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Egypt Post-Mubarak: Key Facts on the Military's Long-Standing Role

Via ProPublica

By Marian Wang ProPublica, Feb. 11, 2011, 2:09 p.m.

Hosni Mubarak resigned as of this morning, ending a 30-year rule as Egypt’s head of state and leaving control in the hands of Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

With Egypt’s military leaders now at the country’s helm, what the future of the reform movement will look like is anybody’s guess. But here’s a look back at what we’ve learned—and are still learning—about the Egyptian military, and what this could mean for where things are headed.

Who sits on Egypt’s now-ruling military council—and what might they do?

Al Jazeera has a look at a few of the key leaders on the council. Several were members of the cabinet Mubarak appointed in an early—and fruitless—attempt to appease the protesters. Among them are Vice President Omar Suleiman, who announced Mubarak’s resignation today, and Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the man described by some in the army as “Mubarak’s poodle.”

“There are two directions the Higher Military Council can go,” former army General Samah Seif El Yazal told the BBC. “The first is to ask the existing government to run the country for a transitional period of perhaps a year. The other option is for the military to run the country by committee. We are very anxious to hear from them about what they intend to do.”

Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the leading voices in the protests, told Foreign Policy yesterday that he does not have “any confidence”that Suleiman or the “bunch of military people” can be a steward of a democratic transition. “They don’t understand, let alone are willing to move Egypt into democracy, unless we keep kicking their behinds,” ElBaradei said.

The Egyptian military has long been a force behind the throne.

“Egypt’s government is not so much a Mubarak government as it is a military government,” Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg last month, when the protests had only gone on for a week.

Let’s not forget, after all, that since the Egyptian military led a coup in 1952 and ended the country’s rule under the British monarchy, all three of the country’s presidents—including Mubarak—have been military men. (Hosni Mubarak’s son, Gamal Mubarak, had long been believed to be a potential successor to the presidency—an idea that top military officials hated. Gamal had no background in the military.)

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof cautioned that the new leadership—more or less the old leadership without Mubarak—may want to keep a “Mubarak-style government without Mubarak.”

The Egyptian military has internal rifts and divided loyalties.

As we noted earlier this week, U.S. embassy cables describe some of the military’s internal divisions, particularly between the mid-level officers and the organization’s leadership. Here’s what we wrote:

One cable describes mid-level army officers as “disgruntled” and particularly critical of Egyptian Defense Minister Mohamed Tantawi, whom they saw as too subservient to Mubarak’s regime. … Another cable, this one from 2008, describes Tantawi as opposed to “economic and political reforms that he perceives as eroding central government power.”

The Egyptian military has a substantial hold on the country’s economy—and its leaders have a financial in interest in preserving that.

Given that one of the protesters’ many grievances is the lack of economic reform and the country’s high unemployment, it’s surprising how little attention has been paid to the military’s entrenched role in Egypt’s current economy.

Very little is actually known about the military’s finances or precisely how its operates (apart, of course, from the fact that it gets $1.3 billion annually in U.S. aid.)

This U.S. embassy cable from 2008 gives a glimpse of the Egyptian military’s holdings:

Contacts told us that military-owned companies, often run by retired generals, are particularly active in the water, olive oil, cement, construction, hotel and gasoline industries. XXXXXXXXXXXX pointed out that military companies built the modern road to the Ain Souknah Red Sea resorts 90 minutes from Cairo and Cairo University's new annex. He noted the large amounts of land owned by the military in the Nile Delta and on the Red Sea coast, speculating that such property is a "fringe benefit" in exchange for the military ensuring regime stability and security. (Comment: We see the military's role in the economy as a force that generally stifles free market reform by increasing direct government involvement in the markets. End comment.)

The military “generally opposes economic reforms,” viewing privatization efforts “as a threat to its economic position,” the cable said.

Here’s Time Magazine explaining how the military came to be such a big business:

Military factories first sprang up in the 1820s to produce uniforms and small arms. Their role expanded with the state-led economy from the early 1950s and was consolidated when the military needed to place hundreds of thousands soldiers downsized after the peace agreement with Israel. (At that point, the active military had numbered about 900,000.)

… Another source of the military's untold wealth is its hold on one of this densely populated country's most precious commodities: public land, which is increasingly being converted into gated communities and resorts. The military has other advantages: it does not pay taxes and does not have to deal with the bureaucratic red tape that strangles the private sector.

Estimates vary as to how much of the Egyptian economy is run by the military—ranging from 5 percent to 40 percent, according to NPR. The commercial revenue has proved lucrative, and helped top military officers maintain a kind of lifestyle that includes “an extensive network of luxurious social clubs as well as comfortable retirements—all of which helps ensure officer loyalty,” Time noted.

“Upon retirement, senior officers are given hefty retirement packages and appointed as provincial governors or head of municipalities,” Egyptian author Moustafa El-Husseini told Bloomberg, citing Magdy Sharawi, a former Egyptian air force commander, as just one example. Sharawi is now Egypt’s ambassador to Switzerland.

The military played a role in the crackdown and arrest of protestors.

After days of reports that Egyptian soldiers had in many cases worked to suppress the pro-democracy protesters, the State Department finally acknowledged that “elements within the military” had taken part in the crackdown against journalists and activists. The U.S. also maintained that the “military did play a constructive role.”

The Guardian, meanwhile, explained the military’s involvement in the violence in far more concrete terms:

The Guardian has spoken to detainees who say they have suffered extensive beatings and other abuses at the hands of the military in what appears to be an organised campaign of intimidation. Human rights groups have documented the use of electric shocks on some of those held by the army.

One of those detained by the army was a 23-year-old man who would only give his first name, Ashraf, for fear of again being arrested. He was detained last Friday on the edge of Tahrir Square carrying a box of medical supplies intended for one of the makeshift clinics treating protesters attacked by pro-Mubarak forces.

"I was on a sidestreet and a soldier stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him and he accused me of working for foreign enemies and other soldiers rushed over and they all started hitting me with their guns," he said.

Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch said it had documented at least 119 cases of arbitrary detention by the military.

Obama administration will initiate diplomacy with HAMAS

The Guardian reports that the still incoming Obama will abandon the isolation of HAMAS, considered a  terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union, and is "prepared to talk to HAMAS"

The State Department provides this background information about the terrorist organization:

HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) a.k.a. Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, Students of Ayyash, Students of the Engineer, Yahya Ayyash Units, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Brigades, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Forces, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassim Battalions, Izz al-Din Al Qassam Brigades, Izz al-Din Al Qassam Forces, Izz al-Din Al Qassam Battalions

Description: Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both political and violent means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel. Loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others working openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. HAMAS's strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank. Also has engaged in peaceful political activity, such as running candidates in West Bank Chamber of Commerce elections.

Activities: HAMAS activists, especially those in the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks--including large-scale suicide bombings--against Israeli civilian and military targets, suspected Palestinian collaborators, and Fatah rivals.

Strength: Unknown number of hardcore members; tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers.

Location/Area of Operation: Primarily the occupied territories, Israel, and Jordan.

External Aid: Receives funding from Palestinian expatriates, Iran, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe and North America.

The Guardian spoke to three -people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp:

Richard Haass, a diplomat under both Bush presidents who was named by a number of news organisations this week as Obama's choice for Middle East envoy, supports low-level contacts with Hamas provided there is a ceasefire in place and a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation emerges.

Another potential contender for a -foreign policy role in the Obama administration suggested that the president-elect would not be bound by the Bush doctrine of isolating Hamas.

[. . .]

The total isolation of Hamas that we promulgated under Bush is going to end," said Steve Clemons, the director of the American Strategy -Programme at the New America -Foundation. "You could do something through the Europeans. You could invent a structure that is multilateral. It is going to be hard for the neocons to swallow," he said. "I think it is going to happen."

Obama adopted a strongly pro-Israel position to get elected. That was then. Now that he won the election, Obama apparently feels he can adopt what the liberals like to call a "more evenhanded approach" with the terrorists.

McCain Urges Nations To Cut Funds To Iran

Today, outlining his vision For Israel's security and the Middle East, Senator John McCain called on states to cut funds to the rogue state of Iran.

McCain's remarks were made at the AIPAC Policy Conference, and came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again predicted Israel will soon disappear.

In his speech, McCain described a vision for the Middle East that includes the following points:

In A World Full Of Dangers, Israel And The United States Must Always Stand Together.

As the threats to Israel's security increase, John McCain believes America's commitment must also grow. He strongly supports the increase in military aid to Israel scheduled to begin in October, and is committed to making certain Israel maintains its qualitative military edge.

Addressing The Iranian Threat:

The Foremost Threat To Israel Is The Iranian Regime. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called Israel a "stinking corpse" and for it to be "wiped off the map." Beyond the vile insults, the Iranian leadership acts in ways directly detrimental to the security of Israel and America.

Iran's Leadership Has Repeatedly Used Violence To Undermine Israel And The Middle East Peace Process. Iran sponsors both Hamas and Hezbollah. It has trained, financed, and equipped extremists in Iraq, and remains the world's chief sponsor of terrorism.

Iran's Continued Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons Poses An Unacceptable Danger That We Cannot Allow. Emboldened by nuclear weapons, Iran would feel unconstrained to sponsor terrorist attacks. Its flouting of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would render that agreement obsolete and could induce others to join a nuclear arms race. There would be the possibility that Tehran might pass nuclear materials or weapons to terrorist networks. An Iranian nuclear bomb would pose an existential threat to Israel.

Rather Than Sitting Down Unconditionally With The Iranian President Or Supreme Leader, John McCain Will Work To Create Real-World Pressures To Peacefully But Decisively Change Iran's Behavior. John McCain has been a leader on these issues, having coauthored the 1992 Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act.

The United Nations Security Council Should Impose Progressively Tougher Political And Economic Sanctions. Should the Security Council continue to delay, the U.S. must lead like-minded countries in imposing multilateral sanctions outside the UN framework.

John McCain Has Proposed Applying Sanctions To Restrict Iran's Ability To Import Refined Petroleum Products. A severe limit on imports of gasoline would create immediate pressure on Iran's leadership to change course, and to cease in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

We Will Encourage Those In The Region And Our European Partners To Impose Targeted Sanctions. These would include the denial of visas and freezing of assets.

We Will Impose Financial Sanctions On The Central Bank Of Iran, Which Aids In Iran's Terrorism And Weapons Proliferation.

We Will Apply The Full Force Of Law To Prevent Business Dealings With Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. John McCain was pleased to join Sens. Lieberman and Kyl in backing an amendment calling for the designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Over three quarters of the Senate supported this obvious step, but not Sen. Obama.

We Will Launch A Worldwide Divestment Campaign. As more people, businesses, pension funds, and financial institutions across the world divest from companies doing business with Iran, the radical elite who run that country will become even more unpopular than they are already.

Supporting The Peace Process:

The Palestinian People Are Badly Served With Hamas In Charge Of Gaza. This is a group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, to denounce violence, and to acknowledge prior peace commitments. They deliberately target Israeli civilians, spread hatred, and set back their people's cause with every new bombing.

We Hope That The Talks Between Israel And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Will Yield Progress Toward Peace. While encouraging this process, we must also ensure that Israelis can live in safety until there is a Palestinian leadership willing and able to deliver peace. A peace process that places faith in terrorists can never end in peace.

Strengthening Our Allies In Lebanon:

The International Community Must Support Our Allies In Lebanon. Israel's chance for enduring peace with Lebanon depends on a Lebanese government that has a monopoly on authority within its country's borders. We can fully empower our allies – not only with military aid but also with the resources to undermine Hezbollah's appeal: better schools, hospitals, roads and power generation.

John McCain Will Bring More Attention To The Kidnapping Of Three Young Israelis In 2006. In the summer of 2006, Hamas and Hezbollah kidnapped three young Israelis and have held them ever since. John McCain has met with the families and will bring attention to their situation, insist that the Geneva Conventions are observed, and call for the swift release of these men.

Succeeding In Iraq:

Succeeding In Iraq Is Critical To Israeli And American Security. Our troops in Iraq have made hard-won progress under General Petraeus' new strategy. Iraqi political leaders have moved ahead. Sectarian violence has declined. Sunnis are cooperating in the fight against al Qaeda. Shia extremist militias no longer control Basra. Al Qaeda terrorists are on the run.

Senator Obama's Plan To Withdraw Regardless Of The Consequences Will Surely Result In Catastrophe. If our troops are ordered to retreat, we risk all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state in the heart of the Middle East. Allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel, and our other friends.

McCain's entire speech, as prepared for delivery can be found in the extended post.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Fayad Lies To Congressmen

It's true, as Abba Eban once said, "Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

This week, Congressman Eric Cantor, the third ranking Republican member of the House led a Congressional delegation to meet with the highest-ranking Israeli government
officials to discuss the US-Israeli relationship. Cantor's delegation also met
with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Fayad assured the delegation that there would be no reconciliation with Hamas; when pressed on the point, Fayad made clear that there was no wavering in his position. The very next day the Jerusalem Post revealed that the Palestinian Authority had given U.S. taxpayer dollars to Hamas.

Fayad stared our representative directly in the face and lied to them about a fundamental question of national security.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Cantor wasn't happy about Fayad's deception:

The Palestinian Authority's payment of Hamas salaries on Wednesday - the day PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad told American congressmen there would be no reconciliation with Hamas - was nothing less than a "slap in the face," said Eric Cantor, a Republican congressman from Virginia.

Congressman Cantor had told Fayad "very strongly" that "the US will not support a Palestinian Authority that has as part of its coalition a terrorist organization."

Today Cantor sent the following letter to Fayad to highlight the consequences of what has occurred.

Prime Minister Fayad –

Thank you for meeting with me and the rest of the United States Congressional Republican delegation on Wednesday, August 8th. While I was pleased to hear your reassurances that the Palestinian Authority will continue to isolate Hamas, the events of the past twenty-four hours have given me reason to question your representations.

You can imagine my shock and disappointment the following morning, when our delegation learned from newspaper reports that your government is providing financial assistance to Hamas. This came less than twenty-four hours after you looked me and several other U.S. Congressmen in the eye and vowed that your government would not seek rapprochement with Hamas.

Hamas is a terrorist organization whose mission it is to murder innocent civilians and destroy the state of Israel. There is no place for Hamas in your government and no room for their ideology among the Palestinian people.

Without further explanation from you, I will feel compelled, upon returning to Washington, to forewarn my colleagues in the Congress that any visits with your government offer little value toward bringing peace and security to Palestinians and Israelis. Furthermore, I will help lead opposition in Congress to any proposed call for additional U.S. taxpayer dollars being sent to the Palestinian Authority.

Peace and security in the Middle East will never be achieved without trust. I am pained by these events, and sincerely hope you will end your involvement with the terrorist organization Hamas. I look forward to your timely response explaining the misuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Eric Cantor
Chief Deputy Republican Whip

Yep, Palestinians never miss an opportunity ....

Reuters Admits Distorting Beirut Photo

A Reuters photograph, distorted to show much heavier damage and smoke rising from buildings in Beirut, has been withdrawn and the photographer suspended after Reuters admitted the photo was altered.

The Reuters caption on the doctored photo was: "Smoke billows from burning buildings destroyed during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beirut's suburbs August 5, 2006. Many buildings were flattened during the attack. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj"

In the withdrawal statement, Reuters said that "photo editing software was improperly used on this image."

The photographer who sent the altered image, Adnan Hajj, is same Reuters photographer behind many images from Qana, which are suspected of being staged.

Reuters could take a lesson from the Charlotte Observer which fired a photographer for altering an image saying:

Accuracy is among our most sacred journalistic values. That goes for the photographs, as well as the words, that we publish.

Accuracy in the presentation of facts is what I expect from the press. Sadly, that expectation is all too often disappointed.

Damning Hezbollah

At Discovering the Networks, Chris Link has posted a photos showing Hezbollah endangering civilians. Chris writes:

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

[. . .]

The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.

Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

Why is it that the American mainstream media hasn't published such images?

It infuriates me that the main stream media focuses so much on the death of Lebanese civilians, but ignores Hezbollah endangering those civilians by using them as human shields. Where is the outrage over Hezbollah's deliberately putting Lebanese civilians in harms way and deliberately targeting Israeli civilians?

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

Nasrallah In Damascus

Hezbollah's terrorist in chief, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, is in Damascus meeting with Ali Larijani, secretary of 's Supreme National Security Council, and Syrian President Hafez Assad:

According to the Associated Press, the purpose of the meeting is to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with "ian arms flowing through Syrian territories."

The AP cautions there was no mention of Larijani's travels in ian state-run media and the reports could be independently confirmed.

Thoughts On Lebanon And The War Against Terror

Terrorism, whether it is al Qaeda flying airplanes into buildings filled with innocent civilians, the Taliban blowing up schools and police stations in Afghanistan, al Qaeda in Iraq blowing up civilians in Baghdad, al Qaeda trainees blowing up civilian trains in London or Mumbai, Palestinians in Gaza shooting rockets at civilian targets inside Israel, or Hezbollah attacking across Israel's northern border, killing and abducting Israeli soldiers and firing rockets at Israeli civilians, will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinians. This issue, the case for a Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel, is translated by extremists into a battle between East and West, Muslim, Jew and Christian.

Last night I reread British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s magnificent July 17, 2003 address to a joint session of Congress. There is much Blair said three years ago that should be remembered as we continue to prosecute the war against terror.

Blair, reminded us that terrorism is spawned where there is no freedom, where many millions suffer under brutal dictatorships, living in unimaginable poverty nurtured by a fanatical strain of religious extremism.

To eliminate terrorism, Muslims must be able to see Muslim nations still Muslim, but with some hope for the future, not shackled by tyrannical regimes whose principal victims are the very Muslims they pretended to protect.

The Liberation of Afghanistan from the Taliban and the Iraq from Saddam's savage regime is the starting point for a new Middle East: Iraq, free and stable; and Syria, made to realize that the world will no longer countenance support for terrorism; the whole region helped toward democracy. And to symbolize it all, the creation of an independent, viable and democratic Palestinian state side by side with the state of Israel.

This struggle against terrorist groups and states is about liberty. The fight is not for domination. We're not fighting for an American world, we're not fighting for Christianity or Judaism, but against religious fanaticism of all kinds. In Blair’s words:

We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind--black or white, Christian or not, left, right or to be free, free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear, free to be you so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others.

That's what we're fighting for. And it's a battle worth fighting.

Our love freedom is not a unique product of our culture. Freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law are not only American, or Western values, they are the universal values of the human spirit:

Anywhere, anytime ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom, not tyranny; democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the secret police.

The spread of freedom is the best security for the free. It is our last line of defense and our first line of attack. And just as the terrorist seeks to divide humanity in hate, so we have to unify it around an idea. And that idea is liberty.

We must find the strength to fight for this idea and the compassion to make it universal. 

This is why I continue to support the war against terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Israel's campaign against Hezbollah.

A cease-fire in Lebanon is urgently wanted. But it should be a cease-fire under conditions where it can be lasting cease-fire and a step towards a lasting peace and victory over the conditions spawning terrorism. This requires that Hizbullah be reined in.

Hizbullah's founding document calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. Hizbullah's record of terrorist attacks is long: the 1983 bombing of the barracks of U.S. Marines deployed peacekeepers in Beirut to keep the airport open for relief supplies; the bombing of the U.S. Beirut embassy in 1983 and 1984; the hijacking of TWA flight 847 and murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem in 1985; a series of attacks on Israeli targets in Lebanon; the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994. More recently, Hizbullah operatives have plotted to blow up the Israeli embassy in Thailand, and a Lebanese member of Hizbullah was indicted for helping to design the truck bomb that flattened the Khobar Towers U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia in 1996.

Before September 11, 2001, Hizbullah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hassan Nasrallah, the group's secretary-general, recently proclaimed, "Death to America was, is, and will stay our slogan."

The current "crises" stems from Hizbullah's unprovoked attack across Israel's northern border, killing and abducting Israeli soldiers. In 2004 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1559 calling upon Lebanon to disband the military wing of Hezbollah. In 2005, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1583 calling upon Lebanon to exercise its sole and effective authority throughout the south. Again this year the UN Security Council called on Lebanon to make more progress in controlling its territory and disbanding militias. Had Lebanon complied with the UN demands, the present crisis could have been avoided.

The right approach in dealing with the campaign against Hezbollah's terrorism is to work for an urgent but enduring cease-fire in Lebanon, one that can deal with the causes of extremism that began this crisis and that can also lead to the establishment of the sovereignty of the Lebanese government throughout its territory. Anything short of that will simply encourage more violence in the long run.

Rome Summit Ends Without Lebanon Cease-Fire

International leaders failed to agree on the terms of a cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah and called for talks on a United Nations-mandated force to help the Lebanese army restore peace in south Lebanon.

According to Bloomberg, leaders acknowledged that winning participants for such a force would take time and be difficult:

Hezbollah, backed by and Syria, rejects a force that would eventually replace Israeli troops in a security zone. Israel has endorsed the idea of a European-led force though has said it should not be led by the UN, throwing into question the prospect of one ever being dispatched.

What is needed is a cease-fire that will ensure the Hizbullah terrorists are no longer able to reek indiscriminate death and destruction whenever they choose to throw a temper tantrum.

If ever a gang of terrorist thugs needed to be reined in, it is Hizbullah.

Hizbullah's founding document calls for the destruction of the state of Israel.

Before September 11, 2001, Hizbullah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hassan Nasrallah, the group's secretary-general, recently proclaimed, "Death to America was, is, and will stay our slogan."

Hizbullah's record of terrorist attacks on the United States and its allies is long: the 1983 bombing of the barracks of U.S. Marines deployed peacekeepers in Beirut to keep the airport open for relief supplies; the bombing of the U.S. Beirut embassy in 1983 and 1984; the hijacking of TWA flight 847 and murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem in 1985; a series of attacks on Israeli targets in Lebanon; the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994. More recently, Hizbullah operatives have plotted to blow up the Israeli embassy in Thailand, and a Lebanese member of Hizbullah was indicted for helping to design the truck bomb that flattened the Khobar Towers U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia in 1996.

The current "crises" stems from Hizbullah's unprovoked attack across Israel's northern border, killing and abducting Israeli soldiers. Let's not forget that in 2004 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1559 calling upon Lebanon to disband the military wing of Hezbollah.

In 2005, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1583 calling upon Lebanon to exercise its sole and effective authority throughout the south. Again this year the UN Security Council called on Lebanon to make more progress in controlling its territory and disbanding militias. Had Lebanon complied with the UN demands, the present crisis could have been avoided.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is right to try "to bring about an urgent but enduring cease-fire in Lebanon, one that can deal with the causes of extremism that began this crisis and that can also lead to the establishment of the sovereignty of the Lebanese government throughout its territory." Anything short of an enduring cease-fire will simply encourage more violence in the long run.

US Vetoes UN Gaza Resolution

MSNBC reports the United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution that demanded Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza.

The United States was alone in voting against the resolution. Ten of the 15 Security Council nations voted in favor, and four abstained.

According to MSNBC, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the resolution was "unacceptable because it had been overtaken by events in the region — including the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on Wednesday — and was 'unbalanced:'"

"It placed demands on one side in the Middle East conflict but not the other," Bolton said. "This draft resolution would have exacerbated tensions in the region."

Some things never seem to change. The last time the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution was October 2004. That resolution demanded "the immediate cessation of all military operations in the area of northern Gaza" and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Eight of the last nine vetoes in the council have been cast by the United States. Of those, seven had to do with the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The U.N.'s treatment of Israel never ceases to disgust me.