Isreal calls kidnappings an Act of war, Naming Lebanon

Fock it, blow the shit out of them too. They're tag teaming Israel.

Time to find out how well the US fights on 3 fronts.

I don't recall Lebanon really having much go on lately with Israel to cause problems.. and now that they see Israel attacking Gaza over 1 soldier.. now they're going to push for it?

I like the statement the Israeli member said, "We can set Lebanon's clock back 20 years." Now that is a statement worth it's weight in gold.

Israel is getting bullied right now.. fock talking. Start focking sh it up, talk later.

Previously, I was all for Israel dealing with Gaza and what not.. Now I'm all for America going in to give some backup and presence to show that this is unacceptable..

Fock the UN also.. they make Piddy look useful.

Ahh my mistake. I was thinking that was Syria they buzzed.

The US cites Hezz as a terrorist organization. Being that we're leading the fight against terror I strongly feel that the US should make some form of presence there, whether in aid, supply, info, etc. This fight shouldn't be left to Israel..

Though, Israel really isn't in Iraq right now nor Afghanistan eh? Maybe I just changed my stance.

Hezbollah is a Shiite terrorist organisation with fundamentalist links to Iran; their goal is to create an Islamic fundamentalist state in Lebanon.

I'm taking some interest in watching what unfolds next and its a trifle early to gauge exactly where they're going to go with this.

Swapping prisoners will encourage more kidnappings. It's bullsh it. I'm sorry your in your current location with this going on.. but it's flat out an act of war.

I would like to know that if I were in the military and kidnapped, the US military would leave no stone unturned searching for me.

Fuc*k...

I just got a news flash that Hezbollah is trying to move the capture Israeli soldiers to Iran.

i agree that kidnappings aren't going to get anything done, i personally have no sympathy to hezbalah although there are many in the country who do, i think what israel is doing is overreacting, although, if they do this once to "show what they can do" i think they are right to do so, but if they do this everytime a soldier or two get kidnapped (although if they did, i'm pretty sure it would make terrorists think twice before kidnapping), it's a little extreme. however, i agree that it needs to be done, although too many civilians have already been killed and i don't know how long it's going to go on for.

suppose a foreign soldier was kidnapped by the US (just as an example), would it be justifiable to attack the US in order to get to a soldier or two? would destroying american infrastructure get those hostages released? i definitely wouldn't think so.

i'm just hoping that what their doing is a one time affair. if after they destroy the runways again after they are repaired, then they are digging to the center of the earth to get to a penny.

Ara

You make a good point.


Let's sit idle and let these people consistently kill innocent people, on their terms, while we slap their hands and put embargos on them.. like not giving them free food, health care, etc.

Typical Russian stance.. since of course, your country benefits from this conflict while others suffer.

All options on the table.. go to war, don't occupy (Sun Tzu) and let them learn to rebuild. Don't need to kill or destroy, only hurt.

Obviously, negotiations aren't working because of resorting to kidnappings isn't helping the situation.

Curious.. what do you suggest happens?

Israeli soldier kidnapped from a guard station.. it was an attack on Israeli forces, not Israel going after them.

Hez crossed the border, attacked IDF out of no where, killed 7/8 and took 2.

You're saying they're over doing their attack? I don't think so. I don't think they're over using force. They're pissed off.

Time was given to the PA to return the kidnapped soldier. Fair enough, maybe additional time should have been warranted but examples are being made.

With Hez taking a soldier, completely uncalled for immediate military action is exactly what I would have expected. They did this and I see no fault in Israel trying to protect itself. These people crossed the border to attack Israel. IDF forces were doing nothing at the time to cause this.

Sit back and do nothing.. let them kill your citizens here and there and really do nothing about it.

How many kids were killed in that school incident? I'd rather be on the offensive 'blowing shi t up' than have that happen.

Keep on the offensive. Keep them at bay.

If the PA handed over the soldier, I have no doubts that Israel would pull out. Israel shouldn't swap prisoners because nothing would be solved in that matter.

They want war.. give it to them. People are going to die but we might as well have it all out right now.

A couple years of war and I think all parties will be willing to come back to the table seriously and want peace.

Be it 2 years or 10 years. Let's get it over with.. it has to happen, people have to die to get this solved.

No it wouldn't.

The number of our soldiers sacrificed down there made (makes) a lot of Russians very angry. Instead of "precision" bombing or (something a lot of people wanted to see happen) carpet bombing, they sent in grunts to do all the work of stabilizing and policing the region.

the point at which i thought they went far was when they bombed the airport runways - yeah, suppose hezballah uses it (i'm not convinced they consistently do), but so do 100,000's of civilians and tourists, the port blockade however, i do understand.

so why doesn't israel bomb every plot of land hez. has ever walked on? and every plot one of it's members has ever looked at?

what they should do is send ninja assasins and get the big dudes

anyway, i personally am hoping it doesn't escalate into all-out war, because this is my homeland and also that i have many relatives and friends here. (as do people in all warzones)

Ara

Right... the reasoning behind Israel bombing the airport runways, bridges, and ports was to prevent Hezbollah from moving the soldiers.

With Lebanon "strongly" denying they're trying to move the prisoners, you can be certain they really are. Moving the soldiers to Iran would no doubt be a very smart and strategic move. Suddenly Israel would have to start dealing with Iran.

yeah, the tankers are in flames

i'm hearing rumors that their going to bomb border crossing posts, that just raises the hair on my neck because i'm staying about a 5 mins drive away from one of these, (they say it'll be bombed between 11pm-1pm local time).

and as for the soldiers, the potential is there that they are already out of the country

@riser:

there is this feeling of being very alert, although i am in a place that the israelis would have absolutely no reason to bomb (an armenian village/town) i can still hear sonic booms and some bombs last night (took out the beirut-damascus bridge), i personally don't think the israeli's would do anything they don't see fit, but when the runways are dead, why did they bomb the fuel depot at the airport? if the runway is quickly fixed, they can just bomb it again.

what is the point of attacking the bridges and other stuff to make them take longer when they aren't actually doing any ground searching (as far as i'm aware).

america vetoe'd some decision by the UN that israel was using disproportional force on the argument that the "statement is unbalanced", that pissed me off to be honest

the feeling i can generally find is "why are they doing this?" and that they are using excessive force.

one thing i don't want to happen is for the people to be trapped inside the country, that would be at the point at which they are extreme, trapping 4-6 million people (i'm not sure on the population) in order to stop terrorists transfering, that is just abusing power.

Ara

The answer to this is quite simple from my perspective. They want Lebaniese citizens such as yourself to put internal preasure on your govt. to drive out Hezbollah...In order to make Isreal stop...Your Govt. signed a pact to do just that more than 10 yr's ago but hasn't acted upon it one little bit...

...*moos to the opinionated, intolerant snorkius*...

you mentioned that they want to make the people pressure the government, this is theoretically possible, however, if the government tries to get rid of hezbollah, then the country could fall into civil war once again. the reason why is because ~25% of the population support hez., and the army is probably superior to hez. by weaponary (including tanks and such) but there i don't think they would win against them due to terrorist style tactics (hit-and-run, kidnappings, threats, suicide bombings and whatnot)

@king:

i pressed your reply button, sorry about that, but i am in a place that israel would have no reason to bomb, it's a village which has no connections to hez. or their supporters and is far from major infrastructure. there was a highway (to get to the syrian border) that was bombed this morning which i heard, but it was about 10 km away.

my "holiday" (i come to lebanon every year for holidays and am a citizen) may be ending a little shorter then expected, but we're not sure yet.

i heard that in damascus (where people are fleeing to) there is no more room in hotels and stuff so some people are sleeping on the streets. :!:

Ara

The answer to this is quite simple from my perspective. They want Lebaniese citizens such as yourself to put internal preasure on your govt. to drive out Hezbollah...In order to make Isreal stop...Your Govt. signed a pact to do just that more than 10 yr's ago but hasn't acted upon it one little bit...

Israel is totally isolating Lebanon, which is why they are bombing the airport, they don’t want anyone coming or going for several reasons. One is to put pressure on the government to go after Hezbollah as well as turning the majority of the people against Hezbollah. I don’t think for a minute that most Lebanese are terrorist or support terrorism. On the other hand, I understand Hezbollah provides a lot aid through social service programs plus some of their political ideas are certainly appealing to the average person. While they’re a terrorist group, they are also a political party. They’re also isolating Lebanon in order to prevent as many terrorists as possible from the leaving the country, they have a pretty good idea where the major Hezbollah strongholds are. They also want to prevent supplies and fighters from entering.

Another interesting questions is what is the US’s role in all this? It certainly takes some pressure off the US and Iraqi government because Al Qaeda as well as some of the other insurgent groups will have to send resources to Hezbollah as well as the Palestinian fighters. It also shifts more of Syria and Iran attention away from Iraq to Lebanon. I think Lebanon and Hezbollah are far important to all of the above than destabilizing Iraq.

Why does all this matter, oil. If the Middle East didn’t have oil, the US as well as much of the rest of the world would care as much and do as much as they’re doing in the various areas of Sub Sahara Africa where exactly the same stuff is going on, nothing.

I just don't think the rest world really cares that much about Isreal's existanse or any other country's existense for that matter as long as their disappearance doesn't affect them. In addition, I don't think you can understand anything going on in the Middle East if you don't factor in oil. Obviously, oil doesn't explain everything but it is certainly always a factor. I certainly think Isreal has a right to exist. On the other hand, I'm tired of and fed up with endless violence and all the various extremists in the area and no country including Isreal is an innocent. While unforrtunate, I think the violence has to play out and it will lkely take decades because every country in the Middle East as well as Islam, with the exception of Isreal, has to come to grips with the demands of modernization. While there are some significant differences, the same process played out in Europe several centruies ago including the religious wars.

Are You fookin serious?? :?
If this is your outlook it's the most bleak I can imagine...

Also remember this is mostly based on religous fundimentalisim with the major players being ruled by religon , not economic or strategic concerns.

Remember Religon has no borders.....



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I agree it is a bleak outlook but I look at the genocide and civil wars in parts of Africa and don't see anywhere near the concern being shown in the Middle East. And part of this tragedy is being fueled by religion but there are nationalistic, economic, political, and class issues as well. While the border of countries does not necessarily bind religions, political leaders use it as justification for their actions. I'll grant some of the leaders really do believe in the religion they expound but many are just cynically using religion for their own ends.

iranian bombs that lebanon used as well, i think its going to get worse as time progresses, and then wait for israel to bring the ground forces through with our old tanks.

Lebanon isn't fighting. Hezbollah is. It's not Lebanon using Iranian weapons.

Any good army brings their bridges with them...