So Sorry, Qana ~ But Not Sorry Enough To Stop It

Well, Demon Princess is no expert in foreign policy, but it sure appears to a casual observer such as herself that we certainly seem to be hellbent on fucking up everything in the Middle East & doing our best to foment WWIII.

Seems to me that all Israel & its "prime state sponsor"(that would be us) have accomplished in the last several weeks is the further radicalizing of opinion in the Arab world against us, and even that of the Europeans & our staunch allies so far, the Brits.

We've been standing aside & letting Israel do what it will with our tacit approval--and that would be, to all appearances, overreacting. By what nightmarish barbaric standard does the capture of 2 Israeli military members "deserve" retribution of a nature so horrible as to justify yesterday's carnage visited upon Lebanese civilians, including children, in Qana? And just the latest & worst so far. Even Israel recognized that it had gone too far & suspended military operations long enough to leave a brief window to deliver humanitarian aid.

All this to wage a proxy war on Iran.

The WaPo carried an analysis of the situation today (title bar).

"The Israeli bombs that slammed into the Lebanese village of Qana yesterday did more than kill three dozen children and a score of adults. They struck at the core of U.S. foreign policy in the region and illustrated in heart-breaking images the enormous risks for Washington in the current Middle East crisis.

"With each new scene of carnage in southern Lebanon, outrage in the Arab world and Europe has intensified against Israel and its prime sponsor, raising the prospect of a backlash resulting in a new Middle East quagmire for the United States, according to regional specialists, diplomats and former U.S. officials.

"Although the United States has urged Israel to use restraint, it has also strongly defended the military assaults as a reasonable response to Hezbollah rocket attacks, a position increasingly at odds with allies that see a deadly overreaction. Analysts think that if the war drags on, as appears likely, it could leave the United States more isolated than at any time since the Iraq invasion three years ago and hindered in its foreign policy goals such as shutting down Iran's nuclear program and spreading democracy around the world.

"'The arrows are all pointing in the wrong direction,' said Richard N. Haass, who was President Bush's first-term State Department policy planning director. 'The biggest danger in the short run is it just increases frustration and alienation from the United States in the Arab world. Not just the Arab world, but in Europe and around the world. People will get a daily drumbeat of suffering in Lebanon and this will just drive up anti-Americanism to new heights.'

"The White House recognizes the danger but thinks the missiles flying both ways across the Israel-Lebanon border carry with them a chance to finally break out of the stalemate of Middle East geopolitics. Bush and his advisers hope the conflict can destroy or at least cripple Hezbollah and in the process strike a blow against the militia's sponsor, Iran, while forcing the region to move toward final settlement of the decades-old conflict with Israel.

"'He wants a resolution that will solve the problem,' White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters yesterday. 'Not only do we feel sorrow for what happened in Qana, but also a determination that it is really important to remove the conditions that led to that.
...
"The White House is acutely aware of the dangers of stirring up anti-American sentiment in the region.'There may be times when people say that they're unhappy with whatever methods we pursue,' the White House's Snow said last week. 'We are confident that in the long run, people are going to be much happier living in freedom and democracy than, for instance, in nations that are occupied by terrorist organizations that try to hijack a democracy in its formative stages.'

Besides the exhortation to "freedom & democracy" ringing somewhat hollow of late in White House mouths, it just confirms what I was sayin' the other day: we're all for democracy in the Middle East as long as it's friendly to our interests. Otherwise, we'll look the other way while our pals bomb the bejusus outta ya with arms we've provided. Tell me again how this is sane foreign policy, if you would.