# 66 – Cartoons

August 17th, 2006

These cartoons act as reminders….

Of course, by the high military and moral standards of what we call ‘decent society’, this has NOT been a success.

By ‘their’ standards’, the destruction of ‘half’ of Hezbollah’s power, the devastation of perhaps 80% of Hezbollah’s Lebanon, the crushing of much of Lebanon’s infrastructure, the horrible oil slick in the Med – all this is part of Hezbollah’s victory, with Iran and Syria gloating, floating.

* The 3 soldiers are as much hostages today as yesterday. I am sure an exchange is being planned, and I hope that we do not give 1 finger more than the Hezbollah ‘fighters’ (aren’t I nice) we captured during this war.

* The Hezbollah are as armed as the day before the ceasefire. The mandate calls for disarmament of Hezbollah, and Lebanon has already stated that they will only confiscate those weapons they find – meaning the ones they see. They will not use force to find them. So they are carefully buried for ‘the rainy day’.

* The UN force will be very reluctant to lift one more finger than the Lebanese.

* So the only deterrent we have is the Lebanese/UN forces’ presence. And we have clear experience of that in the recent past.

* The media’s cameras will leave southern Lebanon once it becomes ‘boring’.

* And I cannot imagine there will be sufficient watchdogs to prevent a replenishment of the Hezbollah’s arms from across the borders.

In Israel, we are such an open society that, inevitably, at least Olmert and Peretz will be out. Chief of Staff, Dan Haluz, is an absolute dummy for selling his small portfolio of shares in the hours after the 2 soldiers were captured and before war broke out. A great career, a strong personality in a very difficult job. And then, a fleeting moment, of Human Nature, and he could be out.

Sometimes, we wish we could close this open society.

In Gaza (Lebanon), the Hammas (Hezbollah) still have the captured soldier, and still fire Kassams (Katyushas) every day. We unilaterally left Gaza (Lebanon), this is recognised by the int’l community, and still the neutrals don’t understand our predicament – which is fast becoming theirs.

The ‘event’ this week in the UK, and the inevitable knee-jerk reactions as those on the plane to Washington and the ship in Seattle should act as the umpteenth warnings of what is really going on. Wake up, you lot!

In this month’s Nat’l Geographic, there is an article on Tom Abercrombie, one of 2 great photographers who died recently. In May 2005, Tom commented on the state of affairs in many of the countries he had grown to know so well, including Saudi, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. And of Lebanon, he wrote: “Multi-faith Lebanon is torn by sectarian anger”. Just 1 year ago. He saw it – clearly through his lens – so did Israel. Why is it, then, that the rest of the World, including the ever-present Unifil, turned the blind eye? And this, in the region that attracts unbelievable amounts of media interest.

So, once again, Israel takes the flak.

Warning: Step in, join together against this really evil force, before Israel is forced into such a small corner that it really will ‘react disproportionately’.

And I’m supposed to be a left-leaning realist!

And finally, while on the subject of cartoons, how about the Iran Holocaust Exhibition which opened in Teheran on Monday. 204 pictures from many countries, as their answer to the Prophet cartoon saga.

Wake up, West!

Stephen