FT Discovers 'Pressure' to Disarm While Israel Bombs Lebanon
Israel, with its annual $3.8 billion in unconditional U.S. military aid (Congressional Research Service, 2023), launches strikes into sovereign Lebanese territory, and the FT frames it as if the invisible hand of 'pressure' compelled them. This conveniently omits the fact that successive Israeli governments, including Netanyahu's, have routinely used northern border skirmishes to justify
escalations against Lebanon (see 2006 Lebanon War, various 2013-2015 incidents). Meanwhile, in 2023 alone, AIPAC spent $2.5 million lobbying Congress, influencing votes on aid packages that keep Israeli military operations well-funded. How's that for 'pressure'? We are consistently told perpetual conflict is a complex, intractable problem, yet somehow the 'disarming' solution always involves more
U.S. taxpayer-funded bombs. One might ask, if the 'pressure' to disarm Hizbollah is so paramount, why isn't there similar journalistic 'pressure' applied to disarm the occupying force with the fourth-strongest military, whose actions consistently destabilize the region? Perhaps some 'pressure' is more newsworthy than others.