The Draft UN Resolution on Lebanon (Karim Makdisi)

[laststeamtrain]

The Draft UN Resolution on Lebanon

By KARIM MAKDISI

Beirut.

It is impossible to speak of a Hizbullah victory' when nearly a thousand Lebanese civilians have been killed, thousands more injured, a million people internally displaced; and Lebanon's infrastructure, environment and economy laid to waste as the world watches.

The general consensus however is that Hizbullah's and Lebanon's steadfastness after four weeks of merciless Israeli attacks means that Israel has failed to achieve its objectives through military means: crushing/disarming Hizbullah, reinstating its deterrent, and protecting the security of northern Israel. Indeed, Hizbullah's resistance has gained unprecedented support throughout the Arab world, and Nasrallah has emerged as a Nasser-like figure who has restored pride to Arabs everywhere in contrast to the uniformly servile and unpopular Arab regimes.

The draft UN resolution proposed by the US and France on Saturday thus seems strangely out of place, as though Israel had won this war decisively and is in a position to dictate the terms. The draft does not reflect either the reality of a balance of terror that clearly exists between Hizbullah and Israel today, or the political unity that this war has created in Lebanon and across the Arab world. As such, it has come as a shock to many people in the region. In the words of the influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri (who is mediating between Hizbullah and the Lebanese government), "if Israel did not win the war and it gets all this, what would have happened if it had won the war?"

Here are some preliminary observations on this draft resolution:

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http://www.counterpunch.org/makdisi08072006.html

[diddlysquat]

1. Kick! Important read!

[bemildred]

2. Kick.

I liked Fisk's take on it too, but this makes some good points. I suspect the issue is moot, the proposed resolution is going to be massaged some more.