Myths of Lebanon War 2006

[moono]

fong;

You applied the same double standard to Resolution 242, expecting Israel to comply while no one else did

Really ? How can one apply 'double standards' to Resolution 242 ?

 

[ZAMB]

You applied the same double standard to Resolution 242, expecting Israel to comply while no one else did, why wouldn't you apply it to everything else.

Who has double standards here? Israel has yet to comply with more than 60 UN resolutions [AFAIR, though I did post the whole list a few days ago] about Palestine and Lebanon because they have been protected by the US veto.

 

[TeeJay]

Your 'what if' scenario seems to implicitly assume that Hezbollah's attitude would change if they became fully integrated into the democratic process and if their fighters became members of the lebanese army. I see no reason for this assumption.

Not attitude (on an indivudla level) - but their ability and willingness to do anything to put these attitudes into practise.

Being part of a democratic process would make them subject to Lebanese law, so they couldn't simply attack whomever they wanted to, whenever. A soldier who was part of the Lebanese army would have to follow orders or face a court martial. They would not be able to use their weapons to settle personal grudges or pursue their own political agnendas, without falling foul of Lebanese law.

 

[ZAMB]

Five Myths That Sanction Israel's War Crimes

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0725-35.htm

This story definitely belongs on this thread.

 

[TAE]

Not attitude (on an indivudla level) - but their ability and willingness to do anything to put these attitudes into practise.

Being part of a democratic process would make them subject to Lebanese law, so they couldn't simply attack whomever they wanted to, whenever. A soldier who was part of the Lebanese army would have to follow orders or face a court martial. They would not be able to use their weapons to settle personal grudges or pursue their own political agnendas, without falling foul of Lebanese law.

I see what you mean.

 

[TomUS]

Five Myths That Sanction Israel's War Crimes

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0725-35.htm

This story definitely belongs on this thread.

But what a looney story.

In contrast to the image of Hezbollah frothing at the mouth to destroy Israel, its leader Hassan Nasrallah held off from serious retaliation. For the first day and a half, he limited his strikes to the northern borders areas, which have faced Hezbollah attacks in the past and are well protected.

What a nice reasonable guy. For a whole day and a half he only rocketed Israeli civillians that had bomb shelters.

He waited till late on June 13 before turning his guns on Haifa, even though we now know he could have targeted Israel’s third largest city from the outset.

How do we now know this?

Given the indigenous nature of Hezbollah’s resistance, we should not be surprised at the lengths the Shiite militia is going to ensure their loved ones, and the Lebanese people more generally, are not put directly in danger by their combat.

The Lebanese people should be very greatful.

 

[moono]

More than 50% of the Lebanese people are Hizb Allah or supporters. Hey, spread some democracy.

 

[ZAMB]

What a nice reasonable guy. For a whole day and a half he only rocketed Israeli civillians that had bomb shelters.

It's easy to cherry-pick sentences out of articles while ignoring context. And context is all important - unless, of course, like you, you are trying to paint the agressors as the victims and vice versa.

Rather than open diplomatic channels to calm the violence down and start the process of getting its soldiers back, Israel launched bombing raids deep into Lebanese territory the same day. Given Israel’s worldview that it alone has a right to project power and fear, that might have been expected.

But the next day Israel continued its rampage across the south and into Beirut, where the airport, roads, bridges, and power stations were pummelled. We now know from reports in the US media that the Israeli army had been planning such a strike against Lebanon for at least a year.

In contrast to the image of Hezbollah frothing at the mouth to destroy Israel, its leader Hassan Nasrallah held off from serious retaliation. For the first day and a half, he limited his strikes to the northern borders areas, which have faced Hezbollah attacks in the past and are well protected.

He waited till late on June 13 before turning his guns on Haifa, even though we now know he could have targeted Israel’s third largest city from the outset. A small volley of rockets directed at Haifa caused no injuries and looked more like a warning than an escalation.It was another three days -- days of constant Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, destroying the country and injuring countless civilians -- before Nasrallah hit Haifa again, including a shell that killed eight workers in a railway depot.

He retaliated after Israel started to bomb his country to bits - and the comparative casualty count and amount of infrastructure damaged says a lot - not to mention that Israel deliberately bombed buses, cars and ambulances in which people were trying to escape the Israeli bombers. You can call it a looney story if you like - because it doesn't fit your skewed picture of Israel as the eternal victims, but this fact was widely reported in the world's press, not just in the source I posted.

How do we now know this?

Duh, because not all western media is too afraid of the pro-Israel lobby to actually tell the truth about what is happening - I have more than one source for the above. But you just keep your head buried in the sand and keep telling yourself that Israel is the victim here - Bush and Rice, after all, will back you up - if you're prepared to just ignore facts. By the way, there's an orphanage full of Lebanese kids [run by an international charity] trapped in the middle of Israel's bombing zone - and they're too afraid to evacuate, given Israel's policy of bombing people trying to evacuate, but hey, they are only Lebanese kids [not God's chosen people] and it's their own fault anyway for getting in the way of righteous Israeli bombers

 

[TomUS]

It's easy to cherry-pick sentences out of articles while ignoring context. And context is all important - unless, of course, like you, you are trying to paint the agressors as the victims and vice versa.

No need to cherry pick. The writer is trying to paint Hez. as kind of noble & greatly concerned with the Lebanese people as well as it's Shia. Pretty much dismisses the pretty random Hez. rocketing, almost all of which hits civialians. Hes. has no responsibility whatever for what's happening?

comparative casualty count and amount of infrastructure damaged says a lot

This is brought up whenever Israel is fighting someone. All it means is that Israel is more militarily powerful. If Hez. had the capability to do to Tel Aviv what israel has done to S. Beruit, it would happily do it.

 

[ZAMB]

Where were those soldiers captured again?

Sadly, the media has given little or no coverage to Israel’s year-long plans to attack Lebanon, nor to Israeli kidnappings and aggression against the Palestinians. The media’s complicity is even seen in reporting Israeli lies that Hizbullah “kidnapped” two of its soldiers within Israel. No mention is made of the reports that Hizbullah's "capture" of Israeli soldiers took place in the Lebanese village of Aitaa al-Chaab when an Israeli tank made an incursion into Lebanon and was ambushed by Hizbullah forces resisting such incursions. Unfortunately, the media only echoes the Israeli position that tries to justify Israel's action as "retaliation" when in fact it is the aggressor, engaged in State terrorism. The media is also silent about the fact that parts of Lebanon, known as Shebaa Farms, are still under Israeli occupation.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article14204.htm

 

[TomUS]

Where were those soldiers captured again?

Probaby in Israel, although we'll probably never know for sure. But that article is more sillyness...

In the present crisis, both the Hamas and Hizbullah resistance groups have targeted soldiers, which are legitimate military targets, while the Israelis are clearly targeting civilians...

What? The rockets Hamas & Hezbollah are shooting are aimed in the general direction of cities & towns and therefore are being used as terror weapons against civilians.

from April to June 20, Israel launched 7,599 artillery shells into densely populated Gaza causing both death and destruction. Palestinians responded with 479 home-made Qassam rockets causing no deaths at all.

Palestinians only "respond"...Sure. Again an attempt to define good guys & bad guys by how militarily powerful they are-nonsense.

According to Matthew Kalman, Israel’s plans to attack Lebanon had been in the works for over a year

Those plans should have been in the works for several years if the IDF was doing it's job. I'd imagine Hezbolla's war plans were in the works for years also.

The media is also silent about the fact that parts of Lebanon, known as Shebaa Farms, are still under Israeli occupation.

Now that's a great excuse for Hezbollah to attack Israel-about 14 square miles that was probably part of Syria but nobody can agree where it belongs.

 

[sparticus]

Shin Bet Vetoed Secret Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement

http://nafeez.blogspot.com/2006/07/shin-bet-vetoed-secret-israeli.html#links

Blessed are the peacemakers and a pox on those that arrest peacemakers on the way to announce their peace breakthrough at a press conference

 

[Azrael23]

I liked the screams in the corporate media about the dangers of hezbolah getting hold of nuclear weapons from Iran.

Theres disinformation and theres just plain lies!