Tel-Chai Nation

The Democratic party continues to crumble, proving that they've failed to repair the damage that Jimmy Carter inflicted upon them years ago. 29 Democractic senators supported an anti-Israel campaign by voting for a resolution that restricts use of cluster bombs (via IRIS Blog). As told in this article from the Jerusalem Post:

While international bodies are looking into the use of cluster bombs by Israel during the Lebanon war, an effort in the US Senate to curb the use of these munitions was defeated Wednesday by a 70 to 30 vote.

The initiative to prohibit the use and sale of cluster bombs by the US was put forward by Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Patrick Leahy from Vermont. They attempted to attach a provision to the Pentagon budget, which would require the US, and the countries that it sells arms to, including Israel, to avoid using cluster bombs "in or near" civilian areas. According to the suggestion, the Pentagon would have to freeze all use or sale of cluster bombs until new rules are put in place regarding the use of these munitions in civilian areas.

[...]

The issue of the use of cluster bombs began drawing renewed attention following the war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which Israel used cluster bombs in areas in which it believed rocket-launching Hezbollah fighters were hiding. Cluster bombs are munitions that break into dozens of "bomblets" as they near the target and thus are able to hit multiple enemy forces on the ground.

[...]

Apart from the Feinstein - Leahy initiative that failed in Congress Wednesday, there were also attempts to get the administration to investigate Israel's use of the bombs during the war. The State Department announced two weeks ago that it would open an inquiry into the question whether Israel broke the rules of use set out by the US when it supplied Israel with the weapons.

Most criticism against Israel on this issue is coming from international human rights groups and the UN. The UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland defined Israel's use of cluster bombs as "immoral" and called on the countries supplying Israel with the bombs to discuss their future sales of these arms to the Israeli army. The UN human rights council also passed a resolution forming a three-member committee to investigate allegations that Israel violated human rights during the war. The committee will look into the use of cluster bombs by Israel in civilian populations in Lebanon.

The information triggering this investigation, as well as the call for the State Department to look into the issue, came from NGO's operating on the ground in Lebanon which reported that hundreds of bombs were found scattered all over the region. Pro-Israel activists in the US claim this information is not reliable and that the groups collecting the data are advocacy organizations, which have their own agenda opposing the use of cluster bombs.

With this, I think it's time for Jews in America to make the switch from Democrats to Republicans. The current members of the Democrats are hopeless.

Labels: Lebanon