Israel's week-long military campaign against Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon has effectively debilitated the group's terrorist infrastructure while completely undermining its ability to wage a meaningful response to Israel's incursion.
According to the IDF, upwards of 50% of Hezbollah's military capabilities have been destroyed thus far, and its remaining capacity to threaten Israel should be neutralized within two weeks.
Countless images have surfaced from the ground in south Lebanon that show a completely decimated region, leading many to question whether Israel is restricting itself to Hezbollah targets. Israeli officials, on the other hand, maintain that they are exercising caution so as not to target civilians, though conceding that mistakes will happen in times of war. How, then, does one account for the seeming discrepancy between what the images show and what the officials are claiming? It's simple, really:
Much like the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, Hezbollah operations are neatly organized around and within population centers in Lebanon. The majority of rockets issued by Hezbollah originate from residential zones, which invariably leads to an exaggerated level of civilian casualties. Of course, this cowardly technique pays high dividends for terrorists and, most notably, in the realm of public opinion. As civilian casualties mount, public opinion shifts toward the terrorists' favor; this, in spite of the fact, that they alone are culpable for the deaths.
The destruction that south Lebanon has endured evinces this fact. As previously noted, 50% of Hezbollah's military capabilities have been destroyed as a direct result of Israel's offensive. Were Hezbollah not operating from civilian areas, this would not be the case.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, has all but admitted that it has suffered irreparable damage as a result of Israel's campaign. According to reports, the terrorist group has reached the point where withdrawal from the Israel-Lebanon border is an outcome that they are willing to entertain:
The stunning campaign it (Israel) has waged against Hezbollah has reportedly brought the militia to a point where it is willing to discuss Israel's major demand - that it pull back several kilometres from the Israeli border, perhaps to the Litani River.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - gazelle
DrP
thank you for being an IDF spokesman.
israels caution has killed 300 mostly civilians in lebanon alone. hezbollah has killed 29. thanks for comparing. no need to apologize for this collateral damage by blaming hezbollah tactics. the facts are enough.
also , opposed to your claim, israel is no longer demanding (PLEASE NOTE) that hezbollah totally disarm. anybody who knows anything knows this was pure excuse to go in to display might. something like the WMD in iraq.
in fact it appears, according to recent news, a multi national force will man southern lebanon whle hezbollah retreats from the border. of course hezbollah is the popular resistance, and the reason why israel was forced to leave lebanon was the 1000 IDF soldiers killed buy hezbollah, and the cost to israel. it is pure fantasy to imagine that they can be broken, without end-to-end genocide of millions - something jews or anyone else is advised not to take up.
as for democracy, a democracy that is built on displacing millions and keeping them in refugee ghettoes and occupied aras with its infrastucture destroyed from time to tine, is hardy worthy of its name. in fact it is a shame for new israel.
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2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Gazelle,
One of the side lessons that the Nazis taught us Jews when they flung a third of our people into hell is that genocide is doable.
After decades of hearing "ItbaH al Yahud" and seeing the results - riots and massacres under the Mandate, five wars, continual terror attacks and a massive propaganda campaign fueled by the hatred of the Wahhabi, I have a question for you, madame.
Why should we give a damn if 300 civilians were killed in Lebanon? Or in Gaza?
Instead of coming to the peace table to talk about prisoner exchanges in 2000 after "liberating" all of Lebanon, the "Lebanese resistance" built up a missile capacity to murder off our people - to commit genocide. Remember, Israel has no brief with Lebanon. It has sat for six years behind an internationally recognized border. The murder machine you call the "Lebanese resistance" is using the civilians in Lebanon - mostly non-Shia I might add - as human shields.
So why should we give a damn if we kill off our potential murderers and their shields together? So? They want us dead and we killed them first. This is good Talmudic reasoning.
Many times I've pointed out that it is not a wise idea to provoke us too far. Some Jew might wake up and decide to act like a lion instead of a pig or a dog. There is that dam in Aswan that if destroyed, would kill 50,000,000 Egyptians. A nuke or two on Riyadh to kill a few more million. Cobalt bombs on the oil wells in the Gulf and you all starve. The lesson of the SS to us poor kikes. Genocide is doable. What a terrible thing to have to learn in order to survive!
Gaszelle, surely you realize that I've held long conversations with Arabs and other Moslems seeking peace. Always, I've kept the line from Isaiah in my head. "The Children of Kedar shall sacrifice bulls in your Temple." I don't have contempt for your people and I'd rather see the Children of Abraham united together against the world, building a prosperous and powerful Middle East where all of us can sit under our own fig tree and where fear does not stalk our hearts. I view you and every other Moslem as a potential ally.
But these Moslem "heros," Hamas and HizbAllah, want to commit a second genocide of my people. Why should I give a damn if Arabs die when our forces stop them to save our lives?
Explain this to me, please.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Let me make this clear to you Gazelle. I have a vision that I would like to see come true in my own lifetime, G-d willing.
The vision is this:
Jewish and Arab kids are playing near the mountains of Moab, across the river from Jericho near where the ancient encampment of my people was. Throughout the afternoon, the children play, having a riotous good time. And while they play, their parents are making a huge feast - they have time, they're on holiday. As evening approaches, the Arab children go to their parents and they all face Mecca and pray. The Jewish children go to their parents and they all face Jerusalem and pray. And when the prayers are done, the feasting starts and goes into the night...
This is my vision. Why must the hatred of the Wahhabi and the Shia ruin it? This is the other side of the question I asked you in comment #2.
Explain this to me also, please.
4 - Bliffle
One cannot maintain that hezbollah remain un-attacked while it is launching rockets into Israeli civilian centers. If hezbollah has located missile sites in civilian areas then there will be civilian deaths when Israel attacks those sites, as is their right.
5 - Georgio
Ruvy..Your vision of Arabs and Jews living in peace is doable but in my opinion ...Not the way you are going about it..I am not the analyzer and fact finder like Nalle and Gonzo and others who are much smarter than me however I am going to stick my 75 years of life experience in this matter with hopes it will do some good..
# 1 your attention to religion all the time bothers me ..I am not an Atheist but I am an Agnostic mainly because for all the praying you ppl do as well as the Arabs and our Fundies I have yet to see God do anything about it , Your praying to the wall and the Islam praying 8 times a day is all bullshit..the only good thing that comes out of the praying 8 times aday is that they are not killing someone while praying..the sooner both sides get rid of their fanatical religious claims the better it will be for every one.
I remember when blacks had no rights in my country and Jews where not allowed in many places and now that terrible period is just about ended,,So how did that happen ?,,IT DID NOT HAPPEN WITH WARS..except the Civil war which did not end hatedred In my opinion it happened because of the Civil rights movement , education and peaceful demonstrations for equal rights and this Government implementing integration in the schools and the use of force to back it up..we are not 100% there yet but we are on our way to bringing equality to everyone ..
In the United States we have many States with one Government ..in your area you have many countries no bigger than many of our states with no main Government to make fair decisions to everyone..The United States backs Israel and The Arabs back the Arabs and Russia and China playing both sides..so who is going to make the fair decisions..IT HAS TO BE THE UNITED NATIONS..oh I know they are useless but that is what we all have to work for ..A STRONG UNITED NATIONS..NOW IF GOD WOULD ONLY MAKE IT SO.
6 - Nancy
The sooner Israel kicks Hezbollah, Hamas, & the arab populations that support them straight into hell, the sooner there will be peace. At least the Israelis don't hide behind civilians when they fight, like the cowardly terrorists.
7 - Georgio
And the MERRY GO ROUND CONTINUES,,,ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
8 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Georgio,
It is my religion that teaches me "mifnéi sibá takúm" - before an elder arise and give him respect. My father, may he rest in peace, did just this in front of his father. And my father was not religious, at least not in the sense of the term that connotes going to synagogue, keeping the Sabbath, etc. But he was a better man than many who scrupulously follow the rituals dictated by the religion. I'm sure you know many others who have been like my father in your years of accruing wisdom.
With all respect, there are reasons I emphasize religion so much in my writings and in my solution for a peaceful and strong Middle East.
The first and most basic one is that the political leaders here have been bought up by the United States and the EU the way the mobster Rothstein used to buy judges and congressmen 80 years ago in New York. So, if you can't deal with political leaders because some godfather in the States or Europe has them in a hip pocket, you need an alternative.
Now I understand your contention that all religion is just bullshit. I used to think the exact same thing. I've learned otherwise. I suspect that I've gone in the exact opposite direction you have spiritually. But whether religion is really valid is not the issue at this article. That can be discussed elsewhere.
The second reason I emphasis religion is that Islam and Judaism have immense similarity and there are already Moslem scholars who are prepared to argue that we Jews are entitled - according to the Qur'án - their book - to the entire land of Israel - including Judea and Samaria, Gaza and the Golan. The big issue in Islam is the terrible stranglehold of a rebel cult - Wahhabism - on Islam. Try to imagine Martin Luther as the pope, and you have some idea of what I'm talking about.
The solution, the way I see it, is to get a group of religious scholars who are Moslem and Jewish to sit at a table and come up with a solution that furthers the agreement made in 1919 by Feisal (sherif of Mecca and great-grampaw of the king of Jordan) and Haim Weizman.
Moslems tend to respect their religious leaders. The irony is that we Jews do not have the prestigious enough group of rabbis to meet with the sheikhs and kadis. At least not yet. G-d works in mysterious ways, and if my solution is meant to happen, these leaders will emerge among our people and the godfathers of the EU and the US will not be able to buy them off. Then we craft the deal and wait for the corrupt political structures around here to collape like the rotting hulks they are.
In the meantime, I await the pleasure of Gazelle for an answer to my questions.
9 - gazelle
Ruvy
I can see your immediate problem.
but your reaction should not destroy all chances in terms of people, whether wahabi or sunni or shia of one kind or another (except by hoping) of making the vision come true.
my two cents is that this is what is happening now increasingly...!
....alliances will never happen, become more and more impossible.
that will be something i'll regret.
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10 - gazelle
Ruvy
I would like to hear more about the Talmudic reasoning for pre-emption : kill off potential murderers and their shields.
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11 - Georgio
Ruvy..Thank you for your respectful reply but you again make it clear that religion is the solution and I believe it is the problem..You say your Government is corrupt well so is ours..but the religious right in this Country help keep them in power but I don't want to talk about that ..You believe that Islam and Judaism are similar in there beliefs except for the Wahabbies who are a radical group which I agree with..the one thing you both have in common is you have the same God..But let me show you what a mess this all becomes,
In this Country we have many religions and we try to respect each other but in truth we really dislike each other because some think they have higher values than others ..very complicated..we also have the fundamentalists who back your Country to the hilt..but I don't know if you want their blessing when you find out it's because they want you to have the land that is called Israel so the bible prophecy can be fulfilled and we have the second coming of Christ and then all the bad ppl go to hell and of course the Fundies go to Heaven..well guess what..YOU ARE GOING TO HELL..ask any Baptist if a Jew is going to heaven if he does not believe Jesus is God and he will tell you that you are going to hell and that includes most of the Moslem's as well as me..so much for religious bullshit..we will never come to agreement as to who God is and whose side he is on...I don't know if God gave you the land but I do know that the UN gave it to you after WW2..I remember how I cried for your ppl when I was only a boy and the Jews where on that boat the Exodus and I prayed that they would let you have this land that we now call Israel..Your ppl have done a remarkable job since then in building a great Country and now you must recognize that the Palestinians must have a Country also..I wish you all peace..Georgio
12 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I would like to hear more about the Talmudic reasoning for pre-emption:
Gazelle,
It's a very simple Talmudic precept. "If a man raises his hand to greet you, greet him first; if he raises his hand to kill you, kill him first."
The concept here is pre-empting the mitzva of greeting or blessing (and thus getting it for yourself) - and on the other side preventing the other fellow from sinning (again getting a mitzva for yourself). This also constitutes the argument of what is known in a western court as "self defense."
I'm sure there is someting similar to it in Islam.
Blessings from Jerusalem
13 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Georgio,
If you were reading what I wrote closely, you'll have noticed that fundamentalists and other Christians don't get to sit at the table. Their rights to worship will be respected, but the two sides, Jews and Moslemes would not be interested in Christian doctrines.
So they could thump on their Bibles all they want and we just nod - "that's nice; here's $5.00. Go run around the block". Christians don't have a Land Covenant with the Big Guy Upstairs - we do. When the time comes they - and everyone else - will see the significance of that. That time has not arrived yet.
14 - Christopher Rose
Ruvy, that would be good advice if people were always able to tell what is really actually happening. Unfortunately a lot of people can't always reliably discern the subtle differences of only slightly different gestures and mistake the raising of a weapon for friendship - or vice versa.
Based on results so far in Afghanistan and Iraq, I remain unconvinced of the sanity or wisdom of the pre-emptive approach. I think that is best left to the fantasy world of Hollywood and movies like "Minority Report".
I also think there is rather a difference between self defense and getting your retaliation in first, which is all that pre-emptive means after all.
15 - gonzo marx
for Ruvy... some thoughts on self-defense...
for me, the Ethic of self-defense comes from studying martial arts(chinese) beginning when i was 8 (1969)... there is a saying that has existed in that community for as long as there is written chinese History... about the same as Jewish history, about 5000 years...
do not fight, walk away
if you must fight, do not harm
if you must harm, do not cripple
if you must cripple, do not maim
if you must main, do not kill
if you kill, then the Warrior has lost the Way, and is solely Responsible for Death
a true Warrior need not ever kill
that is , of course, the Ideal of the Ethic
but it is Interesting that many martial arts strive to utilize the opponents Force and Balance against them, until the opponent becomes either frustrated or tired and surrenders
that is also the Ideal
just sharing a Thought
Excelsior?
16 - Silas Kain
And valid, wise ideals they are. Unfortunately, the descendants of Abraham continue their nasty little inter-family fight. Kofi Annan and the member nations are impotent to do anything. Hell breaks loose on Lebanese soil as thousands of innocents are about to be slaughtered on all sides. For what? For the Glory of God? Repayment for years of Jewish oppression? For the Illumination of Islam? The ultra right Christian Americans are all for it. The Israelis celebrate it. And he Arabs will become ever more incensed and united in their cause to complete what Hitler started. Is there a poltical motivation for pretending to fulfill Scripture? You bet there is!
17 - gazelle
#10
Ruvy,
only a few are raising their hands.
many more are being killed on suspicion that they will raise their hands. not acceptable on any account Talmudic or otherwise. also, this is hardly self defence.
that means more hands will justifiably be raised. this is no desirable prescription, only a recipe for perpetual war and annihilation. This laying waste is also forbidden. is it not?
perhaps there is no other way except pray that the other is annihilated with the fury of god for transgressing.
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18 - HA!
If only other countries would leave the Middle East alone, and let the strongest country win. How do you think peace is obtained? By, allowing your enemy to live another day and re-arm just to kill you later. Through out time, Wars are waged to be won. If your not allowed to destroy the enemy due to international poking, you have this current situation where battles are fought each year and no one ever wins and peace never prevails.
The Middle East is Humanity in the Stone Age. If you wont let them fight it out, there will never be peace.
19 - gazelle
# 18
basically you want a genocide and defend it too. you are no more or less a neanderthal.
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20 - Alix
Ha, I agree with you. Let them fight it out and let countries pick a side for peace or with murdering terrorists. Something has to be done. I for one am tired of Lebanon trying to have their cake and eat it too. Either they take a stand against Hezbollah or suffer the ramifications.
21 - Georgio
HA ...By your definition the French underground during WW2 could have been called terroists by the Germans.
22 - Jesse
Gazelle, Ruvy, Gonzo Marx, I'm an outsider with no real right to input here, but I see you all coming toward common ground that you are all beginning, I think, to see. I hope you will find it. I hope everyone concerned will find it. I'm a Christian (another child of Abraham), and I love and respect the heritage we share, more than we all know. My prayers are for us all, and my prayers are for peace.
23 - gazelle
#21 also george washington by the british crown.
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24 - troll
gazelle - *you are no more or less a neanderthal.*
thicken your skin...when you engage in thick headed personal attacks you become a target of opportunity - fair game as it were
while I disagree with HA his/her argument deserves a more reasoned response...a hands off approach might force the combatants to deal diplomatically with each other rather than look to handlers for direction
troll
25 - gazelle
#24 Troll, HA,
ok, after reconsidering....(thanks for prodding)
I think it is a good argument. And it is a fact that the US and EU have tried, or are trying to have, a hands-off approach to the ME (Statement by Richard Haas, undersecreatary of state?).
one may argue that it is not hands-off enough - that more distance and letting-loose needs to be practiced.
I think the whole idea of promoting 'electoral democracy' in the ME was to bring such a change so that the regimes would not have to be artificially propped up by the US or whoever (too many examples) and also to bring in regimes that were more favorable to US interests.
On the face of it, it looks like a good plan advocated by the likes of wolfowitz and feith. but from local perspectives it is like a new form of dominance - american in a post cod war scenario, where local national interests would vbe given up to US ones. This would never be acceptable. hence you have people fighting americans in iraq, just because they are foreigners on their land. and in iran in the 60s when the democratic Mossadeq govt (toppled by CIA) nationalized the oil industry justifiably.
in any case democracy also leads to more local as opposed to dictatorial nationalism, as a side effect, which is not palatable to more powerful interests. This is the case with Hamas and hezbollah, with an additional twist that these are parties whose members, far from having tasted freedom (collectively), were born and raised under the thunder of israeli tanks and helicopters - suicide bombing is business as is usual - the deal that they have gotten.
ON THE OTHER HAND factors which make the hands-off approach impossible are:
* there are too many important resources in the region which if not *controlled* would destablize the trading system and interlinkd economies at a vast scale. there are also profits to be made at the expense of these countries
* this is an increasingly globalized world where any issue anywhere affects everyone else in one way or another
* the world does NOT want to see atrocities such as witnessed in europe and allies during WWI and WWII. There are things which should NEVER be allowed to happen again. hence the original justification for the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Charter, an other internatinal instruments.
Letting the israelis and arabs have go at it would infact be a guarantee to ensure a worse scenario than previously ever witnessed - a charter for creating hell on earth - with of course few guarantees that anyone would actually make it to the other side (heaven) - and sealing the fates of people that they would actually go to hell for they have created.
The experiences in europe, japan, vietnam, serbia and rwanda beg for more control and interference not less.
the EU is an intersting experiment with the same tensions underlying as you can see.
til later
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