No Lebanon cease-fire in the offing is stretching nerves, writes Doaa El-Bey Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's declaration on Monday that no limit has been imposed on the army in its four-week offensive in Lebanon confirms the worst fears of many analysts that the war could drag on. While many debate its objectives and effects, others are pessimistic over finding a way out. Emile Khouri wrote that neither politicians nor laymen understand the objectives of the war against Lebanon. He argued that it is not a war between Israel and Hizbullah but against the whole of Lebanon. That is why Israel is bombing the infrastructure of the country including vital crossings and important buildings. "Thus, Israel does not aim to disband Hizbullah and its arsenal but to destroy the whole of Lebanon. The war will probably end when Lebanon in its entirety is in complete ruins," Khouri wrote in the Lebanese daily An-Nahar. He also expressed fear that the war could have other undeclared objectives like dividing the Arab nations into small and weak ethnic states. Thus, Israel would be left as the only powerful state in the region. Buthayna Shaaban said she believed it was not only a war against Lebanon but against humanity as well. In the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday, Shaaban wrote that one of the objectives of this war was to occupy part of Arab land and silence any form of opposition likely to contest Israeli policies and its ferocious practices against the Arabs. The other objective is to silence the whole world and guarantee its full support of Israeli war crimes against the Palestinians and Lebanese. "Olmert's crimes in Lebanon, which include killing civilians, knocking down crossings and destroying Lebanese infrastructure, are more horrific than those of Milosovic. Nevertheless, the international community, represented by the Security Council, has not even denounced these savage Israeli crimes, let alone request an immediate ceasefire," Shaaban wrote. She expressed firm belief that stopping the war was primarily the responsibility of the Arabs and that they can use their political influence or boycott Israel in order to force it to stop its savagery in the region. Irfan Nizameddin agreed with Shaaban that Lebanon needs the support of all Arabs in order to stop the war but thought verbal support as being insufficient. Nizameddin wrote in the London-based Al-Hayat that all Arabs needed to unite their ranks and help Lebanon rebuild its infrastructure and draw up a new and effective defence strategy. He added that the states in power, especially the US, need to play a more active role in order to guarantee the safety of Lebanon in the future by deterring Israel on the one hand and giving Lebanon the needed financial support to rebuild its infrastructure on the other. Rashed Al-Uraimi blamed the deteriorating situation in Lebanon on the absence of an Arab regional role. Al-Uraimi wrote in the United Arab Emirates daily Al-Ittihad that the absence of an Arab role has become the main characteristic in the region no matter the size of the catastrophe the region is facing. "The only thing that the Arabs are capable of doing is to issue unilateral and low-keyed appeals which are usually ignored," he wrote. Ali Hammada did not pin any hopes on an imminent ceasefire Security Council resolution. He wrote in An-Nahar that a resolution was not likely before the middle or end of next week. In addition, a resolution cannot guarantee the end of fighting on the ground since it is expected to be based on Resolution 1559 and 1680, both of which were rejected by Hizbullah, Syria and Iran. Hammada argued that reaching a resolution that would take Lebanon to pre-12 July 2006 -- before the start of the war -- was difficult because there was an American-Arab-European consensus on that point. In addition, the various Lebanese factions are willing to establish a new, fully independent state in the wake of a ceasefire especially after all they sacrificed during the conflict. In Asharq Al-Awsat, Radwan El-Sayed questioned whether the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut could boost the chances for a ceasefire. He argued that the current situation in Lebanon, and the feeling of insecurity that is overwhelming the region, could set the stage for a more active role that would regain the important status of the Middle East.
