The Daily Background

This is ridiculous:

A congressman said Sunday he would ask the U.S. administration to freeze the $230 million aid package to Lebanon proposed by President Bush until the Lebanese government takes control of its borders with Syria and prevents arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas.

Rep. Tom Lantos, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, spoke after meeting with senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Though he’s normally a progressive Democrat, any sane congressman would oppose Lantos’ idea. Lantos, who is Jewish, has consistently been a big supporter of Israel, at times conflicting with his normally progressive politics. It’s perhaps then no surprise that he would announce his tremendously anti-humanitarian stance after meeting with Israeli PM Olmert (who is now tremendously unpopular in his country now, after his 34-day war with Hezbollah).

Refusing to give humanitarian aid to Lebanon until it solidifies its borders would be like refusing to give humanitarian aid to Darfur because the Sudanese government hasn’t done enough to stop the Janjaweed militias. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It would be like refusing to give humanitarian aid to India after the 2004 tsunami because the country Indian government hasn’t done enough to abolish the discriminatory caste system.

Filed under: Middle East Crisis, Z-TDB Blog