Hezbollah Takes Southern Lebanon Hostage
In an unprecedented move, the Israeli Defense Forces have released sensitive intelligence information about the situation in southern Lebanon (available at the IDF blog). Hezbollah forces have taken over more than a hundred villages to store their heavy artillery, and their command posts are near schools and hospitals.
This represents a major shift in strategy for Hezbollah since 2006, when they stored most of their weaponry away from habitations, as befits any army that claims to want to protect its own people. But the IDF hit most of their supply in the first days of hostilities.
Hezbollah improvised by hiding behind civilians in order to shield themselves from attack while they fired at civilian targets in Israel. In a notorious incident, when an Israeli missile hit the foundation of a building near Qana in early 2006, Israeli spokeswoman Miri Eisen apologized profusely for the incident — which the media turned into a ghoulish production — assuring the world that if Israel had known that there were children in the building, they never would have fired at it.
The unintended results of this open and overriding concern for the safety of Lebanese civilians, combined with the almost addictive need on the part of Hezbollah to target Israel at any cost, has produced the current situation in which Hezbollah has essentially taken the civilians of southern Lebanon hostage. Behind the shield of these civilians, any of whose deaths the media will lay at the feet of Israel, this fanatic Shia militia has assembled an army of some 20,000 soldiers and some 40,000 short-, medium-, and long-range missiles, some hundred of which can hit Tel Aviv. In the case of renewed hostilities, these encampments would be capable of sending over 700 rockets a day into Israel.
In this context, it’s worth remembering the Francop, the ship laden with arms from Iran sent to Hezbollah and intercepted by the IDF. There were roughly 10,000 rockets found on the Francop, two and half times the number of rockets fired at Israel during the 2006 summer war.
We gain glimpses of the costs of this process over the last four years. In August of the same year, villagers attacked some Hezbollah operatives and tried to kick them out of the village. Their concerns were confirmed in the village of Tayr Filsay in October 2009, when one of the weapons store houses blew up. Hezbollah cordoned off the area to remove the rest of the weapons before they would let the Lebanese army or UNIFIL in to inspect.
The Israeli authorities chose to reveal this information even at the risk of some undesired disclosures about their intelligence capacities. (No army wants to let the other know what they know about them.) This move clearly took aim at both the UNIFIL troops — whose new commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas received a copy — and UN authorities in New York, where a delegation arrived this week with the evidence. The move coincided with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Ki-moon’s recent comments on the tensions in Lebanon placed the blame on Israel for complaining about Hezbollah’s behavior but did not criticize Hezbollah’s illegal arms build-up itself — a classic expression of appeasement syndrome.
How refreshing to hear the truth – again. Let us hope that someone chisels this in concrete so that the media can look back on it and accept it for being the truth.
Never in modern history has the truth been ignored like it has been in the last few years – especially when it is about Israel.
I think the IDF and Israel are learning how to use the media to their advantage.
Journalists should all be asked to swallow a truth capsule before going off on their anti-zionist and anti-Israel rants.
Imagine a media world exposed to the “truth”. Wow, thugs and terrorists would be portrayed as the manipulators of the truth – their true identity.
Oh, I wonder if the Lebanese government will now evacuate all civilians from southern Lebanon, or will they play the victim card too!
I should hope that the IDF does a better job in Lebanon than they did in 2006. The Israeli public and reservists were angered by the chaos that ensued in the IDF during the operation.
“It’s worth remembering the Francop, the ship laden with arms from Iran sent to Hezbollah and intercepted by the IDF. There were roughly 10,000 rockets found on the Francop, two and half times the number of rockets fired at Israel during the 2006 summer war.”
Funny how you heard almost nothing, and I mean nothing, about this in the main stream media when it happened. I saw a few reports on FOX News, but didn’t hear anything else. And you certainly didn’t hear the “much vaunted” United Nations mentioning, let alone condemning, this blatant act of war. Just a lot of silence.
Contrast that with the Islamist ships that tried to run the blockade. How much international publicity did they get? And it may be worth asking, were the blockade-running ships used as a diversion while actual arms-carrying merchant ships pulled into port in Lebanon? Why didn’t anyone ask that question? Did anyone bother to check and see if any merchant ships pulled into Lebanon the same day as the blockade incident, especially if the ships headed into Lebanon were originally from Iran? It’s a questions at least worth asking, isn’t it?
It’s sad the bias that’s being used against Israel, especially in this country. And why anyone would want to portray a bunch of animals like Hezbollah in a sympathetic light is way beyond me. Their use of innocent civilians as shields shows just how pathetic and cowardly they really are. The United States fought these same type of animals in Iraq, when we had to deal with al Qaeda using Iraqi civilians as shields. Mark my words, the day will come when the United States will have to fight Hezbollah, either because of a general confrontation with Iran or because of some major attack against either Israel or the United States. Americans had better start learning more about this enemy we will evetually have to face.
Dear Dr. Bones,
The honourable and learned Rear-Colonel (and wannabe Kiddiemaster) ought to decide against whom he is jihádin’ before he goes to it.
Even inside the monkey house, to lump together the God Party of Lebanon with what malignant selfservative kiddies ordinarily mean by “the MSM” might be questioned — it’s a bit like supposing the Tel ’Avîv statelet relentlessly threatened by an alliance of, say, Eskimos and pianists.
Considered as hormone-basin’, though, rather than as analysis, the Landesque neobaloney does kinda make sense: after all, everybody who is not himself Narcissus Dexter can be classified as a vile Antinarcissist. There is no requirement that any two fiends resemble one another in any point other than simply not bein’ Master Narky.
Perhaps in the hot weather you will find it a relief to look at that cartoon of “Snoopy and the Icicle of Doom,” wherein the brain disease of militant extremist selfocentricity is admirably diagnosed. There is also the Sinfonia Antarctica of RVW.
Bomby days.
Really great stuff. In the service of your anti-Semitism, the grip of Iran and Syria over Lebanon via the Hizbollah simply doesn’t exist. Let me guess – by trying to protect northern and central Israel from these jihadists, Israel is merely ‘serving the agenda of the New World Order, which it controls.’ Close?
The Plastic Keys of the Basiji come to mind. Your response is as murderously loony as the big brothers of the Hizbollah in Iran.
Helen Thomas approves.
Lebanon, until its civil war, was a very tolerant, cosmopolitan country. How could anyone who wants to be known as coming from there actually like what Hezbollah has done to that country. Unless they are more upset that a state of Israel exists.
A copy of this should be sent to every Congressman along with a CD showing proof of all of the propaganda Hamas and Hezbollah both spit out. The fauxtography included. The truth about the Gaza flotilla included. Cover page needs to be an assessment of how our knowledge of such things puts us in a superior position and it would behoove us to use this knowledge the way informed governments do — and vis a vis how Islamic orgs and governments are under- and mis-informed and have never been in a position to know of such things to support THEIR accusations about Israel and America because the only thing they are permitted is Islamic study. All of Islamic peoples money is spent on weaponry and war instead of education and peace because of what their Prophet Mohammad and Koran will only permit.
When need to go on an a major educational campaign for Congress — otherwise they will be blindside and act like liberal idealists dreaming of koombaya under one big happy roof.
I’m sure our local anti-semites will find some way to blame this all on the jews.
“Does the MSM recognize its unconscionable role in this unnecessary tragedy?….Or will they ignore this “non-story,” and then when the rockets fly and civilians die again (accuse) Israel of reckless criminal behavior….?
DUH!
I was a kid watching TV when the Siagon Police Chief “executed” the Viet Cong “prisoner”. I was horrified.`
15 years later I found out the truth, and I was horrified AGAIN because of the realization that I had been duped into actually BELIEVING that media lie for so long. The stunning, stinging realization that GOERBELS WAS RIGHT, you really can mislead honest decent people with propaganda, when YOU control the message.
The media is ALWAYS on the enemy side, ALL the time, PERIOD.
The media will never, ever acknowledge a terrorist organization as a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.
What we (and Israel) need to do us completely ignore them, and ignore the consequences.
Destroy every bunker, mortar tube and missle site, without regard to civilian causalties…if there are just 10, or 10 million civilians killed, the blame will be the same regardless…
The only difference will be, the missles and mortar tubes will be GONE (for now)
This is what international guarantees are worth. We are supposed to take risks & make concessions & we’re told that we’ll have international support & guarantees if we make them. All the guarantees are forgotten five minutes after we make a concession.
All we get are another set of demands.
True, Terry, but don’t forget your own points about our leadership in Israel. Olmert and Livni yielded to 1701, Tsippi wore it as a badge for years after.
Larry in the Silicon.
Don’t get me started on Olmert & Livni.
Anyway, Israeli politicians have built careers on getting conned by the U.S., by the ”international community” (whatever the hell that is), & by the Arabs.
Every time I hear, ”take risks for peace” my head wants to explode.
What’s wrong with taking a risk for war & beating the crap out of your enemies?
God, if only more villagers would attack their local Hezbollah jihadis.
This isn’t about Hezbollah and Israel. Iran is getting very nervous and if they are right about what is going to happen, they want pay back. Look for an attack by Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities. With three American carrier groups in the region, there is something brewing. I don’t know if it will be Israeli or what. But there is too much going on in the region.
A possible scenario would be an Israeli attack and an American defense of the gulf region allies. For sure look for Iran to choke the oil off of in the region.
The next question is, what is Hamas going to do?
Attack Israel from Gaza. Claim innocent bystander/victimhood from Israels response tot he media. That’s the Iranian plan.
On April 20, 2010 the top Syrian diplomat in the USA, Zouheir Jabbour, was called to the State Department. The reason reported to the public was, ” “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the transfer of any arms, and especially ballistic missile systems such as the SCUD, from Syria to Hizballah. ”
Keep this in mind as you read the following-
On June 13th we have a report from the Philadelphia Bulletin , ” The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that Syria has established an arsenal of extended-range Scud-class ballistic missiles along the border with Lebanon.
Western intelligence sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has overseen the accumulation of a huge missile arsenal along the Syrian border with Lebanon. They said the arsenal included Scud C and Scud D missiles, with ranges of 550 and 700 kilometers, respectively. “The Scuds are kept just inside Syrian territory to avoid an Israeli attack,” an intelligence source said.
The sources said the Syrian military has been training the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah to operate the Scuds. They said some of the Scud missile infrastructure has been transferred to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. ”
On June 15 the WSJ reported ” The State Department has dispatched a high-level diplomatic and trade mission to Syria, according to senior U.S. officials, marking the latest bid by the Obama administration to woo President Bashar al-Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran.
The U.S. delegation comprises senior executives from some of America’s top technology companies, including Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp., according to the U.S. officials. All these companies’ businesses in Syria are constrained by U.S. sanctions. ”
My contention is that when , on April 20, the Syrian was called to State it had nothing to do with any complaints whatsoever. It was to give Assads top guy in the US direct access to Obama who, with a wink and a nod, sold Israel out. After all why are the Syrians being rewarded with new economic ties if they are doing exactly what the US complained about?
Now April 20 is an interesting day to make a deal with the devil.
If what I assumed to have happened did indeed occur then millions of Jews were put at risk. I think it would be interesting to know just what time of day the meeting at State, or the White House, took place.
At 10PM central time on April 20 the Deepwater Horizon caught fire.
Obama should have known better than to sell out the Jews on April 20.
That day, as any student of history knows, is Hitlers birthday.
The Fingerprints of The Almighty are all over this one.
SO the almighty is sweeping in and smoking Hussein Obamaa based on the coincidence that the oil rig exploded on Hitrler’s birthday? Why woud te almight want to destroy our wonderful earth and the livlihoods of millions?
http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2010/05/the-prophecy-of-gushing-oil.html
… this is the season for such thoughts. I remember a young lone soldier who was slaughtered by Hizbollah.
One can’t fight Hizbollah if one is young. There’s is a old evil, have to fight them with the wisdom and craft of years.
Who they are:
—-
According to Khomeini, life is worthless and death is the beginning of genuine existence. “The natural world,” he explained in October 1980, “is the lowest element, the scum of creation. “What is decisive is the beyond: The “divine world, that is eternal.”
—
http://www.crethiplethi.com/the-basiji-ahmadinejads-demons/islamic-countries/iran-islamic-countries/2009/
Once again, hiding behind womwn and children. The ‘brave’ muslim fighters, indeed.
The party of the moon god up until 9-11 murdered more Americans than any other terror group.
If it is true America/Israel bomb Iran nuke plants, Israel may not leave a enemy behind it as it moves forward. It would be great if the party of the moon god, and it’s evil little brother Hamas are destroyed at the same time.
Perhaps, this is the reason for keeping the rockets close to schools.
The Media IS the enemy.
They are the ones — the MSM — that bear MOST of the responsibility for causing the deaths of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza — much more so than even Hezbollah and Hamas.
As you said, if the MSM didn’t champion the hiding of arms and firing from behind civilians — It wouldn’t happen!
So many are writing about the bias, lies and omissions of the MSM, but very few take the step to lay the blame for the deaths directly on them — where it belongs.
The MSM stands as the evil Maloch — demanding child sacrifice to feed it’s insatiable appetite for blood.
If more and more writers on the internet and speakers took this up — if it became a major theme — directly laying the blame for the deaths where it belongs — on the MSM — it could be even more than just truth telling — but holds a possibility of forcing them to face themselves. Hoping for their feeling shame would be too much to expect — but it could influence them to change — to some degree.
A headline like the following would be appropriate:
MSM MALOCH MAKES DEMANDS — OFFERS HEZBOLLAH MASSIVE NEWS SUPPORT — ONLY IN EXCHANGE FOR SACRIFICING THE LIVES OF THEIR OWN WOMEN AND CHILDREN –
a war with iran,will take iran 1000 years to recover.