Israel-Hezbollah War

[Arch]

One of the American's viewpoint:





http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribun ... 72222.html

Who started this war? Even G-8 powers, some Arab states agree

By Ed Koch
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

It's long been said that when war comes, truth is the first casualty. War has come to Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. Let us remember the truth about how this war started.

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists dug a half-mile tunnel into Israel, killing two Israeli soldiers and taking one prisoner. The Israeli army responded by counter-attacking the Gaza Strip, which is now ruled by a Hamas government. Since its recent election to power, the Hamas government has not only refused to recognize the State of Israel, it has restated its goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with a single Islamic state running from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Hamas will not recognize any prior agreements made by Arafat with Israel. The Hamas regime has publicly endorsed the use of terror — the killing of Israeli civilians in Israel — to achieve its goals.

Israel is now engaged in destroying the ability of the Hamas government to achieve those goals. Israel is seeking to make it as difficult as possible to wage a war of terrorism against Israel, including the firing of missiles into Israel. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has entered the Gaza Strip from which it had totally withdrawn, having painfully removed every Israeli and destroyed every Israeli settlement in Gaza, leaving that area, which was occupied in biblical days by the Philistines and, their champion, Goliath.

The Western world in different degrees has responded with an understanding of the need for Israel’s response to Hamas’ acts. President Bush has from the beginning of the hostilities repeatedly said, “Israel has a right to defend herself. Every nation must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent life."

A second front was opened on Israel’s border with Lebanon on July 11th, with Hezbollah crossing Israel’s border killing eight Israeli soldiers and taking two soldiers prisoner. Hezbollah has rained more than 1,000 missiles down on Israel, inflicting 24 deaths and 300 casualties. Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government having several cabinet ministers and 13 members of parliament. Hezbollah has been ceded by the Lebanese government the right to control southern Lebanon and its border with Israel. The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened before and during these latest hostilities the destruction of the State of Israel.

Israel began its war against Hezbollah warning the President of Lebanon that if the Lebanese government would not or could not carry out its international responsibility to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel from Lebanon, Israel would do the job for them.

To the surprise of many observers, the members of the G-8 meeting in St. Petersburg issued a unanimous statement supporting Israel’s right to self defense, stating in part, “The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace. In Gaza, elements of Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israeli territory and abducted an Israeli soldier. In Lebanon, Hizbollah, in violation of the Blue Line, attacked Israel from Lebanese territory and killed and captured Israeli soldiers, reversing the positive trends that began with the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, and undermining the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict. The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.

It is also critical that Israel, while exercising the right to defend itself, be mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions. We call upon Israel to exercise utmost restraint, seeking to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure and to refrain from acts that would destabilize the Lebanese government.

The most urgent priority is to create conditions for a cessation of violence that will be sustainable and lay the foundation for a more permanent solution. This, in our judgment, requires:

# The return of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon unharmed;
# An end to the shelling of Israeli territory;
# An end to Israeli military operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza;
# The release of the arrested Palestinian ministers and parliamentarians.”

Israel is seeking to break the back of Hezbollah through the use of its air force, not wanting to send in ground forces, to the extent it did in 1982 when it become bogged down in a land war. Whether terrorist bases can ever be totally destroyed without the use of ground forces is doubtful. Israel is culturally part of the Western world. Syria and Iran are cited by all observers as the sponsors of Hezbollah. Many observers have publicly stated that Hezbollah would not have begun this attack on Israel without those countries’ agreement and material support. Surprisingly, according to The New York Times on July 17th, “..some Arab nations, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, were joining in the criticism of the attacks committed by Hamas and Hezbollah.”

The enemies of the Western world in this war of civilizations are the Islamic fanatics. Those fanatics number hundreds of millions. They truly believe they have the right to kill all infidels. Sometimes, the fanatic warns us in his own words. Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in 1925 in which he told the world of his plans. A recent leader of al-Qaeda, the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, spoke openly of his beliefs, “Killing the infidels is our religion, slaughtering them is our religion, until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute.”

Take them at their word. Hitler meant what he said. So do the Islamic fanatics. Unlike the Western world, where we love life, the Islamic fanatics love death, what they refer to as martyrdom, killing the infidel — Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims of different sects — and being rewarded with 72 virgins and a prominent place in heaven.

They believe that we Westerners do not have the inner strength to withstand them. They believe that if they behead their victims, disembowel prisoners, torture them beyond recognition, we will surrender or at least provide them with a temporary victory by cutting and running. We did, in fact, do exactly that in Somalia when our soldiers were killed and literally dragged through the streets attached by ropes to a vehicle. Recently in Iraq, two American soldiers were taken hostage. This past week, the terrorists played a tape showing the body and severed head of a disemboweled American soldier. The other was tortured beyond recognition. U.S. television channels said the sight was so awful that they would not show the video on their stations.

What is the answer? We must be resigned to fighting this war of civilizations for as long as it takes, and it will take years. We have to be as tough as it takes without violating the internationally accepted rules of war. And, when any of our soldiers intentionally violates those rules, they must be held accountable. When those on our side accidentally violate those rules in fear of their own lives by overreacting, we should not immolate ourselves with flagellation. Based on past actions, we are far more scrupulous then these enemies of our civilization.

Yes, Americans and other Westerners, Christians, Jews, Hindus and a majority of Muslims love life, and I am glad that we do. We will not convert, we will not pay tribute. We will fight to defend our freedom and our way of life, and we will win.

There will be a ceasefire in the current hostilities, but the war of civilizations will go on.

[Arch]

PALESTINE FACTS- ISRAEL 1991 TO PRESENT- ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH



http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_lebanon.php

What happened between Israel and the Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon since 1991?

After Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the PLO were driven out and had to relocate to Tunisia. After Israel's withdrawal of its main body of forces from Lebanon in June 1985, a small residual Israeli force and an Israeli-supported Lebanese militia were left in a "security zone," a 15 km wide strip of land paralleling the border, a necessary buffer for Israel against attacks on its northern territory.

The situation in Lebanon is closely tied to Israel's ongoing dispute with Syria. About 35,000 Syrian troops, ubiquitous spies and interference in domestic affairs made Syria the de facto ruler of the area after the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990. The guerrilla war waged by Hezbollah against Israel in southern Lebanon is the heart of Syria's strategy to reclaim the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau that overlooks the Sea of Galilee, under Israeli control since the end of the Six Day War in 1967. Syria hoped that Israel would tire of trying to control Hezbollah's attacks and would eventually agree to return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for peace on its northern border. Israel also envisioned a withdrawal from Lebanon within the framework of a peace agreement with Syria.

In mid-2000 Israel withdrew its troops from the security zone in South Lebanon, ending the almost 20-year operation there. Hezbollah guerrillas then turned their attention to the disputed claim for the area called the Sheba'a farms (or Shaba or Chebaa) at the junction of the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah renewed attacks on Israel over their contention that the area belongs to Lebanon. Israeli maps, verified by the United Nations, show the territory as part of Syria which lost it along with the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day War. Using the Sheba'a farms dispute as a pretext, Hezbollah continues to attack Israel across the northern border.

In March 2002, Hezbollah terrorists used a collapsible ladder to get over the electronic security fence on the Lebanon border without tripping any alarms. They then carried out a murderous shooting attack against motorists near Kibbutz Matzuva in the western Galilee, in which six Israelis were killed and seven wounded.

After the start of the Israeli Operation Defensive Shield ("Homat Magen" in Israel) against Palestinian Arab terrorists in March 2002, Hezbollah increased cross-border attacks against Israeli positions along its northern border with Lebanon and near Sheba'a farms.

[Arch]

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview ... 0&rel_no=1

The Central Council of Jewish Communities in Finland recently released a statement that notes:

"Now, when Israel is finally exercising its legitimate right of self-defence against these perpetrators, the labeling of this action by the Presidency as a vicious circle of violence is as accurate as labeling the fight between arsonists and the fire brigade analogously."

Does a country have a fundamental right to defend itself? Is Israel defending iitself? When and who decides that there is something called 'the response in right proportaion'? Was it right of India to have reacted the way we did after the mumbai bombings? How many times is it right for India to keep giving the other cheek for the sake of peace in the region? If Pakistan or Bangladesh were to have bombed as blatantly as Hamas and Hizbollah did the Isreal and killed and kidnapped their soldiers, should we be still saying, 'we need to talk?' Would all the countries that are asking Israel to show restraint will show restraint if their own country were to have been attacked similarly?

[Arch]

Are the Muslim countries dividing based on sunnis and shiites?



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/ ... Power.html

Friday, July 21, 2006 · Last updated 9:24 a.m. PT

Arab world deeply split over fighting

By SALAH NASRAWI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

CAIRO, Egypt -- The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah exposed divisions across the Arab world, not only between Shiites and Sunnis but also between Arab governments and their citizens.

Key Arab allies of the United States, predominantly Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, fear the rising power of Shiites in the region: Hezbollah militants who virtually control southern Lebanon, Iraq's majority Shiite government, and - most worrisome - the Shiite theocracy that has run Iran for decades.

Yet many ordinary people, Sunnis as well as Shiites, are cheering the Lebanese guerrillas because of their willingness to stand up to Israel.

Sitting in the shade as he sold figs in downtown Cairo, Hasan Salem Hasan, a 25-year-old Sunni, summed up a prevailing attitude of the so-called Arab street: "Although Hezbollah is a Shiite party, we are all Muslims, and all Arabs will defiantly support them and fight the Jews."

On the one hand, predominantly Sunni Arab states are tacitly encouraging the destruction of Hezbollah, concerned it could stage attacks and create militant cells outside of Lebanon. There is also fear that militant Sunnis could join with Hezbollah - as the Palestinian militant group Hamas has done - to build a super terrorist network.

"Whenever there is a paramount cause which can bring them together, such as a jihad against the Zionists, they will be united," Gamal Sultan, editor of the Cairo-based Islamic monthly Al Mannar Al Jadid, said of the Sunni and Shiite militants.

Yet on the other hand, Arab governments also fear their own populations will turn on them if they look weak and unable to challenge Israeli aggression against a fellow Arab state.

Saudi Arabia - the bulwark of the Sunni Arab world - has tried to balance both concerns, criticizing Iran and Hezbollah for provoking Israel but also condemning the Jewish state. Israel started bombing south Lebanon, Hezbollah's base, after the guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers July 12.

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The Saudi foreign minister, Saudi Al Faisal, on Tuesday blasted what he called "non-Arab intervention in the Arab world" - a clear reference to Iran, Hezbollah's main backer along with Syria.

Saudi media were even more outspoken.

"We are facing a fierce Iranian offensive against the region. We see that clearly in Iraq where Iran is becoming the major player and in Lebanon through its agent, Hezbollah," columnist Mishari Al Thaydi wrote in the Saudi-owned London-based Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.

Yet on Thursday, Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud lashed out at Israel for its punishing airstrikes.

"We cannot tolerate Israel's playing with the lives of citizens, civilians, women, the elderly and children," he said after meeting with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris.

Other Sunni Arab leaders fear that growing Shiite power in Lebanon and Iraq will awaken Shiite minorities at home.

In April, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak angered Shiite leaders by saying Shiites across the Middle East were more loyal to Iran than to their own countries.

Former Jordanian information minister Saleh al-Qalab has described Hezbollah as an Iranian "land mine" in the Arab world. And Jordan's King Abdullah II warned of a Shiite crescent forming in the region.

Some blame Washington's Middle East policies for upsetting the region's sectarian balance.

"The whole problem started with the American invasion of Iraq with the cooperation of Shiites," said Mamdouh Ismail, an Islamic activist and lawyer who defends Muslim militants in Egyptian courts. "This will certainly resonate throughout the whole region, in the Gulf ... in Saudi Arabia," he added.

Yet events in Lebanon have further mobilized the Shiites across the Muslim world and, if Hezbollah survives the current Israeli onslaught, the sect stands to become even stronger.

In Iraq, the Hezbollah-Israel conflict has proved a rallying point for Sunnis and Shiites otherwise riven by sectarian violence.

On Thursday, Iraqis staged an anti-Israel protest with banners reading "Shiites and Sunnis unite" in the city of Samarra, where the bombing of a Shiite shrine in February brought the country to the brink of civil war.

Earlier this week, about 4,000 Iraqis answered the call of Shiite clerics to rally in the holy city of Karbala in protest of Israeli attacks, raising Iraqi and Lebanese flags.

In Iraq on Friday, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Sunnis and Shiites to unite so Muslims could defeat Israel - even without weapons. He predicted the Jewish state would collapse just as the World Trade Center did in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We promise you all that we will not forget our people in Lebanon despite our suffering from the American occupation. I will continue defending my Shiite and Sunni brothers and I tell them that if we unite, we will defeat Israel without the use of weapons," he said.

"I want to remind you of a very important thing. The collapse of the World Trade Center towers in America" was almost five years ago, al-Sadr said. "The same way America's idol collapsed, another idol will fall, and it is called Israel."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - a Shiite - also condemned the Israeli destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure.

"I call on the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression," he said.

On Tuesday, thousands of Shiites demonstrated in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain in support of Hezbollah, two days after some 300 prominent Saudi Shiites wrote to the Bahraini government urging support to the Lebanese Shiite group.

Both moves were seen as an assertion of increasing Shiite solidarity across the Arab world.

Adding to the Shiite power base, the sect's faithful share a coherent religious view. Since splitting from their Sunni brethren in the 7th century over who should replace the Prophet Muhammad as Muslim ruler, they have developed distinct concepts of Islamic law and practices.

They also dominate by sheer number: Shiites account for some 160 million of the Islamic world's population of 1.3 billion people. Shiites account about 90 percent of Iran's population, more than 60 percent of Iraq's, and some 50 percent of the people living in the arc of territory from Lebanon to India.

btw, how many shiites and sunnis do we have in India? wahabi and sufi are other sects of islam in india, right? what is the total muslim population in india?

[Arch]

The kids were Israeli Muslims in Nazareth and they were killed by one of the bombs that landed and killed them..and this is what the parents who lost their kids say about the terrorist who was the reason for their childrens' loss !



Is this misplaced patriotism or brotherhood or simple unity?



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/ ... Arabs.html

Nazareth residents blame Israel for attack

By BENJAMIN HARVEY

Israeli Arabs, relatives and friends of brothers Mahmoud, 4, and Rabiah Talussi, 8, gather prior to their burial, at the family house in the northern Israeli-Arab town of Nazareth, Wednesday July 19, 2006. Hezbollah rockets slammed into Nazareth, on Wednesday, killing the two young Muslim brothers as they played outside and wounding 18 other people, Israeli authorities said.

NAZARETH, Israel -- About 60 men gathered under a black tent in this Arab Israeli city Thursday to drink bitter coffee, accept condolence visits and mourn two young brothers killed by a Hezbollah rocket the day before.

Many in this town did not blame Hezbollah for the deaths, holding Israel responsible instead. Some expressed support for the Lebanese guerrillas - underscoring the divided allegiances of Israel's Arabs.

"I'm not angry at anyone, this is all from God," said Abir Talussi, the father of 4-year-old Mahmoud and 8-year-old Rabiah, who were killed as they played in the street.

"It's war, and we are stuck in the middle," said his brother, Omar Talussi. "All the world knows the reason, everybody knows."

Another mourner chimed in: "It's Israel's fault."

"That's it," Omar Talussi said, wiping his hands in a motion of disgust.

Many Arabs here, who are Israeli citizens, feel they are involved in their own low-level fight with Israel.

Though they make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, their towns often get less development money than comparable Jewish areas and their average incomes are usually far less than those of the general population.

Many Israelis consider the Arabs a fifth column allied with the country's enemies, while many Arabs feel the country's Jews would just as soon push them out.

Nazareth, where scripture says Jesus grew up, is the largest Arab city in Israel. Two-thirds of its 70,000 residents are Muslims, with Christians making up the rest. Few believed Hezbollah, the Islamic group that has been raining hundreds of rockets across northern Israel, would have intentionally attacked them.

"This is not Israel. This is Nazareth," said 36-year-old Ayman Besher.

"Everybody knows it was an accident," said Afif Zidani, who acted as a translator for the grieving family.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah expressed regret in an interview on Al-Jazeera TV Thursday, saying he apologized to the family and considered the children martyrs.

"No one here is mad at Hezbollah," Zidani said. "Nobody."

Nazim Abu Salim, the Muslim cleric who addressed the mourners, seated on plastic chairs in a parking lot, said the radical Islamic militia is Lebanon's protector - a far cry from official Israel's description of the organization as a terrorist group that provoked Israel's nine-day-old bombing campaign in Lebanon by kidnapping two soldiers in a cross-border raid.

"Hezbollah belongs to Lebanon," Abu Salim said. "They are the sons of Lebanon, the heart of Lebanon. Not like America says, they protect Lebanon from these evils."

People in Nazareth's downtown tourist district, near the Basilica of the Annunciation, where Christians believe the Angel Gabriel foretold the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary, were more guarded in their language but expressed similar sentiments.

"Nobody will tell you (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah is a killer," one man said, refusing to give his name. "Ask. No one here will tell you he's a terrorist."

[mango]

I think that its tragic that hebollah, along with its handlers in iran and syria has decided to use lebanese civilians as cover while launching hit-and-run attacks upon israeli citizens. i totally support the israeli military actions.. but i think they need to be more swift in stopping the barrage of rockets into their territories.



i don't see this getting any better before getting worse. if israel is attacked by either syria or iran, the united states military will be involved and that would brind the other giants such as china and russia into the war. the uk and most of conservative europe (not very much exists) would also be dragged into this war which could flare up into WWIII.



i know that thats a taboo subject to touch upon, but i just see this as WWII again. there are things that are worth enough that a lot must be sacrificed.. and this depends on what a person holds dear.



i'd like to digress a bit from the post made by the topic starter and pose another question: what is worth fighting for? as in, sacrificing your time, effort, money, family and maybe even life. what would you say is the last straw before you believe that something drastic needs to be done and are willing to DIY?

[indiabo]

well arch have got some really interesting piece of journalistic wirk with good opinion results.



The topic of israel and arab world is well studied, analysed and documentated.



What makes me anti israel is its birth. the way it was founded. it must be giving vibes that i am pro arab world which i am not.



Israel birth at its first place is a show of brutal invasion by force. Since israel is existant country.world acepts it so do i . Now you analyse it that israel always uses the iron fist against palestine. there is so much of killing. on only one basis of religion only religion jews are bought from far places from all over the world even from kerala to inhabitat in the occupied lands. which is called as settlements. and pushing powerless people into camps.



About the immediate crisis i dont have any supporting opinion but do feel bent towards the innoscent lebonan who's land is being used by two different party to wage war against IDF.







one s

[Arch]

What makes me anti israel is its birth. the way it was founded. it must be giving vibes that i am pro arab world which i am not.

Israel birth at its first place is a show of brutal invasion by force. Since israel is existant country.world acepts it so do i .

Some of the sources about birth of Israel that I refered to, indiabo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... _and_Judah

Early history

The Mousterian Neanderthals were the earliest inhabitants of the area known to archaeologists, and have been estimated to date to c. 200,000 BCE. The first anatomically modern humans to live in the area were the Kebarans (conventionally c. 18,000 - 10,500 BCE, but recent paleoanthropological evidence suggests that Kebarans may have arrived as early as 75,000 BCE and shared the region with the Neanderthals for millennia before the latter died out). They were followed by the Natufian culture (c. 10,500 BCE - 8500 BCE), the Yarmukians (c. 8500 - 4300 BCE) and the Ghassulians (carbon dated c. 4300 - 3300 BCE). (Note that not one of these names appears in any classical sources, and were all devised as conventions in recent times by archaeologists, to refer to the lowest strata of remains.)

The Semitic culture followed on from the Ghassulians. People became urbanized and..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel#His ... recordings

Historical roots

See also: Kingdom of Israel

The earliest known mention of the name 'Israel', probably referring to a group of people rather than to a place, is the Egyptian Merneptah Stele dated to about 1211 BCE. [4] For over 3,000 years, Jews have regarded the Land of Israel as their homeland, both as a Holy Land and as a Promised land. The land of Israel holds a special place in Jewish religious obligations, encompassing Judaism's most important sites — including the remains of the First and Second Temples, as well as the rites concerning those temples. [5] Starting around 1200 BCE, a series of Jewish kingdoms and states existed intermittently in the region for more than a millennium.

Under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and (briefly) Sassanian rule, Jewish presence in the province dwindled due to mass expulsions. In particular, the failure of the Bar Kochba Revolt against the Roman Empire resulted in the large-scale expulsion of Jews. It was during this time that the Romans gave the name Syria Palaestina to the geographic area, in an attempt to erase Jewish ties to the land.[6] The Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud, two of Judaism's most important religious texts, were composed in the region during this period. The Muslims conquered the land from the Byzantine Empire in 638 CE. The area was ruled by various Muslim states (interrupted by the rule of the Crusaders) before becoming part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517.

Zionism and Aliyah....

[V]

Where do you stand ?

[mango]

Where do you stand ?

im assuming thats a question for me.. i think that hezbollah woke a sleeping giant when they decided to kidnap israeli soldiers. its unfortunate that lebanese civilians are being killed in the process, but they are actually being warned before israeli air raids. this is war, and there will be casualties. however, i dont think israel is going to go after syria or iran - both of which are the root of this terrorist activity.



i think that this will continue and syria, if it is not smart, will launch an attack against israel (with either conventional or chemical weapons) which will draw the US and its allies into a war with syria. this would automatically pull iran into the was (assuming that until this point, iran had done nothing with a flag).

there you have the beginning stages of a world war.

[V]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has accused Hezbollah of coordinating its abduction of two Israeli soldiers last week with Iran, enabling Tehran to divert attention away from its nuclear program.



"Unfortunately this Iranian trick succeeded," Mr Olmert said in a statement.



"The G8 decision focused on Lebanon and did not deal with the Iranian issue," he also said, referring to the meeting of G8 leaders in St Petersburg.



The recent crisis erupted when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others last week in a cross-border raid.



Mr Olmert reiterated he would not negotiate with Hezbollah and said it was too early to talk about a new international force to stabilise Lebanon.

[V]

A senior Northern Command officer told Ynet Wednesday that IDF ground forces are operating deep inside Lebanese territory and against the 15-20 Hizbullah positions along the border with Israel.





AL-Jazeera reported that the Israeli Air Force struck two trucks in Beirut’s al-Ashrafiyeh quarter, marking the first time the IDF has operating against targets located in the capital’s center.





Military sources said warplanes attacked structures in which Hizbullah stores its money; among the targets hit were the four el-Mal (Money house) buildings in Bint Jbeil, Nabatiyeh, Baalbek and the Tyre area.





In addition, the “Shahid Fund” financial office in Beirut was also attacked by IAF jets, as were buildings used for Hizbullah financial operations in the capital.





The attacks are aimed at hindering Hizbullah’s ability to recuperate following the conclusion of the IDF operation in Lebanon.





Overnight ground forces also entered west Lebanon, north of Shlomi and Rosh Hanikra, to clear the area of Hizbullah outposts and create a new security situation along the border. Earlier this week IDF forces destroyed two outposts in the northern part of the Rajar village.



Officers said that the army aims at weakening Hizbullah by dealing a blow to his military capability.





"Hizbullah is amazed by the amount of information Israel has, which has led to great destruction of his capabilities," an officer said.

[V]

Now........ If i am posting such articles........... what do you suppose my point of view is ????

[mango]

well, unless iran is a couple of months away from producing a nuclear weapon, it doesnt really matter. the most conservative estimates are atleast 5 years so its irrelevant whether it was done to distract the world's attention. if anything, their nukes will be destroyed by israel, just like the iraqi reactor back in the mid 80s.



what about yourself?

[mango]

Now........ If i am posting such articles........... what do you suppose my point of view is ????

pro israel

gj gj

[V]

well, unless iran is a couple of months away from producing a nuclear weapon, it doesnt really matter. the most conservative estimates are atleast 5 years so its irrelevant whether it was done to distract the world's attention. if anything, their nukes will be destroyed by israel, just like the iraqi reactor back in the mid 80s.

what about yourself?

my friend it is not 5 yrs, it is 2 yrs to the max.

check your sources again.



Yes there will be a IIIWW soon enough, if things are not controlled soon.

[mango]

my friend it is not 5 yrs, it is 2 yrs to the max.
check your sources again.

Yes there will be a IIIWW soon enough, if things are not controlled soon.

well, how CAN things be controlled?

and where'd you get the 2 year max number?

[V]

my friend it is not 5 yrs, it is 2 yrs to the max.
check your sources again.

Yes there will be a IIIWW soon enough, if things are not controlled soon.

well, how CAN things be controlled?
and where'd you get the 2 year max number?

it is up to Hezbollah to lay down its arms, stop attacking and release the 2 Israeli soldiers........... this should help in controlling the matter.



2 yrs max number comes from BBC, DC......... and a site too......... when i recollect the site name i will post it.

[V]

anyways........ its not abt IRAN.............. its abt Israel-Hezbollah War.



so lets continue with that.

[V]

and anyways............ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a son of a b**** and it will be he who will be the reason for IIIWW.

[tfb]

It seems people here are content and eager to absolve the bombing party if it lets the victims know of the bombings five minutes before the bombings and then goes ahead and bombs the exit routes.



Worse you will be bombed if you are on the road, in the hospital, in the schools , in the dairy farm , in the power plant , in the house basically everywhere.



Coming to the abudction of the soldiers , I wonder how so many people intentionally overlooked such vital info, that the soldiers were kidnapped on the lebanese side of the border.Its a preplanned war.



http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG15Ak02.html

It's war by any other name
By Sami Moubayed



Both pro and anti-Hezbollah arguments are valid, depending on where one stands today in the Arab world.

It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory.


Apart from all of these facts, everything gets muddled in Lebanon. Israel announced on July 13 that two rockets had landed on Haifa from Lebanon, as Hezbollah had promised, but Hezbollah denied the accusation.

If Hezbollah did not fire the rockets, however, who did? Is it a fabricated story being used by Israel to launch more offensives into Lebanon, because minutes after the story was revealed, and despite Hezbollah's denial, Israel jets raided fuel tanks at Beirut airport.
The question on everybody's mind is: why is all of this happening now? Apart from the soaring emotions and reminders of trumpeting Arab nationalism of the 1960s, it is sheer madness for anyone to believe that Hezbollah would be able to defeat, or even inflict maximum pain, on Israel - and get away with it.

Too much is at stake inside Israel for Olmert to let the offensive pass without transforming it into all-out war. In October 2000, right at the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in Jerusalem, Hezbollah did a similar stunt by kidnapping Israelis in Lebanon.

At the time, prime minister Ehud Barak refused to seriously push for their release, fearing that opening another front against Lebanon, while the Israelis were busy combating the Palestinians at home, would only endanger Israeli lives. Five months later, Barak was voted out of office, in March 2001, for a variety of reasons, prime among them being his passive response to Hezbollah.

So, is anybody influencing Hezbollah to dramatically escalate the conflict? Has Hezbollah coordinated these attacks with Hamas inside Palestine, believing that the time was ripe since relatively new and inexperienced leaders were now in power in Israel (in reference to Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Olmert)?

Never before has Hezbollah carried out such a massive offensive, not even during the heydays of the Syrian presence in Lebanon in the 1990s when most of south Lebanon was still occupied.

What makes it believe that this time - with the tense international situation - it can get away with it? Ultra-nationalists in Hamas, like the Damascus-based Khaled Meshal, have certainly supported the Lebanese group, injecting them with confidence and prompting them into "defiance" mode.

[V]

it seems people here are content and eager to absolve the bombing party if it lets the victims know of the bombings five minutes before the bombings and then goes ahead and bombs the exit routes.

Worse you will be bombed if you are on the road, in the hospital, in the schools , in the dairy farm , in the power plant , in the house basically everywhere.

Coming to the abudction of the soldiers , I wonder how so many people intentionally overlooked such vital info, that the soldiers were kidnapped on the lebanese side of the border.Its a preplanned war.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG15Ak02.html

It's war by any other name
By Sami Moubayed



Both pro and anti-Hezbollah arguments are valid, depending on where one stands today in the Arab world.

It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory.


Apart from all of these facts, everything gets muddled in Lebanon. Israel announced on July 13 that two rockets had landed on Haifa from Lebanon, as Hezbollah had promised, but Hezbollah denied the accusation.

If Hezbollah did not fire the rockets, however, who did? Is it a fabricated story being used by Israel to launch more offensives into Lebanon, because minutes after the story was revealed, and despite Hezbollah's denial, Israel jets raided fuel tanks at Beirut airport.
The question on everybody's mind is: why is all of this happening now? Apart from the soaring emotions and reminders of trumpeting Arab nationalism of the 1960s, it is sheer madness for anyone to believe that Hezbollah would be able to defeat, or even inflict maximum pain, on Israel - and get away with it.

Too much is at stake inside Israel for Olmert to let the offensive pass without transforming it into all-out war. In October 2000, right at the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in Jerusalem, Hezbollah did a similar stunt by kidnapping Israelis in Lebanon.

At the time, prime minister Ehud Barak refused to seriously push for their release, fearing that opening another front against Lebanon, while the Israelis were busy combating the Palestinians at home, would only endanger Israeli lives. Five months later, Barak was voted out of office, in March 2001, for a variety of reasons, prime among them being his passive response to Hezbollah.

So, is anybody influencing Hezbollah to dramatically escalate the conflict? Has Hezbollah coordinated these attacks with Hamas inside Palestine, believing that the time was ripe since relatively new and inexperienced leaders were now in power in Israel (in reference to Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Olmert)?

Never before has Hezbollah carried out such a massive offensive, not even during the heydays of the Syrian presence in Lebanon in the 1990s when most of south Lebanon was still occupied.

What makes it believe that this time - with the tense international situation - it can get away with it? Ultra-nationalists in Hamas, like the Damascus-based Khaled Meshal, have certainly supported the Lebanese group, injecting them with confidence and prompting them into "defiance" mode.

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tfb says...........

Coming to the abudction of the soldiers , I wonder how so many people intentionally overlooked such vital info, that the soldiers were kidnapped on the lebanese side of the border.Its a preplanned war





WHO told you this tfb ????

Do you know someone who is fighting there shoulder to shoulder with the Hezbullah ???

If not, then how can you trust the media which works only on crap ?

No CRAP........No MEDIA



and about this link of yours http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG15Ak02.html



i see that the writer is just another fanatic... who is talking positively and showing sympathy for the hezbullah.................... its so very obvious. Can't you see.



Just bcoz your brothers are getting killed there and you are feeling the pain here............ you talk such non-sense.

[tfb]

So much for the biased moderators to delete my post and stil keep V's, anyways V had asked that a chinese media source http://www.atimes.com is not worth trusting, this brings us to a point where you are saying that not all media surces are trustworthy, which is a good benchmark becuase people have a tendency to take it for granted and not question whatever pleases them in the media.



As for another reference to the story mentioned.Here's the link from forbes.com(American Source) with the same exact story. You claiming that I am pained to see my brothers being killed gives me an insight into the fanatical mind of yours, I would have done the same things had Hindus being killed too, I am trying to have a contsructive dialouge here and you are resorting to name calling.



Calling me supporter of pak because I quote from forbes.com shows the last stage one reaches in a debate and runs out of ideas. Branding people anti national is a last of resort.



Here's the link again.



http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ ... 73051.html

The militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes Wednesday across the border in southern Lebanon, prompting a swift reaction from Israel, which sent ground forces into its neighbor to look for them.

The forces were trying to keep the soldiers' captors from moving them deeper into Lebanon, Israeli government officials said on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli military would not confirm the report.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called an emergency Cabinet meeting and said Lebanese guerrillas would pay a "heavy price" for Wednesday's attacks.

"These are difficult days for the state of Israel and its citizens," Olmert said. "There are people ... who are trying to test our resolve. They will fail and they will pay a heavy price for their actions."

[V]

i guess tfb will soon opt for going to Lebanon and start fighting against the Israelis.



Just like his brothers had thought to do, when America went on war with Iraq.

So many brothers of tfb from our country and from the world around, were ready to go to Iraq and fight against the Eagle head and they had even started training themselves..........Pathetic isn't it



Soon we will be seeing no more of tfb.





btw........... did someone really go there ????

tfb....... you know anyone ?

[mango]

so tfb, you're accusing israel of launching its missiles upon itself?