"How Washington goaded Israel"
Following on from my entry "Part of the Grand Strategy", here's another article to confirm that the attack on Lebanon is all part of the US administration's plan in disrupting the Middle East further and building up to attacks on Iran and, in all likelihood, Syria.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=27459&mode=nested&order=0
Note, particularly, this paragraph:
"In the years prior to Israel's July 12 bombing of Lebanese cities, Hezbollah had become less and less of a threat. It had not killed any Israeli civilians for more than a decade (with the exception of one accidental fatality in 2003 caused by an anti-aircraft missile fired at an Israeli plane that violated Lebanese airspace). Investigations by the Congressional Research Service, the State Department, and independent think tanks failed to identify any major act of terrorism by Hezbollah for over a dozen years.
Prior to the attack, Hezbollah's militia had dwindled to about 1000 men under arms--this number tripled after July 12 when reserves were called up--and a national dialogue was going on between Hezbollah and the government of pro-Western prime minister Fuad Siniora regarding disarmament. The majority of Lebanese opposed Hezbollah, both its reactionary fundamentalist social agenda as well as its insistence on maintaining an armed presence independent of the country's elected government. Thanks to the U.S.-backed Israeli attacks on Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, however, support for Hezbollah, according to polls, has grown to more than 80%, even within the Sunni Muslim and Christian communities.
Even Richard Armitage, a leading hawk and deputy secretary of state under President Bush during his first term, noted that "[T]he only thing that the bombing has achieved so far is to unite the population against the Israelis."
Watch this space.....
