ku10

The Independent has a brilliant info-graphic that shows exactly who’s siding with Israel on the Israel-Lebanon conflict:

As I understand it: Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant resistance movement and political party, attacked several of Israel’s northern cities with rockets in an attempt to get Israel to release three Lebanese political prisoners. Israel retaliated against Lebanon as a whole and Hezbollah facilities specifically, with bombing raids, ground raids, naval blockades, and the capture of Maroun al-Ras. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Government is desperately calling for a ceasefire while disavowing Hezbollah’s actions. (Hezbollah has 18% of the seats in Lebanon’s Parliament; 27.3% including others in its bloc.)

Basically, the U.S. seems to be blindly pro-Israel and willing to hold all of Lebanon responsible, even though only a small portion of Lebanon is at fault. On July 16, Rice said the only way to fix things was “to deal with the extremists, isolate the extremists, and put in place moderate democratic states.” The thing is, Lebanon is already ruled by a pro-U.S. coalition. The longer Israel—with U.S. backing—hammers away at Lebanon, the more the Lebanese will feel betrayed by America over a militant faction of which they have no control, and the more Hezbollah will seem correct in their actions, thus pushing the whole of Lebanon into a war that doesn’t need to happen.

A comprehensive ceasefire is needed for both states; or, conversely, what favorable outcome could possibly come from continued attacks? As Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora argues, “Bombardment, killing, injuries, and destruction of all the infrastructure—this is not an environment in which you can talk.” Even if the Lebanese Government somehow capitulates to Israel, that doesn’t mean that Hezbollah would be stopped—that group is as much apart from the government as it is a part of it. What seems likely is the escalation of the conflict, as other Arab/Middle Eastern states come to aid of Lebanon and the U.S./reluctant Western-EU countries comes to the aid of Israel.

Also, why is the U.K. still our bitch? Join the EU already!

(thanks to kottke.org)