Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt says Iran and Syria are behind Hizbollah's attacks on Israel. Therefore, he says, Israel should not attack Lebanon. After all, Lebanon can not control Hizbollah:
HAIFA, Israel – The Israeli army should not punish the Lebanese government and the country's civilian infrastructure for the actions of Hezbollah, which refuses to obey the authority of the Lebanese leadership and attacked the Jewish state this week without authorization, Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in an exclusive interview.
Jumblatt urged dialogue to solve the growing military crisis surrounding Hezbollah's kidnapping Wednesday of two Israeli soldiers and the firing of missiles yesterday into Israeli population centers.
He also hinted Syria and Iran may have directed Hezbollah to attack Israel.
"[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah does not obey the government of Lebanon. We (in the government) don't agree with his acts. But we cannot in Lebanon force him to accept any resolution unless he accepts it himself," said Jumblatt, speaking to the WorldNetDaily and ABC Radio's John Batchelor on Batchelor's national radio program. (Click here to listen to the Jumblatt interview.)
Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician.
He said he saw the fingerprints of Iran and Syria on Hezbollah's actions the past few days.
"They (Iran and Syria) are financially and militarily supporting Hezbollah. It is a known fact that this alliance from Tehran to Beirut is quite a solid strategic alliance."
Jumblatt said Hezbollah's attack and Israel's retaliation will make it more difficult to persuade the Lebanese militia to integrate into the country's army, a move he and other top parliamentarians had urged in response to calls by the international community for Hezbollah to disarm.
"We were having in Lebanon national dialogue on how to integrate Hezbollah inside the Lebanese army and we were progressing. Suddenly [Nasrallah] decided to act on his own for the release of Lebanese prisoners," Jumblatt said.
You see that? They were just about to start getting their house in order, and then Israel had to go and hold them responsible for the actions of Hizbollah, the largest political party in the Lebanese Parliament. No, Lebanon can not be held responsible for the actions of its most powerful political party. Or, at least, they would have us believe thusly.
This is typical of Middle Eastern countries, wherever you look. Governments and countries are balkanized, fighting against themselves, unable, we are told, to control the various factions who are at war with each other.
In the Palestinian territories we are told that Fatah can't be held responsible for Hamas, and neither can Hamas be held responsible for the actions of Fatah. In Saudi Arabia, we are told the Sauds can not control their own people (the "Arab Street"), nor can they seem to get a grip on the Wahabbist hate literature which their own royal family finances. In Pakistan, we are told the government has no control over the border region where Osama Bin Laden in known to be hiding. Therefore, we must understand that they can not be expected to catch him and turn him over to us.
Every ME nation believes it can play good cop/bad cop with its own "rogue elements". This is the negotiation tactic of the dishonest. Everytime an agreement is made, the game is changed once again, as the bad cop element rearranges the terms of agreement. This is called "negotiating in bad faith."
This is all bullshit, and it is time for it to stop.
If an American political/terrorist group began firing missiles into Mexico, you can bet your sweet ass America would be held accountable for it. The American government would put a stop to any such action, and the American government would apologize on behalf of the American people.
Certainly, the American government would not turn to Mexico and say, "Well, you know, you are going to have to give in to the separatists a bit, because we can not control them. Mind you, we don't agree with them, but we simply can not control them."
A real government claims responsibility for what happens within its borders. A government that can not control what happens within its borders is not a legitimate government, and is a danger to the world.
Israel's policy as this war develops seems to be to hold the governments of the Middle East responsible for the actions of their citizens. This is as it should be. The only reason we are hearing all this talk of "disproportionate response" is because in our fear of conflict with Middle Eastern nations we have allowed this ridiculous good cop/bad cop game to go on for so long that it has begun to seem like reasonable geopolitical policy. It is not. It is a shell game, and it is time for it to stop.
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