19 July 2006
Commentary from a Friend Stuck in Lebanon: Who Should Pay?
I just received the following email from a friend stuck in Lebanon. We will see if it makes it onto Anderson Cooper's show - it should, because it makes some very good points:
I would add that Bush's invasion/occupation of Iraq, conducted in the purely unilateral manner it was, helped usher in this new "unilateral action for self defense" paradigm that now has made it "ok" to bypass the international community that previously helped prevent these sorts of atrocities. Ironically, of course, the new paradigm weakens the UN's hand in being able to deal effectively with Hezbollah also - how can any sort of concerted international action be conducted when the system itself has been totally undercut?
¶ 10:20 AM 
I just wrote the following to CNN (as part of their Anderson Cooper Blog 360). I doubt it gets posted. So if you know of any blogs or whatever that may be looking for a perspective on the ground here in Lebanon, forward along.
I happen to be one of the US citizens stuck in Lebanon. In regards to your question, "Who should pay for the US evacuation," here's a novel idea. Why don't we cut back foreign aid to Israel (namely the Israeli Defense Forces) and use these funds to evacuate US citizens. The irony is too thick. We Americans are to blame for this catastrophe given our unconditional support of the Jewish State of Israel. Our tax dollars created this mess by financing Israel into the war machine that is currently charging through one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited, and now we're asking US citizens to pay for their own evacuation. It drives me crazy, and it should drive everyone in America crazy. US foreign policy is completely ignorant of the rest of the world. And I place the blame squarely on the Republican Party. Clinton made strides in the 90's to correct the situation in the Middle East. And together with prime ministers Rabin and Barak in Israel, it looked like Israel and the US were honestly looking to make peace. But ever since Bush and Sharon (the Republicans and Likud) came into power in 2000 and 2001 (ironically, both were elected around the same time), the whole world has been spiraling out of control.
The Republican Party has a long history of horrific foreign policy, which makes sense given that the majority of republican constituents are land locked in states like Kentucky and Oklahoma. And to return to the question at hand (who should pay for the evacuations?), why don't we also pull troops out of Iraq and abandon the current invasion (let's please stop calling it a war and let's refer to it as what it truly is). All of this reminds me of another Republican blunder in foreign policy (although perhaps on a smaller scale). In 1979 president Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party supported the successful Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua against a corrupt and oppressive dictatorship. Within one year, after republican Ronald Reagan took office, the United States decided to support a "contra-revolution" and coordinate a war against the Sandinista party. Republican paranoia was convinced that Russia could potentially invade the US through this small, remote Central American country if the left wing Sandinistas were in power. The result, almost a decade of civil war in Nicaragua, leaving it war torn and the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. I feel as though the Bush administration and the Republican Party will repeat this blunder. It will continue to support Israel unconditionally, even if it means the ruin of a beautiful country like Lebanon.
Michael Harley, New York City, NY
I would add that Bush's invasion/occupation of Iraq, conducted in the purely unilateral manner it was, helped usher in this new "unilateral action for self defense" paradigm that now has made it "ok" to bypass the international community that previously helped prevent these sorts of atrocities. Ironically, of course, the new paradigm weakens the UN's hand in being able to deal effectively with Hezbollah also - how can any sort of concerted international action be conducted when the system itself has been totally undercut?
