Recent history: How Ronald Reagan got Israel to stop ongoing slaughter

This is about some history well worth knowing. In the past, the US used its power to get Israel to stop an ongoing military conflict. A NYT article (not paywalled) discusses some of the events on Aug. 12-13, 1982 regarding the power of a US president to stop an ongoing Israeli military action:

Chronology of Crisis About 6 A.M. (midnight Wednesday, New York time) - Israelis begin bombing west Beirut. As raids continue, Lebanon's Prime Minister, Shafik al-Wazzan, tells Philip C. Habib, the special American envoy, that the talks cannot continue.

2 P.M. (8 A.M., New York time) -The Israeli Cabinet meets. A message from President Reagan arrives, expressing ''outrage'' and, reportedly threatening to halt the Habib mission. The Cabinet decides to end the raids and order new ones only if they are ''essential.''

4 P.M. (10 A.M., New York time) -President Reagan tries for hour to call Mr. Begin but cannot get through. 4:50 P.M. (10:50 A.M., New York time) - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia calls Mr. Reagan. 5 P.M. (11 A.M., New York time) -A new cease-fire goes into effect in west Beirut. 5:10 P.M. (11:10 A.M., New York time) - Mr. Reagan reaches Mr. Begin for 10-minute telephone call. 5:40 P.M. (11:40 A.M., New York time) - Mr. Begin calls President Reagan to say that a ''complete cease-fire'' had been ordered.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 - President Reagan expressed ''outrage'' to Prime Minister Menachem Begin today over Israel's latest bombing raids in west Beirut, saying the attacks had resulted in ''needless destruction and bloodshed.'' It was the sharpest statement by Mr. Reagan since the start of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon nine weeks ago.

Larry Speakes, the deputy White House press secretary, said Mr. Reagan had been ''shocked'' by the Israeli attacks on west Beirut. Mr. Reagan voiced his feelings directly to Mr. Begin, according to Mr. Speakes.

Mr. Speakes said the Israeli action had threatened the efforts by Philip C. Habib, the special American envoy, to end the fighting in Lebanon and arrange for the withdrawal of the 6,000 to 9,000 Palestinian guerrillas trapped in west Beirut. In the last 48 hours, Mr. Habib's peace plan seemed on the verge of success. 'Massive Military Action'

''The President expressed his outrage over this latest round of massive military action,'' Mr. Speakes said early this afternoon. ''He emphasized that Israel's action halted Ambassador Habib's negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the Beirut crisis when they were at the point of success. The result has been more needless destruction and bloodshed.''

The NYT article continues. The ceasefire in 1982 was reported elsewhere as having been "independently" reached by Israel a 10 minutes before Reagan got through to Begin. However, word of Reagan's demand reached Tel Aviv hours before an "emergency cabinet meeting" which put an end to the bombing. Apparently, Israel wanted to save face and claim it stopped the fighting on its own accord.

An Aug. 9, 2007 Reuters article reported about Reagan referring to the Israeli military action as a holocaust:

Reagan diaries reveal president's private musings

Reagan took care not to spell out even mild swear words, so hell was written h--l and damn was d---. 

But at times he was provocative. He intentionally used the word "holocaust" to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to refer to an Israeli attack on Beirut. 

On February 6, 1982, he noted that "trouble brewing in the Middle East" ahead of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon and that, "Right now Israel has lost a lot of world sympathy."

He said one particularly devastating bombing and artillery attack on western Beirut in August 1982 had led King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to call the White House "begging me to do something."

"I told him I was calling P.M. Begin immediately. And I did -- I was angry -- I told him it had to stop or our entire future relationship was endangered. I used the word holocaust deliberately & said the symbol of war was becoming a picture of a 7-month-old baby with its arms blown off."

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute has this diary entry for Aug. 12,1982:

Met with the news the Israelis delivered the most devastating bomb & artillery attack on W. Beirut lasting 14 hours. Habib cabled—desperate—has basic agreement from all parties but cant arrange details of P.L.O. withdrawal because of the barrage. King Fahd called begging me to do something. I told him I was calling P.M. Begin immediately. And I did—I was angry. I told him it had to stop or our entire future relationship was endangered. I used the word holocaust deliberately & said the symbol of his war was becoming a picture of a 7 month old baby with it’s arms blown off. He told me he had ordered the bombing stopped—I asked about the artillery fire. He claimed the P.L.O. had started that & Israeli forces had taken casualties. End of call. Twenty mins. later he called to tell me he’d ordered an end to the barrage and plead for our continued friendship.

I've said it before and say it again: The US had the power and could have used it to force a reasonable peace agreement, but it failed to do so. Now, it is too late for that. It probably has been too late ever since a Jewish zealot with a gun assassinated Yitzhak Rabin on Nov. 4, 1995. This gigantic failure of US foreign policy could wind up being the straw that breaks the back of American democracy. This US failure could be a necessary part of the reason that the American experiment in democracy came to its stupid end in 2024.