In his words to the Lebanese Prime Minister about calling upon Israel to limit damage, one assumes Bush was just uttering platitudes. He's good at that. And if he expressed a hope that civilian casualties would be kept to a minimum, he would only have been stating what is obvious: that is exactly what the Israelis have been doing. And the targets they have selected are either in Hezbollah-held territory, or meant to lessen Hezbollah's ability to import and move weaponry around (those airports, those bridges) -- and also to pressure Hezbollah, seen correctly by the Christians, the Druse, and the Sunni Muslims as the source of the problem, to finally deal with Hezbollah as they should, collectively, have done long ago.
Anyone who sees the entire picture, whether sitting it Val di Colle d'Elsa, or in Paris, or in the offices of MI5 in London, or in Mumbai, or in Bangkok, and recognizes what is going on around the world, realizes or should realize that the Israelis are not to be chastised but rooted for, urged to keep going and not to stop. For what they are doing now to two of the entirely fungible, interchangeable Muslim terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, is at least as important as what the Americans did to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, or whatever tiny benefit has accrued to Infidels from the removal of Saddam Hussein. (No benefits have accrued to Infidels from that ongoing and expensive "Light-Unto-the-Muslim-Nations" business in Iraq).
This is a war. The war has gone on, with long intervals of non-war when the wherewithal was lacking, and the need unperceived, since the beginning of Islam. It is the war of Believers against Infidels. It can, but need not, proceed through qital, combat. Other weapons -- the "money weapon" and "pen, speech" and now the demographic weapon, are all available.
The war continues within lands controlled by Muslims whenever and wherever possible. Muslims control Bangladesh, but they still persecute, still drive out, still murder Hindus. Muslims control Indonesia, but they make war on Christians in the Moluccas, in Sulawesi. They make war, when they can, on Hindus, having driven Hinduism back to its sole redoubt of Bali. They make war in Egypt on the sole remaining Egyptians who have remained true to their pre-Islamic heritage (how many of those "Muslim Arabs" in Egypt are really the descendants of Copts forcibly converted, say, in the 12th or 13th centuries?).
And the war now is being waged, in forms less obvious to those who think of "war" as boots and bombs alone, all over the countries of Western Europe. It may not be obvious, because a war conducted through the instruments of Da'wa and demographic conquest doesn't look like "war," even if the final goal is the same as that of the violent Jihad conducted, for long periods continuously, for long periods intermittently, over 1350 years. The highest point of Muslim expansion was marked in the West by the defeat near Poitiers. This was followed, as the tide of Islam receded, by the 700 years of the Reconquista in Spain. In the East, the high point was marked by the two attacks on Vienna, the last in 1683. But Muslims never ceased, when and where they could, to continue raiding parties up and down the coasts of Christian Europe, or on Christian shipping, until the military response of the Christian victims became too vigorous and effective -- as happened in the early 1800s with the so-called Barbary Pirates.
Now the Israelis, who live in a state of maximum peril, and always will, have been forced, and are being required, to inflict such damage as they can to force the enemy to not be quite so wrongheaded in its interpretation of the withdrawal from north and from south. And a sound defeat is needed -- one that Israel keeps being prevented from achieving. The last time it did so was in 1948, when it received no military aid from outside, and the only thing that prevented the Jews of Israel from taking, as they could and should have, all of Western Palestine, was Ben Gurion's belief that, for practical nation-building reasons, it was best to stop where, and when, they did.
They should be encouraged and cheered.
And after that, every effort should be made to encourage them, as well, to come to their senses about the nature of the war against them, the need not merely to be more powerful than the enemy, but to be obviously so, in order that the Arab and Muslim leaders may invoke Darura -- that doctrine of necessity. For that is the only way, in the end, to keep the peace, if that is the goal, in that part of the Middle East, between the Infidel state of Israel, and all those who are commanded to forever wage war on Infidels in order to spread Islam and to ensure that the conditions for the imposition of Sharia are attained, and Muslims rule everywhere.
GO ISRAEL!
Maybe the media just doesn't get it, Israel is dealing with mindless yahoo's that have promised to wipe them off the Earth and yet I'm hearing the usual rants about diplomacy and how Israel's unwarranted response could increase the violence and negate any gains from the Gaza withdrawl.
If Vermont was a Christian Country surrounded by Islamic pro-jihad nations on all the borders, what do you think the people of Vermont would do if they were attacked by the Hamas or Hezzbolah on a regular basis and then after Citizens were kidnapped and murdered along with soldiers taken as a hostage , do you really believe Vermont would worry about Diplomacy or even the risk of more attacks .
If i was in the position of Israel and had to protect my Citizens I would go down fighting and not give those bastards one drop of victory blood to parade POW's via Al-Jezerra .
Live free or die .
Know islam - no peace
"Live Free or Die" - that belongs and always has to Vermont's neighbor, New Hampshire. To this very day, that phrase appears on each and every license plate issued by New Hampshire.
Vermont is the home to the Green Mountain Boys, backbone of the American Revolution. You might recall the name from the Battle of Bennington, the Battle of Saratoga - and even a few way down south in the Carolinas. The Green Mountain Boys still march today, under the same banner. Currently, many of them are serving in Iraq. Some are Green Mountain Girls - including the recent commanding general. (Remember Molly Stark!) And some are from just across the river in the Live Free or Die state, just as they have always been.
Israel for so long has been caught up in a nightmare of propaganda, 'spin' and worldwide tut-tut-tutting that they are punch drunk.
This remnant of the Jewish people on a tiny sliver of their sacred ancestral lands (a land they never left) begging necrophiliac cannibals to acknowledge that 'they exist'? And the world says 'grovel some more'.
Bombing empty Hizbullah headquarters? Gee! I wonder if the washroom attendent was caught by surprise!
They desperately and immediately need to make dead enemies.
If Israel can't stomach inflicting 'collateral' civilian death tolls in the five figures in Hizbullahland, please tell me how they will win?
Thanks, Hugh for this well-written piece. Hizbullah must be vanquished. The head must be cut of the body. It will not solve the conflict, but the remaining Lebanese must understand, you can't divorce the reality of Hizbullah from it's confines. Deal with it or else. Imagine if a the Bronx starting firing rockets against Manhattan. There would come a point where the excuse of hiding among civilians is no excuse. Why should life and easy living be irrefutable facts of life for Hizbullah and Hamas. Should they live in posh homes in Lebanon? On that not, I'm also disgusted how Bin Laden and his 2'nd in command seem to be sending off their video's with more ease, and their conditions seem to be improving! What the fu$k is that about? Perhaps we've been showing too much restraint ourselves.
Israel cannot make "thousands of dead enemies" in Lebanon without killing people who understand Israel, and who might be enlisted to help shake off their Muslim oppressors. One problem seems to be that Israel lacks the fine-grained intelligence network on the ground that they have in Gaza. The iranian rockets are stored in private homes of the terrorists and their supporters. Each and every home with a rocket should be destroyed, but how do you determine which?
Still, as the Iranians have encouraged, or possibly instigated this skirmish in the jihad as a diversionary tactic, the Israelis need to address their most urgent existential threat and cause serious trouble in Iran. Possibly up to and including decapitating the mullocracy.
Another huge mistake: the elimination of the SLA an Israeli Proxy army in Southern Lebanon. Barak withdrew in a hasty manner. Israel's move can be faulted for not being tough enough. She should learn she has a limited window to strike. Days at most. It will be criticized in any event, so why not launch all-out strikes, leaving the Christian areas unmolested. Syria, home of the Hamas leader, should be hit as should the Presidential palace. Iran should also be attacked as she would not see it coming; Iran views Israel as completely limp, a US puppet; this is the ideal time to strike her hard with the immediate justification in response to the rockets and missles that are fired into Israel with the origination in Iran. For Israel to fight for a few days, not dismantle the terrorists and back down under 'world' pressure, does Israel--nor the world any favors. With Muslims, any pressure exerted on Israel by the US will be viewed as a success, emoboldening them even more.
As for Putin asking for measured responses: how about Putin's treatment of the Chechens? I'm told the Russians were not exactly Mr. Rogers! in their dealing with the Chechen Wolves.
Of course any sane person would strongly cheer for Israel to "win" this conflict. Most certainly, Israel will win this battle, but will come after it?
Can this defensive move by Israel ever lead to a resolution of this on-going problem? Obviously, Israel must show force, but it is well known that Israel is infinitely more powerful than its neighbors. In light of that fact, just how much restraint must the nation show? This is the only point of contention today. Should Israel’s retaliation be in kind, greater than, or less than the aggressive move by the enemy? I would argue for reasonable retaliation. No one could deny any country that right. Obviously, if Iran is directly backing the destruction of Israel, reluctantly, the US will be forced to move. I say reluctantly because we are so terribly overstretched now as it is.
An additional problem is the slow erosion of conventional advantage as Moslems purchase (and produce) ever more modern arms. In the future, the only deterrent will eventually no longer be conventional, but nuclear. Since nuclear retaliation can only be done against nation states - and not very close neighbors, one wonders how many more decades will pass before portable (or missiles launched at very short range) devices lead to the unthinkable.
The solution
Can the creation of a Palestinian state ever heal this rift? The Bush administration believes that it will. I too remain convinced that a political settlement represents the best possible solution to this problem for the long term. The creation of a Palestinian state (perhaps after HAMAS’ demise) would help many Moslems-in-name-only by showing a goodwill gesture from Israel. This is especially true if any Palestinian state created has strict provisions completely eliminating Sharia and creating a modern state. The Islamists would see that not as a territorial victory, but a loss. They must be humiliated, not convinced that they have won anything on the battlefield. We would hope that the leaders of such a state (and neighboring states once cleaned of as many extremists as we can find) would squash the radicals (true believers?), but the election of Hamas all but makes that option impossible at the present time. Of course, it is naïve to believe that it will be possible to eradicate all Moslem extremism. However, if such a state were created, it will at the very least show Israel’s desire to make peace at a very great price.
NATO security guarantees would have to be made at long last if Israel made such a move. Any European or North American country – any country for that matter, that does not agree to defend Israel, does not deserve security guarantees of its own from NATO. NATO membership or sub-membership must be negotiated at the same time as any creation of any Palestinian state. (NATO must be expanded to include Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps Ukraine and Georgia.) Acts of aggression against Israel would have to met with force from all allied nations, not just one. The guarantee of force would have to hold neighboring states accountable and list massive retaliation against any states working to undermine Israel, including large-scale destruction. That deterrence would work against non nation state elements since they would know that their countries of origin are susceptible to massive destruction since they acquiesced to their attacks on Israel, which will have already conceded all that it could.
Hugh and others would argue that Islam is not capable of ever stopping the jihad. Hover, they lump all Moslems into the same category of fundamentalist “true believers.” The truth is many Moslem leaders do not take Islam as seriously. Many are Moslems for show, just like so many of our own American leaders are Christians for show. The fact remains that their populations do take religion seriously. . While it is true that radical Moslems would continue behaving as they do, the only pressure that can be exerted is on nation states, not groups. If neighboring states are ever to be truly held accountable for harboring terrorists, not simply pretending to stop them from attacking, there would be hope for a more peaceful ME. For that to happen, a solution must be reached.
I am anxious to see if I am banned for suggesting the creation of this state.
Posted by: Kafir Nonbeliever
Buddy, when you get off whatever you ate, drank, smoked, or injected, I would like to have a conversation.
Kafir, yes there are many intelligent doctors and Lawyers who hail from The west bank of the Jordan River, but do they hold power? are they increasing in their power? Are they respected, or more important, feared. What would the use be of a Palestinian State with a good-willed moderation for identification purposes Muslim titular head who cannot control 'factions' within his territory. Are you aware of the increasing radicalization of Gaza AFTER the withdraw of the Israelis. Increasising resistance and Islamism of the state.
Say you set up this two state solution. What regress would Israel have when(and the only question of course is when)rockets are fired into Israel. Look at Lebanon. You have some obviously intellectually bright Muslim's in the current administration, but what good are they? They cannot even obliquely criticize Hizbullah for fear of their lives. They do not have power to control their own territory. Whatever their motives are is immaterial. What is this--a 'show' state? The attitude is like, "sure we have these crazies in our Southern regions. sure 25 percent of our population(the young, non Christian, reproducing faction)but leave us alone because we are 'moderate' -- of course we do not have control over which missle or Iranian spy enters with god-knows what sort of package, but we are moderate and we are a democracy so leave us alone." This is crap.
They mythology Lebanon many of us pine for is gone, or mostly gone anyway. What is that horrific stastic? 1960 Lebanon 60-70 percent Christian versus 30-40 percent Muslim. Today, 30 % or less Christian and falling fast.
Kafir, also your analysis is a trap which so many have fallen into. Erase Israel or propose a two state solution and you still have a big problem. Given all we see and have seen in the last decade(s), would the elimination of Israel or a viable Palestinian State a. bring peace, b. moderate Islam, c. lead to fewer honor killings, d. lead to improve relations between religions?
I would argue a. such a solution would be viewed as a win for the fundamentalist Muslims. Their power and sway will only further increase, or better put, the rate of increase of their power will steepen, b. The demands of the Islamists will increase. Recall the effect of the Soviet withdraw had on Islam? did it embolden it or weaken it and lead to 3000 dead Americans.
I'm not saying I have all the answers. I don't. I wouldn't bet long on Israel for over the next 50 years. I understand Islam. The petro dollars are hard to fight. Islam is pure menace with nothing to do but reproduce and kill in the name of the turbaned one. I wouldn't bet the farm on Israel, nor would I bet the farm on Europe--a victim of creeping, now galloping Islamic demographic conquest. It is a sad, depressing world we are in. One can easily see rockets coming down in Europe, launched from Muslims in Euro cities. Can anyone with a straight face not see this in the future?
DavidE, what right time. Imagine you are soldiers patrolling your borders and the enemy kidnaps you. Then it launches a limited response(initially) and then the rockets start to fall over your country. You sit and wait, get patted on the head by Putin, Bush and Chiraq and bide your time? Is this a proper message to your foes. Did not America 'incur the wrath of the Islamic street' by invading Kabul, destroying Bin Laden's base, killing innocents in the process and setting up Gitmo to house the refuse whose goal is incinerating as many of us as possible? I'm all for use of tactics and the element of surprise, but when missles hail down on your cities, when terrorists hide among civilians, when your borders are crossed by kidnappers, Israel must, should and will respond.
Finally, Kafir, your notions--many of which I deeply 'wish' to believe could one day be true--might have had some chance 100 or 150 years ago--maybe even 1948 could you have turned back the clock, but today? with the endless, mindnumbing satellite TV broadcasts. Have you ever seen tapes of what is said? With this ceaseless propoganda, the Muslim for identification purposes you sight may be 'in charge' but they are almost paper tigers at this point. There may have been a time for 'the great secular nationalist on the white horse' type of figure to whip up the masses, but now he is no secular. Look at the old white haired Arab Nationalists--some of them communists who are dying out. There may have had their day, but the children today are all Islamists. This glide path therefore is independent of the 'Israeli - Palestinian' conflict. What will the government of Lebanon look like in 15 years or 20 years or 30 years when the Christians are all in the US(hopefully) or scattered within the US. Does anyone seriously feel this will not happen?
Bring Israel to her knees, cut off her aid may win you friends for a day, but with friends like these . . . . This is why I'm so annoyed with Bush's insistance, like religious fervor, that democracy or nascent democracy or whatever is the salvation for the middle east.
"Should Israel’s retaliation be in kind, greater than, or less than the aggressive move by the enemy. I would argue for reasonable retaliation."
-- from a posting above
Who could disagree when someone calls for "reasonable" anything? Who could disagree when someone calls for supporting the "legitimate" rights of anybody? The words "reasonable" and "legitimate" of course need definition, so that we can see what is meant.
But the word here one wishes to focus on is "retaliation." It is not the right word. Israel is not engaged in "retaliation." Israel is engaged in trying to stop a mortal threat to the safety and security of its citizens. In order to understand this, some people must, I think, simply put the word "Israel" out of their heads and instead substitute the name of whatever country they are citizens of, live in. If you are English, imagine that you are not an island, and that from a neighboring country, a large group of men systematically acquires 10,000-15000 rockets and much other equipment, that it systematically trains, and prepares to make war on you, that it holds military parades up and down whenever it wishes, right in the heart of the capital city of that neighboring country, and that this goes on and on without the government of that country lifting a finger, even though it has been given five years to do so, and even though your own country's forces, that once had been in that other country precisely to protect your own country from attack, had removed itself entirely from that other country on the express promise, by the government of that other country, that from now on it would fully police its own borders and make sure that there was no recurrence of the threat that had required you to maintain a presence in that other country in the first place.
The statements from some in Lebanon -- that "we were leading a perfectly normal life" and now this, now "we are being attacked for no reason" etc. are absurd. Those who think, in circumjacent countries, that terrorist groups can simply do what they do, and that is only their affair, in a supposedly sovereign state, and that they can all go blithely about their business and assume that a neighbor, the target of that terrorist group, will simply absorb the threat and the blows and the threats of more blows at any time, are living in la-la-land. Either the Lebanese government, which apparently was able to expel the Syrians, asserts its authority and disarms Hezbollah, or it doesn't. So far it hasn't, and Israel has been doing what it can to protect itself by hitting Hezbollah or Hezbollah-related targets -- related in the sense that these targets, such as airports and parts of the road system, are intimately connected to the delivery of arms of all kinds, to be used against Israel, from Iran and Syria.
If the Lebanese government cannot comprehend that, and cannot comprehend that one of the duties of sovereignty is to prevent others, on one's soil, from at will threatening other states, and working feverishly night and day to carry out those threts, then it is simply irrelevant.
Think of how Jacques Chirac put it just a few months ago, as the excerpt below makes clear:
"The French president, Jacques Chirac, has threatened states which support terrorist attacks on France and its strategic interests, or which contemplate the use of weapons of mass destruction, with retaliatory nuclear strikes. He announced this new definition of French defence strategy on Thursday at the nuclear powered submarine base, Ile Longue in Brittany.
In a major defence policy speech, Chirac said: “The nuclear deterrent is not intended to deter fanatical terrorists. But the leaders of states who use terrorist methods against us, as well as those who consider using in one way or another weapons of mass destruction, must understand that they would expose themselves to a firm and appropriate response on our part. This response could be a conventional one. It might also be of a different kind.”
Among those interests to be protected the president included “the guarantee of our strategic supplies and the defence of allied countries.” In this respect the president is obliged to estimate whether “the extent and the possible consequences of a threat or an intolerable extortion fall ... into the field of our vital interests”.
So Chirac, in mid-January, in Brittany, was threatening to respond to those who would use terrorist methods -- and surely the rockets lobbed not at specific targets but smack into the middle of cities, as Hezbollah has been doing (compare how the Israelis warned everyone an hour before the attack on the airport, and have constantly been warning people in certain areas of the south and of southern Beirut to leave the area) constitute the kind of "terrorism" Chirac had in mind.
Of course this didn't prevent Chirac, or France, from one more hypocritical act in denouncing Israel for its perfectly legitimate acts of self-defense against Hezbollah and Hezbollah-connected targets. But that was to be expected, and that is to be ignored, as is almost everything the French government, held hostage by the viciousness of some of its members, of much of the French press, and of course the Muslim population of which so much of offical France is so unofficially terrified.
What constitutes a "reasonable" response by Israel to the rockets lobbied into Tiberias, Safed, Haifa, everywhere? The "reasonable" response that would be given by France we know --Chirac tells us above. The "reasonable" response of Russia we know -- look at the total destruction of Chechnya for a threat to vast Russia nothing like what Hezbollah means for tiny Israel. We know what Great Britain would do, and we know what the United States would do. Let's not have any nonsense about "disproportionate" force.
What force is "disproportionate"? A force that is insufficient to obtain the legitimate goal: the end of Hezbollah as a military force and threat to Israel. How will we know when the force used is "proportionate"? When the force used is sufficient to obtain that legitimate goal. In other words, when Hezbollah is disarmed, either by Israel, or by Israel and the Lebanese government, or by Israel, the Lebanese government, and others.
That is what constitutes "reasonable" and "proportionate" force.
And if he (Bush) expressed a hope that civilian casualties would be kept to a minimum, he would only have been stating what is obvious: that is exactly what the Israelis have been doing.
............
Just so. I'm amazed that the Israelis apparently held off bombing the suburbs of Beirut (a main Hezzbolla stronghold) so that they could drop leaflets in several different languages warning civilians and giving everyone time to get out. Compare this with rockets falling on Haifa whose very purpose is to cause civilian deaths.
Hugh posted: (No benefits have accrued to Infidels from that ongoing and expensive "Light-Unto-the-Muslim-Nations" business in Iraq).
Under the Light-Unto-the-Muslim-Nations business, Iraq has effectively been taken out of the Jihad group. What I mean here is that Iraq and Iraqis will be too preoccupied for the forseeable future with their internecine war, to be an effective Jihadi nation. The other advantage to come about is that the civil war now raging in Iraq, will drag in other states, as well Jihadis from elsewhere.
Now it is argued that the US + UK intervention in Iraq has destabilised the entire ME as well as the muslim world. The implicit understanding is that a stable ME and muslim world, is in our favour. But I would counter that such stability in dar ul islam allows the Jihad to be carried to Infidel lands. We had to upset this stability and hope a better situation arises.
Israel is I believe the first nation in the world to warn the target of an impending air raid. It is certainly a novel concept in warfare. Neither Britain or the US has ever done this.
Just as we should rally around the Danes when they come under attack we should also rally around Israel now. Israel will show Hezbollah where a jihad will get them..... on a one way trip to HELL!
----Nossy
p.s. check out the statement below from the Simon Weisenthall Center.
“History has shown that for more than half a century, there has been no price to pay for the initiators of terrorism in the Middle East. Only the responders face international condemnation.” – Rabbi Marvin Hier
Dear Nostrodamus ,
I write to you in a time of crisis - the Jewish State is under siege. Alone, the people of Israel are standing up to their greatest challenge in years. Over the last few days and months:
• Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese-based terrorist group, crossed into Israel kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight others. Within hours, hundreds of rockets have rained down into Northern Israeli communities, including Haifa, killing and maiming scores of innocent civilians. This, despite the fact that after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 demanded that Lebanese authorities disarm the terrorist group. Not only did Beirut ignore that resolution, today Hezbollah is in the Lebanese government.
Photo: July 13, 2006 - Rabbi Marvin Hier addressing the crowd of over 1200, who joined in solidarity at the Center’s rally for Israel, led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other community officials.
• Hamas terrorists have fired over 1,000 Kassam rockets into Sderot, a town within Israel’s 1948 borders. They have carried out murderous suicide bombings murdering and maiming innocent Israeli citizens. And they kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldiers all with absolutely no hint of sanction from the U.N. or world community.
You and I and all who care about Israel’s future must act now. Please make an urgent online donation to the Center, because without our swift and vocal activism, the international community will continue to punish and denigrate the Jewish State - even as she has made enormous sacrifices for peace.
The Center is absolutely committed to this just struggle. We are launching a massive campaign to support Israel’s right to self-defense, spread the truth about the situation on the ground in the Middle East, and rally people of goodwill worldwide to stand with Israel in her time of need.
AP Photo: An Israeli police officer runs to the site where a Hezbollah-fired rocket directly hit a building in the northern costal town of Nahariya, Thursday July 13, 2006.
That is why it is so crucial that we act today. We are counting on your generosity and support. And you can be sure your gift will be put to immediate good use. You know that the Center has the access, and know-how to make a difference. Our first order of business will be to confront leaders at the United Nations in face-to-face meetings next week with the Deputy Secretary General of the U.N. along with ambassadors from several major countries.
We will demand that Israel’s right to self-defense must be respected and tell them, in no uncertain terms, just how outrageous it is to condemn Israel while allowing terrorist Hamas and Hezbollah to operate with impunity.
We experienced firsthand the impact of terrorist attacks during our fact-finding mission to Sderot and came back determined to act. We immediately engaged our international representatives in Canada, Europe and South America, and they have conducted high-level meetings with European Commission diplomats, UNESCO officials and others.
Your support - both moral and financial - will increase the Center’s effectiveness to fight these one-sided attacks, expose the truth, continue our presence on-the-ground from Israel, to the U.N., to European Capitals, with the media, and elsewhere…and, above all, show the world the strength and depth of support that exists worldwide for the State of Israel and her people.
Please, act today, and send your much-needed, much-appreciated gift to the Center right away. We must act on Israel’s behalf, for if too many stay silent, the consequences could be dire for us all.
Thank you,
Rabbi Marvin Hier
Please use this link to forward this urgent message to your family and friends.
We need your support to continue our work.
Please click here to support the work of the Simon Wiesenthal Center .
Send inquiries to: information@wiesenthal.net
Or send mail to:
Simon Wiesenthal Center
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On "reasonable" and "proportionate" force.
Putin shows a blatant disregard for Israel’s safety to suggest that, "The use of force should be balanced" and should stop. A tit-for-tat response does not end a fight. The goal is to put a stop to the sinister activities of these anti-Israel terrorist groups. What if your family was constantly under threat of attack or had been attacked by your neighbors and you only had a few options:
A) Move and let the neighbors have your home (yeah, right)
B) Let the authorities deal with it (the U.N.? yeah, right)
C) Deal with it yourself, once and for all
I have to admit that I would not have expected Olmert to respond in Netanyahu fashion but he has some chutzpah. Excessive force has ended wars and reestablished peace in the past and we will see it again.
-XRDC
To Hugh or others:
Is there a good website that gives a timeline for, and the details of, the Israel-Lebanon war (including all that the Israelis have done to avoid civilian casualties)?
I don't know of any. I do now that the Israelis warned everyone an hour before they bombed the airport in Beirut, and that they have been leafletting civilian populations in the south and southern Beirut to leave certain areas, lest they be harmed. No doubt there is some Israeli Ministry's website to consult, but I don't know what it is. Try googling.