Former US United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told the BBC today that he was “damned proud” of how the U.S. intentionally blocked efforts to achieve a ceasefire last summer when Israel was bombing Beirut and many other locales in Lebanon.
The BBC summarized Bolton’s comments: “A former top American diplomat says the US deliberately resisted calls for a immediate ceasefire during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah’s military capability.”
Bolton said it was “perfectly legitimate and good politics” for Israel to seek to crush Hezbollah. The fact that the Israelis used U.S. bombs to wreak death and destruction throughout Lebanon is apparently irrelevant. More than a thousand Lebanese civilians were killed by the Israeli government, with the Bush team cheering on each detonation.
AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in DC, bragged of its role in blocking any ceasefire. (A good critique of AIPAC’s role in the Lebanon carnage is here).
Bolton captures the arrogance and total hypocrisy of the Bush war on terrorism. In a meeting last August, Bolton “implied that because Lebanon harbored Hezbollah, Lebanese lives were forfeit,” according to a UN official who heard Bolton commenting in meetings at the time.
Neither AIPAC nor the Bush team suffered any backlash from Christian fundamentalists as a result of Israeli bombing of Christian villages. Most Lebanese Christians despise and oppose Hezbollah – but they were Lebanese so they apparently deserved to die.
As I wrote in blogs last summer, both Hezbollah and the Israeli government were guilty of mass murder. But the Bush administration’s absolute support (and re-arming) of a government that was intentionally slaughtering civilians is a crime that must not be forgot.
I cannot pretend to be surprised by this. I have noticed that these supposed “conservatives” think that morality only applies to sex. The “if you ain’t gettin’ any you ain’t sinnin'” theory of morality.
Eh, don’t be surprised that the “Christian” “conservatives” aren’t jumping ship. After all, would you rather save a few grubby Arab lives now, or keep supporting the Jews long enough to bring about the Apocalypse so you can go to Heaven without dying? I think the sane choice is clear.
Plus, any Lebanese Christians who died get to be with Jesus, and any dead Muslims deserved to go to Hell anyways. It’s a win-win!
The attitude of traditional conservatism toward the foreign policy of what passes for conservatism today was summed up by Theodore Roosevelt:
“The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife.”
I heard that douche bag this morning the BBC interviewer was actually non-plussed for a few seconds.
However I think you’re partially wrong about lebanese christians hating Hezbollah. They may have at one time but after the US supported Isreali attacks many realize that the only effective Lebanese resistance to Isreali aggression is Hezbollah. Also someone at Hezballah got smart and began providing reconstruction aid to all the villages in the south thus garnering more goodwill from their Christian neighbors. And lastly Gen Micheal Anoun a fiercely anti-Syrian Christian fighter with strong backing in some Christian communities has allied himself and his movement with Hezbollah against what he sees as the US/Isreali puppet government of Siniora.
Alpowolf- I hadn’t heard that phrase before. It is a hoot.
Now I finally understand Clinton’s impeachment.
klyde – I did not see the BBC interview – sounds like a hoot.
I had not heard about Christian support for Hezbollah. I would be curious to hear about more about this. The news reports I read last summer indicated that Lebanese Christians were strongly opposed to Hezbollah.
Even if some Lebanese Christians did support Hezbollah, that doesn’t sanctify a general slaughter of women and children.
Unfortunately, the US govt followed similar Rules of Engagement in Fallujah and elsewhere.
Jim- They played a clip of the interview on the BBC World Service radio today. You may be able to find the clip on the radio page. Surreal is the only word.
Except for the part about Anoun making common cause with Hezbollah which has been on the news just not in the US my info on Lebanese Christians and Hezbollah is based on anecdotal evidence from my best friend who is a 1st generation Lebanese American Christian. His kinsmen live in the north so they were well away from the conflict. They fall into the: “If it weren’t for Hezbollah the isrealis would not have attacked camp.”
thanks for the additional info.
Hopefully life gets dull in Lebanon soon.
klyde sent me a link to the story of the Christian general –
“Here is the transcript of a CNN story that discusses Anoun and his alliance with Nasrallah.
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/01/ywt.01.html
I fear Bolton is right when he said he was “damned proud” of delaying a ceasefire that would have saved lives. He may very well be damned. It is nothing to speak lightly of. So the Lebanese lives are rightly forfeited because some terrorists live among them? How is this any different from the thinking of Al Qaeda or suicide bombers? I am glad that the National Association of Evangelicals has come out with a statement against torture. Now I hope they follow up with one opposing war crimes and unjust wars.
People aren’t human if they live across water from here.
Actually, as I understand it, there is at least a couple of Lebanese Maronite Christian Groups which are at least temporarily allied with Hezbollah – The Free Patriotic Movement and El Mirada. This seems to be one of the best kept secrets in the US.
http://www.tayyar.org/tayyar/englishdis.php
http://elmarada.com/ar/
Best Regards,
Rich Beecher
Does anyone have information on how the bulk of Christians in Lebanon view Hezbollah? Hezbollah is fundamentalist Muslim so I assume their popularity is not widespread among other religions.
Regardless of whether a small percentage of Christians may support Hezbollah, Israel’s bombing campaign – intentionally targeting cities and villages far from the areas where Hezbollah was firing at Israel – was inexcusable.
Scott – I think the real problem is McCain-Feingold – and the prior campaign finance legislation.
If Lebanese were allowed to make direct contributions to US congressional candidates, Congress might notice when they are being blown to bits with US-supplied weaponry.
As the, to my eye, magnificent and wonderful happens,
the robbery crusades multiply, against the week
who are devoured. Many of the frogs are eaten. There is no guilt, to be weak.
It is fate. The pain steams and mingles with the fragrance of spring.
The warm breeze of air tastes stale.
It is as it is-and it is horrible.
We all suffer the tyranny of the wrong willful interpretation of the constitution, the bible and the community at large as it sways not that it has power but as it is suffered. Call it the tyranny of preference.
We know this nation is cursed where we live, because it is reactionary, restorative, poisoned by Christianity, lies, and is corrupt.
Jim, as memory serves the US has been killing Christians for decades. From the Phillipines to the Balkans, we have a lot of blood of fellow travellers on our hands. And we don’t need to mention that Iraqi Christians are fleeing that country in droves. While Sadaam may have been a bastard, he still had the pragmatic sense not to target ancient Christian groups in Iraq. Indeed, in some cases, the Iraqi State even subsidized some of the groups.
So it ain’t a great stretch to have an “ally” (NB the quotation marks) take out a few Christian villages and communities in Lebanon. (Oh, and by the way, we get to pick the bigger part of the financial tab for Israel’s little fishing expedition to the north. Joi de vivre – as if we don’t give these nutters enough.)
But at least Bolton was honest… Now if only we can all live long enough to see this scoundrel and his kind in D. C. hung by their own petards! Preferably the hanging will take place in a nice Shia neighborhood!
(Obligatory NSA disclaimer: no physical or mental injury was intended, implied or suggested to any US government official real or imagined.)
Wes, your NSA disclaimer is a hoot.
I hope it results in a reduction of your sentence.
Jim,
Forgot in my ramblings above: Nasrallah is the most popular leader in the Middle East. I can’t imagine why a great portion of Lebanese Christians wouldn’t support him – even if he is a Shiite. Seems like BBC Radio 4 ran an investigative piece a few months ago which interviewed a good many Lebanese of all stripes and Nasrallah was the man. Hell, I’d support him if I lived under the threat of Israeli thugs 24/7.
Do I need another NSA disclaimer for speculative and hypothetical psuedo-endorsement of a US-branded terrorist?
Wes, considering the devastation the IDF inflicted in south Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, I can understand why folks would support practically anyone or anything that prevented another such occupation.
As for the NSA disclaimer – according to confidential Justice Department sentencing guidelines someone emailed me last week, the same disclaimer is good for up to 24 hours on the same blog thread.
But if you post the same comment on some other blog, then it is null.
It seems I have read about Christian support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Christian support for Hamas in West Bank. It would be hard to determine how widespread the support is.
I believe that religious people are not always political and political people are not always religious – in the Mideast as well as elsewhere. The political lines may be drawn over different issues also.
An anti-war orientation may bring practicing Jews and Muslims together, while power grabs might well cause a great divide among non-practicing members of any religions.
Wars, economic chaos, and politics can unite diverse interests as well as divide them. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising that the tragic war in Lebanon last summer brought Hezbollah support from Non-Muslims.
I think sometimes we forget that most people are not religious fanatics and many do not self-identify as a Christian or Muslim.
Let me share this link of a BBC documentary of ordinary people in Iran who really aren’t much different than ordinary Americans. It is so disturbing to know there are so many Americans anxious to kill these fine people.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4679426685869498072
John Bolton’s mindless support for all things Israeli isn’t surprising. He’s a rabid everything-for-Israel neocon. It’s hard to say whose interests he represented at the UN–America’s or Israel’s.
He overlooks Israeli criminality–of course, so does the U.S. Government. He doesn’t give a damn for the suffering of the Palestinians, or anyone else in the region.
As for AIPAC, they’re nothing but a pro-Israel pressure group. As you probably know, two of its members are facing trial on espionage charges in federal court in Virginia.
Saw John Bolton on “the Daily Show” several nights ago. Totally arrogant and totally ignorant. Bolton even expressed opinions on Abe Lincoln that contradicted what tenth graders know. What a pr–k! Perfect reflection upon the Bush Administration. With jerks like this running things, America and its precious Israel are falling off of a cliff. No-one will shed a tear.
Hi,
Found your blog via antiwar.com and read your questions vis-a-vis Hizbollah and the Christian community in Lebanon and thought you may like some answers.
The answers, as per usual for Lebanon, are manifold. For the Christians there are 2 aspects of Hizbollah; There is the resistance aspect and the religious aspect.
From the military aspect, most opinion polls in Lebanon have shown the Christian community as being very proud of Hizbollahs achievements. Their numbers have in some polls exceeded those of the Sunni and Druze communities. Also, during the occupation, it was the Christian community that was demanding hardest that they be allowed to join the ranks of the resistence (to the extent that Hizbollah created a special brigade for them). The reason for this is that the Christian community is perhaps the most fiercely patriotic in the sense that they don’t all necesarily considers themselves part of the greater Arab community.
The religious aspect is far more complicated. At the back of many Christian minds is the fear that Hizbollah want to implement an Islamic state in Lebanon. Nasrallah has, since the day he took over, insisted it is no longer an objective because it is so unviable in a state that is so mulit-confessional and multi-sected. The extent the Chrisitan community believe this will depend on where they are. Those living in urban non-secterian areas are more likley to believe him tan say the Christian communities in the mountains who are far more insular and have long-held fears of conspiracies to exterminate them. meanwhile the christian communities in the South who used to use Hizbollah as the bogey monster to scare their kids were so impressed by the treatment they recieved in the wake of Israels retreat in 2000, that today considers themselves friends of Hizbollah if not necessarily supporters. While many wanted to attack these villages as “collaborators” it was Hizbollah that defended them and made sure there were no retaliatory attacks or lynchings.
As for John Bolton, as a Lebanese, I am happy that for the price we paid, we removed the halo of indestructability around the IDF and that Israels crimes in Lebanon have led to a the most vocal discussion yet on AIPACs influence on congress. Perhaps if the Israelis, for all their bleating on existential threats, were to actually, really, feel threatened existentialy, they may start doing more talking and less shooting.
Tom – thanks for the link to the video and the excellent observations.
It is tragic that folks equate religious orientation with a willingness to kill or to cheer the killing of people of different religions.
Maybe we’re overdue for another Englightenment.
Mo – thanks for the insight into the Lebanese situation and recent history. The situation is far more complex than most Americans realize — another reason why it is so infuriating to see Bolton rubber stamping the notion of all Lebanese as Hezbollah collaborators who have forfeited their lives.
To be honest, the situation is probably more complex than most Lebanese even realise; While the leaders play on peoples fears and predjudices in order to reaffirm their respective positions the majority of their followers don’t have those clear cut beliefs because, like Tom says above, the majority are not entrenched in one dogma or another. I, like those that I know, know whom I support, but I also believe that some of what they say or do is wrong or questionable.
What we Lebanese need to keep in mind is that the majority of us support the side we support becasue we believe in their stand, not because we dislke the others
The worst part is, the Iraq “War” isn’t even a war, it was an invasion followed by a subsequent disastrous occupation!
The Christians of Lebanon and Iraq are mostly eastern rite Catholics. Bush’s fundamentalist Protestant supporters would probably not consider them “real” Christians. Same-same for Latin American and Philippine Christians — They are mainly RCs.
Just finished reading your book, Terrorism and Tyranny, and wanted to express my appreciation. It is a great work. I was especially struck by the impunity with which American government officials act. Now when I hear US demands for transparent and accountable government abroad, I can’t help thinking that it could use some of that at home.
This makes Bolton guilt of war crimes against Lebanon and subject to criminal prosecution. Simply arrest him and have a trial.
War crimes are un-American.
I.e., U.S. government officials are never guilty of war crimes.
This is especially true in the Bush adminsitration. The John Yoo memo from August 2002 made it clear that this administration believes the president is exempt from any liability or accountability for war crimes.
Patrick – thanks for the kind words for Terrorism & Tyranny. Doing the research for that book was not a booster shot for my idealism.
Amazing how much hypocrisy the US government gets away with – and how few Americans seem to notice or care.
It is unlikely that anyone in the American government or military will ever be held to account for the crimes against the Lebanese or the Iraqis. In the latter’s case, the maintenance of a 12 year sanctions regime which was described (as you note in your book and I repeat on my blog: should I have sought your permission first?) by US congressmen as “infanticide masquerading as policy” and a bungled occupation that has led to the deaths of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.
I agree. Thanks for quoting me on your blog and thanks for the hearty recommendation for the book.
It is not surprising that the government gives itself sovereign immunity, insuring that its own crimes will almost never be prosecuted.
What continues to surprise me is how almost all of the designated “public intellectuals” and editorial writers give government “moral immunity” – permitting it to kill civilians with impunity.
Part of this is the result of anti-Arab or anti-Muslim sentiment. But the vast majority of such commentators also did not give a damn when the Clinton administration slaughtered Serb civilians in Belgrade and elsewhere.
A man proud of littering a militarily weak country with cluster munitions is a man who displays all the pathologies of a sociopath. At least we now know that government is not immune from biological laws of entropy.
Perhaps we’ve been following the wrong tack here, maybe we should all start applauding these Heehaw Samurai with vigor and urge them to ever greater degrees of Bolsheveki fisticuffs and then their kneejerk defiance might vaporlock, causing them to raise a fist for peace. We’re way off into counterintuitive territory here gentlemen, the insaner the better.The Marqui de Sade was but a piker.
I seem to recall that one of our earlier agreements with Israel was that they could not use our cluster munitions in agressive actions against other nations.Then again, I suppose that was an earlier agreement, tainted with the cloying scent of charming anachronism.
Silly me, I must have missed that College Republican Memo that added “homicidal maniac” to the list of definitions of a Conservative.
War is Peace.
Ignorance is Strength.
Bush is president.
What more needs to be said?
…I believe all that remains to be said of that Goddamned Bolton as a public figure is this: How can a man so right, and so informed turn out so dead assed wrong?…Go figure? Past that all I can say is that some AIPAC Jezebel threw a trick on him that drove him nuts…It’s been known to happen.
Beirut is the city that will NEVER surrender, and stop talking about religion i didnt choose to be christian i was born christian they have their religion and we have ours only god can know who will go to hell or who will go to heaven and all what u guys r sayin is stupid becuase i reply dont agree with you guys
“Damned Proud” of Dead Lebanese Women & Children….proud of what how would you feel if one of them was ur son or daughter. seriously guys i dont know what to tell u but if u guys have been to lebanon you would understand me “Lebanese and Proud”
Mace Price, Renee, Dirk W. Sabin,
I wonder why you people are whining so? You, the rest of the morons in America, in Israel, as well as the idiots in Europe, and the Arab and Muslim world get the governments you so richly deserve. You people elect corrupt madmen, sociopaths, pyschopaths, lunatics, crazed rightwing fanatics who think a never ending state of war with an endless body count is an excellent idea. People in the United States thought that electing a moron like George W Bush was “Cute” because he was not some intellectual liberal elitist sipping lautte from Starbucks running around. You had not a care in the world that this guy couldn’t tie his own shoe laces without a written set of instructions in front of him. And now you wish to whine about it? Get real! Sept 11 was America’s own making and frankly, when you are hit again and rest assured with the invasion of Iraq, you will be, I can simply sit back and watch the carnage from afar, laughing all the way to the bank…………….of dead souls.