World: There is a better way than destroying Lebanon

Killing civilians in a war is wrong, bad, unethical. Always has been, always will be. Terrorism – as we commonly know it – is wrong.

Palestinian suicide bombers will never achieve anything. The violence in Iraq is several orders of magnitude worse than it’s ever been in Israel, and it achieves nothing except brutalising millions of people.

What Israel is doing to Lebanon is a tragedy, and will not achieve the desired result. Slaughter of civilians, mass homelessness, and wholesale destruction of infrastructure. Violence is only breeding violence. No matter how much Israel cripples its neighbours, people will fight back, even once that fight becomes token and pointless.

The US has clearly been backing Israel in its destruction of Lebanon. Once more, US foreign policy is making the world a much more dangerous place. The war on terrorism will only be won if they win hearts and minds – yet every headline the US garners encourages more Muslim extremism. The Bush administration’s actions are spreading terrorism throughout the world, and we will experience the bloody aftermath for a long time to come.

A better path was demonstrated in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The US, through the Marshall Plan, helped rebuild Europe, to the point where it has developed the most sophisticated political organisation the world has ever seen – and blurred the borders of nations. The cost? US$130 billion in today’s terms. A drop in the bucket compared to what the US is pouring into Iraq and into its futile war on terrorism.

Reconciliation, not violence. Yield a little of your heart to your enemy to make the world safer.