UN Human Rights Commissioner warns of war crimes in Lebanon
Sun, 2006-07-23 01:52By Chris Marsden World Socialist Web Site
The statement by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour that war crimes may have been committed in the Lebanon conflict was deliberately couched in diplomatic terms.
Arbour took pains to identify both Israel and Hezbollah as potentially guilty parties. Nevertheless, there was little doubt that her target was Tel Aviv, and her warning that liability for war crimes is not restricted to the military, but extends to politicians who approve their operations was also meant to be heard by Israel's political backers in Washington and London.
Her reference to the "scale of killings in the region," and "the supreme obligations to protect civilians" under international law could only be directed at Israel, given the massive and disproportionate violence it has meted out.
millions throughout the world believe that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should face war crimes charges. And Arbour is fully aware of the outrage and disgust that has been aroused internationally by the appalling destruction heaped upon the Lebanese people by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) with the unconditional backing of the US and Britain.Arbour is in fact acting as friendly counsel, advising the Israeli, US and British governments that they are setting in motion forces that are not under their control.
Without at least making such a warning, the stench of hypocrisy that pervades international politicswhen only those who fall foul of Washington such as Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein face human rights chargeswould be overwhelming.
Israel's actions in the Lebanon are in clear contravention of the 1949 Geneva Convention. Article 51 of the First Protocol states, "The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack." Article 52 states, "Attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives...."
As Arbour explained, "Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians.
"Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable."
Israel has no defence against such charges. Its claim to be targeting Hezbollah and a supposed infrastructure of terrorism is obscene, given the scale of its actions against the entire Lebanese people.
Lebanon has been subjected to a total sea and air blockade, leaving its population of 3.5 million unable to seek any refuge from a daily bombardment by aircraft, tanks and gunboats.
Well over 300 people have been killed and thousands injuredmany of them children.
Israel's offensive began with the systematic destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure, including its only international airport, power plants, water treatment facilities, roads and bridges. But it was not long before it began shelling the predominantly Shia neighborhoods in Beirut, claiming that every house was potentially sheltering Hezbollah fighters. This is Tel Aviv's pathetic attempt to justify attacks on civilian targets with claims that they have a "dual use."
Amidst the occasional strike on actual Hezbollah facilities, thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the most densely populated areas of Lebanon. Reporters allowed to visit the area speak of it having been "laid waste" and "pummeled."
One report described how "Eight-or nine-storey buildings had their façades blown out by blasts; others lean forward as if about to fall. Sofas, mattresses, toys, books and every personal possession imaginable litter the streets among chunks of concrete, twisted metal and blown-out window frames. Electrical cables dangle everywhere. Walking through it all is treacherous."
On Thursday evening, the Israeli Air Force dropped 23 tons of explosives on the Bourj al-Barajneh suburb, with two dozen jets using special burrowing bombs. The explanation offered by Israel was that it was seeking to kill Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. This is merely seeking to justify one war crime with another. Like the US, Israel has an official policy of assassinating its political opponents. But this is illegal under international law.
The claim that Israel is targeting Hezbollah has been used to sanction attacks on civilians throughout southern Lebanonan offensive that amounts to ethnic cleansing. It is a staggering fact that official estimates are of 500,000 internally displaced people in the country, fully a seventh of the entire population.
Israel has now dropped leaflets throughout the area warning residents to leave their homes as it is going to attack. There are widespread predictions that a ground invasion is imminent. Once again, the leaflets are meant as proof that it is seeking to minimize civilian casualties. In reality, all they achieve is to spread fear and alarm. Just where is anyone supposed to go when all borders have been sealed and many roads have been destroyed? Where is a safe haven when the entire country is under attack?
There are, moreover, numerous reports of deliberate attacks on those fleeing areas targeted by the IDF. On July 15, a convoy of civilians was bombed as it tried to escape the southern Lebanese village of Marwahin, killing some 20 people. The IDF had warned local residents to evacuate and then bombed the only direct route out of the area. Photographs showed bodies incinerated and mutilated by the blasts.
In another incident, when Jamhour electricity station was targeted by Israeli jets, rescue workers rushing to the scene to help the injured were bombed.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Friday that the IDF were also targeting ambulances and medical convoys. Israel's onslaught was "no longer against Hezbollah, it is an attack against the Lebanese and Lebanon," he said. It could not be otherwise. Israeli and US propaganda routinely depicts Hezbollah as a tightly knit terrorist outfit that is nothing more than a front organisation for Syrian and Iranian influence in Lebanon.
Washington in particular makes cynical claim to be concerned with preserving the democratic government of Lebanon against those who seek its destruction. Hezbollah is, in fact, part of that government. It is Lebanon's largest single political party with mass support amongst the Shia population that predominates in the south. It has two government ministers, and 23 MPs who are part of a 35-strong opposition grouping. As well as its parliamentary presence, Hezbollah runs a range of social services, including hospitals and schools, on which hundreds of thousands rely.
The forces that are actually seeking to topple a democratically elected government are not to be found in Damascus and Tehran, but in Washington, Tel Aviv and London. These are the real architects of an illegal war of aggressionhttp://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060721&articleId=2788
the Israeli military was using poison gas on villages in south Lebanon. According to a former U.S. weapons expert who served in Iraq, the artillery shell in a photo taken in Lebanon (below) is a chemical weapon delivery device. It is being handled by an Israeli Defense Force soldier and Hebrew lettering can be clearly seen on the armored vehicle. Another chemical weapons shell of the same type can be seen lying on the ground to the right. It is not known what type of chemical is in the chemical canister, however, gas dropped by the Israelis in villages in southern Lebanon has resulted in severe vomiting among the civilian population.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CLO20060722&articleId=2789
s Israel running out of Bombs?
The aerial attacks on Lebanon have contributed to fuellng the US military industrial complex in what essentially constitutes a "profit driven war".
The Israeli air force confirms that it has led 3000 sorties hitting some 1,800 targets since the beginning of the bombing campaign (BBC, 22, July 2006). According to UN sources, close to a million people have been displaced out of a total population of 3.8 million. The country's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.
In contrast to the "shock and awe" March 2003 blitzkrieg over Iraq, the Israelis have aimed systematically and almost exclusively civilian targets. Moreover, Lebanon is defenseless. It does not possess an air defense system and the Israelis know it. The number of declared targets is staggering, even when compared, for instance, to the 300 selected strategic targets identified in the 1991 Gulf war.
The civilian infrastructure has been destroyed: water, telecommunications, bridges, airports, gas stations, power plants, dairy factories, etc. Confirmed by the British press, in towns and villages across Lebanon, schools and hospitals have been targetted with meticulous accuracy. in an utterly twised logic, the Israeli government has casually blamed Hizbollah for using the schools and hospitals as hideouts or launchpads to wage their terrorist activities. (ABC Australia, interview with Israeli Ambassador to Australia, Nati Tamir, 21 July 2006).
To meet shortfalls in current stockpiles of WMD, Israel's IDF is to take delivery of an emergency shipment of precision guided bombs, including US made GBU-28 bunker buster bombs produced by Raytheon.
"Pentagon and military officials declined to describe in detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, and they would not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft or some other means. But an arms-sale package approved last year provides authority for Israel to purchase from the United States as many as 100 GBU-28's, which are 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs intended to destroy concrete bunkers. The package also provides for selling satellite-guided munitions.
An announcement in 2005 that Israel was eligible to buy the "bunker buster" weapons described the GBU-28 as "a special weapon that was developed for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground." The document added, "The Israeli Air Force will use these GBU-28's on their F-15 aircraft."" (NYT, 21 July 2006)
This
proposed shipment is described by military observers as somewhat
"unusual". Israel already has a large stockpile of precision guided
weapons. In addition to its own stockpiles, the IDF took delivery in
2005 of some 5000 US made "smart air launched weapons" including some
500 'bunker-buster bombs.
Why
would Israel all of sudden need to replenish its stockpile of Weapons
of Mass Destruction, to implement what continues to be described as
a punitive operation directed against Hizbollah?
While the report suggests that "Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike", the history of these deliveries of bunker buster bombs to Israel, suggests that they are also intended to be used in the broader Middle Eastern region.
Escalation: Syria and Iran
At this particular juncture, the replenishing of Israeli stockpiles of deadly bunker buster bombs points to an escalation of the war both within and beyond the borders of Lebanon.
The air campaign against Lebanon
is inextricably related to US-Israeli strategic objectives in the
broader Middle East including Syria and Iran. In recent developments,
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has stated that the main purpose of
her mission to the Middle East is not to push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather to isolate Syria and Iran. (Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2006)
A ground war has already started in Southern Lebanon. Aerial targets in Syria are also contemplated. Syria's capital Damascus is less than 50 kilometers from Lebanon's Bekaa valley, which has been the object of an extensive bombing campaign.
Moreover, it is worth recalling that the first shipment of US made bunker buster bombs in 2005 was delivered to Israel, in the eventuality of a US-Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
The bombs which are now being rushed to Israel are the large 5000 lb GBU 28 bunker buster bombs, which can in one strike in an urban area kill literally hundreds of people.
The US claims that the bunker buster bomb
is safe for the surrounding civilian population, because the explosion
is underground. Israel has stated that the GBU 28 is to be used against
Hizbollah, because Hizbollah has taken refuge in deap underground
bunkers
The GBU-28 has already been used in densely populated urban areas inside Lebanon. The gruesome images of charred and mutilated bodies following these aerial bombings, could indeed be the result of the use of the GBU-28, which is among the deadliest weapons in the conventional arsenal
image:
http://www.assafir.com/iso/israeli-aggression/regions/sidon/images/image/A%20Lebanese%20medic%20carries%20the%20body%20of%20a%20young%20girl%2c%20in%20a%20refrigerated%20truck%20used%20as%20a%20makeshift%20morgue%2c%20in%20the%20port%20city%20of%20Sidon%2c%20Lebanon%2c%20Monday%2c%20July%2017%20ap.JPG
http://www.tarpley.net/bush2.htmThe facts presented here must be known, and their implications reflected upon, for a proper understanding of President George Herbert Walker Bush and of the danger to mankind that he represents. The President's family fortune was largely a result of the Hitler project. The powerful Anglo-American family associations, which later boosted him into the Central Intelligence Agency and up to the White House, were his father's partners in the Hitler project.
President Franklin Roosevelt's Alien Property Custodian, Leo T. Crowley, signed Vesting Order Number 248 seizing the property of Prescott Bush under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The order, published in obscure government record books and kept out of the news,@s4 explained nothing about the Nazis involved; only that the Union Banking Corporation was run for the `` Thyssen family '' of `` Germany and/or Hungary ''--`` nationals ... of a designated enemy country. ''
By deciding that Prescott Bush and the other directors of the
Union Banking Corp. were legally front men for the Nazis, the
government avoided the more important historical issue: In what
way were Hitler's Nazis themselves hired, armed and instructed
by the New York and London clique of which Prescott Bush was an
executive manager? Let us examine the Harriman-Bush Hitler
project from the 1920s until it was partially broken up, to seek
an answer for that question.
The Walker-Bush firm's banking activities were not just politically neutral money-making ventures which happened to coincide with the aims of German Nazis. All of the firm's European business in those days was organized around anti-democratic political forces.
Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany January 30, 1933, and absolute dictator in March 1933, after two years of expensive and violent lobbying and electioneering. Two affiliates of the Bush-Harriman organization played great parts in this criminal undertaking: Thyssen's German Steel Trust; and the Hamburg-Amerika Line and several of its executives.Let us look more closely at the Bush family's German partners.
The overall total of Thyssen's political donations and loans to the Nazis was well over a million dollars, including funds he raised from others--in a period of terrible money shortage in Germany.
Friedrich Flick was the major co-owner of the German Steel Trust with Fritz Thyssen, Thyssen's long-time collaborator and occasional competitor. In preparation for the war crimes tribunal at Nuremberg, the U.S. government said that Flick was `` one of leading financiers and industrialists who from 1932 contributed large sums to the Nazi Party ... member of `Circle of Friends' of Himmler who contributed large sums to the SS. ''@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Flick, like Thyssen, financed the Nazis to maintain their private armies called Schutzstaffel (S.S. or Black Shirts) and Sturmabteilung (S.A., storm troops or Brown Shirts).
The Flick-Harriman partnership was directly supervised by Prescott Bush, President Bush's father, and by George Walker, President Bush's grandfather.
The Harriman-Walker Union Banking Corp. arrangements for the German Steel Trust had made them bankers for Flick and his vast operations in Germany by no later than 1926.
The Harriman Fifteen Corporation (George Walker, president, Prescott Bush and Averell Harriman, sole directors) held a substantial stake in the Silesian Holding Co. at the time of the merger with Brown Brothers, Jan. 1, 1931. This holding correlated to Averell Harriman's chairmanship of the Consolidated Silesian Steel Corporation, the American group owning one-third of a complex of steel-making, coal-mining and zinc-mining activities in Germany and Poland, in which Friedrich Flick owned [EMAIL PROTECTED]@s6
The Nuremberg prosecutor characterized Flick as follows:
`` Proprietor and head of a large group of industrial enterprises (coal and iron mines, steel producing and fabricating plants) ... [EMAIL PROTECTED]', 1938 [title awarded to prominent industrialists for merit in armaments drive--`Military Economy Leader'].... ''@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
For this buildup of the Hitler war machine with coal, steel
and arms production, using slave laborers, the Nazi Flick was
condemned to seven years in prison at the Nuremberg trials; he
served three years. With friends in New York and London, however,
Flick lived into the 1970s and died a billionaire.
The Nazi army had been equipped by Flick, Harriman, Walker and Bush, with materials essentially stolen from Poland.
There were probably few people at the time who could appreciate the irony, that when the Soviets also attacked and invaded Poland from the East, their vehicles were fueled by oil pumped from Baku wells revived by the Harriman/Walker/Bush enterprise.
__._,_.___
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