Perpetuating misinformation in the Ottawa Citizen

This is an editorial published today in the Ottawa Citizen :

Hezbollah's miscalculation

The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Any survey of great misjudgments in the history of the Middle East must now include Hezbollah's attack on Israel.

As an exercise in recklessness, Hezbollah's aggression ranks up there with Samson's falling for Delilah or Billy Hayes's attempt to smuggle hashish out of Turkey (see the film Midnight Express for more on Mr. Hayes).

The July 12 murder and abduction of Israeli soldiers on sovereign Israeli territory was a colossal miscalculation in several ways. In a speech six years ago Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, likened Israel to a spider web -- it looks strong, but one poke and it falls apart. Back then Israel had voluntarily withdrawn from southern Lebanon, and Mr. Nasrallah saw that as a sign of weakness.

He was wrong. As of this writing, Israeli troops continue to pursue Mr. Nasrallah's fighters across Lebanon. Dozens of Hezbollah men are said to be dead. Although civilians on both sides also are dying, the Israeli public is overwhelmingly behind their prime minister. Some spider web.

Hezbollah's real miscalculation, though, wasn't the assumption that Israel had become too soft and decadent to defend itself (an assumption Islamists make about all western societies). No, Mr. Nasrallah's real miscalculation was his expectation that the usual suspects would naturally align against Israel.

Trouble is, Hezbollah crossed an international border to attack Israel -- a border recognized by the UN itself. The first sign that Hezbollah had miscalculated came in the form of a remarkable statement from Saudi Arabia. The Saudis denounced Mr. Nasrallah -- a fellow Arab -- for his "rash" adventure and said that Hezbollah alone "bear(s) the full responsibility of these irresponsible acts."

International diplomats, though unsettled by the outbreak of violence, have quietly given Israel a free hand to cleanse Hezbollah from south Lebanon. They've done this not just because Hezbollah so clearly seeks the destruction of Israel, but because the international community is largely responsible for the current crisis. When Israel withdrew from south Lebanon six years ago, it was assured that Hezbollah would be kept in check. A UN Security Council resolution was even passed ordering the disarming of Hezbollah.

Unfortunately, the UN and Lebanon let Israel down. Hezbollah was able to operate freely in the south, amassing weapons and building fortifications, all in preparation for a showdown with Israel -- a showdown that Hezbollah initiated this month.

And that's where we are today. Despite perfunctory calls for a "cessation of hostilities," no one, not even the UN, wants a ceasefire just yet. It's understood that Israel needs to weaken Hezbollah before an international force can secure the border.

In 1981 Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor before the thing became operational. Now Israel is dealing with Hezbollah, because no one else wanted to. Soon it may fall upon Israel to confront Iran. Presumably Israel is tired of being the world's counterterrorism unit, though this time around it's nice to see that an increasing number of observers recognize that Israel is doing us all a favour.

Here is my letter to the editor :

re: editorial with title 'Hezbollah's Miscalculation'

I have two issues with this editorial. The first is the fact that you chose to ignore the many reports from international media indicating that the Israeli soldiers where actually captured inside sovereign Lebanese territory. The Associated Press even reported this.

The second is the idea that Israel is "the world's counterterrorism unit" and is "doing us all a favour". Why are we in the West constantly being told that Israel’s enemies are our enemies? These groups attack Israel because of its policies past and present, and for whatever reason Western leaders want to place their own citizens in harms way to support Israel’s policies.

In short, they become our enemies because we force them to with our unwavering support of Israel – right or wrong.

I understand why you would continue to perpetuate this misinformation however, as reporting that it may have been Israel who initiated hostilities by sending a commando team into sovereign Lebanese territory would make it hard for you to stand so firmly with Israel, and show that their actions are most certainly not a justified and 'measured' response.

Heaven forbid a news organization from giving all sides of a story and letting the reader decide for themselves...it may lead to people understanding that the poor forever victim state of Israel is actually very rarely the victim.

We'll see if it is published....