Proxy War

I have been pointing out for a while now that all the violent hot spots flaring up in the Middle East have a common thread. That would be Iran. In an interview given to the New York Times, the US ambassador to Iraq points that fact out. Iran is ordering increased violence in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 11 — Iran is pressing Shiite militias here to step up attacks against the American-led forces in retaliation for the Israeli assault on Lebanon, the American ambassador to Iraq said Friday. Iran may foment even more violence as it faces off with the United States and United Nations over its nuclear program in the coming weeks, he added.

The Iranian incitement has led to a surge in mortar and rocket attacks on the fortified Green Zone, said the ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad.

The four-square-mile Green Zone, protected by layers of concrete blast walls and concertina wire on the west bank of the Tigris River here, encloses baroque palaces built by Saddam Hussein that now house the seat of the Iraqi government and the American Embassy.

The Shiite guerrillas behind the recent attacks are members of splinter groups of the Mahdi Army, the powerful militia created by the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, Mr. Khalilzad said.

The splinter groups have ties to Iran, which is governed by Shiite Persians, and to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Arab militia in Lebanon that has been battling Israel for a month, the ambassador added.

There is evidence that Iran is pushing for more attacks, he said, without offering any specifics. But he acknowledged that there was no proof that Iran was directing any particular operations by militias here.

Note the interesting thing here? Here we have a US ambassador making a public statement about what he believes to be happening. The NYT has to stress that the ambassador has "no proof". The New York Times doesn't require proof if it is an allegation that damages the US government, only when the allegation is against Iran. Pathetic.

In this odd little aside about proof, the NYT glosses over the fact that, diplomatically, this is a major charge. That the US ambassador is willing to go on the record about this means the US has enough proof to drop a diplomatic bomb. The troops in Iraq know exactly when a shipment of arms and explosives arrives from Iran. This is just another part of the proxy war Iran is running against the US and the West in general.

UNSC Vote Unanimous

The UN Security Council passed the ceasefire agreement unanimously last night. There are a lot of conflicting interpretations of what that means for Israel and Hezbollah. The Washington Post reports the agreement as follows:

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11 — The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Friday that calls for a halt to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and authorizes the deployment of 15,000 foreign troops to help the Lebanese army take control of southern Lebanon.

The resolution calls on Israel to begin withdrawing all its forces from Lebanon "in parallel" with the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and 15,000 additional Lebanese troops. It gives the international force the mandate to use firepower but no explicit role in disarming Hezbollah, leaving the fate of the Lebanese militia to a future political settlement.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to accept the terms of the U.N. cease-fire, according to U.S. and U.N. diplomats. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will ask his cabinet to approve the resolution when it meets Sunday, according to Israeli officials. The Lebanese cabinet is scheduled to vote on it Saturday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the cease-fire will not go into effect immediately. She said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will consult with Israel and Lebanon in the coming days to set a date for the cessation of hostilities.

"No one can expect an immediate end to all acts of violence," Rice said. She cautioned that "the conditions of a lasting peace must be nurtured over time."

The resolution provides the first significant hope for a gradual reduction in the violence — and potentially an end to the month-long conflict, which has killed more than 800 Lebanese and 122 Israelis. Fighting continued Friday, with Israeli warplanes strafing cars and trucks evacuating people from the town of Marjayoun, killing at least four people, and with Hezbollah firing 124 rockets into Israel but causing no casualties.

By a rational standard, Hezbollah lost the war that they started. They did not get any of the things they claimed they started hostilities over. Things in the Middle East are rarely, or possibly never, rational, however. I have seen a lot of people who say this ceasefire is a disaster for Israel. Some who say Hezbollah has won on the basis of increased prestige. Many, if not most, who think Olmert's political career is essentially finished.

I do know one thing. Israel got it's butt kicked in the propaganda war with the help of the Western press.

UPDATE: Donald Sensing wishes Olmert shalom.

AP To The Rescue

Perhaps someone should have explained to the Associated Press that defending the reputation of someone caught red-handed is somewhat laughable. They have written up a positively glowing puff piece about the man being called "Green Helmet" by people in the blogosphere. (Please look at the video if you need to see Green Helmet abusing a dead child's body and posing it repeatedly for cameramen.)

(Salam) Daher, a member of the civil defense for 20 years, has been photographed with bodies of the dead in two wars now — first in 1996 and most recently with the baby on July 30 __ both times after Israeli attacks in the village of Qana six miles southeast of the city.

For that reason, some Web sites have labeled him the "Green Helmet," and accused him of being a member of the Hezbollah guerrilla group, and of showing off bodies as propaganda.

"But that isn't true," he told The Associated Press. He is not affiliated with any party, he said. "I am just a civil defense worker. I have done this job all my life."

Daher said he started when he was 19 years old, and now heads operations of the civil defense for the southern port city of Tyre and the surrounding region. It is a government job, part of Lebanon's interior ministry. When bombs strike, he races his ambulance along narrow country roads, digs through rubble and tries to save the living from flattened buildings.

As to why he poses dead children? Why heck, that's just part of the job according to the AP:

After hours of digging, Daher emerged with the youngest victim. In a parched voice, he shouted something in Arabic and held the child up for the photographer.

To many in the West, such photographs are surprising; but they are not unusual in the Middle East, where grief and drama are often intertwined, and that can include displaying of bodies.

Bloggers have accused rescue workers and volunteers of showing off victims for the media. The Lebanese make no apologies for wanting the world to see the civilian suffering in the Israeli onslaught aimed at uprooting Hezbollah.

Please note: This is being said after the AP HEATEDLY denied allowing or using staged photographs. They literally cannot keep their lies straight anymore. There are simply too many of them.