De rol van de VS in de Sabra en Shatila slachtpartijen onthuld

[Johan Bollen]

Volgens een recent New York Times artikel heeft Israël, wiens verantwoordelijkheid in de slachtpartijen in Sabra en Shatila reeds in 1983 werd vastgesteld, de VS misleid. Dit toont een analyse van de gesprekken tussen Israël en de VS.

The verbatim transcripts reveal that the Israelis misled American diplomats about events in Beirut and bullied them into accepting the spurious claim that thousands of “terrorists” were in the camps. Most troubling, when the United States was in a position to exert strong diplomatic pressure on Israel that could have ended the atrocities, it failed to do so.

NYT A Preventable Massacre

Haaretz 'Israel misled U.S. diplomats during Sabra and Shatila massacre'

ABNA Secret documents reveal US involvement in "Sabra and Shatila" massacres

On 16 September 1982, the first day of the massacre, US envoy to the Middle East Morris Draper met with Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon who justified Israel's occupation of west Beirut by claiming that“2,000 to 3,000 terrorists” remained in that part of the city.

When Draper demanded that the Israeli forces immediately pull out of the area, Sharon responded with outrage: “I just don’t understand, what are you looking for? Do you want the terrorists to stay? Are you afraid that somebody will think that you were in collusion with us? Deny it. We denied it.”

According to the transcripts, Draper continued to insist that the Israelis leave, but eventually backed off once they agreed to a “gradual withdrawal” to allow for the Lebanese Army to enter the city. The Israelis insisted, however, that they wait 48 hours before allowing the plan to take effect.

Continuing his plea for some sign of an Israeli withdrawal, Draper warned that critics would say, “Sure, the I.D.F. is going to stay in West Beirut and they will let the Lebanese go and kill the Palestinians in the camps.” Sharon replied: “So, we’ll kill them. They will not be left there. You are not going to save them. You are not going to save these groups of the international terrorism.”

Draper's response was surprising when he said: “We are not interested in saving any of these people.”

Sharon declared: “If you don’t want the Lebanese to kill them, we will kill them.”

Draper then caught himself, and backtracked. He reminded the Israelis that the United States had painstakingly facilitated the P.L.O. exit from Beirut “so it wouldn’t be necessary for you to come in.” He added, “You should have stayed out.”

[zonbron]

Opmerkelijk nieuws waarvan ik reeds op de hoogte was. Tevens is de beperkte aandacht voor dit onderwerp veelzeggend.

_{Israel’s involvement in the Lebanese civil war began in June 1982, when it invaded its northern neighbor. Its goal was to root out the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had set up a state within a state, and to transform Lebanon into a Christian-ruled ally. The Israel Defense Forces soon besieged P.L.O.-controlled areas in the western part of Beirut. Intense Israeli bombardments led to heavy civilian casualties and tested even President Ronald Reagan, who initially backed Israel. In mid-August, as America was negotiating the P.L.O.’s withdrawal from Lebanon, Reagan told Prime Minister Menachem Begin that the bombings “had to stop or our entire future relationship was endangered,” Reagan wrote in his diaries.}