Washington’s interests in Israel’s war.
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH, The New Yorker, 8/14/06
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH, The New Yorker, 8/14/06
In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July
12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on
Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely
passive. “It’s a moment of clarification,” President George W. Bush
said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. “It’s now
become clear why we don’t have peace in the Middle East.” He described
the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria
as one of the “root causes of instability,” and subsequently said that
it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite
calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead
in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until “the conditions are
conducive.” [read more]
12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an Israeli air attack on
Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely
passive. “It’s a moment of clarification,” President George W. Bush
said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. “It’s now
become clear why we don’t have peace in the Middle East.” He described
the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran and Syria
as one of the “root causes of instability,” and subsequently said that
it was up to those countries to end the crisis. Two days later, despite
calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead
in negotiations to end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until “the conditions are
conducive.” [read more]