When I say Israel will start a regional conflict, let me give you two background stories to keep in mind as things heat up.
When Israel invaded Egypt to start the 1967 war, the much acclaimed Abba Eban went to the UN and said that Egypt had started the conflict. He said that Egyptian fighter jets were headed to Israel, so Israel merely responded. After international observers reported that Egypt's air force was on the ground, Israel admitted the truth. Yet, 10 years later, Abba Eban had the gall to write in his memoirs that they saw the Egyptian jets on the radar screen.
In 1982, Israel wanted to invade Lebanon. Internal documents have shown that they had been scheming this since the 1950s (perhaps the 1940s). Unfortunately, the PLO had been scrupulously adhering to the cease-fire agreement that the U.S. had negotiated. Israel was desperate for an excuse to invade. At one point, an Israeli jeep ran over a land mine in Southern Lebanon, and Israel used this as an excuse to launch a massive bombing raid on civilian targets in Lebanon. But, after the PLO returned fire, things immediately quieted down. Again, no excuse! Finally, in June, an Israeli diplomat was shot at in London by an enemy of the PLO. He had no office in Lebanon and had been tried and convicted by the PLO. Using that assassination attempt as a pretext, Israel invaded Lebanon to "protect Northern Israel from PLO terrorism".
They are scheming, no doubt. Time will tell if the U.S. can rein them in.
Tom |
