"Israel cannot bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas," Murr was quoted as saying in the cable, sent by a U.S. diplomat to the State Department in Washington.
"The Christians were supporting Israel in 2006 until they started bombing their bridges."
Murr has dismissed the cables as "incomplete and inaccurate."
The cable says United States officials collaborated with Murr to spy on and allow Israel to potentially attack Hezbollah in the weeks that preceded the bloody May 2008 confrontation in Beirut when Hezbollah took control of most of west Beirut.
According to classified U.S. State Department dispatches provided to news organizations by WikiLeaks, the American military flew planes over Lebanon in 2008 to identify Hezbollah positions and provide the information to friendly elements within the Lebanese government, specifically the Ministry of Defense, the Los Angeles Times said.
It said that in a separate American cable, Murr is described as giving American diplomats advice to pass on to Israel for any Israeli attack on Hezbollah and vowing that the Lebanese army would stay out of such a fight.
"Murr is trying to ascertain how long an offensive would be required to clean out Hezbollah," said the March 2008 cable from former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison to Washington. The Lebanese army "will move to pre-position food, money, and water with these units so they can stay on their bases when Israel comes for Hezbollah — discreetly, Murr added."
The secret spy plane missions, called "Operation Cedar Sweep," came in several cables dated April and May 2008.
U.S. diplomats complained in the cables that Britain wouldn't allow Americans to stage the flights from an airbase it controls in Cyprus. Britain, U.S. diplomatic officials bristled, wanted assurances that the entire Lebanese Cabinet, which included Hezbollah, and not just Murr had signed off on the missions and that captured Hezbollah members would not be tortured. They also worried that Cypriots would be outraged to learn of the missions and "could turn off the utilities at any time."
The cable depicts him as saying that the Lebanese army's "strategic objective was to survive a three-week war 'completely intact' and able to take over once Hezbollah’s militia has been destroyed."
Murr, according to the leaked documents, reportedly told the Americans that Israel should avoid conducting attacks in southern Lebanon and not "bomb bridges and infrastructure in the Christian areas."
"Murr offered some ideas aimed at avoiding turning the Christian population against Israel when the next war with Hezbollah occurs," Sison recalled. "Murr also outlined his orders to the Lebanese Army when/if Israel invades to counter Hezbollah."
Murr recommended via the U.S. that the Israelis hit Hezbollah rocket locations in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and elsewhere.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment