Well it’s finally happened, for a very long time now, Lebanon has been holding her temper and hoping that the UN or someone would do something about Israel’s constant taunting.
Like the old reliable school yard bully, Israel has been doing everything to get a reaction from Lebanon (the school victim). Everything from constant fly overs which almost happen on a daily basis to increased activity on the southern Lebanon border, in or around the disputed blue line areas.
Israel has never fully gotten over the bloody nose that Hezbollah gave them in 2006; in the past 4 years Israel has done everything possible to get a reaction from either the government of Lebanon or directly from Hezbollah. There has been constant claims from Israel that Hezbollah were importing arms from Syria (never proven), that they were planning an attack on Israel with the assistance of Iran (never proven), in fact despite all the untruths which the Israeli propaganda machine has almost become totally synonymous with, not a thing has been proved beyond the word of the well-oiled and totally untrustworthy Israeli ministry.
What was different this time was the fact that it was the Army of Lebanon who reacted first. Ok, the debate as to whether Israel or Lebanon were at fault will go on for a long time, however what we all witnessed was the school yard bully getting a reaction they never expected. Chances are that it was a total mistake, it happens when a border is not totally set in stone, but the point is when Lebanon were almost on a daily basis pleading with the UN to do something about the fly over violations, nothing was done! When Israel (the school bully) was posturing and insulting towards Lebanon openly and in the world’s media, nobody would stand up and say, that’s enough! Just like all victims of bullies, Lebanon took it for as long as she could, yesterday was the last straw.
If the US and the UN are really interested in keeping the peace in the Middle East (M.E.), then they BOTH need to pull the reins hard when Israel steps out of line, If they are NOT then they need not be surprised when something like this happens.
The current situation in the middle East is a little like a piece of clear plastic sheeting, sure, It will bend and you can to a certain extent abuse it, however just like glass it will eventually break.
If the USA is serious about peace in the M.E. then it needs to at least be seen to be fair. Right now most M.E. experts would agree that in trying to play the Policeman or peace maker, America is failing badly because of the so called special relationship. They will openly and vehemently defend Israel, even when they know Israel is wrong, whilst at the same time they expect the rest of the M.E. to follow their rules, adhere to their requests and accept their openly biased criticism.
Would America have stayed silent about the passport situation if it were Iran, Turkey, Lebanon or Syria that had used false European and Australian passports?
Would they have stayed quiet if Iran had attacked the open concentration camp we call Gaza?
We all know the answer is NO!
