And the cycle continues

There goes America again, arming people in the Middle East:

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Military aid began arriving Friday after the United States said it will rush supplies to the Lebanese army fighting al Qaeda-inspired Islamic militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp in the country's north.

Hey, now they're arming the Lebanese government, after arming the Israelis so they could bomb the whole of Lebanon last Summer. Whatever the US is trying to accomplish here, it isn't peace.

"I certainly hope that the Lebanese government will be able to deal with these extremists," Rice said. "It's just another example of extremists in the Middle East who are trying to destabilize democratic governments."

Rigghht, and the US didn't destabilize the same government by letting Israel pound the crap out of the country (whose government is democratic and US-friendly) all within the last year? Of course they did, and moreover they knew they were doing so. Israel didn't just bomb Hezbollah guys in foxholes, they took out most of the major infrastructure -- and America supported that. Now this. What kind of careless games are they playing with peoples' lives?

And furthermore, the next time America is attacked (whether a military attack like the Cole or a terrorist attack like 9/11) maybe people in the US would be so good as to refrain from pleading "why do they hate us so much?". Given the years of "involvement" in the region's conflicts, perhaps Americans should consider that allowing their government to arm factions, take sides, and invade countries in the Arab/Muslim world is bound to result in a few enemies -- ones who don't hate you for your freedom fries, or because you're beautiful, but because you destroyed their lives. Just something to think about really.

[ I visited Lebanon in November, 2005 ]