MB Civic

To the Editor:

Re “No More Foot-Dragging” (editorial, July 25):

You rightly deplore the loss of innocent lives in Lebanon and Israel and urge establishment of a cease-fire but caution “that must be accompanied by an international guarantee that Hezbollah will be forced to halt its attacks on Israel permanently and disband its militia.”

How exactly is that supposed to happen? Do you expect Hezbollah to voluntarily disarm and disband? Since its entire raison d’être is the destruction of Israel, the probability of such an occurrence is zero.

Do you expect an international force to disarm Hezbollah? The probability of that is virtually zero since such an entity would have neither the will, wherewithal nor experience to accomplish same.

Do you expect Iran and Syria to agree to stop supplying Hezbollah with rockets or, if they don’t agree, for the international community to isolate them? Hardly likely, since such provocation has been going on for years without anyone doing anything about it.

Israel is caught between a rock and a hard place. Its first and foremost responsibility is to ensure the safety of its citizens, especially within its borders. Israel’s approach is the only realistic option, at present, to try and achieve this goal.

Jerry Rapp
New York, July 25, 2006

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To the Editor:

President Bush has now seen two Arab capitals laid waste in his term in office, and the transparent hypocrisy of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s kind words in Lebanon is matched no less by the president’s swagger as he mistakenly pushes geopolitical calculations above human suffering in American foreign policy.

S. Izaz Haque
Westford, Mass., July 25, 2006

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To the Editor:

A cease-fire on the Israel-Lebanon border at this point would only allow Hezbollah to rehabilitate and rearm itself for another wave of cross-border attacks in the future.

The current Hezbollah aggression is proof that Israel cannot rely on any international guarantees or Security Council resolutions that call for Hezbollah to be disbanded.

The only solution at this point is total elimination of that terrorist organization through military force.

Josh Hasten
Jerusalem, July 25, 2006

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To the Editor:

For 50 years, the great powers have failed to enforce agreements in the Middle East, where the parties seem unable to keep any agreement. The powers should have done so by force if necessary.

In that context, the invasion of Iraq was an expensive and disastrous diversion. Look at the cost and sacrifice involved. “Nation-building” has not worked. In fact, it seems to have made the problem of terrorism worse.

A cease-fire in Lebanon would be a step toward establishing the stability that is necessary for the development of national cohesion and indeed democracy.

John Wilson
New York, July 25, 2006

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To the Editor:

Your editorial emphasizes a cease-fire based on disbanding Hezbollah. You say nothing about Israel’s occupation of Arab lands. Unless this occupation is ended, war and conflict in the Middle East will continue to threaten world peace.

Ending the occupation has been thwarted by our longstanding policy that Israel must be strong enough to defeat the combined forces of all the Arab states. This has encouraged Israel to continue its occupation.

Hezbollah’s shelling of Israeli towns and cities, in retaliation for Israel’s shelling and destruction of Lebanese towns and cities, portends a change in the balance of power in the region. It challenges our policy of maintaining Israel’s military superiority.

The call for disbanding Hezbollah will therefore inevitably be viewed by most Arabs as implicit support for Israel’s continuing military occupation of Arab lands.

Shaw J. Dallal
New Hartford, N.Y., July 25, 2006