Tikkun Magazine's site has some interesting stuff, including this very mixed, but informative, grab bag of four reactions to the war by left-wing Jews. Gila Sversky, an Israeli peace activist, writes about antiwar demonstrations in Israel being forced to have the same sort of police protection in Nahariya that racist groups get from the police here. (Same reasoning-- the vast majority would bash their heads in otherwise. The war has 95% support in Israel.)
Here's a fun article from the NY Times about how the US is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel.
Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.
...the appearance that the US is actively aiding the bombing campaign?
...it could be compared to Iran's efforts?
Um. About that... where exactly does the ambiguity come in here? If any other country did the same thing, I really doubt the Times would hesitate to delete the qualifiers that pepper that sentence. And why not compare it to Iran? After all, we know for sure that the US continues to rush arms to Israel, and we don't know if Iran has gotten, or is attempting to get, arms to Hebollah yet.
Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike.
This brings up another question. Clearly, the US wants to avoid having to put its own troops into play in this mess, given the other messes it's currently trying to contain. Iraq continues to heat up-- the death toll has now risen to over 100 Iraqis a day in a cycle of violence the US is powerless to stop. And remember Afghanistan? I know, I know, we're not supposed to have thought about Afghanistan since 2002, but US troops are still there, and Afghans and Americans are still dying. And the National Guard couldn't do much during Hurricane Katrina because so many of its helicopters, amphibious vehicles and people were overseas. It's hurricane season again, and the National Guard has already been called out to assist in mass power outages in Missouri and New York. The military is desperately trying to recruit more soldiers. Despite its threats against Iran, the US military is, as Bilbo Baggins would have it, "stretched thin-- like butter scraped over too much bread."
So the US is going to do everything in its power to help Israel finish what it started without committing troops. This is no surprise-- Germany and Russia have indicated that they'd at least be willing to send troops as part of an "international peacekeeping force" after a cease-fire, but Condoleeza Rice said the US was "unlikely to." They'll use other tactics if possible. So far that's meant arms shipments, a sharp increase in the pro-Israel tilt the US encourages in its media, and of course lots of stalling and equivocation on the diplomatic front. What next? Sanctions on Syria, maybe? Veiled economic threats against Arab nations that don't cooperate in pressuring Hezbollah, Syria and Iran? It may eventually be the case, if this starts looking like World War III (like, if Iran gets actively involved) that the US will have to get involved militarily. But in the meantime, it'll keep claiming to be evenhanded while doing everything it can to aid and abet this crime against the Lebanese people and (as always) the Palestinians.
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