[Vision2020] Vietnam, Iraq, and Lebanon: Superpower Overkill Backfires

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is commentary forwarded by Nick Gier.

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Greetings:
 
This is my radio commentary for next Tuesday. It's the unexpurgated version.
If you want to hear a still struggling radio voice, you can hear me pop my
p's at:

http://www.NickGier.com

I've done my commentary early so that I can visit my daughter in Edmonton
and enjoy the Canadian Rockies for a few days. 
 
For years I've struggled to formulate my views on the dilemma of Israel and
its enemies. Israel's overreaction in Lebanon crystallized my views very
nicely. 

 VIETNAM, IRAQ, AND LEBANON:
SUPERPOWER OVERKILL BACKFIRES

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind --M. K. Gandhi


        Ten Years of military intervention in Vietnam with the most
sophisticated weapons did not defeat the Viet Cong, and it caused the
unnecessary deaths of millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians.  Our
"shock and aw" campaign in Iraq has left over 50,000 civilians dead and the
insurgency is stronger than ever. Shias and Sunnis are also killing each
other at an ever increasing rate.

        For 34 days Israel bombed targets in Lebanon, killing at least 1,000
civilians, but on the last day before the cease fire Hezbollah fired more
rockets than on any other day of the war.  Hezbollah also surprised everyone
with their anti-tank weapons, and the result was that too many Israelis
soldiers died gruesome deaths in their tanks.

        Superpowers become so over confident that they fail to gather
necessary intelligence, fail to make long range battle plans, and fail to
equip their troops properly.  An arrogant Rumsfeld made sure that his troops
were not prepared for the Iraqi insurgency, and he made light of the fact
that many humvees were not armored. The worst day for the Israelis was when
a number of troops resting in the open were wiped out by a Hezbollah rocket.
NPR reported that some Israeli troops had to drink from the canteens of dead
Hezbollah guerillas. 

        Just as U.S. warplanes left thousands of unexploded bombs in rice
paddies, Lebanon is now littered with unfired bomblets from Israeli jets and
artillery.  Everyday in Vietnam children are born with physical defects
caused by the tons of Agent Orange sprayed on their jungles.  For years to
come Lebanese and Vietnamese will be reminded of bombing campaigns that made
far more enemies than friends.

The Israeli government thought that they could get Sunni Muslims to condemn
Hezbollah, armed and funded by Shiite Iran, but Sunnis and Shias around the
world, usually at odds with other, have joined ranks in support of
Hezbollah.  The Israelis had hoped that the Lebanese would turn against
Hezbollah, but their bombing has only united them against Israel.  A Druze
Christian leader on NPR had more criticism for Israel than for the Shiite
militants. The head of the Lebanese forces arriving in South Lebanon
declared that they will not fight nor disarm their Shiite "brothers."

The Viet Cong lost nearly every battle, Iraqi insurgents caught in the open
are immediately wiped out, and Hezbollah suffered many causalities.
Nevertheless, they claim victories against superpowers rendered impotent by
guerrilla warfare and suicide attacks.  This is supremely ironic for Israel
where the roles of David and Goliath have been reversed.
        
        It is a little known fact that Israeli intelligence financed the
setting up of Hamas, the Sunni religious group that now controls the
Palestinian Parliament. Charles Freeman, a former US ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, states that "Israel started Hamas" in order to "hem in the [secular]
PLO." This idea backfired as badly as US support for the Islamic militants
in Afghanistan, which produced the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.

The State Department's Larry Johnson maintains that "the Israelis are their
own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism. They are like a guy
who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting it with a
hammer. They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it."

It is also significant to note that incursions have been common both ways
across the Lebanese border.  (Israeli commandos were back over the border
only a week after the cease-fire.) The capture of soldiers on either side
has usually led to prisoner exchanges, not all out war. Uzi Arad, a former
Israeli intelligence officer, said that he "had never seen a decision to go
to war taken so speedily."
        
The puzzle of why Israel decided on a "shock and awe" response has been
addressed by Seymour Hersh, whose sources have proved him right time and
time again.  Writing in the August, 2008 issue of The New Yorker, Hersh
offers evidence that some US officials believed that a "successful Israeli
Air Force campaign against Hezbollah . . . could ease Israel's security
concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive
attack" on Iran.  U. S. officials of course deny that there was any joint
planning of Israel's massive attack on Lebanon.

        Hersh quotes one U. S. official with close ties to Israel: "The
Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits. . . We'll be
able to hunt down and bomb missiles, tunnels, and bunkers from the air.  It
would be a demo for Iran."  Now that the "demo" has failed, perhaps cooler
heads will prevail on Iran.

        The U. S. has been most successful in the Middle East when it has
been perceived as an honest broker among the various parties.  Carter, Bush,
Sr., and Clinton succeeded in finding this difficult middle ground.  The
militant pro-Israel stance of the second Bush administration is nothing but
counter productive.   This policy prevents us from winning over moderate
Muslims who are key to reducing the influence of militant Islamists.

        A New York Times editorial proposed that "Washington helps Israel
best when it supplements, and where necessary restrains, Israeli actions,
not when it acts as a mindless echo chamber. America abdicated leadership in
this crisis, leaving Mr. Olmert to deal with the messy outcome."

        The single greatest tragedy in the Middle East has been the failure
of its people to produce an Israeli or Palestinian Gandhi.  American and
Israeli "eye for an eye" responses to terror attacks have made the situation
worse rather than better. Gandhi said it best when he said that "eye for an
eye makes the whole world blind."

Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
years.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho