June 15, 2007
 
COMMENTARY: Who Supplies the Money for the Gaza, Lebanese Bloodletting?
 
By Joseph J. Honick
 
Bainbridge Island, WA (HNN) -- The tragedies plaguing Lebanon and Gaza are the work of countries using surrogates to undermine a whole nation in the case of Lebanon and the birth of a new state in the case of Gaza. In the face of these realities, where is the United Nations that can organize a full session if Israel offends it?
 
Where are the Arab neighbors who claim they care about the welfare of all these people?…the very same Arab nations who cannot seem to find the courage to help achieve either democracy or stability anywhere in the Middle East?…the same wealthy Arab nations that have bankrolled all sorts of organizations around the world to propagandize against Israel but all too little to help refugees anywhere?
 
Even more puzzling is the virtually absent outrage from any corner at all about the lack of courage and leadership of countries, most of whom are living pretty high on the proverbial hog in consumption economies that verge on the obscene.
 
Amid this vacuum is where the insurgent Hamas is getting the money for its operations, weapons, training and all the other elements that have provided their means to overturn the Fatah government. There are those who, with good reason, claim Syria has helped the insurgents in Lebanon, but Syria swears it didn’t do any such thing. There are those who, with similarly good reason, think Iran is funneling war materials and weapons to Hamas. Iran say it isn’t so.
 
So, does Hamas have a fairy godfather magically providing money, weapons, training and payrolls for its bloody assaults? How does that happen?
 
Once again, where are the critics who are so easily outraged on other occasions?
 
One thing anyone trained in military areas knows for sure: it takes a lot of money to train, equip, feed, house, manage and otherwise sustain unified forces like Hamas and another force called Hizbollah, the main elements contributing to the bloody unrest in Gaza and other Palestinian areas, both of whom are also committed to the total destruction of Israel.
 
In the notorious Watergate scandal day, one of the favorite slogans was “follow the money.” Maybe it would be a good idea for all the media pundits and others who seem unable to ask some simple questions to get off their butts and start checking out the route of all that money that fuels the blood letting in Gaza and Lebanon even you read this.
 
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Honick is an international consultant to business and government and writes for many publications, including www.huntingtonnews.net. Honick can be reached at jhonick@gmaint.net