Readers' corner
Visionless
Sir-- I could not agree more with your insight ('Bush's New Middle East' Al-Ahram Weekly 3- 9 August). Bush and his puppets speak of a lasting peace, sustainable cessation of hostilities, catch phrases that sound good on CNN. However, they are either too obtuse or perhaps its just greed and arrogance that prevents them from recognising that until the Palestinian people have a home there is no sustainable peace to be had. The West keeps hearing of, and unfortunately has bought into, the notion that any group that opposes Israeli/US expansionism is a terrorist group or at minimum a destabilising entity. I do not buy into the US propaganda machine.
During the 40's many Jews were ready and willing to go to their graves in suicidal acts to kill just a few of their German captors. I see no difference in behaviour, just a different attitude. Within the same generation, Jews have put a people behind barbed wire and rule over them like a master rules a dog. With American endorsement of course. Therefore, it is my belief that the only destabilising factors in the Middle East today is Israel and to a lesser degree the United States. As long as America has a president that puts the "mental" in fundamentalism the West will never see the truth though their own twisted piousness. For this I am ashamed to live on this side of the globe, but it is my intense desire to share with anyone that will listen the historical truth of the region in hopes that the attitudes of those at least around me, can begin to change, and I am pleased to say are changing. America just can't see the forest through the "Bush". Tell the people of the Middle East to please keep heart. A very few on this side of the world will try to inform the many until the changes we need to make have been made. Our foreign polices will change, the real oppressors will be exposed and then maybe the good people of the Middle East will enjoy a sustainable peace.
Mark Couture
Ontario
Canada
Planned prior
Sir-- Just in case you are not aware, Israel's wide-ranging assault on Lebanon has been planned for years, and a specific plan has been in the works for over a year ('What next Lebanon' Al-Ahram Weekly 3-9 August). The "Three Week War" was shown to Washington think tanks and officials last year on powerpoint by a senior Israeli army officer to US and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. The Israelis tend to launch their wars of choice in the summer, in part because they know that European and American universities will be the primary nodes of popular opposition, and the universities are out in the summer. This war has nothing to do with captured Israeli soldiers. It is a long- planned war to increase Israel's ascendancy over Hizbullah.
Marie Edwards
New York
USA
Wars win nothing
Sir-- The Israeli-Arab conflict has a storied history that cannot be reduced to a single incident initiated by Hizbullah. The root of the present crisis in the Middle East lies in Israel's existence as an independent state with indefinite borders. Only when Israel is given definite and final borders by the international community and by all the Arab states will there be real hope for peace.
It is easy for supporters of Israel, in this new ecumenical age, to suggest continued violence as being necessary since Israel possesses US- backed military strength. This kind of thinking, however, which betrays an ability to rationalise without thinking rationally, is clearly unacceptable. Can any lasting peace ever be achieved through violence? Though Israel has won mostly all her battles in the past this has not won for her a lasting and just peace. The solution, therefore, must be political. We have to pray for peace and work for justice through dialogue. War is a cowardly escape from justice.
Paul Kokoski
Ontario
Canada
Easier drawn
Sir-- I have just finished reading 'When the skies rain death' and 'How do we sleep when Beirut is burning' ( Al-Ahram Weekly 3-9 August). Both articles prompt me to ask: after the politicians once again decide the fate of their former colony and create a "New Middle East", will there be war crimes charges brought upon the heads of the men who ordered the murder of innocents? I think we all know the answer to that question. I also suggest that the "New Middle East" will not be as easily created by drawing lines on a map as was done with the current Middle East.
Simon Siodhachan
Tokyo
Japan
Be careful
Sir-- This is a very insightful article about the internal dynamics of Lebanese politics ('What next Lebanon' Al-Ahram Weekly 3-9 August).
The alternative to a mutually-acceptable political solution between Sunnis, Shia and Christians is a de facto division of the country, with Shia controlling the south. That situation is what exists now. The northern Lebanese government, if there is one other than in name only, must prevent Syria and Iran from supplying Hizbullah with arms.
The international community must supply a force that, combined with the Lebanese army, is stronger than Hizbullah or there will be no letup in the violence. It must always be kept in mind that Israel is a nuclear power and might use nuclear weapons if it believes its existence is threatened. An Israeli attack on Iran to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons is quite likely.
James Bachmann
Colorado
USA
Calculated confusion?
Sir-- I am not a lawyer or a diplomat but when I read the text of the draft Security Council resolution that the US and France agreed on, I noticed a major contradiction within the sections of this text posted on The New York Times Web site that can be viewed by everybody. The contradiction is that in one part, Resolution 1559 calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon but the current text which relies on Resolution 1559 is allowing Israeli forces to stay in the current areas of south Lebanon. So the current text is only interested in implementing one part of 1559 (disarming of Lebanese militias, such as Hizbullah) and ignoring other parts of Resolution 1559 (withdrawal of all non- Lebanese forces from Lebanon). Doesn't make sense to me.
Sharon Davis
Seattle
USA
We care
Sir-- Please do not think that people in the rest of the world do not care about what is going on in Gaza or Lebanon. I think about it a lot and it is a source of perpetual sadness to see and read about what is going on.
Victor Benedict
Vancouver
Canada
Chavez a model
Sir-- Shame on Arab leaders who have become blind and deaf to the wounded children, women and men in Lebanon and Gaza. A non- Arab leader has sent a strong message to Israel, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, recalling his country's ambassador to Israel to show his indignation over the military offensive in Lebanon. Can't the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan at least do the same to protest against the atrocity of Israel?
Tony Ford
Paris
France
More than meets the eye
Sir-- When Hizbullah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers it was for a prisoner swap, not war. I can only conclude that there is a wider agenda at work here and we are all in danger if we continue to keep our eyes shut to the truth that Israel is out of control.
Allan Welsh
Scotland
UK
UN the problem
Sir-- If UNIFIL and the UN were doing their job, the current conflict would not exist. Instead it allowed Hizbullah (in violation of Security Council resolutions) to build fortifications, gather untold thousands of munitions and rockets and send those rockets and armed men over the Lebanese border into Israel over a period of six years.
John Lemmon
Boston
USA
US and UK
Sir-- Simply because Britain stands united with the US in the war on terrorism doesn't mean they "accommodate demands".
Henry Stackhouse
NY
USA
Taking aim
Sir-- At least the Israelis use precision munitions and attempt to target infrastructure and military assets. Hizbullah militants don't know where the rockets are going to land or who they are going to kill, and they aren't concerned as long as the rockets land in Israel.
Rod McFarland
Texas
USA
If only he were here
Sir-- Poor Nasser would turn over in his grave if he read this article (US-Egypt strategic dialogue rekindled, Al-Ahram Weekly 27 July-2 August).
Johanna Moren
Karlstad
Sweden
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