Israel/USA , Lebanon and Iran

Needless to say , speculation about the motives of the combatants in this 
Mid-East war differ according to ones sources . In fact , there are probably a 
variety of reasons why this war arose but it is a sure bet that the capture of 
the Israeli soldiers comes far down the list as the real cause  .

Whereas , the Standard's August editorial raised the possibility of Iran 
deliberately provoking a confrontation between Israel and  Hezbullah as a 
diversion from its alleged nuclear weapons programme , the Daily Mail offers an 
alternative take on the situation , with its report of the view of  Dr John 
Pike, head of the Washington-based military think tank Global Security:-
"...Dr Pike said he believed there was an agreement between Israel and the U.S. 
that Iranian nuclear plants would eventually - probably next year - have to be 
bombed to stop the development of a nuclear weapon. Once that bombing takes 
place, Iran will order Hezbollah to attack Israel. Thus, Dr Pike claimed, the 
U.S. and Israel agreed in secret that at some point before the attack on the 
Iranian nuclear sites, Hezbollah had to be disarmed and that as soon as a 
pretext became available, Israel should use force..." 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=399005&in_page_id=1770

It  can all get to be very confusing . Sometimes , we can't see the wood for 
the trees . 

Also in todays news hidden away and not at all given any real prominence by the 
media in their  bellicose accounts of Hezbullah threats to rocket Tel Aviv in 
retaliation for the bombing of Beirut was Hezbullah's offer of a ceasefire :-

"You attack our cities, our villages, our civilians, our capital, we will 
react," he said. "At any time you decide to stop your aggressions on our 
villages and towns and cities and our civilians, we will not hit any settlement 
or any Israeli city." 

As our editorial says we " need the killing , maiming and destruction to stop 
immediately ."

alan johnstone , edinburgh br 

 




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