[The Australian] Asher Maoz - We feel for Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora when he calls for a cease-fire to enable the Lebanese government to deal with the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the release of the captured Israeli soldiers. But why didn't the Lebanese government do so in the years since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to its international borders? Why did the Lebanese government enable the terrorist organization Hizballah to create what Siniora called "a state within a state"? Why did the Lebanese government enable Hizballah to entrench itself along the Lebanese border with Israel? Why did the Lebanese government enable Hizballah to arm itself with mass destruction armaments? Why did the Lebanese government enable Hizballah to place its deadly weapons amid civilian populations? Why did Siniora include Hizballah in his government? And how does Siniora intend to realize Resolution 1559 that calls for the dismantling of the Hizballah militia? Israel's defensive actions have exposed the extensive build-up of weaponry by Hizballah along the border. One can only shudder to think what the scenario would have been like in five years had Israel not acted today. The writer is a professor of constitutional law at Tel Aviv University and a visiting professor at the faculty of law at Monash University in Melbourne.
2006-08-01 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive