Rome conference on Lebanon: Europe capitulates to American-Israeli aggression

According to the International Herald Tribune: “European and Arab governments, as well as Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations and Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, also had pushed hard for an immediate cease-fire, but lost as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dug in. She stuck to the position that agreement on an ‘enduring peace’ had to be in place before the parties were called to stop fighting.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, attending the meeting along with senior diplomats from the US, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, delivered an impassioned and eloquent speech to urge an immediate halt to hostilities.

Sinoria asked: “Is the value of human life less in Lebanon than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?”

Saying his country was being “cut to pieces” by Israel, he vowed to begin legal proceedings against Israel, implying that Israel was guilty of war crimes and saying he would seek war reparations for “the barbaric destruction that [Israel] has inflicted on us.” He ended his remarks with a quote from the Roman historian Tacitus, which he said describes what Israel is doing to Lebanon today. “They created a desolation and call it peace.”

According to one press report, diplomats said there was visible emotion around the room after Siniora’s comments. Rice, however, was not moved. At a press conference following the meeting, she mentioned in passing Siniora’s “very impassioned” speech, and went on to reiterate her opposition to a suspension of Israeli attacks on Lebanese cities, towns and villages, as well as her insistence that the purpose of any international force in southern Lebanon would be to disarm Hezbollah.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/rome-j27.shtml