Sarajevo (2)

Van je vrienden moet je het hebben. Cole haalt de woorden van de Amerikaanse president aan bij het bezoek van de Libanese eerste minister Siniora aan het Witte Huis, in april van dit jaar:

"I told the Prime Minister that the United States strongly supports a free and independent and sovereign Lebanon. We took great joy in seeing the Cedar Revolution. We understand that the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the street to express their desire to be free required courage, and we support the desire of the people to have a government responsive to their needs and a government that is free, truly free . . . "

"We talked about the great tradition of Lebanon to serve as a model of entrepreneurship and prosperity. Beirut is one of the great international cities, and I'm convinced that if Lebanon is truly free and independent and democratic, that Beirut will once again regain her place as a center of financial and culture and the arts."

De Libanese infrastructuur is inmiddels afdoende vernield, de zuidelijke wijken van Beiroet kunnen zo de puinbreker in, dus was het dinsdag de beurt aan melk-, papier- en farmaceutische fabrieken.

Over wat de bedoeling van deze campagne is haalt Cole nog de Israelische minister Avi Dichter aan, die zei dat zijn leger

"should be instructed to operate without a time limit and without a limit of means to apply heavy pressure on the residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate northwards, thereby applying pressure on the center of the Lebanese government."

Dat past in het beeld van ethnische zuivering.

"There's no question in my mind that Lebanon can serve as a great example for what is possible in the broader Middle East; that out of the tough times the country has been through will rise a state that shows that it's possible for people of religious difference to live side-by-side in peace; to show that it's possible for people to put aside past histories to live together in a way that the people want, which is, therefore, to be peace and hope and opportunity."

Inmiddels weigert het Witte Huis elk commentaar op de Israelische aanvallen op Sionora's Libanese strijdkrachten.