Rising civilian
casualties in Lebanon are triggering calls for the U.S. to impose a
ceasefire on Israel before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
travels to the region and the United Nations Security Council takes
up the issue. However, Israel is exercising its legitimate right to
defend itself after an unprovoked attack by the Hezbollah terrorist
organization across an internationally recognized border. That
attack resulted in the killing of eight Israeli soldiers and the
taking of two hostages, and it has plunged the Middle East into a
new war. The United States should resist calls to impose a
ceasefire on Israel.
Israel is engaged in a struggle against a terrorist organization
and its sponsors who publicly call for its extermination. As well,
this is an important front in a global war on terrorism. And only
when Hezbollah, Iran's strategic asset in Lebanon, is defeated,
will Iran get the message loud and clear that terrorist provocation
does not work.
Moreover, a sovereign state cannot declare a ceasefire against a
terrorist organization that refuses to recognize its legitimacy-it
will not hold. The U.S., for example, has not declared a ceasefire
against al-Qaeda. And importantly, Iran and Syria are enemies of
democratic Lebanon, disrupting its nascent democratic government
and pushing the ethnically- and religiously-divided country back
into turmoil to gain political clout. Iran and Syria are determined
to disrupt President Bush's policy to bring democracy to the Middle
East. Defanging Hezbollah will be a blow to their plans.
The Ayatollahs' Message
Hezbollah is terrorism's "A-Team," says former U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage refers to Iran as the
A-Team's owner and Syria as its coach. Firing short-range missiles
into Israel, Hezbollah is the major destabilizing force in the
Middle East and the main obstacle to democratization and stability
in Lebanon. It is thus a hindrance to the Bush Administration's
policy of expanding democracy in the region. It is also one of the
major culprits-and targets-in the global war on Islamist terrorism.
The majority of the Lebanese, including the non-Shi'a political
elite, want Hezbollah disarmed and out of southern Lebanon. Israel
appeals determined to carry out this mission, and the United States
should not hold its ally back.
Iran views Hezbollah as the first line of attack against the U.S.
and its ally Israel, a senior Iranian official told Western
diplomats in London according to a recent article in Al Sharq
al-Awsat. The Iranian leadership, starting with the late
Ayatollah Khomeini, the current "supreme leader" Ayatollah Ali
Khamenai, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, publicly has denied
Israel's right to exist and called for measures to "wipe Israel off
the map."
Iran founded, funds, trains, and equips Hezbollah with Katyusha
missiles, Fajar 3 and 4 missiles, and Zalzal missiles, while Syria,
listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist-sponsoring state
and a junior partner in the Hezbollah joint venture, facilitates
the supply of Hezbollah via Damascus International Airport and
across the Syrian border.
Hezbollah's attack was timed to coincide with the G-8 summit of
industrialized nations, which planned to discuss Iran's rejection
of the generous offer it received from the U.S., the E-3 (Great
Britain, France, and Germany), Russia, and China. The plan aimed to
make the Iranian nuclear program transparent in exchange for
massive aid, including a light water reactor. Teheran responded by
ignoring the offer and apparently giving a green light to
Hezbollah's attack on Israel.
The G-8 summit, held in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 15-17,
denounced Hezbollah's attacks. As well, major U.S. Arab allies in
the Middle East, including Egypt, Jordan, and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, have placed responsibility for the new war squarely on the
doorstep of Hezbollah and its backers, namely Syria and Iran.
U.S. Interests
The U.S. has multiple interests in the current conflict. First, it
needs to send a strong message to Iran that its policy of using
terrorist proxies (Hezbollah and Hamas) to derail the multilateral
diplomatic process to make the Iranian nuclear program transparent
will not work. Second, the U.S. and its allies have an interest in
assuring that Hezbollah disarms, disperses, and ceases to exist as
a terrorist militia. Third, the U.S. wants to see stability in
Lebanon and development of its democratic government. This means
preventing foreign actors, such as Iran and Syria, from
destabilizing it.
Finally, the U.S. is interested in limiting civilian casualties in
Lebanon and Israel. For that to happen, Hezbollah must stop using
civilians as human shields for its massive weapons caches,
commanders, headquarters, and military targets and stop raining
missiles on Israeli towns and villages, indiscriminately targeting
civilians.
Self-Defense
The United States supports the right of countries to defend
themselves under international law, especially while fighting the
war on terrorism. Israel indeed has such a right. The government of
Lebanon is in explicit violation of international law and U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1559, which required it to disarm
Hezbollah and take control of the country's south. Lebanon, whether
out of weakness or ill intent, is ultimately responsible for
Hezbollah's aggression against its neighbor Israel.
While exercising self-defense, Israel is targeting Hezbollah's
positions, weapons depots, training camps, TV and radio stations
(which regularly broadcasts blood-curdling propaganda), and other
assets. Israel is not deliberately targeting civilians.
Conclusion
The United States should not impose any deadline that would press
Israel to cease its fire. Israel has the right and duty to defend
itself until its security is ensured and Lebanon's future is safe
from Hezbollah's provocations. Instead, the U.S. should work with
Israel, France, and moderate Arab states to support those elements
in Lebanon that want to disarm Hezbollah and end the flow of arms
and the support of its sponsors. In the interim, Hezbollah should
fully withdraw north, until it is out of striking range of Israel,
and agree to begin surrendering its heavy weapons, including
missiles. This challenge is an opportunity to make both Lebanon and
Israel more secure and to score a victory in the global war on
terrorism.
Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Security at the Sarah and Douglas Allison Center of the Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage Foundation.