PM of Lebanon on that War, peace and Israel

It's not common for prime ministers to write commentaries or op-ed pieces, especially a PM of a Middle Eastern country, for a Western newspaper. But the PM of Lebanon, Fuad Siniora, has done just that in an op-ed piece in the IHT.

Siniora's analysis and position is well worth reading. He writes moderately and in a balanced way. One could easily see him being more than hysterical and anti American given that the US simply stood back and allowed it's ally, Israel, pound Lebanon in the War last year - in the process killing and maiming many as well as wreaking widespread destruction. As if that wasn't bad enough there are still all those cluster bombs Israel scattered around southern Lebanon just before the peace took effect.

"Last week, Israel's Winograd Commission published an interim report scrutinizing Israel's conduct during what it called the country's most recent military "campaign," last summer's bombardment of Lebanon.

The report failed to draw the most essential lesson from the July war and the wars that preceded it: Military action does not give the people of Israel security. On the contrary, it compromises it.

The only way for the people of Israel and the Arab world to achieve stability and security is through a comprehensive peace settlement to the overarching Arab-Israeli conflict."

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