http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5177178.stm
It looks like Israel’s putting the hurt on Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked some Israeli soldiers, killing eight (I think it was) and kidnapping two others. So far Israel’s blockaded Lebanon’s ports and bombed Beirut’s airport into non-operation. Hezbollah’s been launching rockets at northern Israeli towns since this started.
They also destroyed a lot of roads and bridges. My friend’s family was on vacation in Lebanon and the streets are deserted. Everyone’s bunkered up in their homes waiting for the Israelis to go away. The Israeli army is 10 miles from Beirut, the capital.
Oh… this looks like fun.
Israel’s doing all the transportation bombing in an effort to make sure the captured soldiers aren’t sent to Iran or Syria. I’m not all that optimistic, though… Israel knows Gaza inside out, so the idea that it could somehow force a release of its soldier makes sense. On the other hand, Israel’s been out of Lebanon for ten years. I don’t think they can realistically bargain with Hezbollah considering the fallout that would bring, but I’m not sure anything else will work…
I think this is a disaster.
It actually is.
Jesusmaryjoseph…they’re not gonna stop until we’re ALL dead. :thud:
Um, yeah. Because Israel fighting Lebanon is so totally going to kill everyone in the world. What on earth does THAT mean?
You have a very narrow minded view if you don’t think this can spill into a larger conflict involving many more countries.
This could very well be the beginning of larger war between Israel and its neighboring countries, Cid. That’s why its a disaster.
I agree that it very well might spin off into a war in the Middle East - but that doesn’t mean that “we’re all dead”. O_o
In any case, while I very much hope that a war won’t happen, it’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Israel has fought all its neighboring countries at least three times in the last sixty years. And it’s won every time, oddly enough, but that’s neither here nor there. Israel doesn’t really have a choice but to retaliate, because any sign of weakness in an area where everyone wants you gone is deadly - but Lebanon, Hamas, Syria, and Iran have made absolutely no indications that they want any sort of peaceful settlement short of Israel negotiating with the terrorists for the return of their soldiers (which is only half of why this war is happening, the other half being the rockets landing on Israeli territory).
Israel is almost definitely going to make some mistakes in the coming months, and I’m just waiting for people to jump on them for it. It’s really in a difficult position.
To support something said in the earlier Israel thread, the Syrian ambassador to the US (on one of the news programs last night, Larry King, I think) justified Hezbollah’s kidnapping of these two soldiers by referring to Israel had traded prisoners for prisoners in the past.
Think about that carefully. Killing 8 soldiers + kidnapping two is justified because it’s the only way they’ll get prisonors out of Israel = justification for terrorism and murder. Something doesn’t add up.
In any case, Israel was planning on releasing prisoners a bit later anyway as a “confidence building gesture”. Now it has to tiptoe around to make it look like the inevitable prisoner release is not in response to attacks, so if anything these attacks have made it less likely to release them.
Which is probably why Israel has no choice right now but to resort to aggression.
You are correct, sir. It’s nice and all that Lebanon has a government that doesn’t seem to actively support Hezbollah (well, except for one government minister), but that doesn’t exactly mean they have either the will or the power to oppose what Hezbollah does on Israel’s northern border, leaving Israel once again as the only one meeting both those conditions.
“Disproportionate use of force”. We seem to be reducing killing to arithmetic with commendable efficiency.
I don’t think there is such as a thing as “proportionate” use of force.
How about using Lionheart to kill a random Galbadian soldier
So, if you’ll tell us the damage dice on a Hezbollah rocket we’ll at least have something to go on?
Ask the Israelis in Haifa what they think the damage dice on their rockets are.