The way of the world

Straight from going head-to-head with Jon Stewart, where he proved unquestionably that as a result of his long experience as a diplomat, his grasp of world affairs and democratic process was no better than that of the host of a comedy news show (and his grasp of history was inferior), former US Ambassador to the UN and all-around creep John Bolton told the BBC that

the US deliberately resisted calls for a immediate ceasefire during the conflict in Lebanon in the summer of 2006

because it wanted Israel to completely destroy Hezbollah. The US only signed on to ceasefire efforts when it became obvious Israel was not going to succeed.

At the time US officials argued a ceasefire was insufficient and agreement was needed to address the underlying tensions and balance of power in the region.

In other words, they were lying through their teeth. Bolton not only effectively admitted that, he proclaimed he was "damned proud of what we did" to block an early ceasefire. And what was the result?

More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters were killed in the conflict[, which was sparked by the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers].

Israel lost 116 soldiers in the fighting, while 43 of its civilians were killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks.

So we could, I think, safely guess a minimum total of over 1400 deaths, including nearly 1100 civilians. As a consequence of the kidnapping of two soldiers. That's a hell of a thing - and a very revealing thing - to be proud of.

Such as John Bolton would undoubtedly tell me that I'm not living in "the real world." To the extent that's true, it's only because amoral thugs like John Bolton have had so much power in it.