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IIRC this sort of "episode" was discussed earlier in the "iraq" thread, or somewhere..
Conc had a good post, which was a nice change to reading much of the other trife in here, basically its not a "simple" conflict, as these cases in the ME usually arent.
Those of you who see it as Israel should just bomb the bejesus out of lebanon need to pull your head out of your asses and start thinking, that wont "solve" anything, conversely it'll add to anti-semetic feeling, and will ultimately create more of the "terrorists" and new Hezbullah will just spring up from the cracks, far from ideal.
Im not going to "preach" about what is an ideal solution, because to be honest im not that deeply vested into Hezbullah to offer one that is actually "feasible" to all parties.
Sure, Israel could stop what they are doing and try to negotiate it out with the Hezbullah, because inevitably they would probably come to some sort of monetary agreement for a "short term" ceasefire, but again that wont "end" terrorism in and around Isreal.
I also don't understand why so many of you are pointing the blame squarely on Lebanon and the Lebanese government, you have to understand that althought the Lebanese government is "flaky", it has just recently gained sovreign indepenence, and as such it doesnt really have an "established" government in place.
You should also understand that for many Lebanese people and Arabs in general (not all, but id be willing to say the majority from what i know and from whom I have discussed the matter with) do see the Hezbullah as some sort of "freedom fighters" rather than terrorists, quite simply do to the fact that Hezbullah and Hezbullah alone were able to gain independance for Lebanon, sure it wasn't "pretty" or "traditional" warfare, but they prevailed where the Lebanese "army" failed, this has earned them some mad street cred in the streets of the Mid East, nor is that sort of credibility isn't forgotten over night.
So, while many civilians aren't "directly" supporting Hezbullah (i.e. monetary aid, or via supplying them arms), they are supporting their cause, which is just as important.
Syria, another country that cant exactly parade around its impeccable credentials, is however a bit of a understated powerhouse in the Mid East, it has a well enough equipped army, has ties to most if not all of the "big money" states in the region, and believe it or not has the very real capacity to be a royal pain in the ass in the Israeli backside if it felt so inclined.
I say this because there is a very real possibility that Syria will mobolize its army, which in turn WILL (there are no ifs and or buts about this) start the money cogs from KSA, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Jordan etc, and much of this will "slip through the cracks" and fall smack bacng in the hands of the Hezbullah militia, which is a scary thought....
Militants smart bombs...
Now i don't know how real the threat is that the Hezbullah will get their hands on any significant technilogical advancements, but with the black market around the corner and huge deposits coming in, it could very well happen.
On the flipsyde (tihiii) of that is The Nation Of Determination (Israel), who for some reason seem to try and resolve absolutely everything with nothing but muscle, sure it may be a deterrant, but what most people seem to fail to realize is that its "opposition" isn't running scared of the fact that they have more fighter jets than the average mutt has fleas.
Militants arent found by F16 or laser guided cruise missiles fired from a temple in jerusalem on easter, finding Hezbullah militants is much harder than that, and as such "levels" the playingfield, that "level" could be tipped over if the militants aquire something truly powerful and are able to slip with it into Israel.
its a scary time for ME stability, first, this whole Oil Quest by Captain Bush, which has already put Western popularity in an all time low in the ME, now this?
No wonder westeners are getting the jitters in "safe haven's" like the UAE, its just a matter of time till something happens there, especially now that the crisis is hitting so close to home, many lebanese and syrians reside in the UAE, and if things escalate, and the US really decides to back their pony, things could look quite grimm indeed.
-----------------------------------
In closing, I condemn both sides for what they are doing, but i dont see it as a "simple case" of bombing the animals back to the proberbial stonage, nor do I see it as a case of Israel is in the wrong and should give up, sure, Israel seems to have some misconstrued conceptions of what it is trying to achieve, since alienating even more of the Arab world wont help its quest for peace.
Again, the US had a chance to "better" its public image in the ME, which it seemed to thumb its nose at, and instead decided to back its partner from the get go, its not like it wasnt forseeable that it would do so, but had it taken a slightly more political start in trying to resolve the problem, it may have helped itself avoid some problems in the future, (this is purely speculating however, so incase it doesnt happen, dont frag me) particularly because it may fuel the fire of many people who dont feel strongly about the Hezbullah, but do have very strong Anti-US feeling into choosing the "lesser of two evlis", especially knowing that the Hezbullah have stood up to Israel before with what many regard as "great" effect.
--------------------------
why do I always have so much to say on ME'n topics?
Conc had a good post, which was a nice change to reading much of the other trife in here, basically its not a "simple" conflict, as these cases in the ME usually arent.
Those of you who see it as Israel should just bomb the bejesus out of lebanon need to pull your head out of your asses and start thinking, that wont "solve" anything, conversely it'll add to anti-semetic feeling, and will ultimately create more of the "terrorists" and new Hezbullah will just spring up from the cracks, far from ideal.
Im not going to "preach" about what is an ideal solution, because to be honest im not that deeply vested into Hezbullah to offer one that is actually "feasible" to all parties.
Sure, Israel could stop what they are doing and try to negotiate it out with the Hezbullah, because inevitably they would probably come to some sort of monetary agreement for a "short term" ceasefire, but again that wont "end" terrorism in and around Isreal.
I also don't understand why so many of you are pointing the blame squarely on Lebanon and the Lebanese government, you have to understand that althought the Lebanese government is "flaky", it has just recently gained sovreign indepenence, and as such it doesnt really have an "established" government in place.
You should also understand that for many Lebanese people and Arabs in general (not all, but id be willing to say the majority from what i know and from whom I have discussed the matter with) do see the Hezbullah as some sort of "freedom fighters" rather than terrorists, quite simply do to the fact that Hezbullah and Hezbullah alone were able to gain independance for Lebanon, sure it wasn't "pretty" or "traditional" warfare, but they prevailed where the Lebanese "army" failed, this has earned them some mad street cred in the streets of the Mid East, nor is that sort of credibility isn't forgotten over night.
So, while many civilians aren't "directly" supporting Hezbullah (i.e. monetary aid, or via supplying them arms), they are supporting their cause, which is just as important.
Syria, another country that cant exactly parade around its impeccable credentials, is however a bit of a understated powerhouse in the Mid East, it has a well enough equipped army, has ties to most if not all of the "big money" states in the region, and believe it or not has the very real capacity to be a royal pain in the ass in the Israeli backside if it felt so inclined.
I say this because there is a very real possibility that Syria will mobolize its army, which in turn WILL (there are no ifs and or buts about this) start the money cogs from KSA, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Jordan etc, and much of this will "slip through the cracks" and fall smack bacng in the hands of the Hezbullah militia, which is a scary thought....
Militants smart bombs...
Now i don't know how real the threat is that the Hezbullah will get their hands on any significant technilogical advancements, but with the black market around the corner and huge deposits coming in, it could very well happen.
On the flipsyde (tihiii) of that is The Nation Of Determination (Israel), who for some reason seem to try and resolve absolutely everything with nothing but muscle, sure it may be a deterrant, but what most people seem to fail to realize is that its "opposition" isn't running scared of the fact that they have more fighter jets than the average mutt has fleas.
Militants arent found by F16 or laser guided cruise missiles fired from a temple in jerusalem on easter, finding Hezbullah militants is much harder than that, and as such "levels" the playingfield, that "level" could be tipped over if the militants aquire something truly powerful and are able to slip with it into Israel.
its a scary time for ME stability, first, this whole Oil Quest by Captain Bush, which has already put Western popularity in an all time low in the ME, now this?
No wonder westeners are getting the jitters in "safe haven's" like the UAE, its just a matter of time till something happens there, especially now that the crisis is hitting so close to home, many lebanese and syrians reside in the UAE, and if things escalate, and the US really decides to back their pony, things could look quite grimm indeed.
-----------------------------------
In closing, I condemn both sides for what they are doing, but i dont see it as a "simple case" of bombing the animals back to the proberbial stonage, nor do I see it as a case of Israel is in the wrong and should give up, sure, Israel seems to have some misconstrued conceptions of what it is trying to achieve, since alienating even more of the Arab world wont help its quest for peace.
Again, the US had a chance to "better" its public image in the ME, which it seemed to thumb its nose at, and instead decided to back its partner from the get go, its not like it wasnt forseeable that it would do so, but had it taken a slightly more political start in trying to resolve the problem, it may have helped itself avoid some problems in the future, (this is purely speculating however, so incase it doesnt happen, dont frag me) particularly because it may fuel the fire of many people who dont feel strongly about the Hezbullah, but do have very strong Anti-US feeling into choosing the "lesser of two evlis", especially knowing that the Hezbullah have stood up to Israel before with what many regard as "great" effect.
--------------------------
why do I always have so much to say on ME'n topics?
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