“Run off crying.” I’d surely like to see what Brave Sir Roger here would do in a similiar situation. I’m sure after you cleaned the feces from your underwear you’d take up arms and fight, right?

I am 100% for this operation, as well as think it would be detrimental to stop now (which may end up happening if the US gets involved if this is not resolved in a week), just leading Hezbollah to believe they won. Regardless though, of everything, politics or not, religious or not, the main concern I have is for the loss of innocent life, Israeli or Lebanese. I have a sour sentiment towards Israel right now (if you could not have told from my first post) because they seem to be the ones killing the majority of civilians, but then again there is also a cause behind these killings that is just unlike Hezbollah.

Lebanon has just become a puppet for Syria and Iran to use on the front against Israel.

It is not that I am out of touch with anything I am just a peace jockey that feels like the Lebanese should be given a little more respect even if they got themselves in to the situation. My approach might be a little awkward, and I am timid to take it at times knowing that it will just get shut down, but once again to just reafirm myself, in my first post I was not trying to defend or make justful the Hezbollah. It was just me trying to parallel the fact that Israel needs to be careful in this effort and not just end up driving more Lebanese to join the HA efforts or get Syria and Iran involved like Iran is hoping.

Hezbollah in Lebanon are firing rockets into Israel, et. al. Lebanon says that they are a state. Hezbollah will not change; they are irredemiable. Ergo, the government of Lebanon has the responsibility to remove Hezbollah–either on their own, or by bringing in outside help. (Both ways are compatible with sovereignity, and nothing to be ashamed of getting outside help, given all that Lebanon has been put through.) Since Lebanon did not stop the attacks, they give up the right of sovereignity in that area, and Israel can respond in whatever way that Israel thinks works best for it. As an enlightened people, the Israelis will do the best they can with Lebanon’s people as well, but not too far at their own expense.

Now, if you (or your quoted Lebanese) want to claim that Hezbollah has redemiable qualities, that’s fine. To the extent that Hezbollah builds hospitals, participates peacefully in politics, etc. that is an internal Lebanese matter. *HOWEVER*, that doesn’t change the fact the freaking Hezbollah are committing an act of war against another nation. It’s not enough to say, “well, we might co-opt them if giving enough time.” Bzzt, sorry! Time ran out on the co-opt option when the IDF kidnapping/rocket barrage started. If anything, this makes it even more egrarious, “Hey, we have some pull, Hezbollah is getting better.” “Really, we can’t tell any difference in the murdering Hezbollah scum from our end?” Lebanon can’t take responsibility for Hezbollah on the left hand while absolving themselves of it on the other, 1/3 minority support or not.

Hezbollah is the one hiding behind the innocents, and they are the ones that started the firing. They are the ones responsible for the deaths of innoncents. And before you can pin any secondary blame on the Israelis for that, you’d better take a look at all the people that have enabled Hezbollah, one way or the other.

“True coward” pretty much defines terrorists, Bill Mayers famous comment notwithstanding. I know that’s not what you meant, but it’s what you should have said.

Ok, so maybe Lebanon disobeyed UN resolutions and did not remove Hezbollah from its southern regions, but how could they be expected to when they were supported by at least a minority of the population (which I doubt was a minority since the Hezbollah are a Shi’ite organization, and Lebanon is 40% Shi’ite) as well as their hold on politcal seats. Sinior has publicly stated he can not under his own accord remove Hezbollah from his country.

So here is where you stop and say, “well now Israel is taking care of the job”. Israel getting involved is playing right into the Syrian supporters (although I still believe we still have leverage with Assad) and Ahmadinejad hands, and this is why they need to be cautious this is just an excuse for Iran to get involved with Israel.

It is people like you who are expecting the war-torn, weak, and now bombarded people of Lebanon to stand and fight against the armed Hezbollah and there mighty supporters. No the true cowards here are not the ones running for safety, abandoning all hope while at least trying to get the support of an already supportive global community, they are the ones killing the innocents. I am not against this operation at all, Hezbollah is a terrorist organization (maybe not with as radical a platform as Hamas), and they deserve to be planted. However Israel should never have target so many civilianized areas even if the terrorists were hiding amongst them, we are seeing signs of things going in the right direction for the first time today in my opinion as Israel finally enters Lebanon by foot.

END OF RANT

I recently found this post on a latte Lebanese blog:

“And for your information, Hizbollah, regardless of its ill feelings towards Israel, has the backing of one million shiites, not because of their ideological extremism, but because of the social and economical welfare they have provided to people who have been trapped under your occupation forces for many years, and people who had always been underdogs of the lebanese diaspora. In other words, we have a powerful armed political and ideological party that has the support of one third of the lebanese population. One whole third. Talk about presence and leverage. Any attempt of the remainder two thirds that don’t necessarily support HA or subscribe to its agenda to forcefully disarm it or abolish it from the political scene would have broken out into a civil war. And I am pretty sure you are aware of our sentiments towards internal conflicts, having just stepped out of one devastating one a decade plus ago.”

Hezbollah is their proxy and with that they kept a tight rein on Lebanon.
One only had to see the Lebanese President on TV yesterday shouting ” Ich bin ein Hezbollah”.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=

2006-07-18T180844Z_01_OLI848020_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-IRAN-HIZBOLLAH.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

The Shiite jihadis are becoming equally a threat it appears. If we fail to recognize this conflict is substantially wider than a mid east conflict, we are indeed blind.

[split link to stop from going too wide.-roger]

The Syrians actually, up to now, where doing OK. They lucked out. They dropped the high overhead and bad press of occupying Beirut/Lebanon, but kept Hezbollah, the south and kept whacking away at the Jews. Not to mention business had vastly improved with the renewal of Beirut.

Of course, I hope, the Israelis will wipe the floor with Hezbollah. Syria will do nothing and lose face, for a while. As much as the Lebanese are caterwauling, the Israelis are solving a problem for them. Hezbolla is/will be weakened, some force will become a buffer, the blind Doctor of Syrias world just got a little smaller. The EU, one by one, sees the Iranian Mullahocracy as it is. Saudi Arabia, Egypt sends crackers for comfort. President Bush isnít answering the phone. My lawnís cut and lunch is cold beer as it is too hot and muggy in New England to eat. The Red Sox have the best infield in my lifetime. I love America. Go Israel!

Coisty,

“Ironically things were probably better for Israel when Syria was in charge.”

Short term, maybe. Depends on whether you count relatively low-grade but persistent terrorism better than the violence that accompanies lancing the boil. Ultimately, when allowed to drag out, people start focusing on mistakes by the cops. See above.