Netanyahu’s war crimes

Age-old political trick: fear at home stoked by enemy at the door

Tahir Mustafa

Muharram 02, 1441 2019-09-01

News & Analysis

by Tahir Mustafa (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 48, No. 7, Muharram, 1441)

Facing corruption charges while another election looms, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to bomb his way out of the mess he faces. In the snake pit of Israeli politics where poisonous propaganda against opponents is the norm, appearing tough is considered a prerequisite for success that he thinks would boost his chances of re-election.

Arresting, clubbing, and shooting Palestinian children are so routine that they no longer serve the purpose of being seen as “tough.” Something more dramatic is needed. This is what Netanyahu did over three days from August 25 to 27. His mad bombers carried out attacks in Syria, Lebanon, and as far away as Iraq. And US Vice President Mike Pence, a Christian Zionist, chimed in on August 27 that Israel had the right to “defend itself.” Israel was not attacked by anyone but in the demented psychology of American officialdom, only and only Israel has this right; others must suffer in silence.

Zionist Israel has been attacking Syria regularly since the foreign-instigated war was unleashed in the Levant in 2011. With the war nearing its end and terrorists on the verge of total defeat, the Zionists and their piggy bank, the US, have gone into panic mode. The regime change plot in Syria has been defeated. The resistance front comprising Syria, Islamic Iran, Hizbullah, and Iraq, has won.

While Israeli attacks against Syria are routine, surely constituting war crimes, the August 24 strikes were different. Israel launched a series of attacks against a village near the Syrian capital of Damascus. In the past, Israel used its US-supplied warplanes or missiles for such attacks on Syria. But with increasingly sophisticated missile defence systems, Syria has been able to intercept most missiles and drive the Israeli warplanes away before they could hit their targets.

In the August 24 attacks, however, drones laden with explosives, not missiles, were used. The Zionists appeared desperate: they had no intention of retrieving their drones. Instead, the drones were programmed to fly into the target, crash, and explode.

And the attack had to be dramatized. Its purpose was more political than military. Thus, Israeli military commanders were trotted out in front of cameras to claim they had “attacked an Iranian site.” The Zionists further claimed that the drone strike near Damascus had preempted an Iranian attack on northern Israel that was planned for August 29.

Not surprisingly, Iran denied these nonsensical Zionist claims including that they or any of their assets had been hit in the strike. If Iran intended to hit Zionist targets why would it wait for so many days before carrying out the operation? It requires no great military genius to figure out that surprise is a major factor in the success of any military operation. In an address to the people on August 27, Hizbullah leader Sayyid Hasan Nasrullah said two Hizbullah fighters were killed in Aqraba village outside Damascus. They were resting in a house that was not a military post and he vowed to seek revenge for the killings.

For warmonger and war criminal Netanyahu, however, it makes perfect sense to dramatize the latest drone strikes. Adding Iran to the list of targets is meant to boost his macho image. It shows the depth of his desperation. It is also quite revealing that none of his political opponents castigated him for carrying out illegal strikes against other sovereign states. In a perfect world governed by ruled-based order, these warmongers would be charged with war crimes. Unfortunately, lawlessness prevails in the world; might is right is the dictum.

The Zionists’ fear of Islamic Iran, however, is obvious. In 2006, the lightly armed Hizbullah fighters with no tanks, planes, or artillery gave them a bloody nose; what chance would they have against Iran’s Revolutionary Guards? Israeli soldiers can beat up unarmed defenceless Palestinian children and women but when confronted by highly motivated Iranian fighters, they get fright. They should; bullies need to be confronted.

The Zionists also sent two drones to attack targets in Lebanon. One drone crashed into some buildings in the suburb of Beirut while the second one crashed in a nearby empty area. Hizbullah leader Sayyid Nasrullaah warned that there would be retaliation for Zionist aggression. H is a man of his word; the Zionists had better take heed. Lebanese President Michel Aoun called the Israeli attack a “declaration of war.” Aoun is a former military officer; he knows a thing or two about military matters.

Similarly, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa‘d Hariri described the Israeli attack on Lebanon as a “dangerous act, an attack against Lebanon’s sovereignty and a violation of Resolution 1701, which established calm and stability over the past years.” He was speaking to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov via telephone on August 27 and added that Lebanon was counting on Russia’s role to help prevent further escalation and tension, as well as to “send clear messages to Israel that it must stop violating Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

“Hariri stressed that Israel’s attack against a civilian populated area strikes a blow to the stable situation that prevailed on the border since the issuance of Resolution 1701, and threatens to seriously escalate the situation in the region, with unpredictable results,” a statement from Hariri’s office read.

In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry “reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and stability of Lebanon.” It added that Russia emphasized the need for respecting International Law and United Na-tions Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel had launched against Lebanon in the Summer of 2006.

A day earlier, Hariri had called upon the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel not to initiate any action of aggression against Lebanon. “If Israel’s aggressions escalate, this will have dangerous repercussions on Lebanon and the whole region,” a statement by Hariri’s office said.

It was, however, Israel’s attacks on Hashd al-Sha‘bi, the Iraqi militia that confronted and defeated the Da‘ish takfiri terrorists in Iraq that shows the Zionists’ evil nature. Such attacks are a new, more provocative move by Netanyahu and his allies in the Zionist ghetto.

Over the last few weeks, there were rumors of Israeli attacks against targets in Iraq. These were confirmed in late August when US and Israeli officials confirmed that the attacks were taking place.

On August 22, Hashd al-Sha‘bi, the popular mobilization units (PMU), said they had shot down a spy drone, as it was flying in the vicinity of the 12th Brigade on the outskirts of Baghdad. Three days later (August 25), the Iraqi Arabic-language al-Sumariyah television network reported that the air defenses of the 50th Brigade of Hashd al-Sha‘bi had shot down a spy drone while it was approaching PMU bases in Nineveh.

The media bureau of the volunteer forces said in a statement that Hashd al-Sha‘bi forces shot down the unidentified drone as it was on a reconnaissance mission, and flying for more than 20 minutes over one of their command centers there. The statement added that the volunteer forces brought down the unmanned aerial vehicle with anti-aircraft guns after ensuring that the aircraft was not of Iraqi origin.

The Israeli drone was shot down only a few hours after Prime Minister ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi, President Barham Salih and Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbusi met senior commanders of Hashd al-Sha‘bi in Baghdad. The purpose was to discuss measures aimed at protecting Iraq’s security and sovereignty against Zionist aggression.

And on August 26, Iraq’s military said it launched an investigation into a purported Israeli strike that killed two Hashd al-Sha‘bi fighters near the town of al-Qa’im close to the country’s western border with Syria. “An investigation is ongoing now to determine what happened with the strike,” the spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, Brigadier General Yahya Rasul, told AFP.

What these Zionist crimes against several countries show is that they have become desperate. As Da‘ish terrorists are defeated, Israel feels its murderous allies are being eliminated from the scene. Netanyahu is using these attacks to boost his chances for re-election in a few weeks’ time.

Aggressors, however, do not get away with their crimes for too long. The Zionist entity will soon have to face motivated fighters that are prepared to put an end to injustice born of naked Zionist aggression.