Responsible for Death

Many disagreed with my post of two days ago, in which I stated that Israel bore a lot of responsibility for the death of innocents in Lebanon. Of course, it is Israeli bullets and bombs that are taking away those lives.

But in fact there is responsibility on another level that perhaps needs to be examined. I don't know much about weaponry or logistics, but I would love to have answers to the following two points.

1. Pls Double Click to Enlarge

Many of the more significant missiles that Hezbollah has used against Israel have come from Iran. Some of them require a truck weighing several tons from which they can launch. Others are heavy themselves, and over 9 feet long. They're not things you can smuggle through in your carry-on. How could they have gotten to Lebanon from Iran? Over water, and then through Saudi Arabia? Complicated, plus I don't think the Saudis would coooperate. I also  don't think Turkey would cooperate. Syria surely would be happy to help, but in between Syria and Iran lies Iraq. There is no way that Saddam would ever have let Iran extend its influence by transporting large arms to Lebanon.  Oh...  Saddam no longer controls Iraq, and in fact no one really does. In effect, we ceded Southern Iraq to Iranian influence years ago. I suspect that it's just possible that that explains how the arms made it into Lebanon.

    2. Part of the complex agreement to which the U.S., the E.U., and others subscribed that stopped the occupation of Lebanon, was that international forces would be responsible for controlling and disarming Hezbollah. Several months ago, Condi Rice said:

"We have to do some of the things that the Lebanese Government is asking us to do; strengthen the Lebanese army, for instance, so that there is one security force that is actually capable of protecting Lebanon. And we shouldn't expect the Lebanese to do some things until they're actually able or they actually have the capacity to do it."

This is what the Bush administration, as well as governments of other countries, had signed up to do, and then utterly failed to do.

So why is OK for Lebanese civilians, over 1,000 by now, to be killed?

The Lebanese government did about as good a job, maybe better, than the U.S. government did regarding Hezbollah. 

Should Israel be bombing Beirut or Washington?

Comments

[Rick]

It is reasonably safe to assume that 100% of every ordinance used by Hezbollah originated in Iran. It is flown directly (almost always from Tehran) into Damascus, where it is frequently (if not usually) off loaded in broad daylight, then loaded directly onto waiting trucks and shipped to southern Lebanon. This has been routine for six years, and as recently as 3 weeks ago you could have flown into the Damascus airport and watch the entire event while enjoying a glass of the almost drinkable local table red. They have been that brazen about the matter.

"Should Israel be bombing Beirut or Washington?"

Why would you choose to end an otherwise thoughtful post with an absurdity? That same reader that may suspect you of being either pro terrorist or anti-Semitic, might read that as anti American.