Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Where I Stand — Columnist Mike O’Callaghan: The Middle East Puzzle

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

WEEKEND EDITION

Feb. 7 - 8, 2004

MOST AMERICANS have given up any attempt to unravel the thinking processes of the people and factions of the Middle East. Every time I think it all makes good sense something unexpected happens.

There is no difficulty in understanding the desire of Israelis to build a wall or fence between them and the people determined to kill them and their children. Why this action wasn't taken sooner is the only question in my mind. Certainly there are enough examples of this kind of deterrent in other parts of the world. The best examples are the DMZ that separates North and South Korea and the fences along the border of India and Pakistan. Aren't there also some fences between Mexico and the United States to keep out illegal immigrants who aren't carrying bombs but only want to work?

Although Israel's fence isn't completed, it has already served its purpose in forcing a suicide bomber to take a path that resulted in his capture. His destination was an Israeli school where dozens of children would have died.

We can safely assume that it has also deterred other terrorists from reaching their goals. This is information that Israel's intelligence people keep to themselves.

American military veterans also understand the efforts the Israeli military forces put into retrieving captured soldiers or their bodies. Not leaving comrades, dead or alive, behind was hammered into my mind by a drill instructor in Marine boot camp from the very first day.

About a week ago, the Israel government again showed this deep dedication to their soldiers when 429 prisoners were released in exchange for three bodies. The bodies of Omar Sawayed, Benny Avraham and Adi Avitan were returned along with businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum. All had been held by Hezbollah. Also returned to Hezbollah were the bodies of 54 Lebanese militants killed in the security area before Israel withdrew from Lebanon.

Prior to the release of their bodies I didn't know the names of the Israeli soldiers. The absence of Capt. Ron Arad's name among those returned by Hezbollah does bother me. I was in Israel when he was shot down and captured by Lebanese guerrillas almost 18 years ago. Still he hasn't been returned in any exchange and for this there is no reasonable excuse. Nevertheless, Israel returned high-profile terrorist leaders, Abdel Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani. The Israelis had kidnapped Obeid in 1989 in hopes of exchanging him for Arad.

As an American, I find it difficult to accept doing business with Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah or his gang of killers. They have been credited with killing at least 270 Americans, including 241 Marines, in Beirut 21 years ago. They are also the people who captured and strangled Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins when he was acting as a U.N. peacekeeper. Ten months ago hundreds of Hezbollah crossed Syria into Iraq where they went to "kill Americans."

There is always hope that any prisoner exchange will pave the road to peace among most societies but not in the Middle East. This gesture by Israel is viewed as a victory for Hezbollah. Nasrallah added it to his claim of victory for having the Israelis leave Lebanon. An Israel Policy Forum publication reports:

"Speaking at a rally following the prisoner release, Nasrallah promised that the next prisoner whose release he will seek is the Lebanese killer, Samir Kuntar. In 1979 Kuntar murdered two members of an Israeli family in cold blood in their home in Nahariyah, a young father, Danny Haran, and his daughter, Einat, 4.

"The mother, Smadar, hid in a closet with her two year old, Yael. To keep Yael from crying and giving their location away, Smadar put her hand over the child's mouth. The child died of asphyxiation.

"Invoking Kuntar, Nasrallah said that to achieve his release, Hezbollah will kidnap more soldiers. 'Next time,' he said, 'I promise you we will capture them alive.' Better to use as bargaining chips."

Among the prisoners released by Israel were about 400 Palestinians and this added to Hezbollah's credentials among the different terrorism units. Immediately this resulted in a Hamas leader promising to also kidnap some Israelis.

So the problems of the Middle East appear to only worsen when any gesture for peace is seen by the terrorists as a sign of weakness. It is doubtful if this mentality will ever be understood or accepted by Western civilization.

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