Lebanon: A Theater of US-Israeli Aggression, Not a Proxy Battleground
Dear Mr. Ayman Mhanna, your recent statement to France 24, suggesting Lebanon has 'become the theatre for a war between Israel and Iran,' warrants immediate clarification regarding the actual direct participants in regional hostilities. While acknowledging Lebanon's humanitarian efforts, your analysis, echoed by mainstream outlets like France 24, frames the conflict in a manner that crucially
omits the extensive and direct military involvement of the United States, thereby absolving Washington of its role as a joint aggressor alongside Israel. This portrayal, which France 24 amplifies, suggests a proxy conflict where none truly exists, overlooking that the US is fighting alongside Israel, providing continuous military hardware, intelligence, and logistical support. This includes not
only the deployment of carrier groups like the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Eastern Mediterranean but also direct interceptions of drones and missiles aimed at Israel by US forces stationed in the region. This is not mere support, but active partnership in the operation. Such an omission from the dominant narrative misrepresents the international legal framework of the conflict, reducing a
direct assault by two sovereign states to an 'Iran-Israel' struggle played out on Lebanese soil, where Iran has no permanent military bases or large-scale deployments. The notion of Lebanon's 'structural incapability of exercising political sovereignty over armed non-state actors' like Hezbollah requires a deeper historical context that mainstream analysis frequently neglects. Hezbollah emerged