Op1inion
Page 6 Thursday, July 8, 1982 The Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily
Vol. XCII, No. 35-S
Ninety-two Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students
at the University of Michigan
Israel no longer
merits special status
ti
Atghtrope actLP
P RESIDENT REAGAN'S offer to send U.S. t
marines into west Beirut to walk the t
tightrope between the Palestinians and Israelis a
a
may be the last chance for restoring peace in a
the divided nation.d
A single gunshot could ruin America's p
mission of evacuating the PLO, however, and
plunge the United States into the deepening'
r
political and military morass of the beseiged P
city. Because the risks involved are so great, v
the United States must have conditions con- S
ducive not only to a successful departure of the H
PLO but to the security of American forces.
An agreement must include a PLO pledge to s
lay down its heavy arms, transform itself into a s
political, nonmilitary force, and cooperate with a
American evacuation plans. b
At the same time, the Israelis should pull t
d
back their forces to the fringes of Beirut,
allowing the Palestinians and Americans a
breathing room to operate. And if the job is not u
done in a month, then the U.S. marines should P
get back on their ships and head for home. a
An all-out battle in the streets of Beirut will P
not serve any group's interest, least of all the n
United States. The risks inherent in involving I
U.S. troops in Lebanon are great, but all sides c
long for a peaceful settlement. And this may be t'
the last and best hope for averting the final c
deadly battle of Beirut. a
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By Paul McCloskey
The current bloodshed in
Lebanon has several tragic im-
lications for the United States.
First is the hardening convic-
ion elsewhere in the world that
he United States has authorized
nd approved the indiscriminate
nd massive use of firepower
gainst an innocent and largely
defenseless Lebanese civilian
opulation.
TO THE REST of the world
srael has now become a U.S.
proxy-an instrument of U.S.
olicy in the Mideast, much as we
iew Cuba as an instrument of
oviet policy in the Western
Hemisphere.
When Israel uses U.S.-
upplied artillery aircraft and
weaponry, including the fear-
ome CBU's, or "cluster bombs,"
igainst refugee camps and ur-
an areas, the world - and par-
icularly the Arab world - un-.
lerstands that these are U.S.
weapons, supplied under
greements that they will not be
sed save with U.S. consent, ex-
ress or implied.
The blood of innocent women
nd children, both Lebanese and
alestinian, is thus on our hands,
ot just on the hands of the
sraelis. It is well-known that
luster bombs were furnished by
he United States to the Israelis in
he early 1970s on the specific
ondition that they be used only
gainst regular armies when
srael was under attack, and that
hey not be used against guerrilla
orces or in civilian areas. When
he Israelis violated this
greement in 1976 by the use of
CBUs in southern Lebanon, the
United States government lodged
formal and public protest.
NOT SO IN 1982, however. Not
only has the United States stood
ilently like Pontius Pilate as the
CBU's were used in southern'
Lebanon in recent weeks, we also
etoed a U.N. Security Council
resolution calling for Israeli
withdrawal from Lebanon. As in
he case of Vietnam, whatever'
may be the merits of the destruc-
ion of rural villages by U.S.
irepower, the indiscriminate use
f that firepower is viewed with
niversal horror elsewhere in the
world.
It is not merely world opinion
hat is shocked: We violate our
wn principles in this process.
America has long treasured its
eritage as a nation under law
ation which sought to restrain
he excessive use of force, even in
ust causes, according to clear
egal principles. One of those
rinciples is that the police, in
As American-made Israeli jets bomb Be
questioning continued U.S. aid to Israel.
pursuit of an armed criminal,
cannot pursue that individual into
a marketplace and in-
discriminately shoot into the
crowd. Under no circumstances
can the Israeli pursuit of not
more than 15,000 armed
Palestinians, in a country of 3
million people, be considered a
restrained use of force. Naval
bombardments and aerial bom-
bing of Beruit, Sidon, Tyre and
the Palestinian refugee villages
must, of necessity, kill and maim
tens of thousands of noncom-
batants.
A captured Israeli pilot put it
fairly and accurately the other
day when he said that he could
not justify his country's use of
force - that such use of force was
excessive. Indeed, to much of the
world Israel has become the
newest international bully,
created and armed by the United
States, and now out of control'-
but still supported by Washington
regardless of how many innocent
,people are killed in the process.
THE GROWING hatred felt by
the Arabs for the United States
transcends national and political
views. It is an emotional, gut
reaction to our conduct, a reac-
tion which once implanted in a
human heart may remain for
years. As the Holocaust is
remembered in Jewish hearts, it
is the kind of hatred that can
provoke blind revenge and
retaliation for generations.
The perception is growing that
Americans no longer are people
interested in fairness and justice.
Instead, we now are viewed as a
people who, like the Soviets in
Afghanistan, value expediency
more than the lives of innocent
people.
An even worse aspect of
Lebanon's tragedy, however,
may be the dulling of our senses
toward indiscriminate killing
with U.S. weapons, so long as it is
Israel which is doing the killing.
As opposed to our traditional
view of independence of action
and policy, the United States
seems to have adopted the view
that no matter what offenses
Israel may commit against
Arabs on the West Bank or in
Lebanon, we intend to support
them, out of respect for what
Israelis have done in the past, or
out of some sense of guilt over our
inaction 40 years ago in the face
of Hitler's holocaust.
WHEN TURKEY, a NATO
ally, used U.S. arms to invade
Cyprus in 1975, we immediately
invoked a provision of the Arms
Control Act to cut off aid. Yet
when Israel used U.S. weapons to
destroy the Iraqi nuclear reactor,
to bomb Beirut and to invade
Lebanon, the United States stood
nearly mute.
What is this strange paralysis
of American leadership with
respect to Israel?
There is no longer any reason
why the United States should
send $2.2 billion per year in
foreign aid (one fifth of a total $11
billion in U.S. foreign aid this
year) to a single nation of 3.5
million people when that nation is
violating basic concepts of
human decency.
It is time to say: "Israel, after
34 years on this planet, you have
finally come of age. If you choose
to use excessive force in attaining
your objectives, however
praiseworthy - if you continue to
flout U.S. policy goals and
unanimous United Nations
Security Council resolutions -
then do so on your own. We no
longer choose to support the
killing of innocent people, no
matter how understandable may
be your goal of eliminating
military threats on your borders.
Our past relationship with you
has been based on morality, but
we find no morality in your ac-
tions in and around Beirut
today."
McCloskey, a Republican
congressman from California,
wrote this article for the
Pacific News Service.