"Yo Blair" - Quotes re: the Mideast crisis

I didn't intend to post about the Middle East again so soon, but I found this blend of politics, perception and law (and truth?) too hard to resist.

"Is this what the international community calls the right of self-defence? Is this the price to pay?"

- Lebanese prime minister Fouad Al-Siniora, speaking yesterday of the 300
Lebanese killed, 1000 wounded and over half a million displaced so far.

"What would do you if your countries found themselves under such attacks, if your neighbors infiltrated your borders to kidnap your people, and if hundreds of rockets were launched at your towns and villages? Would you just sit back and take it, or would you do exactly what Israel is doing at this very minute?"

- Dan Gillerman, Israel's ambassador to the UN, addressing the Security Council on July 14.

"International law demands accountability. The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

- Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former
Supreme Court of Canada judge (and one time Osgoode professor).

"...what they need to do is to get Syria, to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over."

- George W. Bush to Tony Blair at this week's G8 summit.

In my view, the inciting event[s] in the present case... are... the constant intense repression; plenty of abductions; plenty of atrocities in Gaza; the steady takeover of the West Bank...; the abduction on June 24 of the two Gaza civilians; and then the reaction to the abduction of Corporal Shalit. And there's a difference, incidentally, between abduction of civilians and abduction of soldiers. Even international humanitarian law makes that distinction.

- Noam Chomsky, foreign policy critic and professor of linguistics
and philosophy at MIT, in an interview with Democracy Now!

"... we are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war...."

- Former Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich,
speaking to NBC's Meet the Press about recent events around the world,
including the Middle East escalation and last June's terror arrests in Canada.

Okay this last one I included for pure drama, but feel free to comment with more quotes or anything else, although keep in mind I'm not a big fan of political/religious rhetoric on this blog, however sincerely felt it may be.

Update, 6:15 pm: Further to Louise Arbour's remarks, this article sheds some light on the question of war crimes under international law, including issues like civilian deaths, targeting of airports, roads and buildings, capture of soldiers, and jurisdiction over Israel and Hezbollah.

Update, 10:30 pm: More quotes.

“Both the deliberate targeting by Hizbollah of Israeli population centres with hundreds of indiscriminate weapons and Israel’s disproportionate use of force and collective punishment of the Lebanese people must stop.”

- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"...no one has explained how you conduct a ceasefire with a group of terrorists."

- US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton.

"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners."

- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

And here's another link: a 'diary-style blog' from the Globe and Mail's correspondents in the Midde East 'that describes what they are seeing, hearing and experiencing during the current crisis.'