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By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

By Way of Deception

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318 BY WAY OF DECEPTIONand 200 tanks, but had still failed to dislodge the PLO.On a sunny Sunday morning in Galilee, June 6, 1982, Begin'scabinet gave Sharon the go-ahead to begin the invasion. That day,Irish Lieutenant General William Callaghan, commander <strong>of</strong> theUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFL), strolled into theforward headquarters <strong>of</strong> Israel's Northern Command in Zefat todiscuss a UN Security Council resolution calling for the end <strong>of</strong> thePLO-Israeli barrages across the border. Instead <strong>of</strong> the expecteddiscussion, however, he was told by Israel's chief <strong>of</strong> staff,Lieutenant General Rafael Eitan, that Israel would invade Lebanonin 28 minutes' time. Sure enough, 60,000 troops and more than500 tanks were soon sweeping into Lebanon on the ill-fatedcampaign that would drive some 11,000 PLO fighters out <strong>of</strong> thatcountry, but tarnish Israel's international image, costing the lives<strong>of</strong> 462 Israeli soldiers, with another 2,218 wounded.Within the first 48 hours, much <strong>of</strong> the PLO strength was wipedout, although they did put up considerable resistance at Sidon,Tyre, and Damur. Begin had responded to two urgent letters fromReagan asking him not to attack Lebanon by saying that Israelwanted only to push the PLO back from its borders. "Thebloodthirsty aggressor against us is on our doorstep," he wrote."Do we not have the inherent right to self-defense?"While they were attacking the PLO in the south, the Israeli forcesjoined Gemayel's Christian Phalangists on the outskirts <strong>of</strong> Beirut.At first, they were hailed as liberators by Christian residents, andshowered with rice, flowers, and candy as they entered the city.Before long, they had several thousand PLO commandos sealed <strong>of</strong>fin a siege, along with some 500,000 residents <strong>of</strong> West Beirut. Forthe Israeli soldiers, their stay in Lebanon wasn't all war; they'dfound a convenient way to make love at the same time in a villagejust outside Beirut. The place was noteworthy for two things: itsbeautiful women, and their absent husbands.But the deadly military bombardment continued, and in August,amid growing domestic and international criticism that they werekilling civilians, not warriors, Begin said, "We will do what we haveto do. West Beirut is not a city. It's a

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