Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?

Among other things, I've spent the last few weeks researching the roots of the Israel's current war of aggression against Lebanon. I even drafted an essay on the history of Lebanon for the modern-day alarmist, which you can read here. As for the current state of Lebanon's politics, that can be quickly summarized in two points: first Lebanon's Constitution requires a Christian (Maronite) President, a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister and a Shi'a Muslim Speaker of the Parliament, and second, read this piece on how the Christian enclaves of Beirut are unscathed, untargeted and, quite uninterested by Israel's constant bombardment of their fellow Muslim citizens.

In drafting this essay, I initially set out to lay down a comprehensive history of the Middle East from World War I to the present day. You see, there really was no Middle East until England and France carved up the region pursuant to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, despite their later pledge of "the complete and total liberation" of Arab peoples in the Anglo-French Declaration. Moreover, I was going to detail the backroom deal in which England secretly ceded a portion of their Mandate of Palestine for the establishment of a Jewish state through the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which was later consummated in the scandalous 1947 UN Partition of Palestine. Richard Cohen recently was lambasted for, in my opinion, an insightful, honest article describing that scandal. I was also going to explain to you how corporate avarice has, and continues to, destabilize the Middle East as oil was first privatized, then nationalized, and is now being privatized again. (As a sidenote, if you have a second, read about St. John Philby, who was a key to the privatization process and, in my opinion, one of contemporary history's most incredible, yet largely unknown figures.) I was even going to tell you how Britain, after establishing dominance over Iraq and its oil in the 1920s, fought an Iraqi insurgency by outsourcing the fighting to Indian soldiers. Ultimately, however, I've decided to skip all that and publish only a solitary quote -- believing it to illuminate the single most important aspect of Israel's invasion. However, in editing for publication, my rage percolated and I just had to do a few paragraphs on Bush. But first, the quote.

Yesterday, Prime Minister (Sunni) Fouad Siniora of Lebanon queried, rhetorically, the American body politic: "Is the value of human life less in Lebanon than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" As of today, non-combatant (civilian) casualties stemming from Israel's response to the kidnapping of 3 of its soldiers number between 300 and 600 Lebanese and at least 150 Palestinians. 19 Israeli civilians have been killed.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration, which speaks on the international stage for you, me and every other American, has turned a deaf ear to this suffering, all the while tirelessly marketing undocumented allegations that Hezbollah, the Islamic revolutionary political faction in Lebanon, is currently being supported by Syria, Iran and, now, laughably, Al-Qaeda-- the ultimate hobgoblin in the Bush arsenal.

As to the allegation that Iran is currently funding and controlling Hezbollah, whether through its alleged surrogate Syria or otherwise, I challenge any reader to find documentation of this connection. I've found nothing in two weeks of searching. I did come to understand, through this excellent piece by Daniel Byman on the history of the relationship between Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, that Iran supported a nascent Hezbollah in the 1980s, as the group sought an Islamic revolution in Lebanon similar to that in Iran in 1979. However, Byman concedes that "Hezbollah is increasingly growing out of its role as a proxy and becoming more of a partner with both Tehran and Damascus." Moreover, he never once makes the assertion that Iran or Syria had any role in directing or approving the recent kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.

The last bit, the alleged Al-Qaeda connection, came out earlier today. It's being reported that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the alleged second in command to bin Laden, released a videotaped statement which included this gem: "The war with Israel does not depend on ceasefires. It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq."

If you'll remember, Zawahiri is supposed to be bin Laden's attending doctor, living with him and the rest of those nefarious Al-Qaeda thugs while plotting evildoer-like things from some cave in the enigmatic "mountainous Afghan-Pakistani border region." I saw this interview on my favorite daily news program, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and was absolutely shocked. Not because of anything he was saying, as I'm more likely to believe this guy that Zawahiri is merely a pawn from CIA central casting, but rather at what I saw. Take a look for yourself at the picture below and ask yourself-- does anything seem out of place?

In case you missed it look again... and then slap yourself silly for not noticing that this guy, who we are told is running for his life in the nether-regions of Afghanistan, is in a television studio, complete with large scale prints of spooky images and multiple, dynamic lighting sources. Either Al-Qaeda's built a really nice studio and franchised a Kinko's nearby (which should make them pretty easy to find), or something is fishy here.

As of tonight, CBS is the only news source that even mentions the "professional television studio." However, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan completely missed the clue, instead remarking that, "It's a slicker look for al Qaeda's number two, who delivered his latest video message from what appears to be a professional television studio, complete with background props." [Update: This morning the New York Daily News, which masquerades as a newspaper but shares more in common with The National Enquirer, attempts to clarify the mystery by noting that "Zawahiri appeared in a white turban in front of photos of the World Trade Center towers burning, slain Al Qaeda military chief Mohammed Atef and a bearded 9/11 cell leader Mohamed Atta. Atta's photo was downloaded from a Zacarias Moussaoui trial exhibits Web site, while the phony backdrop was intended to look like Zawahiri was in a huge TV studio." That's it... no explanation why Zawahiri would "intend" to look like he was in a TV studio, or how he's getting the equipment necessary for such a production. But I guess that's just journalism today... a whole lot of "what," just no "why."]

Despite the distractions created by the allegations of foreign involvement and the potential of the Israeli aggression to incite a regional war, the mind of every concerned citizen of the world should focus on answering Prime Minister Siniora's question: "Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?"