Yes, This Is All Working Out Just As We Had Hoped

The numbers keep changing, but the anger gets stronger. If you're wondering why the Lebanese have taken to the streets after Qana, and why the Israelis have called a temporary halt to the bombing, this may shed some light:

Qana, Thursday April 18, 1996
In the bloodiest attack by far on this eighth day of Israeli aggression, over 105 civilians were massacred after Israeli artillery pounded a UNIFIL warehouse packed with refugees.

The hundreds of men, women and children were seeking shelter from Israeli bombardment with the U.N. in the village of Qana. U.N. spokesman Timur Goksel said the U.N. station, manned by Fijian troops, came under fierce attack this afternoon.

Foreign Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel would continue the bombardment despite the massacre.

Lather, rinse, repeat. I don't have the energy to go into the diddling worthlessness of Rice's babblings these last few days, except to say that she displays the same level of competence at her new job that she did at the old, so why should anyone be surprised? I realize she is only carrying out the orders of her master Schicklgruber, but nonetheless, she carries them out, like all the good soldiers before her. Anyone with two neurons to rub together could have seen this coming, what with the US practically cheering Israel on to the tune of "Israel has the right to defend itself." My new nominee for Most Vapidly Evil Political Appointee (God knows it's not easy to choose) has got to be Underbelly Secretary for Political Fuckups R. Nicholas Burns, who, along with Rice, has been repeating this phrase like the callous Borg he is for nigh onto 2 weeks now, and who, like Rice, displays a breathtaking failure to grasp the history and context of the events unfolding in the Middle East. Let's see what Israel has defended itself against:

15 disabled children killed in Qana
July 31, 2006

FIFTEEN physically or mentally handicapped children were among 52 people killed by Israeli raids on the village of Qana in south Lebanon overnight, a Lebanese MP said today.

"There were 15 physically or mentally handicapped children among the children killed in Qana," said Bahia Hariri, who represents south Lebanon.

Mr Hariri, who presides over several charitable organisations, said several families had already been evacuated towards the city of Sidon but some families of the handicapped had wanted to stay.

"The bombardment of the Tyre region was intensifying and we wanted to take them to safety. But these families believed that the shelter and the mosque (in Qana) served as their shelter," she said.

Thank heaven they headed off THAT danger. Olmert can sleep soundly tonight, knowing his people have been spared future attacks by the autistic and wheelchair-bound hellhounds of Grade 4.

As for the adults, I've been searching everywhere to find the story of the young father named Chaloub in Qana who was spared in the bombing but lost all five of his children, including his youngest, a 2-year old, as well as his wife, aunt, and sister. The NYTimes ran his story in one of their earlier versions of the Qana report, but since Israel agreeed to a 48-hr. ceasefire, it seems to have been dropped from the body copy. I guess since Israel is taking a breather, Mr. Chaloub's losses stopped counting for much. I wonder how successful the Israeli/ American game plan was in getting him to hate Hizbollah for the bombing.

I wonder how long it will take him to pick up a gun and aim it southward.

Thus do we move ever closer to that fata morgana, the sustainable peace.