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By Seymour M. Hersh
The New Yorker
21 August 2006 Issue
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In the days after Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel, on July 12th, to kidnap two soldiers, triggering an
Israeli air attack on Lebanon and a full-scale war, the Bush Administration seemed strangely passive. "It's a moment of
clarification," President George W. Bush said at the G-8 summit, in St. Petersburg, on July 16th. "It's now become clear
why we don't have peace in the Middle East." He described the relationship between Hezbollah and its supporters in Iran
and Syria as one of the "root causes of instability," and subsequently said that it was up to those countries to end the
crisis. Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to
end the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until "the conditions are
conducive."
The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel's retaliatory attacks. President Bush
and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a
successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and
command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a
potential American preëmptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep
underground.
…Snip…
... Two days later, despite calls from several governments for the United States to take the lead in negotiations to end
the fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that a ceasefire should be put off until "the conditions are
conducive."
The Bush Administration, however, was closely involved in the planning of Israel's retaliatory attacks. President Bush
and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a
successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah's heavily fortified underground-missile and
command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a
potential American preëmptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep
underground.
…Snip…
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