Fateful Triangle

”Limited War” in Lebanon878was justified by President Clinton as a “tragic misfiring by Israel in its legitimateexercise of its right of self-defense” in response to a “deliberatetactic of Hizbollah” to position rockets near civilians. By this time, however,international protest had become so intense (including UN andAmnesty International reports indicating that the massacre was probablydeliberate) that Washington and the media chose to distancethemselves. Washington tried but failed to establish a cease-fireagreement that would modify the 1993 terms still more in Israel’s favor,but was compelled to adopt the basic outlines of a French proposal thatbarred operations against civilians while allowing resistance to the Israelioccupation. The outcome was depicted as a grand achievement of U.S.diplomacy; Europe’s intervention elicited occasional tirades, notably byThomas Friedman of the New York Times whose “advice to the Euros”was “get a life”: keep to your own internal affairs and don’t interfere withthe world ruler.The pattern then resumed, but with an important change. Israeliforces, including elite units, began to suffer serious military setbacks,and resistance actions became more effective. As in the latter stages ofthe U.S. wars in Indochina, the military leadership began to beconcerned about morale and performance. Rising casualties led todomestic protest, and voices calling for withdrawal were heard in theIsraeli mainstream. By 1998, the government indicated that it wouldaccept UN 425, but only with qualifications that remained unacceptableto Lebanon and Syria. For the Lebanese, terror continued, with someinnovations: in the security zone, “Israeli lorries have been scooping uptruckload after truckload of Lebanon’s fertile topsoil and carting [it] off toIsrael,” leaving the Lebanese “with an ugly open-cast mine”—“a newinterpretation of the land-for-peace principle,” the London Economistcommented. After denying the reports, Israel conceded that they wereaccurate, claiming that the practice would be stopped. “Most LebaneseClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky