CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

An All-American Retort to Israel’s Bombing of Lebanon

Mother and daughter at Lebanese-American protest in DC against bombing of Lebanon in 2006.

Israel’s bombing of Lebanon has reportedly killed more than a thousand civilians this year.  Israel also drove out more than a half million civilians from southern Lebanon as part of an effort to confiscate or ravage that territory. The New York Times reports that Israel is “applying the Gaza model in Lebanon,” destroying entire towns and villages and leaving the rubble uninhabitable.  Israel’s bombing has been so indiscriminate that even President Trump pretended to object. On Truth Social, Trump announced: “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!”

Trump’s assertion had as much effect as his boasts about how he already won the war against Iran. The Israeli military continues assailing Lebanon and Trump’s attention long since wandered back to his ballroom.

The latest attacks are reminiscent of Israel’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon, which also killed roughly a thousand civilians, as well as a few hundred Hezbollah fighters. With the Bush White House cheerleading all the way, Israel assailed Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s seizure of two Israeli soldiers. Israel and Hezbollah had been exchanging bombs and missiles for years prior to Israel’s launching a bombing campaign that soon expanded to include much of Lebanon.  The carnage was wildly popular on Capitol Hill, where the House of Representatives voted 410-8 in favor of a resolution endorsing Israeli military action. But the Israeli military didn’t do as well in south Lebanon as they did in the halls of Congress. Hezbollah thwarted the invasion in one of the biggest defeats for the Israeli military since the start of the Yom Kippur War in........

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