Will Lebanon's memories of what it once was and could be again be enough to withstand the radicalizing efforts of Hezbollah?
I was born on the 'Arab Riviera', a term you may hear today applied to Dubai, but which was a very real and accurate description of Lebanon in the 1950s and early 1960s. When I was a kid living in Syria and Jordan, we would go to Lebanon to enjoy the beautiful beaches and stay in a nice hotel - older folks went there for the nightclubs and casinos and ski resorts with a view of the ocean. I was born there because Beirut had the best, most modern hospital in the area, and it was a reasonable drive from Damascus.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments76 - Dave Nalle
It is sufficiently clear from the foregoing that you support the rich minority of partying christians, against the poor majority of disciplined muslims. They tolerate each other very well.
Partying Christians? What on earth are you talking about? Disiciplined Muslims? If they were disciplined then they wouldn't have attacked Israel in the first place.
now all lebanon is against israel including walid jumblatt (druze), Gen. Aoun (christian) who has been allied with hezbollah, and Amal. they also all agree that palestine should be liberated with jerusalem as its capital. there are also interstring cross alliances, which will only be visible if you look at the nitty gritty.
I'd love to see your sources for this universal agreement among Lebanese leaders you're talking about. Last time I checked they were generally anti-Israel, but also pretty anti-Hezbollah. Walid Jumblatt was recently quoted by CNN:
well you say wikipedia will verify all your 'facts', but lets have a wikipedia url for iranis in lebanon, please. unless you made it up!
I'm not known for making up facts. This Wikipedia entry notes the 1500 'Pasdaran Guards' who were sent to assist Hezbollah - actually more than I originally referenced in the article.
For another source, see this article for lots of references to Iranian Revolutionary Guards currently deployed to support Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement.
Who were they resisting when they murdered the American marines? Who were they resisting when they colluded with Syria to assassinate various Lebanese leaders?
Give me a break. Acts of terror define them as terrorists.
Dave
77 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Shavua Tov,
May we all see a better week.
This is to both Gazelle and to the First Seargent about the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The campaign was originally named "Peace in Galilee" with the goal of stopping Arab terror attacks there.
Ariel Sharon misled his boss, Prime Minister Begin as to his goals and intentions and ran his own war there, going far beyond the intended occupation of Lebanon up to the Litani River (which had been a strategic goal of Israel since before the State).
After the massacre of Arab refugees by Christian forces in Lebanon, Sharon was made to quit after an investigation, and Menahem Begin took responsibility for the irresponsibe actions of his defense minister. When his wife Aliza died, he also quit. He was the last decent prime minister this country had.
78 - gazelle
Dave
in #29 you claim:
the number of Shia in Lebanon prior to the Iranian influx was minuscule.
in #48 you said:
And the numbers of Iranians who have moved in there to help out is in the thousands, so it's not insignificant.
There's an already too obvious contradiction there. no the leabanese shias did not arrive from iran. So the "Iranian influx" in "thousands" (#48) was, as you point out in wikipedia, either 1000 or 1500.
the shia population in 1982 (35% shia of total about 2.5 million) was about 875,000. so the irani influx is at max 0.17%.
So there was a substantial 35% shia presence without the "miniscule" iranian influx..
in #44 I said:
iran sent people to fight israel in the early eighties..., but the numbers are insignificant.
I stand by this.
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79 - IgnatiusReilly
"You can verify all my facts at Wikipedia"
Is this the same Wikipedia where Stephen Colbert's minions attempted to insert false claims about elephants? I could sign in and change all the facts you use because they don't feel right. Got any other sources?
80 - gazelle
#75 GK.
thanks for comments/analysis. the quote was from wikipedia and i provided the link, which linked back to csmonitor, beirut center, daily star, etc, as you discovered.
i am not sure by raising the stat points you are merely raising questions of their method/reliability, are you questioning the writing on wikipedia, or are you actually disputing the conclusion?
I think you havent missed the point that hezbollah is now more popular than ever among arabs and muslims in general, but also among lebanese christians even if just for "confrontation by resistance".
No I did not place my hopes or base my conclusion in the poll. stats are a convenient strut. I think the qualitative-interpretative conclusion holds.
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81 - gazelle
# 76 dave
I'd love to see your sources for this universal agreement among Lebanese leaders
oh jumblatt definitely wants to restrict hizbollah, but he supports hezbollah resistance to israel. (this is local politics ...)
from Beirut Daily Star:
1.
Jumblatt accuses Hizbullah of serving Iranian, Syrian agenda
- But PSP leader supports resistance in face of war
2. Jewish state brings war to Lebanon's Christian heartland
3. Siniora and Berri declare national day of mourning
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82 - gazelle
continued...
4. from Wikipedia (more local lebanese politics)
Lebanon - Parliamentary Elections (Alliances)
"During the first parliamentary elections held after Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2005, the anti-Syrian coalition of Sunni Muslim, Druze and Christian parties led by Saad Hariri, son of assassinated ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, won a majority of seats in the new Parliament.
The combinations were interesting in that in some areas the anti-Syrian coalition allied with Hezbollah and others with Amal. They did not win the two-thirds majority required to force the resignation of Syrian-appointed President Lahoud voted for by Rafic Hariri parliamentary bloc, due to the unexpectedly strong showing of retired army general Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement party in Mount Lebanon. Aoun is arguably the strongest Christian figure in the new parliament: known previously for his anti-Syrian sentiment, Aoun aligned with politicians who were friendly to the Syrians in the past decade: Soleiman Franjieh Jr and Michel Murr. Their alliance dominated the north and the Metn District of Mount Lebanon. Saad Hariri and Walid Joumblat joined forces with the two staunchly pro-Syrian Shiite movements, Hezbollah and Amal, to secure major wins in the South, Bekaa, and Baabda-Aley district of Mount Lebanon. This alliance proved temporary and the last vestiges of civility between Joumblatt, who has called for the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the Shi'ite coalition came crashing down in December 2005. On February 6, 2006, Hezbollah signed a memorandum of understanding with Michel Aoun."
83 - gazelle
Who were they resisting when they murdered the American marines?
The unqualified US support to Israel and what it was "allowed" to do in 1982.
Who were they resisting when they colluded with Syria to assassinate various Lebanese leaders?
This is highly debatable.
Looking back Rafiq Hariri was a fine balance - syria, hizbollah, druze, sunni shia christian, US israel, saudis - he played them all well.
The only obvious reason to kill him is to destabilize the internal balance. Would syria do it to grap more power inside lebanon, or out of a vendetta? not likely. Would israel or the US do it to "blame the syrians", and to "make them leave" lebanon? Very likely.
The reason for this is to "clean up hezbollah" a continuing annoyance and threat to israel, since it would no longer have the syrian protection and involvement.
Walid Jumblatt is not the only one surprised by the intensity of the Israeli overreaction to "clean up Hezbollah" and the escalation brought on by an equally eager hezbollah.
(Alo the democratic aim of the cedar revolution was misunderstood to mean that there would be less support for syria inside lebanon).
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84 - troll
if more and more Muslims support Al Qaeda does that make it less and less of a terrorist group - ?
what's the correct way to deal with a weak government (and a cowed populace) that materially supports a terrorist organization within its borders - ?
HizbAllah with its bloody history cannot be rehabilitated by public opinion...can it - ?
troll
85 - gazelle
# 84 troll,
george washington was not a terrorist.
al-qaeda is, and it will losesupport, i predict.
this is totally different from hamas & hibollah.
hizbollah is not.
and what about guy fawkes in the UK?
nelson mandela? biko?
what about a cia operative sent to kill castro?
or sharon in lebanon in 1982? or jenin 2004? or irgun ? or gush emunim ?
depends on your perspective, and it is not given.
'bloody' is not a criterion for 'terrorist'. that would mean gwb.
hezbolah can be "rehabilitated" :
They are freedom fighters for lebanon against mighty israel !
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86 - Dave Nalle
There's an already too obvious contradiction there. no the leabanese shias did not arrive from iran. So the "Iranian influx" in "thousands" (#48) was, as you point out in wikipedia, either 1000 or 1500.
the shia population in 1982 (35% shia of total about 2.5 million) was about 875,000. so the irani influx is at max 0.17%.
So there was a substantial 35% shia presence without the "miniscule" iranian influx..
You're not quite following the whole process here, or else you didn't read the article, or perhaps both.
Prior to 1967 Shia were a minority population in Lebanon comprising less than 20% of the total population which was about 50% Maronite christian, 10% other Christians and Jews, and the remainder split about equally between Shia and Sunni. The majority of the population was Christian. Starting with the 67 war the Christians began to flee Lebanon in droves - we're talking close to half a million emigres - making the Shia a much larger percentage of the population by default. That's a given.
However, the Shia were poor, they were isolated in southern Lebanon and they were lacking in political and economic power. They were not overly militant and they weren't terribly troublesome. And yes, they were getting abused and taken advantage of by everyone, from the Israelis to the Palestinians to the more powerful Sunni and Christians in Lebanon, plus they were in the path of every army that went through the region.
That said, they weren't causing a hell of a lot of trouble until 1982 when they started getting backing and organization from Iran. That thousand-some Iranians who came in were NOT poor, disorganized and downtrodden Shia peasants. They were trained guerilla fighters straight out of the Ayatollah's elite guard. Those thousand men were more of dangerous than the hundreds of thousands of native Shia in Lebanon, and they provided the organization and skills to make Hezbollah an actual terrorist threat. Without their presence we wouldn't have nearly the problem which we do today. The provided training, expertise and access to Iranian weapons and money, without which Hezbollah would not be effective.
Dave
87 - Dave Nalle
george washington was not a terrorist.
True, but this is because he fought with a real army in conventional battles against other armies. He was not a terrorist and didn't target women and children or random civilian targets.
Samuel Adams, on the other hand, WAS a terrorist. And he was pointedly discouraged from a larger political role after the revolutionary war ended.
hizbollah is not.
Incorrect. They make indiscriminate war on civilian populations and use kidnapping and assassination as means of intimidation. They are by definition terrorists. Don't make the common mistake of thinking that just because they have a political wing they aren't still terrorists.
and what about guy fawkes in the UK?
nelson mandela? biko?
what about a cia operative sent to kill castro?
or sharon in lebanon in 1982? or jenin 2004? or irgun ? or gush emunim ?
depends on your perspective, and it is not given.
What are you babbling about? What about William Wallace, Owen Glendower and Jacques de Molay? What about the Cahenna, Rob Roy and Sekundar Burke? Look, I can throw out irrelevant, but historically significant names too.
'bloody' is not a criterion for 'terrorist'. that would mean gwb.
Very true. It is not the level of destruction, but the intent. The intent of terrorists is to terrorize the civilian population rather than engage enemy forces. That's the definition of how Hezbollah works. They terrorize the poor Shia and Palestinians and terrorize the Israelis.
hezbolah can be "rehabilitated" :
They are freedom fighters for lebanon against mighty israel !
A wonderful theory, except that if they had just left Israel alone they would have been free and all of the civilians they used as shields would not have died. How do you fight for freedom by provoking an unnecessary war which gets your own people killed?
Dave
88 - Dominick
The sad part is the vast majority of the victims are indeed the people of Lebanon and not Hezbollah. I think that Israel is acting rashly and without conscience and the even more sick aspect is those who are supporting destroying Lebanon because it was "prophasized" in Revalations.
I don't think that any destruction of innocent lives is just, and I think that to excuse it for biblical reasons is even more disgusting.
My heart goes out to the innocent people dying on both sides.
89 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I don't "support" the destruction of Lebanon because it is prophesied. I do point out that the prophecies are there, and that they are being fulfilled, regardless of our motives.
There are warnings that the Galileee will be destroyed too - not exactly on the level of prophecy, but there, in the Talmud. And bit by bit, the prophecies are comming true, regardless of what I think of them. For example, I happen to think that attacking Christian Lebanon is a huge tactical error. But I was not consulted...
There are times when fulfilling the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible seem to make eminent good sense and is good strategy - like destroying Damascus. But the political echelon here is doing what it can to avoid a conflict with Damascus - another huge tactical error, IMHO.
90 - Dominick
I think its no coincidence that the Bible was written by men, and wars are the results of penis envy by men with small willys. What is happening is happening because men are making it happen...not some magical prophecy.
The idea of Jesus is a good one and if he were real I think his love one another belief system would make him against attacking Lebanon. Of course, in the multiple Biblical translations since it was first written the message of peace and love has somehow seemed to have been lost.
91 - gazelle
#86 dave
now we agree. (without taking about iran)
" terribly troublesome "
i like the sound of that !
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92 - gazelle
dave #87 [1]
'bloody' is not a criterion for 'terrorist'. that would mean gwb.
Very true. It is not the level of destruction, but the intent. The intent of terrorists is to terrorize the civilian population rather than engage enemy forces. That's the definition of how Hezbollah works. They terrorize the poor Shia and Palestinians and terrorize the Israelis.
that does make gwb worse, if you notice.
mere terrorizing is much safer than carpet bombing.
93 - gazelle
dave #87 [2]
george washington was not a terrorist.
True, but this is because he fought with a real army in conventional battles against other armies. He was not a terrorist and didn't target women and children or random civilian targets.
Samuel Adams, on the other hand, WAS a terrorist. And he was pointedly discouraged from a larger political role after the revolutionary war ended.
thats why one has his name on a state and city with a picture on the note, and the other has both his name and picture on a beer bottle. Pure semantics. this is difference of class! official history. see for example Sam Adams - Place in History
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94 - gazelle
How do you fight for freedom by provoking an unnecessary war which gets your own people killed?
you fight for freedom by giving your neighbors justice. thats quite simple but bitter. its also inevitable. (this means for both hezbollah and esp israelis). i dont buy the endtime fantasy/ies.
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95 - gazelle
Ruvy #89
There are times when fulfilling the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible seem to make eminent good sense and is good strategy - like destroying Damascus. But the political echelon here is doing what it can to avoid a conflict with Damascus - another huge tactical error, IMHO.
and what do you think the consequences, benefits of this will be?
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96 - gazelle
I fear that israel has made to happen so much evil that it can ever be compensated, for themselves or their rivals.
that's the image i have of zionists as they have turned out - really sour..
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97 - troll
'mere terrorizing' - ?
what's wrong with this picture
98 - Dave Nalle
that does make gwb worse, if you notice.
mere terrorizing is much safer than carpet bombing.
Depends on where you do it. Plus the US hasn't carpet bombed anything since Vietnam, and if you think we have, you don't know the definition of carpet bombing.
thats why one has his name on a state and city with a picture on the note, and the other has both his name and picture on a beer bottle. Pure semantics. this is difference of class! official history. see for example Sam Adams - Place in History
Samuel Adams was not lower class. He was of the merchant elite of Boston which was as priveleged in its way as Washington's Virginia planter class.
you fight for freedom by giving your neighbors justice. thats quite simple but bitter. its also inevitable. (this means for both hezbollah and esp israelis). i dont buy the endtime fantasy/ies.
So you fight for justice by killing innocent people? Wow, that makes a lot of sense. Not.
Dave
99 - gazelle
troll #97
'mere terrorizing' - ?
what's wrong with this picture
a comparison of the number of casualties on either side particularly civilians...
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100 - gazelle
So you fight for justice by killing innocent people?
No but that seems to be what hezbollah and israel (on a much vaster scale) are doing at the moment, besides the soldiers actually fighting each other.
iraq is our most recent shing example of how this should be dome properly followed by afghanistan...
actually the palestinian problem needs to be solved right now with whatever else that goes on.
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101 - troll
gazelle - *actually the palestinian problem needs to be solved right now with whatever else that goes on.*
for once you and I agree totally
troll
102 - Dave Nalle
But do you agree with gazelle that the solution is the destruction of Israel and the forced removal and/or extermination of the Israeli people?
dave
103 - troll
No - but it might require a big sacrifice such as a return to something closer to the '47 partition map
Israel's conquests may not be able to stand
troll
104 - Dave Nalle
The physical layout of Israel in 47 was untennable. If I was running Israel I'd do everything to prevent it.
DAve
105 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Gazelle, quoting me, asks:
There are times when fulfilling the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible seem to make eminent good sense and is good strategy - like destroying Damascus. But the political echelon here is doing what it can to avoid a conflict with Damascus - another huge tactical error, IMHO.
and what do you think the consequences, benefits of this will be?
11:21 Report: German official underlines reservations over Mideast force (AP)
11:01 Second rocket hits Nahariya area (Israel Radio)
10:59 Arab assailant attempts to stab security guard at Afula central bus station (Haaretz)
10:53 Rocket warning sirens sounding across the north (Israel Radio)
10:44 Rocket scores direct hit on home in Nahariya (Haaretz)
10:30 IDF demolishes ex-Israeli outpost of Karkom in S.Lebanon used by Hezbollah (Itim)
10:12 Girl seriously injured in hit-and-run accident south of Ashkelon (Itim)
09:06 Author A.B. Yehoshua: Hezbollah is not terror group, but rather `terror state` (Haaretz)
08:53 Third casualty of Haifa rocket attack: Roni Rubinsky, 30, of Kiryat Motzkin (Haaretz)
08:38 IDF troops kill 14 Hezbollah men early Monday (Haaretz)
08:36 IDF company commander, two soldiers moderately wounded in Lebanon (Haaretz)
08:26 Firefighters halt use of planes due to financial difficulties (Army Radio)
07:39 Two victims of Sunday Haifa rocket strike identified (Israel Radio)
07:25 IAF strikes target bridges, roads, bunkers, rocket launch sites (Israel Radio)
07:23 In overnight raids, IAF hits 150 sites in Lebanon (Israel Radio)
07:14 IDF troops in heavy exchanges of fire in Huleh in south Lebanon (Israel Radio)
07:12 Gov`t releases names of IDF reservists killed in Sunday rocket strike (Israel Radio)
06:18 China condemns wounding of three Chinese UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (Reuters)
06:05 IAF strike in Lebanese village of Ghazzaniyeh kills six family members (Reuters)
05:49 IAF renews bombardment of Hezbollah stronghold in south of Beirut (AP)
05:21 IAF strikes north Gaza home believed used by Islamic Jihad to store weapons (Reuters)
04:23 IDF troops engage in heavy combat against Hezbollah in the village of Khule (Haaretz)
03:21 IAF launches 4 strikes on targets in Baalbek near Lebanon-Syria border (Israel Radio)
03:10 Israel to hit strategic infrastructure, symbols of the Lebanese government (Haaretz)
02:47 Medics: Palestinian driving car with Israeli plates in W. Bank shot to death (Reuters)
02:45 China, Russia say would like to amend UN draft to reflect Lebanese concerns (Reuters)
01:42 Arab League chief Moussa says Western powers sabotaged cease-fire initiatives (DPA)
01:38 Head of Egyptian group Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya denies group has joined Al-Qaida (AP)
00:49 Venezuela`s Chavez accuses Israel of `new Holocaust` (AP)
00:41 IDF troops destroy ammunition storeroom in Maroun Ras (Haaretz)
00:40 IDF tank reservists kill 6 Hezbollah fighters in Kfar Yirun (Haaretz)
00:12 Assad: UN Lebanon resolution recipe for instability (Reuters)
00:03 Israeli forces arrest Hamas lawmaker in West Bank (AP)
23:23 IAF demolishes second rocket launching site north of Tyre (AP)
22:48 IDF says it attacked Qana in S. Lebanon, destroyed launchers that fired on Haifa (AP)
22:27 29 rockets launched at Haifa over course of Sunday (Haaretz)
22:23 Sweden offers to hold international conference on rebuilding Lebanon (AP)
21:52 Jordan: Israeli occupation is the source of all wars in the Middle East (DPA)
21:30 Israeli death toll since start of Lebanon fighting is 58 soldiers, 36 civilians (Haaretz)
21:16 PMO: Haifa attack `explains essence of Israel`s battle against Hezbollah` (Haaretz)
20:57 Medics: IDF kills two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (Reuters)
20:53 MDA: Everybody cleared from rocket-hit areas; most causalties lightly hurt (Haaretz)
20:39 12 killed in Kfar Giladi rocket attacks were IDF reservists (Haaretz)
20:34 Woman killed in rocket strike in Haifa; two critically wounded (Haaretz)
20:34 5 people wounded, one seriously, 4 moderately, in collapsed Haifa building (Haaretz)
20:31 Rescue teams complete evacuation of people from collapsed Haifa building (Haaretz)
20:14 At least 20-30 people injured in Haifa strikes; two in critical condition (Ch. 10)
20:12 People trapped in Haifa building after it collapses in direct rocket strike (Haaretz)
20:09 Haifa firefighters: At least five rockets land in crowded residential area (Haaretz)
20:06 Magen David Adom: People wounded in three locations in Haifa (Haaretz)
20:03 Rocket lands in Nahariya; no word of casualties (Haaretz)
20:03 Dozens said hurt in massive rocket strike on Haifa (Channel 2)
19:58 Rockets strike Haifa; injuries reported (Channel 2)
19:45 Egypt, Arab League and OIC condemn Israel`s arrest of Palestinian speaker (AP)
19:34 Death toll in Katyusha strike in north rises to 12 (Haaretz)
19:25 Russian diplomat discusses Lebanon crisis with Iranian ambassador (AP)
19:19 IAF destroys rocket launcher used to fire on Haifa earlier Sunday (Haaretz)
19:18 Sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona, Galilee panhandle (Israel Radio)
19:17 Border Police kills wanted Islamic Jihad militant near Jenin (Itim)
19:10 2 killed in IAF strike on car traveling close to UN aid convoy in Lebanon (Reuters)
19:06 Rockets strike Jezreel Valley; no injuries reported (Channel 2)
19:04 7 rockets strike open areas in Haifa suburbs; no injuries (Haaretz)
19:03 Olmert: Our enemy wants to attack civilians, while we avoid civilians (Israel Radio)
19:02 Sirens sound in Binyamina, Hadera and Jezreel Valley (Channel 2)
18:59 Hezbollah rocket lands in Haifa; no reports of casualties (Haaretz)
18:57 IDF troops safely detonate 20 kg bomb found at separation fence near Jenin (Itim)
18:56 Rocket-warning sirens sound in Afula, Haifa (Haaretz)
18:07 Putin urges immediate end to fighting in Lebanon in conversation with Blair (AP)
18:05 Prosecution closes extortion case against Ariel Sharon`s son Gilad (Haaretz)
17:44 Thousands march through Brussels to protest IDF campaign in Lebanon (AP)
17:37 Oxfam aid group prepares aid flight for Lebanon fighting victims (AP)
17:35 U.S. national security advisor: Want resolution on int`l force in days (Reuters)
17:14 Rice: UN draft first step to end violence, but can`t solve problems in Lebanon (AP)
17:06 Two explosions rock southern Beirut; Voice of Lebanon: IAF jets struck twice (AP)
17:00 IAF hits car traveling near UN humanitarian convoy, killing at least one (Reuters)
16:41 Syrian FM: U.S.-French cease-fire plan is `recipe for the continuation of the war` (AP)
16:33 Syrian FM says he is willing to join Hezbollah`s ranks (Reuters)
16:03 Rice: No one wants to see Israel permanently in Lebanon (Haaretz)
16:02 Rice: Important to get UN vote on Lebanon resolution in next day or two (Reuters)
16:01 Merkel: Draft UN resolution shows int`l support for ending Mideast fighting (AP)
15:37 French FM: Top priority to win Lebanese, Arab support for UN cease-fire draft (AP)
14:56 Rocket lands in open area in Haifa northern suburbs; no casualties (Haaretz)
14:40 Siren alert sounded in Haifa (Channel 10)
14:33 Senior IDF officer: Army captures one of abductors of IDF soldier Eldad Regev (Ch.10)
14:22 Three UNIFIL troops hurt by Hezbollah mortar shelling on their base (Reuters)
14:21 Lebanese Parliament Speaker: Beirut rejects draft UN cease-fire resolution (Reuters)
14:11 Rocket makes direct hit on Kiryat Shmona home (Channel 10)
13:57 Condition of Kfar Giladi casualties with serious injuries deteriorates (Ch.10)
13:41 PFLP says one of its militants is killed in IAF strike in Lebanon (AP)
13:33 More rockets land near Kfar Giladi (Channel 10)
13:27 Kfar Giladi security officer: Victims didn`t adhere to alert siren (Haaretz)
13:25 Object that sparks bomb scare at PM`s office is tape recorder (Haaretz)
13:24 Two lightly hurt in rocket attack on Upper Galilee community (Channel 10)
13:23 Katyushas land in Tiberias, Lower Galilee; no casualties reported (Haaretz)
13:09 IDF soldier moderately hurt by anti-tank missile north of Metula (Haaretz)
13:07 Officials: Bomb-scare at PM`s office was false alarm (Reuters)
13:05 PM`s office in Jerusalem evacuated after suspicious package found (Reuters)
13:02 Siren sounds in Haifa (Channel 2)
12:57 Number of fatalities in Katyusha rocket strike on Kfar Giladi rises to ten (Haaretz)
12:55 Lebanese media: IDF fired 500 mortar shells at southern Lebanon Sun. (Israel Radio)
12:50 Sirens warn of more rocket attacks on Kfar Giladi area (Channel 10)
12:45 Witnesses: Latest rocket barrage in north lasted for more than 15 minutes (AP)
12:31 Direct rocket hit on house in Kfar Giladi leaves at least 20 casualties (Haaretz)
12:25 Five people seriously wounded in Katyusha rocket strike on northern Israel (Haaretz)
12:19 Two Katyusha rockets land in open area near Acre; no injuries reported (Haaretz)
12:19 Several casualties as rocket strikes house in settlement in north (Haaretz)
12:05 Rockets hit Kiryat Shmona; no immediate report of casualties or damage (Channel 10)
12:02 Rocket lands in open area near Carmiel; no casualties or damage (Itim)
12:01 Reservist soldier moderately wounded in battles south of Tyre (Haaretz)
11:56 Siren alerts sounded across northern region (Israel Radio)
11:47 China urges Israel, Hezbollah to cease fire, calls on UN to help stem violence (AP)
11:41 Iranian official: Countries that pass sanctions on Iran `will feel pain` (Reuters)
11:27 Navy gunboat hit by Hezbollah missile returns to operational activity (Itim)
11:21 Reserves forces exchanging fire with Hezbollah south of Tyre (Haaretz)
11:01 Mother, 2 daughters killed by rocket in Arab al-Aramshe brought to rest (Israel Radio)
10:55 Iran says to expand nuclear program `as necessary,` allow UN to monitor (Reuters)
10:41 PM announces task force to address problems in rocket-stricken north (Israel Radio)
10:25 Corporal Kyril Kashdan to be buried Sunday at Haifa cemetery at 4.00 P.M. (Itim)
09:58 IDF Special Forces operating near Tyre destroy 3 rocket launchers, munitions (Haaretz)
09:33 3 Katyusha rockets land near Ma`a lot, 1 lands in Golan Heights; no injuries (Haaretz)
09:15 IDF, Hezbollah exchanging fire near Ras al-Bida, south of Tyre (Haaretz)
08:55 Alert siren heard across entire northern region (Israel Radio)
08:54 Official: 5 people killed in IAF strike in Ansar were members of same family (AP)
08:32 IDF arrests three wanted militants across West Bank (Itim)
08:20 Ramon: Israel to pursue military goals although draft UN agreement is good (AP)
08:15 IAF attacks two PFLP camps in South Lebanon; no casualties reported (AP)
07:47 IDF troops kill at least 12 Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon overnight (Israel Radio)
07:46 Security forces prevent suicide bombing after arresting Palestinian in Nablus (Itim)
07:12 Lebanese security sources: 5 people killed in IAF strike on village of Ansar (Reuters)
07:12 Second IDF reservist killed over weekend named as Dr. Igor Rothstein (Israel Radio)
06:39 IDF reservist killed in Ayta a-Shab named as Kyril Kashdan, 26, of Haifa (Israel Radio)
06:32 Report: Israeli stabbed to death in Australia by local gang member (DPA)
06:12 IAF jets hit PFLP position in southeast Lebanon, killing 2 militants (Reuters)
06:11 Lebanese sources: IAF launches 8 air strikes on eastern Bekaa valley (Reuters)
05:01 Thousands gather in Hiroshima to mark 61st anniversary of atomic bombing (Reuters)
04:28 Anti-tank fire causing most IDF casualties in Lebanon (Haaretz)
------------------------------------------------
In bold are HizbAllah attacks on Israel for roughly a 24 hour period. Until these attacks began occurring 3½ weeks ago, no Israeli soldiers were on Lebanese soil - period.
In bold and underlined is the reason for attacking and destroying Syria's capital, her major ports, and her military capability to resupply HizbAllah.
The benefits to such an action are that they prevent the resupply of HizbAllah and thus prevent the extension of Iranian power to the Meditteranean.
We are at war. In war, you fight to win. If you do not fight to win, you lose - and you die.
106 - Christopher Rose
RUVY: How do you think the IDF is doing? Personally, I'm disappointed by their slow progress.
107 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Chris, this is no accident. We're being set up to lose. This is not because HizbAllah is an easy enemy to defeat. The intent is not to defeat this enemy and to bring in foreign forces. This is the treaonous action of the political echelon in Jerusalem obeying their masters in Washingon and Brussels.
108 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I'm sorry. The grammar was not clear in the previous post.
The intent of the political echelon is not to defeat this enemy, but to bring in a foreign power to control southern Lebanon.
The army fights and loses boys, but the goal is not victory - were it, Damascus and Latakia would already be in flames, and the eastern routes in Syria connecting to Kurdistan would be strafed up already.
The fighting in southern Lebanon would still be difficult. This is not a bunch of untrained Egyptians throwing doffing their boots and fleeing in the sand because they do not know how to make their Soviet-made tanks roll in reverse...
109 - troll
#104 - untenable - ?
perpetual low level conflict and open war in defense of Israeli conquests is untenable...
why should Arabs accept the state of Israel - ?
troll
110 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
This back and forth indeed is interesting....
111 - troll
G-d forbid we should empathise with Israel's 'enemies' - trying to get a feel for their needs
and I repeat the question - why should Arabs accept Israel
got any answer other than her raw military power - ?
perhaps the timely solution does rest in the superstition and magic of a new Sanhedrin
troll
112 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Troll,
Your question was addressed to Dave. I await his answer.
113 - troll
I await an answer from anyone
114 - pleasexcusetheinteruption12
Because the Jews were there first. Nanabooboo!
115 - troll
I guess
116 - gazelle
#102 dave:
But do you agree with gazelle that the solution is the destruction of Israel and the forced removal and/or extermination of the Israeli people?
hey, i dont agree with "gazelle" here. this is what you want gazelle to think.
thats not my solution. coexistence whether side by side or in a whole (country) are absolutely fine with me ...i imagine thats not yours.
best
117 - gazelle
105 Ruvy
shebaa farms. israel never left from that part of lebanon.
best
118 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Shebaa Farms was ruled as Israel by the UN - you know, the Useless Nothings with their toilet paper resolutions and conventions. That's an acre of land you're talking about here.
That's the flimsiest excuse I've seen for a 10,000 missile build-up that I can thnk of. The girls who didn't want to sleep with me had better excuses! My wife can do better!!
This was never about Shabaa Farms or about Lebanon, Gazelle. It was always about the destruction of Israel - from "A" to "Zed". HizbAllah is about at "W" right now - as in whupped ass. The curious question is whose ass is getting whupped...
119 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Now for some news from the front - courtesy of Rabbi Rachamim Pauli.
Hell on wheels. 3 dead soldiers, 160 rockets and more
From my son Asher: Monday, August 07, 2006
History repeats: Blown up once, blown up twice
I just got back from southern Lebanon. The eight-hour mission turned into a 14-hour one.
Veteran cameraman Neil Hallsworth, who probably has been on more embeds in Iraq than any other journalist, informed me that our vehicle's cramped quarters made this the most hellacious embed he's ever been on.
Whoever designed the Puma, the Israeli transport in which we were riding, needs to be forced to spend 14 hours in one. Anyway, enough griping.
The mission turned out to be interesting. The combat engineers with whom we were embedded were ordered to go into southern Lebanon and take out a Hezbollah position at Karkoum.
It had been one of the main command outposts in southern Lebanon. It had actually been an Israeli outpost back when they occupied Lebanon. When they left, they blew it up. Hezbollah rebuilt it. Now the unit I was with was supposed to go back in and blow it up again. History repeats.
We left under cover of darkness, but it was dawn by the time we reached the bunkers at Karkoum. Things moved quickly once we exited the Puma.
Israeli soldiers discovered a cache of anti-tank weapons, which Hezbollah has used to devastating effect. The soldiers rigged those to explode with the same C4 explosive they were using on all the structures.
The blast was massive, though we couldn't actually see it because we had to take cover back inside the Puma.
After the dust cleared, armored bulldozers moved in and leveled what remained. (That's nothing they probably gave him a good driver so that he would not get car sick or do Tshuvah, you can imagine the drivers I had. - RP)
---------------------------------------------
DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose: Hizballah’s rocket offensive against Israel is orchestrated from a rear command located in the Syrian town of Anjar
While Israeli officials keep on insisting that Syria must be kept out of the conflict, the fact is that the Assad regime is already in it up to their ears " with a leading role in the Hizballah rocket attacks on northern Israel.
The command which coordinates the pace of those attacks is located at the Anjar base of the Syrian Army’s 10th Division opposite the Lebanese town of Az Zabdani. It is manned by Iranian and Hizballah officers, who take their orders from a Syrian military intelligence center in Damascus to which Iranian Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers are attached. It is headed by a general from one of Syria’s surface missile brigades. This joint command is provided with the most up-to-date intelligence and electronic data available to Syria on targets in Israel and IDF movements. The timing and tempo of Hizballah rocket strikes are set according to that information.
To keep the rockets coming without interruption, the joint Hizballah-Syrian-Iranian command is also responsible with keeping Hizballah supplied with an inflow of rockets and launchers. They use smuggling rings to slip the supplies into Lebanon by mule and donkey which ply the 5,000-7,000 feet mountain paths that straddle the Syrian-Lebanese frontier.
A senior Israeli officer told DEBKAfile: We can go on bombing Lebanon for many weeks, but that will not stop the rockets..
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F-16 warplanes shot the Mersad-1 (picture) down at a low altitude 10 km out at sea northwest of the Haifa coast. The drone is capable of carrying 45 kilos of explosives, but this flight was apparently sent over Israel for the first time to test the permeability of its air space for further drone incursions. Hizballah is known to have received 8 drones from Iran. F-16 and pilotless craft were busy over Haifa bay after the incident in case Hizballah sends more such craft, this time loaded with ordnance.
Three Israeli soldiers killed in clashes in Bin Jubeil, S. Lebanon, Monday. One has been identified as 1st Sgt. Malki Moshe Amabo, 22, from Lod
Six Hizballah were killed in the fighting. Early Monday, Day 27 of the war, an Israeli officer and two soldiers were injured in heavy clashes with Hizballah in Houla village in the Eastern Sector of South Lebanon. Four Hizballah killed in the action.
Israeli fighter jets overnight struck targets in northeast Lebanon, road links from the Beqaa to Syria. Twelve Israeli soldiers were injured in battle in south Lebanon Sunday, two seriously; 30 Hizballah were killed, prisoners taken.
160 rockets fell today injuring 5 people but damage was great. More and more people fleeing Kiriat Shemona.
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'World Opinion' is Worthless
By Dennis Prager
If you are ever morally confused about a major world issue, here is a rule that is almost never violated: Whenever you hear that "world opinion" holds a view, assume it is morally wrong.
And here is a related rule if your religious or national or ethnic group ever suffers horrific persecution: "World opinion" will never do a thing for you. Never.
"World opinion" has little or nothing to say about the world's greatest evils and regularly condemns those who fight evil.
The history of "world opinion" regarding the greatest mass murders and cruelties on the planet is one of relentless apathy.
Ask the 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Turks;
a.. or the 6 million Ukrainians slaughtered by Stalin;
b.. or the tens of millions of other Soviet citizens killed by Stalin's Soviet Union;
c.. or the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their helpers throughout Europe;
d.. or the 60 million Chinese butchered by Mao;
e.. or the 2 million Cambodians murdered by Pol Pot;
f.. or the millions killed and enslaved in Sudan;
g.. or the Tutsis murdered in Rwanda's genocide;
h.. or the millions starved to death and enslaved in North Korea;
i.. or the million Tibetans killed by the Chinese;
j.. or the million-plus Afghans put to death by Brezhnev's Soviet Union.
Ask any of these poor souls, or the hundreds of millions of others slaughtered, tortured, raped and enslaved in the last 100 years, if "world opinion" did anything for them.
On the other hand, we learn that "world opinion" is quite exercised over Israel's unintentional killing of a few hundred Lebanese civilians behind whom hides Hezbollah - a terror group that intentionally sends missiles at Israeli cities and whose announced goals are the annihilation of Israel and the Islamicization of Lebanon. And, of course, "world opinion" was just livid at American abuses of some Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. In fact, "world opinion" is constantly upset with America and Israel, two of the most decent countries on earth, yet silent about the world's cruelest countries.
Why is this?
Here are four reasons:
First, television news.
It is difficult to overstate the damage done to the world by television news. Even when not driven by political bias - an exceedingly rare occurrence globally - television news presents a thoroughly distorted picture of the world. Because it is almost entirely dependent upon pictures, TV news is only capable of showing human suffering in, or caused by, free countries. So even if the BBC or CNN were interested in showing the suffering of millions of Sudanese blacks or North Koreans - and they are not interested in so doing - they cannot do it because reporters cannot visit Sudan or North Korea and video freely. Likewise, China's decimation and annexation of Tibet, one of the world's oldest ongoing civilizations, never made it to television.
Second, "world opinion" is shaped by the same lack of courage that shapes most individual human beings' behavior. This is another aspect of the problem of the distorted way news is presented. It takes courage to report the evil of evil regimes; it takes no courage to report on the flaws of decent societies. Reporters who went into Afghanistan without the Soviet Union's permission were killed. Reporters would risk their lives to get critical stories out of Tibet, North Korea and other areas where vicious regimes rule. But to report on America's bad deeds in Iraq (not to mention at home) or Israel's is relatively effortless, and you surely won't get killed. Indeed, you may well win a Pulitzer Prize.
Third, "world opinion" bends toward power. To cite the Israel example, "world opinion" far more fears alienating the largest producers of oil and 1 billion Muslims than it fears alienating tiny Israel and the world's 13 million Jews. And not only because of oil and numbers. When you offend Muslims, you risk getting a fatwa, having your editorial offices burned down or receiving death threats. Jews don't burn down their critics' offices, issue fatwas or send death threats, let alone act on such threats.
Fourth, those who don't fight evil condemn those who do. "World opinion" doesn't confront real evils, but it has a particular animus toward those who do - most notably today America and Israel.
The moment one recognizes "world opinion" for what it is - a statement of moral cowardice, one is longer enthralled by the term. That "world opinion" at this moment allegedly loathes America and Israel is a badge of honor to be worn proudly by those countries. It is when "world opinion" and its news media start liking you that you should wonder if you've lost your way. (Thanks to Judy F.)
From Yacov
a real Nassrallah movie in Arabic with Hebrew translation only.
How Hizballah tells the truth:
A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring. This man knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative fellow, and is curious about his
sudden change in "fashion sense."
The man walks up to him and says, "I didn't know you were into wearing earrings."
"Hey, don't make such a big deal, it's only an earring," he replies sheepishly.
His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to ask, "So, how long have you been wearing one?"
"Ever since my wife found it in my truck." - thanks to Seth.
Three loud explosions rocked Beirut shortly after nightfall Monday and within two hours of the departure of Arab foreign ministers who had gathered in the Lebanese capital in a show of support for the government.
According Israeli sources the blasts were caused by IAF air strikes. Lebanese security officials claimed Israel naval artillery fired on the southern suburbs from ships off the Mediterranean coast, where they also are enforcing a sea blockade. Earlier Monday, Israeli warplanes repeatedly pounded the district, a Hizbullah stronghold that is largely in ruins
Three Kassam rockets were fired into open areas in the western Negev on Monday evening.
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Kidnapper: I was sent to stop rescue force
IDF releases video of interrogation of Hizbullah member involved in kidnapping of two soldiers
Roee Nahmias
The IDF has released film from an interrogation of a Hizbullah member who took part in the kidnapping of two soldiers on the northern border.
"My role was to stop the tank backup that was supposed to arrive to chase after the kidnappers," Hussin Ali Suleiman, 22, commander of the ant-tank unit of Hizbullah told the camera.
Suleiman was captured by IDF forces, and his interrogators released footage of the questioning on Monday.
In the interrogation, Suleiman volunteered information which shed light on a range of topics linked to Hizbullah and Syria and Iran's
link to activities in the area. He described his role in the kidnapping, but did not provide new information on the fate of the kidnapped soldiers.
During the interrogation Suleiman said he was not involved in the full kidnapping plot and did not know all of its details, but was aware of the general intentions. His role was to shoot anti-tank missiles on IDF tanks mobilized into the area following the kidnapping.
He said in followed his instructions and fired a Fagot-type anti-tank missile.
A senior IDF source added that in total "a few dozen" Hizbullah members took part in the abduction, from Hizbullah's area 2, and from the Nasser unit operating south of the Litani River.
-------------------------------------------------
Reuters admits to more image manipulation
News organization withdraws photograph of Israeli fighter jet, admits image was doctored, fires photographer. Reuters pledges 'tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict'
Yaakov Lappin
Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization. On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.
The latest image to face doubts is a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet over the skies of Lebanon, seen in the image firing off "missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh," according to the image's accompanying text provided by Reuters.
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Anti-Semitic incidents on rise
Increase in number of anti-Semitic attacks directly correlated to current political developments in Middle East, explains Chairman of Jewish Agency Education Committee
Miri Chason
Dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide attributed to fighting in North: During the past two weeks, at least 50 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded around the world, ten of which were violent. The most extreme incident occurred July 28th, when a Muslim-American of Pakistani origin went on a shooting spree in a Jewish Federation building in Seattle, killing one woman and wounding five more.
Since the start of the war in Lebanon, Jews, Israelis and Jewish landmarks across the world have been victims of a wave of anti-Semitic attacks: In Turkey two Israeli families were assaulted when merchants learned of their country of origin; the head of a Jewish Community Center was brutally slain in Australia; a youth vandalized an Oslo synagogue and defecated at the entrance; and in Brazil a synagogue was sprayed with the slogan, 'Lebanon - the real Holocaust."
Be well,
Rachamim Pauli
__._,_.___
120 - Dave Nalle
Thanks for posting about the photo doctoring scandal, Ruvy. I wish it weren't part of such a huge, omnibus comments since it needs more attention. I've been trying to get someone on the BC writing staff to cover it, but so far with little luck. I may have to write it up myself. There's even more to it than what you pointed out about the Reuters photos.
Dave
121 - Clavos
I was wondering why I hadn't seen anything about the photo doctoring here on BC. Often, I find out about a lot of things here before they're on the MSM.
In fact, I was going to ask you, Dave, about it last night on another thread, but didn't because I didn't want to hijack the thread.
122 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Sorry about including it (the story about the manipulation of photos at Reuters) in Rabbi Pauli's "Celestial Omnibus" without including more about it. I was shooting for the biggest bang for the buck, if you can excuse the pun.
I'm going to try and return to reporting news without giving too much of my opinions. I get too pissed off at the idiots who think they know what they're talking about, and then I miss the opportunities to discuss intelligently with the people who have a similar perspective to mine, but who may not realize it.
123 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Some more news from Lebanon. The first comment is from the "celestial omnibus" of Rabbi Rachamim Pauli. Most of this is from Ynetnews, but the first item is
From Debkafile:
After complaining to Olmert yesterday that he didn't get the green light for pushing further, Yehuda Adam is sort of put down. So Gen. Adam could be Peretz and Olmert's scape goat.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Notwithstanding the official denials, this step is a manifestation of dissatisfaction on the part of chief of staff, Lt-Gen Dan Halutz, with the conduct of the war and his lack of confidence in the IDF’s northern command’s ability to carry the campaign forward without on-location supervision.
Questions regarding Maj.-Gen Udi Adam’s competence for this particular campaign were asked at the outset of the war, which erupted on July 12 when Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, killed 8 and loosed its first rocket attack on northern Israel.
Gen. Adam specializes in classical tank warfare. He has never encountered comprehensive warfare in Lebanon’s special conditions against a Hizballah guerrilla force backed by Iranian and Syrian sponsors, trainers and armorers.
In the first month of the conflict, Israeli tanks and their crews have borne the brunt of battle losses, prey to Hizballah’s anti-tank weapons, for which no tactical answer has been found. Neither have Hizballah strongholds been cracked in places such as Bin Jubeil ,where the fighting flares up time and again after Hizballa fighters have been ostensibly cleared out. The IDF’s backbone, the Merkava tanks, are clearly too vulnerable and Hizballah fortifications too difficult to breach.
The chief of staff, although advised in the third week of the war by many senior officers including reserve generals to shake up the northern command to restore its edge and offensive momentum, was reluctant to change horses in mid-war. He rejected advice to take a leaf of army chiefs in other wars and place more experienced and gifted generals alongside the chief of the northern command. He was reminded that the deadly reverses of the 1973 Yom Kippur War were addressed by appointing former chief of staff Haim Barlev to the southern command to oversee Gen. Shmuel Gorodish.
The name that came up most recently was Maj.-Gen (res.) Gabi Ashkenzi, who headed the northern command until last year and knows the Hizballah arena like the palm of his hand. Gen. Halutz brushed these proposed changes aside, fearing the Yom Kippur analogy would prompt questions about the preparedness of the general staff as a whole for the Lebanon war, the appointments he approved in the last year and his repeated assertion that he sees no danger of conventional war in the IDF’s foreseeable future.
This misperception which dominated the consciousness of political and military decision-makers also colored the selection of senior commanders.
However, Tuesday, August 8, when Halutz saw the northern command was incapable of finishing the Bin Jubeil battle, he decided to send Gen. Kaplinsky, 49, into the breach. As former OC Central Command, Kaplinsky’s forte is the disposition of ground forces. He is a former commander of the Golani infantry brigade.
Kaplinsky needs to pull off the feat the late Moshe Dayan managed in 1967 on the eve of the Six-Day War " to pick up in short order the Israeli army’s once-acclaimed capabilities as a limber, versatile, fast-moving, innovative force that is crowned with success. After a campaign which has dragged on for too long with too much loss of life and too few successes, Israel thirsts for a breakthrough to victory.
-------------------------------------------------
2 reservists killed in Lebanon battle... Ynetnews
Heavy exchanges of fire between IDF, Hizbullah continue in village of Bint Jbeil; seven troops hit by anti-tank missile. Two reserve soldiers killed early Tuesday near village of Labouna; soldier seriously wounded near Aytaroun
Hanan Greenberg
It has been cleared for publication that two IDF reservists were killed and another two were lightly and moderately injured in exchanges of fire with Hizbullah early Tuesday morning. The battle took place near the village of Labouna in the Bint Jbeil area in southwest Lebanon.
One of the reservists killed is Gilad Balachsan, 28, from Carmiel. The soldiers that were injured in the clash have been evacuated to a hospital in Israel for treatment.
The two killed troops served in the Baram Brigade (the western brigade) as part of its reserve force, which has been assigned border patrol duties. On Monday night the force entered into Lebanese territory and encountered a terror cell near the village of Labouna.
Balachsan and another reservist were killed in the fire exchanges that ensued.
So far 65 IDF soldiers have been killed in three weeks of fighting. Twelve of them were killed in the village of Bint Jbeil.
Exchanges of fire continued in the area on Tuesday afternoon. Seven soldiers were hurt when an anti-tank missile was fired at an IDF tank north of Bint Jbeil. Another tank which arrived in the area was hit by an explosive device, but no injuries were caused.
More then 30 terrorists have been killed in the western sector throughout Monday night and Tuesday morning, in a series of incidents. More than 480 terrorists have been killed in the fighting.
An IDF soldier was seriously wounded early Tuesday morning in fire exchanges with Hizbullah near the village of Aytaroun in the western sector. At the same time, exchanges of fire were also carried out in the village of Labouna; several troops sustained injuries.
The soldier that was seriously injured has been evacuated to a hospital in Israel, and the army is looking into the possibility he was hurt by friendly fire.
Hizbullah's improved missiles
Staff Sergeant Philip Mosko, 21, from Maale Adumim, who served as a paramedic in the Paratrooper Brigade, was killed during fierce fire exchanges between IDF soldiers and Hizbullah in the village of Dibel near Bint Jbeil Monday night. Five troops were injured in the incident.
The injured troops were evacuated to Israel by IDF forces and the families of the soldiers that have been hurt were notified.
Hizbullah gunmen used an improved antitank missile, which was fired at a Puma-type armored vehicle that was carrying a number of auxiliary forces troops, including paramedics.
"Hizbullah has a variety of improved missiles and when such a missile is fired at an armored vehicle, damage cannot be completely prevented. Usually the vehicle sustains slight damages and the troops remain unharmed. In some cases the outcome is more severe, and this is something we will need to address," a military official told Ynet
The number of rockets launched into Israel varies from 128 to 160 plus today. The only difference is that no longer 25 are fired at once. it is like one, three and then again shortly afterwards 1 to 5 rockets.
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Reporter: Israel deliberately not destroying launchers.... Ynetnews
Top Washington Post military reporter Tom Ricks severely criticized after suggesting Israel is intentionally leaving Hizbullah rocket launchers intact to maintain moral defense to strike civilian targets in Lebanon
Yitzhak Benhorin
WASHINGTON - Tom Ricks, military reporter for the Washington Post, accused Israel Tuesday of intentionally failing to destroy a number of rocket launchers in south Lebanon, to maintain a moral defense to its striking civilian of targets in Lebanon.
Ricks, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in journalism and recently published his new book "Fiasco" on the failure of the American war in Iraq, made the comments during an interview on CNN.
Ricks, who was hosted on the Howard Kurtz's weekly media review show on the CNN news network, said: "Civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some US military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hizbullah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they're being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon."
Shocked by the prominent commentator's accusation, interviewer Howard Kurtz replied, "hold on, you're suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hizbullah to retain some of it's fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?"
Since Ricks made the comments, he has been assailed by numerous organizations which monitor representations of Israel in the United States media. Ricks was also criticized in American radio shows, which represent generally America's conservative right-wing population.
Rush Limbaugh, who hosts the most popular radio show in the US " with an audience of over 12 million listeners (for the sake of comparison, CNN has 1 million viewers at peak hours), devoted a full one-hour program to the foreign media's hostile treatment of Israel.
Limbaugh discussed the scandal of a Reuters photographer who touched up photographs of the destruction in Lebanon for the first half hour of the program. The second half hour was devoted to the Washington Post's military correspondent Ricks.
'Israeli public would never accept it'
During an interview for Hugh Hewitt's popular website, on which Ricks book Fiasco was being promoted, the Washington Post journalist was again asked about his severe charges against Israel. I wish I had kept my mouth shut, Ricks said, but added: Everything I said was accurate.
Ricks noted than in an off-the-record conversation with a number of military analysts, two of them said they believed it was a clever strategy on the part of Israel to leave a few rocket launchers intact to aid Israel in sharpening public sentiment and give Israeli forces more freedom to operate.
The analysts didn't think it was a bad strategy, Ricks noted. Rather, they believed it would be a clever move on the part of Israel if it were true.
Later, however, Ricks attempted to distance himself from the statements. I have heard from a number of very knowledgeable and intelligent people that while such a strategy could be logical and even morally defensible, Ricks said, of course the Israeli public would never accept it.
He said Israelis had criticized his comments were irresponsible.
When asked to reveal his sources, Ricks refused. It was an off-the-record conversation, and I must keep my word, he said.
-------------------------------------------------
Pipe bomb found near Ma'aleh Adumim
A pipe bomb was found on the access route from the Kidar settlement, near Ma'aleh Adumim (a city just east of Jerusalem on H'wy 1).
A sapper called to the area exploded the bomb in a contained manner. (Efrat Weiss)
Be well,
Rachamim
124 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
This wzs received courtesy of Aryeh Zelasko;
By Michael Béhé, in Beirut
(English -- Translated from the French by Llewellyn Brown)
The politicians, journalists and intellectuals of Lebanon have, of late, been experiencing the shock of their lives. They knew full well that Hezbollah had created an independent state in our country, a state including all the ministers and parallel institutions, duplicating those of Lebanon. What they did not know - and are discovering with this war, and what has petrified them with surprise and terror - is the extent of this phagocytosis.
In fact, our country had become an extension of Iran, and our so-called political power also served as a political and military cover for the Islamists of Teheran. We suddenly discovered that Teheran had stocked more than 12,000 missiles, of all types and calibers, on our territory and that they had patiently, systematically, organized a suppletive force, with the help of the Syrians, that took over, day after day, all the rooms in the House of Lebanon. Just imagine it : we stock ground-to-ground missiles, Zilzals, on our territory and that the firing of such devices without our knowledge, has the power to spark a regional strategic conflict and, potentially, bring about the annihilation of Lebanon.
We knew that Iran, by means of Hezbollah, was building a veritable Maginot line in the south but it was the pictures of Maroun el-Ras and Bint J'bail that revealed to us the magnitude of these constructions. This amplitude made us understand several things at once : that we were no longer masters of our destiny. That we do not possess the most basic means necessary to reverse the course of this state of things and that those who turned our country into an outpost of their islamic doctrine's combat against Israel did not have the slightest intention of willingly giving up their hold over us.
The national salvation discussions that concerned the application of Resolution 1559 and which included most of the Lebanese political movements were simply for show. Iran and Syria had not invested billions of dollars on militarizing Lebanon in order to wage their war, simply to give in to the desire of the Lebanese and the international community for them to pack up their hardware and set it up back home.
And then, the indecision, the cowardice, the division and the irresponsible behavior of our leaders are such that they had no effort to make to show their talent. No need to engage a wrestling match with the other political components of the Land of Cedars. The latter showed themselves - and continue to show themselves - to be inconsistent.
Of course, our army, reshaped over the years by the Syrian occupier so it could no longer fulfill its role as protector of the nation, did not have the capacity to tackle the militamen of the Hezb [Hezb-Allah - the party of Allah. Translator's note]. Our army whom it is more dangerous to call upon - because of the explosive equilibrium that constitutes each of its brigades - than to shut up behind locked doors in its barracks. A force that is still largely loyal to its former foreign masters, to the point of being uncontrollable ; to the point of having collaborated with the Iranians to put OUR coastal radar stations at the disposal of their missiles, that almost sunk an Israeli boat off the shores of Beirut. As for the non-Hezbollah elements in the government, they knew nothing of the existence of land-to-sea missiles on our territoryŠ That caused the totally justified destruction of all OUR radar stations by the Hebrews' army. And even then we are getting off lightly in these goings-on.
It is easy now to whine and gripe, and to play the hypocritical role of victims. We know full well how to get others to pity us and to claim that we are never responsible for the horrors that regularly occur on our soil. Of course, that is nothing but rubbish! The Security Council's Resolution 1559 - that demanded that OUR government deploy OUR army on OUR sovereign territory, along OUR international border with Israel and that it disarm all the militia on OUR land - was voted on 2 September 2004.
We had two years to put implement this resolution and thus guarantee a peaceful future to our children but we did strictly nothing. Our greatest crime - which was not the only one! - was not that we did not succeed but that we did not attempt or undertake anything. And that was the fault of none else than the pathetic Lebanese politicians.
Our government, from the very moment the Syrian occupier left, let ships and truckloads of arms pour into our country. Without even bothering to look at their cargo. They jeopardized all chances for the rebirth of our country by confusing the Cedar Revolution with the liberation of Beirut. In reality, we had just received the chance - a sort of unhoped-for moratorium - that allowed us to take the future into our own hands, nothing more.
To think that we were not even capable of agreeing to "hang" Émile Lahoud - Al-Assad's puppet - on Martyrs' Square and that he is still president of what some insist on calling our republicŠ There is no need to look any further : we are what we are, that is to say, not much.
All those who assume public and communicational responsibilities in this country are responsible for this catastrophe. Except those of my colleagues, journalists and editors, who are dead, assassinated by the Syrian thugs, because they were clearly less cowardly than those who survived. And Lahoud remained at Baadbé [the president of the Lebanese Republic's palace. Editor's note]!
And when I speak of a catastrophe, I do not mean the action accomplished by Israel in response to the aggression against its civilians and its army, which was produced from our soil and that we did strictly nothing to avoid, and for which we are consequently responsible. Any avoiding of this responsibility - some people here do not have the minimal notions of international law necessary to understand! - means that Lebanon, as a state, does not exist.
The hypocrisy goes on : even some editorialists of the respectable L'Orient-le-Jour put Hezbollah's savagery and that of the Israelis on a par! Shame! Spinelessness! And who are we in this fable? Poor ad æternum victims of the ambitions of others?
Politicians either support this insane idea or keep silent. Those we would expect to speak, to save our image, remain silent like the others. And I am precisely alluding to general Aoun, who could have made a move by proclaiming the truth. Even his enemy, Walid Jumblatt, the Druse leader, has proved to be less vague.
Lebanon a victim? What a joke!
Before the Israeli attack, Lebanon no longer existed, it was no more than a hologram. At Beirut innocent citizens like myself were forbidden access to certain areas of their own capital. But our police, our army and our judges were also excluded. That was the case, for example, of Hezbollah's and the Syrians' command zone in the Haret Hreik quarter (in red on the satellite map). A square measuring a kilometer wide, a capital within the capital, permanently guarded by a Horla army [1], possessing its own institutions, its schools, its crèches, its tribunals, its radio, its television and, above allŠ its government. A "government" that, alone decided, in the place of the figureheads of the Lebanese government - in which Hezbollah also had its ministers! - to attack a neighboring state, with which we had no substantial or grounded quarrel, and to plunge US into a bloody conflict. And if attacking a sovereign nation on its territory, assassinating eight of its soldiers, kidnapping two others and, simultaneously, launching missiles on nine of its towns does not constitute a casus belli, the latter juridical principle will seriously need revising.
Thus almost all of these cowardly politicians, including numerous shiah leaders and religious personalities themselves, are blessing each bomb that falls from a Jewish F-16 turning the insult to our sovereignty that was Haret Hreik, right in the heart of Beirut, into a lunar landscape. Without the Israelis, how could we have received another chance - that we in no way deserve! - to rebuild our country?
Each Irano-Syrian fort that Jerusalem destroys, each islamic fighter they eliminate, and Lebanon proportionally starts to live again! Once again, the soldiers of Israel are doing our work. Once again, like in 1982, we are watching - cowardly, lying low, despicable, and insulting them to boot - their heroic sacrifice that allows us to keep hoping. To not be swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Because, of course, by dint of not giving a damn for southern Lebanon, of letting foreigners take hold of the privileges that belong to us, we no longer had the ability to recover our independence and sovereignty. If, at the end of this war, the Lebanese army retakes control over its territory and gets rid of the state within a state - that tried to suffocate the latter -, it will only be thanks to Tsahal [the Israeli Defense Forces. Translator's note], and that, all these faint-hearted politicians, from the crook Fouad Siniora, to Saad Hariri, the son of Lebanon's plunderer, and general Aoun all know perfectly well.
As for the destruction caused by the IsraelisŠ that is another imposture : look at the satellite map! I have situated, as best I could, BUT IN THEIR CORRECT PROPORTIONS, the parts of my capital that have been destroyed by Israel. They are Haret Hreik - in its totality - and the dwellings of Hezbollah's leaders, situated in the large Shi'a suburb of Dayaa (as they spell it) and that I have circled in blue.
In addition to these two zones, Tsahal has exploded a nine-storied building that housed Hezbollah's command, in Beirut's city center, above and slightly to the left (to the north west) of Haret Hreik on the map. It was Nasrallah's "perch" inside the city, whereby he asserted his presence and domination over us. A depot of Syrian arms in the port, two army radars that the Shiite officers had put at the Hezb's disposal, and a truck suspected of transporting arms, in the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh.
Moreover the road and airport infrastructures were put out of working order : they served to provide Hezbollah with arms and munitions. Apart from that, Tsahal has neither hit nor deteriorated anything, and all those who speak of the "destruction of Beirut" are either liars, Iranians, anti-Semites or absent. Even the houses situated one alley's distance from the targets I mentioned have not been hit, they have not even suffered a scratch; on contemplating these results of this work you understand the meaning of the concept "surgical strikes" and you can admire the dexterity of the Jewish pilots.
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Satellite map of Beirut (Google Earth)
Circled in red, the razed area, in blue, area where the dwellings belonging to the terrorist organization's top brass have been destroyed (Michael Béhé)
Beirut, all the rest of Beirut, 95% of Beirut, lives and breathes better than a fortnight ago. All those who have not sided with terrorism know they have strictly nothing to fear from the Israeli planes, on the contrary! One example: last night the restaurant where I went to eat was jammed full and I had to wait until 9:30 pm to get a table. Everyone was smiling, relaxed, but no one filmed them: a strange destruction of Beirut, is it not?
Of course, there are some 500,000 refugees from the south who are experiencing a veritable tragedy and who are not smiling. But Jean [Tsadik. Editor's note], who has his eyes fixed on Kfar Kileh, and from whom I have learned to believe each word he says, assures me that practically all the houses of the aforesaid refugees are intact. So they will be able to come back as soon as Hezbollah is vanquished.
The defeat of the Shi'a fundamentalists of Iranian allegiance is imminent. The figures communicated by Nasrallah's minions and by the Lebanese Red-Cross are deceiving: firstly, of the 400 dead declared by Lebanon, only 150 are real collateral civilian victims of the war, the others were militiamen without uniform serving Iran. The photographic report "Les Civils des bilans libanais" made by Stéphane Juffa for our agency constitutes, to this day, the unique tangible evidence of this gigantic morbid manipulation. Which makes this document eminently important.
Moreover, Hassan Nasrallah's organization has not lost 200 combatants, as Tsahal claims. This figure only concerns the combats taking place on the border and even then the Israelis underestimate it, for a reason that escapes me, by about a hundred militiamen eliminated. The real count of Hezbollah's casualties, that includes those dead in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek and their other camps, rocket and missile launchers and arms and munition depots amounts to 1,100 supplementary Hezbollah militiamen who have definitively ceased to terrorize and humiliate my country.
Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I pray that no one puts an end to the Israeli attack before it finishes shattering the terrorists. I pray that the Hebrew soldiers will penetrate all the hidden recesses of southern Lebanon and will hunt out, in our stead, the vermin that has taken root there. Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I have put the champagne ready in the refrigerator to celebrate the Israeli victory.
But contrary to them - and to paraphrase Michel Sardou [a French singer. Translator's note] -, I recognize that they are also fighting for our liberty, another battle "where you were not present"! And in the name of my people, I wish to express my infinite gratitude to the relatives of the Israeli victims - civilian and military - whose loved ones have fallen so that I can live standing upright in my identity. They should know that I weep with them.
As for the pathetic clique that thrives at the head of my country, it is time for them to understand that after this war, after our natural allies have rid us of those who are hindering us from rebuilding a nation, a cease-fire or an armistice will not suffice. To ensure the future of Lebanon, it is time to make peace with those we have no reason to go to war against. In fact, only peace will ensure peace. Someone must tell them because in this country we have not learnt what a truism is.
Note :
[1] Michael Béhé is alluding to the book Le Horla, by Guy de Maupassant [Editor's note].
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0.7/410 - Release Date: 8/5/2006
125 - Lumpy
Wow. That Behe article is dynamite and pretty much deep-sixes the efforts of all the hezbollah apologists i've seen on here.