Whoever names Israeli operations in Lebanon must have a real sense of irony:
Operation Peace for Galilee: Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in support of Maronite Christian militias. Initially presented by Ariel Sharon as a plan to advance 40km into Lebanon, it was apparently always meant to go as far as Beirut.
Operation Accountability: A week-long invasion of southern Lebanon in 1993.
Operation Grapes of Wrath: A series of air and artillery strikes in 1996, designed as an assault against Hezbollah. Admist the 20,000 shells fired into Lebanon was one that killed 118 Lebanese civilians who were sheltering in a UN base.
Regardless of the validity of Israeli arguments about a strong retaliatory response being the only way to prevent future kidnappings and attacks, ongoing Israeli actions appear increasingly out of proportion to their ostensible provocations. Hopefully, some means will be found soon to rein in the situation.
If we’re going for accuracy in operation titles, I guess Canada is taking part in “Operation Return Afghanistan to Pre-Taliban, Drug-Fuelled Warlordism.”
It seems the west doesn’t care enough about Afghanistan to pay the price of stabilizing or rebuilding it. And they don’t have the money to do it themselves – and won’t so long as all they have to export is opium, to states where the demand for it originates, but which also fund and arm spraying and uprooting programs.
Depressing stuff.