In August 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. That time they were trying to destroy the PLO. This time it's Hezbollah. During 14 hours on Aug. 12, the Israelis flew 220 bombing sorties over Beirut and fired 44,000 artillery shells into the city. Americans, perhaps more innocent in those days, were horrified by what they saw on television. A Newsweek correspondent cabled home: "Watching the Israeli Air Force smashing Beirut to pieces was like having to watch a man slowly beating a sick dog to death."
The next morning, one of Reagan's longtime assistants came into the Oval Office and told Reagan he was quitting: "I can't be part of this anymore, the bombings, the killing of children. It's wrong. You're the one person on the face of the Earth right now who can stop it. All you have to do is tell Begin you want it stopped."
Reagan called Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Working from notes, as usual, the American president said the future of relations between the two allies would be affected if the bombing and shelling were not stopped. Reagan used, deliberately, the word "Holocaust" to describe what Israel was doing.
Begin, who never had a good personal relationship with Reagan, was enraged, saying Israel was a sovereign country, not an American colony. Twenty minutes later, he called back the White House and said he was ordering an end to the attack on Beirut.
Why shouldn't [the American President] have that kind of power? Israel may be the good guys in a bad neighborhood -- but for most of its history it has been, in effect, an American protectorate. We pay the bills, more than $5,000 per capita each year in an endless aid stream to Israel.
[Excerpt of article by Richard Reeves, Yahoo News editorial]
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