans are the bloodthirsty madmen that the Bushies are. Likewise, most Muslims do not want the wars that some of their leaders seem eager to wage. Israel is not evil. America is not evil. Muslim nations are not evil. But the people who lead each of them may be a whole other matter.

For one thing, Hezbollah as a militant organization and Lebanon as a sovereign nation are two very different entities. Lebanon is a very weak, resource-depleted nation that really does not have the ability to stand up to Hezbollah and the money and other resources it has been able to muster from Iran and Syria. It's important to separate Lebanon from Hezbollah for purposes of discussion even if the media lumps them together.

But let's get down to a more important issue. You can't look at Israel's actions individually. Before the first attacks in Lebanon, Israel was gutting Gaza for the Hamas-accredited kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. They took out the electricity superstructure so very little power flows in Gaza. Imagine what it wouldbe like if you were deprived of electricity for weeks on end, in the middle of summer. The Gaza attacks served as the backdrop for what then happened with Lebanon which, we were told, began because two more Israeli soldiers were taken by Hezbollah.

First, the taking of soldiers is quite a bit different than the taking or the killing of civilians. Can we agree on that? Second, Israel has a long-standing history of disrespecting borders in general and of venturing over the Lebanese borders specifically. Hezbollah may have kidnapped the two soldiers on Israeli soil, but I think its historically more likely that the soldiers were - quite inappropriately - on Lebanese soil when they were taken. If they were, then Israel sort of bought its own problem there.

Their response, regardless of where the soldiers were taken, was to begin bombing the hell out of the Lebanese infrastructure, starting with Beirut International Airport. Israel can say til it's blue in the face that it is only meaning to hurt Hezbollah, but dozens of the dead and hundreds of the injured in Lebanon are NOT Hezbollah militants but innocent civilians with no Hezbollah allegiance. Israel says it is taking extreme care to only target these militants yet the death count on the Lebanese civilian side is WAY out of proportion with the equally tragic deaths of a much smaller number of Israeli civilians caused by Hezbollah-aimed rockets with a maximum range of about 80 miles.

For example, at one point on Thursday, we had 75 dead Lebanese civilians to one dead Israeli civilian yet the media keeps making it sound like Israel is taking a much harder hit and thus my posting about ALL life being equally sacred. The fire power between the two sides is extremely skewed although the media makes it sound evenly matched.

But - aside from how this mess started - a much bigger concern becomes where it will go next. I fear that Israel's PM Olmert is trying to draw the U.S. into the fray by pointing to Hezbollah's links to Iran and Syria, two of the Bush targets. Unfortunately, I don't think the Bushies need much of an excuse to go after Iran and Syria and for all I know, the Bushies are acting in concert with PM Olmert and the Sharon-like Israeli power structure to force us into what could become World War III (or is it IV? With the Bushies, there are so many wars).

But look at how Iraq and Afghanistan have fared under our war auspices. And we went into these countries with a military and an economy far more capable than they are today. We also had far less worldwide hatred aimed at the U.S. when we first started those wars.

So I think we must be extremely careful what we are willing to let either Israel or the Bushies drag us into. Some - was it CK or thebhc posting here in comments? - believe that Iran is actually a far more desired target for war by the neocons than Iraq or Afghanistan ever were. And there are others who see a new war as a fine way to insure a GOP victory in mid-term elections in November.

Americans - and Israelis and Muslims - are going to have to be informed, speak up and out, and work very hard not to be swayed by the explosive rhetoric and the lies their leaders tell them. This is our only hope to keep from being pulled into what could become the Armageddon some people seem to want to bring about.

Unfortunately, I wish this post were more organized and more clear. I'm suffering from a silent migraine and the old noggin isn't working up to par.