By Guest Columnist Emily Sigalow

Emily makes a timely return to The Chief Source to share her thoughts on the current conflict between Israel and Lebanon. A graduate from Swarthmore University, she writes to us from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

"Less than three weeks ago, a friend of mine, and participant in one of the many tour groups in Israel, traveled through the beautiful rolling hills of northern Israel all the way to the Israeli-Lebanese Border. Just twenty days ago his tour guide showed the group the calm border between Israel and Lebanon and proudly spoke about the amicable relations between the two formerly antagonistic states. Twenty days later, this same border teems with Israeli tanks, soldiers, artillery, paramedics, and just across this border, South Lebanon now ranks the densest area in the world in terms of weaponry per square kilometer.

"After only twenty days, the fringes of these two countries have transformed into a frontier of war. After only twenty days, hundreds of people (Lebanese, Israeli, civilians, soldiers) have been killed, billions in damage have been wrought, and the future of the Middle East totters precariously. Just twenty days ago, a group of Hezbollah militants crossed the border into Israel and staged an entirely unprovoked attack against Israel, leading to the death of eight soldiers and the kidnapping of two more. And the State of Israel responded fiercely, first with missiles and then with ground invasions and now with more missiles, in a military campaign ostensibly aimed to free the kidnapped soldiers and secure its northern border. The Hezbollah guerillas, under Iranian and Syrian sponsorship, launch barrages of rockets deep into the north of Israel and Israel (especially as of late) has been bombarding Lebanon with missiles and airstrikes.

"This war has left me aghast and largely unglued. My heart goes out to all the innocent Lebanese people who were just minding their business and living their lives and are now dead, hurt, or displaced. My heart also goes out the all the Israelis, civilians and soldiers, who also have been killed and wounded, and to the citizens of the north, constituting a third of the population, who are now living in bomb shelters.

"I am writing this article from the quiet halls of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and I have to admit that this article has already undergone three versions, as each day brings new “news” and shifts in my opinion. Even though I speak Hebrew, live in Jerusalem, read local newspapers, talk to Arab and Israeli store-owners/cab-drivers, I struggle to understand this War’s mission, means, and effects.

"In short, this war is about baseless hatred and excessive pride. Baseless hatred compelled Hezbollah to war. I am not talking about the Palestinian people who suffer the intimate effects of Israel’s presence and activity; I am talking about Hezbollah, the guerilla army that simply hates Israel for existing. And Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah group, has dedicated his live and destroyed his nation in order to wage a war against a country that has all but let him happily stockpile ammunitions for the past six years. Hezbollah should be to be blamed for this war, internationally reproached and disarmed, and held accountable for the casualties, just as any other “army” that pretends to fight for its citizens yet hides out amongst them should be held accountable for civilian casualties.

"But this war is not just about Hezbollah’s baseless hatred, it is also about Israel’s excessive pride. Israelis suffer from an overly-acute sense of honor, the honor that compels them to almost always attack when provoked and to continue the attack until they see themselves as victorious. Israel has never been particularly good at practicing self-restraint, especially when her pride is wounded. I truly believe that Israel does not aim to kill innocent civilians, but I also truly believe that when Israeli pride is hurt (as it was by the Hezbollah ambush in Bint Jbail and the ongoing Hezbollah rocketing in the North) Israel’s number one mission becomes rehabilitating her wounded ego.

"I have never questioned Israel’s right to defend herself because certainly any nation under attack has a right to self-protection. The international (meaning European) call for “proportional responses” seems nothing but absurd rhetoric, because really when has proportionality been an obligation in war? Certainly Hiroshima was not proportional to Pearl Harbor. Israel has the responsibility to do everything in her power to not harm innocent Lebanese citizens because the vast majority of Lebanese people are victims not accomplices. The troubling question that hovers silently here in the Middle-East is what will the consequences of this fighting be? Where is this war headed and what is it really solving? And above all else, how will it all end, so that both Israel and Lebanon can begin to heal their broken countries, economies, and infrastructures. So that once again the tour guides can boast about the amicable relations between Israel and her northern neighbor Lebanon. " - Emily Sigalow

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On Saturday, an Israeli plane bombed an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon. Over 60 civilians were killed and at least 37 were children. Israel has called the bombing a mistake and Lebanon's Prime Minister has called for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes. Some of the best news coverage of the War in Iraq and now Lebanon has been from NBC's Richard Engel. He was on today's MTP reporting live from Qana, Lebanon.

MR. RICHARD ENGEL: "When we arrived, we saw this destroyed building, it was a three-story home under construction. There’d been dozens of people in the basement of this house, mostly women and children it, appears. I counted 11 bodies of small boys, perhaps aged eight to 10. They were being carried out, some on stretchers, some were being carried out just in blankets, one body on top of the other. It—the most of the, the children looked like they died from blast injuries. The bodies were intact, but they were bleeding from their ears and from their noses. Then we went to the morgue and saw about 22 bodies lined up on the floor. They were wrapped in plastic, tied shut in packaging tape..."

It seems like a mistake prone strategy to fight terrorists with war planes. In an effort to understand the rules of engagement I found a portion of The Israeli Defense Force manual which states:

Bill Clinton has called for the US to take an immediate, increased role to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. President Clinton was a defender of Israel and worked hard to secure peace with its neighbors. Why then, would he call for Israel to stop "defending" itself? These might be a few reasons:

From The Dayton Daily News:

Yesterday, Charles Barkley was a guest on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. He spoke about his plans to run for Governor of Alabama (not until 2014, unfortunately). His interview had some of the greatest one-liners ever (especially for a sports program)......

"I don't understand how anyone can be a Republican today.....to be a Republican today, you've got to have something wrong with you. They are a terrible party."

"[The media] just wants you to argue and fight. I am not going to do that. I am going to say, honestly we support the troops in Iraq, that's (the fact we are in Iraq) unfortunate; I don't care if gay people want to get married, that's none of my business; and we got to find a way to work with the immigrants instead of acting like we are going to toss them out. But lets get back to more important stuff. How can we make the schools in this country better, first and foremost. And how can we make our neighborhoods safer."

"They (the media) wants you to talk about stuff that is not important. I am not going to waste my time."

"I can't screw up Alabama any worse......its like 1975 there."

Basically he said civil wars mean different things in different countries and he's not going to be the one to decide if they're in a civil war, or who's going to win it. Talk about understanding culture and history. Iraq is on it's way to helping Iran establish their Shia crescent, thanks to Rummy's brilliant comprehension of the region and his stellar war plan.

Related: Conservative foreign policy allies have started a revolt against Condi Rice, calling for the president to remove her from her position, according to Insight magazine. These include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle, members of the Defense Department and high-ranking staff from Dick Cheney's office. According to the neo-cons of neo-cons, Condi isn't tough enough. They want to have invaded Iran by now. Diplomacy isn't going to solve anything, according to these tough guys. We need another war! Now! To top it off, Rice doesn't understand the Middle East and she even asked Olmert to exercise restraint in the bombing of Lebanese towns. The nerve of this incompetent woman!

I'm not going down as a defender of Condolezza Rice, but there is one member of Bush's staff who is a consistent embarassment to America, our military, and our allies. For the good of the country, Rumsfeld should go first. But, if we know anything about the Decider, no one's leaving his office any time soon. Loyalty counts more than intelligence, and these two are brimming with loyalty. It's always good to see a shake up in the Republican party.

Extra: Rolling Stone wrote an article about the long-standing plan to invade Iran.

Driving home from work yesterday, I was listening to some talk radio. A caller to the Majority Report (my least favorite show on Air America - in fact, I am usually full-time KissFM on the drive home because that show is just not good). A caller from Ohio spoke of a call he received from a pollster with Republican Senator Mike Dewine's campaign. The caller was quick on his feet with this Republican and asked the following:

Sane human being questioned: "What if a truck was coming down the road, and you only had a chance to save one of these two things, what would it be? Would you pull a 2-year old baby out from the trucks path, or would you pull a petri dish containing 2000 blastocysts/embryos from the trucks path?"

Insane Republican answered: "That's an interesting question. I am not sure"

There is literally no more convincing evidence of how Republicans are lunatics. People that think this way should be locked up.


Unrelated: As the somber one year anniversary of Katrina approaches, Bush and FEMA have made a big decision on how to avoid problems this year. A plan for busing poor people out of major coastal cities? Maybe a law that requires people to have their jobs kept open when they do evacuate (a big reason why many did not evacuate)? A plan to bring people back to the city after the storm clears (most of New Orleanians are still not back)? Some sort of requirement that Barbara Bush shut her filthy mouth after the next disaster? Nope, not one of those issues has been addressed.

Instead, Bush & Company have done something very important. FEMA has cut the amount of emergency cash a family can get to $500, instead of the previous $2000 for disaster relief. What a freaking joke. Yeah, that was the big problem. The millions of dollars spent on no-bid contracts to do nothing (or for cruise ships that drove around empty) was not a big deal. People being forced to live at an abandoned football stadium, indefinitely, was no big deal. The real problem was that an entire family of poor, homeless people were given too much money! This makes me sick. Just look at that picture - can't you tell how the $2000 was just too much for them to handle? Freaking sick.

Blackwell said, "I think homosexuality is a lifestyle, it's a choice, and that lifestyle can be changed. I think it's a transgression against God's law, God's will. The reality is again ... that we make choices all the time. And, I think you make good choices and bad choices in terms of lifestyle. Our expectation is that one's genetic makeup might make one more inclined to be an arsonist, or may make one more inclined to be a kleptomaniac. Do I think that can be changed? Yes."

Fellow straight readers, stop and think about your own sexuality for a second. Do you remember that day you chose to be attracted to the opposite sex? Of course not. The fact that I did not choose to be straight is why I believe that homosexuality is not a choice. Think about all the genetic traits that come with the genetic makeup we inherit from our parents. Isn't it possible that your sexuality was a part of that?

This is not another book review. In fact, I wasn't gonna even post on this one, despite the fact that it was better than some of the ones I've posted on. But now, after my trip down Arlington Road, I feel I must. I'm not gonna ruin it either (Hell, what I'm about to say is written on the dust-jacket) but still...fair warning if you haven't read it: This has spoil-potential.

The crux of the book deals with this question:
How do we love people who have no use?

The logic goes: as technology increases, essential production requires less work. At the same time, thanks to advances in medicine, lives lengthen, population swells. Sure the quality of life goes up, but the usefulness of Joe Schmoe is inversely related. He has more and better goods, but is exceedingly worthless. His marginal utility is zeroish. So we end up with a society in which the contribution of the majority of its members is well...hardly a contribution at all. It's more of a nuisance.

Hold that thought.

Today I went to get my girlfriend's car fixed. (I had recently submerged it in a pond in a moment of utter defeat). I had gotten an estimate of $1200 from Goodyear. Ouch. As I was leaving, a mechanic pssted me and whispered that his dad had a shop that'd fix it 'fur' $100. Today I went to see his dad, out on Arlington Road, the dark side of the moon.

Let me say that I've seen poverty before. I mean we saw proper squalor in South America. But it was something different. Something much less depressing than a Church's Chicken sign that is so faded that it looks like it's carved out of clear wax; a sign that isn't for people passing through; a sign that's a sign that people don't pass through.

The only signs that are kept up nicely on Arlington Road are the ones in the yards of the churches, and I swear to God, there is a church every twenty feet. He must pass through all the time. You'd think He'd help redecorate.

I slipped into a thrift shop to kill some time while the mechanic put duck tape on the part they're charging me to replace. The thrift shop was half-lit and had the clammy air of a damp basement. There weren't even cats pesking around it was so clammy.

I went to the back and thumbed through the book rack. As I thumbed through the fields of Texas Wildflowers, a real life pirate came in with a pile of car stereos (they even got tape decks! he says) trying to get a quick buck. He was told to take his booty elsewhere. I left.

As I drove off, leaving Arlington Rd behind, I had this feeling that Rosewater County Indiana was not a fictitious place at all; that we were all going to be calling it home sooner than later. And that the question of our time (of all time possibly) isn't: How do we love people who have no use? But instead: Reality or Texas Wildflowers?