The Israelis were driven out of Lebanon - a defeat. Or merely a tactical retreat? But see where it lead: an emboldened Palestinian resistance.
>I'm sorry, but as commonsensical as this sounds, it only demonstrates
>what a poor basis for an argument common sense is. You could find any
>number of people to disagree with the second or the first proposition.
>More importantly, the communities likely to assent to both - either
>radical leftists, or muslims - are characterised by their lack of
>influence in the courts of international justice.
Again, a few counter examples. Charges were brought against Sharon in Belgium. And Pinochet was held in Britain. Kissinger was served papers in France. These are new developments.
>The difference is that Sharon's army is funded and armed by the dominant
>world power, and encouraged at every step in its campaign against
>Palestinian fighters. Milosevic, by contrast, was despised in the West,
>and denounced as a neo-Nazi by every Western media outlet. Those
>differences are not a matter of indifference, or chance, but a
>reflection of a balance of power.
But a balance of power doesn't mean the US will back Sharon to the hilt. Yoshie hints Israeli expansionists will be dumped if/when there's an economic crisis. Cheney and company want to give him free reign, but the wiser folks in the administration realize they have to contend with enlightened American, European, and world opinion.
>This wish has already been dashed. Rather than seeing the US in conflict
>with Israel, you should see it as a division of labour. George Bush does
>not want to be associated with the specific actions the IDF undertakes.
>But Powell's leisurely tour of European and Arab capitals has left
>Sharon quite enough time to do whatever he wants. So far 140 dead (as
>reported in today's Daily Telegraph) on the Palestinian side. Are they
>to thank Mr Powell when he finally turns up?
Well they're dead. And Sharon said that 13 Israeli troops were killed today in Jenin in an ambush. He added that the offensive in the West Bank will go on. Are we headed towards a confrontation between Sharon and Bush? Remember, Poppy Bush witheld loans because of the settler issue. (and Clinton ran to the right of him on this in the '92 election)
http://nytimes.com/2002/04/09/international/middleeast/09CND-MIDE.html
New York Times April 9, 2002 13 Israeli Soldiers Killed; Sharon Says Offensive Will Go On By SERGE SCHMEMANN
JERUSALEM, April 9 - Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed today when they walked into an ambush in the refugee camp in Jenin, the Palestinian town that has mounted the stiffest resistance to the broad Israeli sweep through the West Bank. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin; many of them still lie where they fell.
The army said two squads of reservists were moving through a courtyard in a tangle of narrow alleys this morning when an explosion threw them to the ground. Gunmen on surrounding rooftops then opened fire, killing 13 of the men. The Palestinians then tried to carry off three soldiers, but a building collapsed on them.
The officers said the charge was a booby trap, but they also found the remains of what appeared to be a suicide bomber in the rubble.
The 13 deaths were the highest toll in a single day for Israel troops since they began their current dragnet, and prompted renewed vows from the army and the government to persevere, despite a furious outcry abroad and ever sterner demands from Washington to pull out.
``This is a battle for survival of the Jewish people, for survival of the state of Israel,'' Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Israeli television shortly after news of the ambush. He said the Israeli sweep would continue until the government had dismantled the ``terrorist infrastructure'' in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli officials acknowledged that the deaths in Jenin would make it more difficult for the government to pull back quickly. Jenin, the northernmost Palestinian town in the West Bank, has put up the stiffest resistance so far to the 11-day-old Israeli campaign.
Residents reached by telephone have described fierce and constant clashes, especially in the 90-acre refugee camp, home to about 15,000 Palestinians and a hotbed of hatred for Israel.
Despite the ambush and Mr. Sharon's statements, President Bush's spokesman, Ari Fleischer, reiterated today that Mr. Bush expected Israel to withdraw, and to ``do so now,'' and there was growing speculation here that the prime minister would bow to those demands before too long.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell also declared today that it was his intention to meet with Yasir Arafat, who has been besieged in his Ramallah office of the Palestinian Authority, when the secretary comes to Jerusalem at the end of the week. He had previously added ``if circumstances permit,'' but today Secretary Powell made it clear that he was not giving Mr. Sharon a say in the matter.
Secretary Powell said the Israeli pullback Monday from two West Bank towns, Qalqilya and Tulkarm, was not enough. Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers maintain a tight cordon around both towns, in a position to resume operations quickly.
``Let us hope that this is not a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but the beginning of a pullback,'' Secretary Powell said in Morocco before flying to Egypt.
Moderate Arab states have put strong pressure on the Bush administration to press Israel into withdrawing. Europeans have also become increasingly vocal in their denunciations of Israel's offensive.
In Brussels today, the European Union said it would consider trade sanctions against Israel. Chris Patten, the Union's commissioner for external affairs, said Israel ``behaved in a way which contradicts much that it stands for.''
Though the betting in Jerusalem was still that Mr. Sharon would blink first, the pugnacious prime minister bolstered his political defenses on Monday by swearing in three new ministers for his coalition cabinet, including one of the most militant nationalists in Israeli politics, Ephraim Eitam, the head of the National Religious Party.
Israel also faced a growing problem on its northern border, where Hezbollah and radicals of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fired another barrage of rockets from Lebanon at Israeli positions in the foothills of the Golan Heights. No casualties were reported.
The attacks have come almost daily since Israel's West Bank offensive began, apparently intended to provoke Israel into a retaliatory strike at Syrian targets on the premise that Syria is the responsible power in Lebanon.
Israel has bolstered its forces in the north and has made limited retaliatory strikes while urgently appealing to the United Nations, the United States and other powers to intercede with Syria and avoid a new conflict.
The operation in the West Bank has found considerable support among Israelis since a devastating suicide bombing of a Passover Seder on March 27, and military funerals on Wednesday are certain to arouse more passions.
``We will continue to fight, despite the losses,'' said Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Eitan, the commander of the Central Command. ``The soldiers are highly motivated, and they will continue until this camp is taken.''
Over the past 11 days, Israel has sent an armada of tanks and armored personnel carriers into Ramallah, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus and some smaller villages. The Palestinian death toll is likely in the hundreds, but there has been no way to get an accurate number. Twenty-two Israeli soldiers have been killed.
About 1,200 Palestinians have been rounded up, while other residents have been largely sealed in their homes, often without water or electricity and in a state of constant terror.
Though fighting has largely subsided everywhere except Jenin, and to some degree Nablus, Israeli patrols and armorer vehicles have maintained ruthless curfews in all the occupied cities, lifting them only for brief periods to allow people to buy food.
Otherwise, people venturing out have been shot at, and even ambulances have been mostly prevented from moving about. Foreigners have been barred from entering the towns, and where foreign reporters have managed to enter, they have done so at great risk. One has been killed and several wounded.
The chief army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ron Kitri, said at a briefing for journalists that the fighting in Jenin was ``the most bitter and harsh resistance we have faced.'' He said that as many as 80 gunmen were still resisting, but that the army expected to complete its takeover in a matter of hours.
Like other army commanders, General Kitri referred to the Palestinian gunmen as terrorists and said they had ``chosen deliberately'' to fight in a heavily populated area. He said this compelled Israel to use tactics that endangered its troops.
The Palestinians cast the fighting as a defense of their homes against an Israeli invasion.
At a checkpoint north of Jenin, several hundred Israeli Arabs gathered today for what they said was an attempt to accompany several truckloads of food and medicine intended for Palestinians in the embattled city. They were blocked by border police.
Then, the demonstrators said, some residents from a nearby Jewish settlement began pelting them with stones, and one man, wearing a uniform, fired at the Arabs, wounding two. Israel radio said a man was detained by the police. [end]