ten downing street

Yesterday, after Hezbollah killed12 Israeli soldiers preparing to fight in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert met with fifty of his mouth pieces to inform them of the new talking points. In preparation for the widening of aggression against all of Lebanon, Hezbollah areas and not, they needed to get some new spin ready.

"Our enemy is not Hezbollah, but Iran, which employs Hezbollah as its agent," Olmert told his spokepersons.

Israel often constructs a mythical puppeteer, far bigger than the opponent it is fighting, to either exaggerate its victories or minimize the meaning of its defeats.

In March 2002, a Palestinian sniper killed 10 Israeli soldiers with a primitive WW2 rifle, the attack was so potent, 10 out of 15 rounds fired were deadly. Sitting in a hill opposed to military post, the sniper withdrew unharmed. It sent shock waves within the Israeli military establishment.

It was so hard for the Israelis that a Palestinian could have carried out such an attack; they claimed an IRA member must have done it. They issued alerts to look out for any suspected IRA members in Palestine, and called the Irish Authorities to investigate if any IRA fighters traveled to Palestine. Of course, Israel's wished never materialized. A couple of years later, they arrested a Palestinian man in his late sixties and charged him with the attack.

Similarly, Israel, not being able to face its failure to defeat Hezbollah, will attach the words "Syria" and "Iran" to every mention of the group. This mantra particularly intensifies when Hezbollah carries out sophisticated attacks, like flying reconnaissance drones over Israeli targets, and the bombing of a warship with an advanced guided missile three weeks ago. Israel not only blamed Iran for supplying the weapon, but also it insisted that there was Iranian advisor present for Hezbollah to be able to fire such a missile.

It is common knowledge that Iran supports and supplies Hezbollah, but by no means to the extent the US supports and supplies Israel (billions of dollars a year). Nor does that make Hezbollah a foreign proxy.

Israel continues to claim that arms are still being shipped to Hezbollah as the fighting goes on, despite the near complete destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure, particularly roads, bridges, airports, and seaports. Such are meant to mask the fact that Hezbollah had large stockpiles of weapons, which Israel's attacks failed to destroy.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Israel portrayed the Soviet Union as the enemy behind the enemy during its wars with neighboring Arab countries. Israel's victory then is behind the current myth-like reputation of the Israeli army, as it 'not only defeated the Arab armies, but also their Soviet backing.' Israel also cultivated the fruits of that strategy through the massive US support it won on ideological grounds.

Israel losing this fight has immense political effects on Israel. An Israel that is not capable of defeating Hezbollah is not the strategic ally the pro-Israel lobby portrays in justifying massive and unconditional American political and financial support to Israel. As a result, the longer this fight goes on -- the further away victory seems for the Israeli army -- the more focused the Israeli PR machine becomes on building up the straw men behind Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

The Sunday attack that killed 12 Israeli soldiers was so humiliating to Israel's military might, the mythical puppeteer no longer satisfies the fury. Israel revealed its newest measure, a higher level of hatred, rage, and revenge. It announced it would target "strategic civilian infrastructure" and "symbols of the Lebanese government." When the self-deluded "civilized" get desperate, we see war crimes painted as strategy.

Aside from being immoral, unethical, illegal collective punishment, Israel's actions provide an insight into the feeling of defeat that is beginning to wear down the Israeli leadership. - link