News Will Israel's Strikes Escalate to Full-Scale War?

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The discussion centers on escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah following the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, with concerns about potential wider conflict involving Iran and Syria. Israel has conducted airstrikes on Lebanese infrastructure, raising fears of a renewed war and the involvement of the Lebanese army. The role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is questioned, as they seem to lack a clear mandate in the current crisis. Participants express skepticism about the effectiveness of international diplomacy, particularly the U.S. response, and highlight the complex dynamics of regional politics. Overall, the situation is viewed as precarious, with the potential for significant escalation in hostilities.
  • #351
So, if Hizbollah is *not* a terrorist organisation, then why is it shooting rockets into Israel, under no provocation, other than the existence of the State of Israel?
 
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  • #352
desA said:
So, if Hizbollah is *not* a terrorist organisation, then why is it shooting rockets into Israel, under no provocation, other than the existence of the State of Israel?

Because it thinks that Israel is a terrorist state or some such.

It's the Narn and the Centauri. The Shadows are manipulating one of them, preparing for their final assault, and we've got to find out if some of the Ancients are still around to help us fight the coming darkness.
 
  • #353
Yonoz said:
A UNIFIL officer admitted it in an interview to an Israeli newspaper.
We have this rule here that says to making claims like that you need to be able to back them up. Eluding to proof doesn't cut it.

Yonoz said:
...and has failed even at that task.
Less than perfection isn't failure, it is reality.

Yonoz said:
I'll quote the relevant part since you seem unable to find it:
BTW, that's some wonderful logic there. So Israel is guilty of Hizbullah attacking it now. I guess it's all part of some grand conspiracy.
Israel is guilty of what you said, sitting back and waiting.

Yonoz said:
All Israel can do at this stage is make an offer that would get Hamas to the table. Then, Hamas will demand more - what will Israel do then? Negotiations don't start and end with a single offer. Israel has made more than fair offers to the Palestinians numerous times and every time they continued the terrorism. Israel's policy is that it does not negotiate with those actively participating in terrorism. I think that it's only fair to demand the cessation of terrorism and recognition of our right to exist before beginning negotiations. Then a broader agreement can be reached.

kyleb said:
You said the green line is far, I agree; so when did Israel ever show the intention to make that fair offer, let alone more?
Yonoz said:
More? So now you want more than a fair offer? And you want Israel to offer it to someone who does not even stop attacking its civilians? This is why it's never offered UNTIL THE NEGOTIATION ACTUALLY BEGINS. Get it into your head.
You are the one that said "more than fair offers"; now you want to chastise me for asking for elaboration on your claim? Negotiation doesn't work with less than fair offers.
 
  • #354
kyleb said:
Less than perfection isn't failure, it is reality.
Oh please. Why don't you bear the burden of proof this time and show me one instance where UNIFIL has stopped aggression.

kyleb said:
Israel is guilty of what you said, sitting back and waiting.
I've shown you several examples of Israel appealing to the UN to uphold UNSC resolutions calling for the disarmament of Hizbullah.

kyleb said:
You are the one that said "more than fair offers"; now you want to chastise me for asking for elaboration on your claim? Negotiation doesn't work with less than fair offers.
You can refer to https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1043650&postcount=344" for elaboration. If both sides made fair offers at the start there would be no need for need for negotiations, no?
 
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  • #355
abdo375 said:
Since when is resisting occupation a terrorist act ?
Israel had withdrawn from Lebanon. When Hizbullah attacked, Israel was not occupying Lebanese territory. Maybe, Hizbullah is claiming that the Israelis are occupying Israel?

Cyrus, I agree with your post that Hizbullah has, in the past, negotiated a settlement. But what about the current situation?

If they did that, they would be giving up their only bargaining chip. Even if they did release the prisoners, that would not stop Israel from bombing them. Israel has even said this themselves, so I see no reason why it would be in their interests to do so.
AFAIK, Israel was not bombing Hizbullah. Hizbullah attacked Israel and kidnapped two soldiers. What was the provocation?

What is the mentality of a person who conducts acts of violence/hostility and then expects the victim to respond cordially?

I do have a big problem with the fact that some people feel compelled to kidnap other people and use them as 'barter', 'pawns', _________ (fill in the term of choice for the demeaning or degradation of a human life). :frown:
 
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  • #356
Yonoz said:
I've shown you several examples of Israel appealing to the UN to uphold UNSC resolutions calling for the disarmament of Hizbullah.

Two months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel surprised many when he announced that his government would accept the 1978 U.N. resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Lebanon.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/lebwith.html

So, does the UN only apply when Israel wants it to? I guess UNSC425 does not apply to Israel?
 
  • #357
cyrusabdollahi said:
So, does the UN only apply when Israel wants it to? I guess UNSC425 does not apply to Israel?
What's your point? kyleb asked me to present the Israeli appeals to the UN to avoid this crisis. Now you're criticizing that too? Do you think Israel should have sat quietly while Hizbullah arms itself and attacks it?
Whatever path Israel takes, it will always be blamed, even when it is being attacked. Perhaps you should ask yourself what are the real reasons for your criticism.
 
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  • #358
cyrusabdollahi said:
Actually, only the US and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Hamas is in palestine, not Lebanon.

Edit: Excuse me, and by Canada and Uk.
I hadn't read Astronuc's complete post that was partly quoted by abdo. I thought he was referring to Hamas because of his argument about resisting occupation.

How does that argument apply to Hizbullah? Israel does no0t occupy any part of southern Lebanon anymore. There is nothing for Hizbullah to resist! But I know only a little about the history and nature of Hizbullah.

If they did that, they would be giving up their only bargaining chip.
What are they bargaining for? The end of some illegal occupation or the release of imprisoned militants? To the best of my knowledge, Israel is not an occupier as far as any Hizbullah controlled territory is involved. Ergo, Hizbullah is not (today) resisting any occupation. So, for abdo to say so is setting up a strawman (unless I'm mistaken, and Israel has not completely pulled out of Lebanon).
 
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  • #359
  • #360
I didn't specifically call Hizbullah a terrorist organization. I used a combined prepositional object 'terrorists and militant organizations'. Hizbullah is certainly militant and elects (their choice) to use violence rather than peaceful means to achieve a political objective.

I also think the term 'terrorist' is often used 'subjectively' and sometimes inconsistent.

I think a lot of the arguments being made involve digression into the entire problem of Israel, it's existence as a political state, the consequences regarding the Palestinians, and who is to blame or not, and so on . . .

We aren't going to resolve this problem in this thread.

Stopping all violence would go a long way, but many people seem to be invested in hurting other people (seemingly out of retaliation, retribution, . . . ).

--------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile -

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER, NY Times, July 22, 2006
The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which some military officers see as a sign of a longer campaign ahead.

U.S. Faces Limited Diplomatic Options in Mideast
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5572456
Morning Edition, July 21, 2006 · Judith Palmer Harik, a retired political science professor at the American University of Beirut, assesses U.S. diplomatic options in the region. She tells John Ydstie that few officials in the Middle East are willing to reign in Hezbollah, or have the influence to do so.

Israeli Forces Clash with Hezbollah Inside Lebanon
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5575263
Weekend Edition - Saturday, July 22, 2006 · Israeli forces confronted Hezbollah guerillas inside Lebanon on Saturday with limited but fierce engagements. At the same time, both sides continued trading aerial bombardments on the conflict's 11th day.
------------------------------------------------

A story today has mentioned the rising tension between Suni and Shiia nations.
 
  • #361
If anyone requires further proof that Israel has done its best to avoid this conflict: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/25/world/main1075642.shtml":
The return of the bodies comes as the U.N. Security Council accused Hezbollah of starting this week's attacks. In a statement on Wednesday, the council appealed for restraint.

But Lebanon's government, of which Hezbollah is a coalition partner, backed the guerrillas despite the international pressure.
 
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  • #362
Gokul43201 said:
Perhaps my history is lacking. Didn't Israel completely pull out of southern Lebanon in accordance with UNSC425?

The resolution was passed in 1978, they withdrew in 2000 only because the occupation was not going so well.
 
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  • #363
Yonoz said:
What's your point? kyleb asked me to present the Israeli appeals to the UN to avoid this crisis. Now you're criticizing that too? Do you think Israel should have sat quietly while Hizbullah arms itself and attacks it?
Whatever path Israel takes, it will always be blamed, even when it is being attacked. Perhaps you should ask yourself what are the real reasons for your criticism.

My point is that Israel too, has not played by the rules. You complain about Hezbollah launching rockets into Israel, and rightly so, as a reason for your actions.

Does Hezbollah not have that same right when you occupied their land for 22 years, without UN support?

Why should they sit there without a ready force, when Israel can, at a moments notice, attack them again without UN support? Of course they are going to arm themselves.

I am just putting some perspective so this is not so one sided. Israel has its hands dirty as well.
 
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  • #364
cyrusabdollahi said:
Does Hezbollah not have that same right when you occupied their land for 22 years, without UN support?
Hizbullah is not the Lebanese defence force. In its current form it has no place in a sovereign country. The Israeli occupation ended 6 years ago. Hizbullah has initiated attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets on Israeli soil countless times since then. By your logic no conflict can ever end. You're also forgetting there's one more country that has occupied Lebanon and was removed after assasinating an elected Lebanese head of state. I don't see anyone firing rockets on their civilians. I think you should take Hizbullah's declarations with a grain, or perhaps even an entire bag of salt.

cyrusabdollahi said:
Why should they sit there without a ready force, when Israel can, at a moments notice, attack them again with UN support? Of course they are going to arm themselves.
It is not Hizbullah's role to defend Lebanon (nor is it really doing that, rather the opposite), it is the Lebanese government that should do this and it has a full fledged military to accomplish that task. Israel is actually demanding that the Lebanese military be deployed across the border.

cyrusabdollahi said:
I am just putting some perspective so this is not so one sided. Israel has its hands dirty as well.
That's good but I think you should examine every party's motives with a little more scrutiny. Astronuc has posted some insightful interviews a few pages back, I suggest you listen to them and do some research.
 
  • #365
cyrusabdollahi said:
Does Hezbollah not have that same right when you occupied their land for 22 years, without UN support?

Why should they sit there without a ready force, when Israel can, at a moments notice, attack them again without UN support?
so you think it's still Hizbullah's right to launch rockets on israel civilians and capture israeli soldiers even after israel has withdrawn from lebanon? (which they occupide only to stop the fire in the first place by the way...)

can you explain to me, why does a militia group has a right to exist inside a country and attack another country's civilians?
don't you think the use of "defend themeselves" is a little misleading here?
and don't you think lebanon's army should defend lebanon, and not some aggressive organization which took over southern lebanon?
 
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  • #366
Yonoz said:
Oh please. Why don't you bear the burden of proof this time and show me one instance where UNIFIL has stopped aggression.
You are the one who claimed they failed, which puts a huge burdon of proof on you to show their guard doesn't stop any majorty of illegal boarder crossing.

Yonoz said:
I've shown you several examples of Israel appealing to the UN to uphold UNSC resolutions calling for the disarmament of Hizbullah.
And in doing so you have effectively admitted that Isarel did not pursue reasonable means to remove Hezbollah prior to this attack. What you showed was Israel signing on to statements that the job wasn't getting done rather than presenting a plan for the job to get done.
Yonoz said:
You can refer to https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1043650&postcount=344" for elaboration. If both sides made fair offers at the start there would be no need for need for negotiations, no?
Fair offers are needed to start negotiations, from there good negotiations can lead to both sides coming to an agreement that they find more than fair. The contentious lowballing with no displayed intent to ever make a fair offer is what is keeping such an agreement from being reached.
 
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  • #367
Yonoz said:
It is not Hizbullah's role to defend Lebanon (nor is it really doing that, rather the opposite), it is the Lebanese government that should do this and it has a full fledged military to accomplish that task.
As if, the Lebanese millatary has been in desperate need of help:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2006/060303-lebanon-military.htm
 
  • #368
cyrusabdollahi said:
I am just putting some perspective so this is not so one sided. Israel has its hands dirty as well.
What sort of perspective were you going for? Were you just trying to remind us of the militants' attitudes, or arguing that this really is part of the bigger picture?
 
  • #369
kyleb said:
Yonoz said:
It is not Hizbullah's role to defend Lebanon (nor is it really doing that, rather the opposite), it is the Lebanese government that should do this and it has a full fledged military to accomplish that task.
As if, the Lebanese millatary has been in desperate need of help:
Are you responding to "it has a full fledged military to accomplish that task", or "It is not Hizbullah's role to defend Lebanon ... it is the Lebanese government that should do this"?
 
  • #370
kyleb said:
You are the one who claimed they failed, which puts a huge burdon of proof on you to show their guard doesn't stop any majorty of illegal boarder crossing.
I've shown that they failed to prevent at least 3 major escalations. That's 3/3, which is pretty much a failure in my book. If you wish to contend that, all I ask is that you find one single instance in which UNIFIL has done anything short of failure. Just one. Should prove an easy task.

kyleb said:
And in doing so you have effectively admitted that Isarel did not pursue reasonable means to remove Hezbollah prior to this attack. What you showed was Israel signing on to statements that the job wasn't getting done rather than presenting a plan for the job to get done.
Perhaps Israel should also supply the troops with uniforms, weapons and training?
Please do some research before making silly claims like that, Israel is not the executive branch of the United Nations, and has no authority nor responsibility for planning multinational forces - there's plenty of overpaid UN personnel that are meant to come up with a plan. Since you expect me to spoon-feed you with basic research to support each and every sentence, here it is straight from the horse's mouth (0.5 seconds on google):
From the http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/"
Article 37
2. If the Security Council deems that the continuance of the dispute is in fact likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, it shall decide whether to take action under Article 36 or to recommend such terms of settlement as it may consider appropriate.

kyleb said:
Fair offers are needed to start negotiations, from there good negotiations can lead to both sides coming to an agreement that they find more than fair. The contentious lowballing with no displayed intent to ever make a fair offer is what is keeping such an agreement from being reached.
That's been covered already, and you seem to conveniently ignore the facts that Israel has made some widely recognised genuinely generous offers, as well as unilateral withdrawls and acts of good faith and in return the other parties never ceased to undermine Israel's right to exist in peace by actively pursuing terrorism against its civilians.
 
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  • #371
  • #372
Yonoz said:
Hizbullah is not the Lebanese defence force. In its current form it has no place in a sovereign country. The Israeli occupation ended 6 years ago. Hizbullah has initiated attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets on Israeli soil countless times since then. By your logic no conflict can ever end. You're also forgetting there's one more country that has occupied Lebanon and was removed after assasinating an elected Lebanese head of state. I don't see anyone firing rockets on their civilians. I think you should take Hizbullah's declarations with a grain, or perhaps even an entire bag of salt. It is not Hizbullah's role to defend Lebanon (nor is it really doing that, rather the opposite), it is the Lebanese government that should do this and it has a full fledged military to accomplish that task. Israel is actually demanding that the Lebanese military be deployed across the border.

Sure, I agree that Hezbollah is not their defense force and that the Lebanese government should play that role. But the Lebanese military simply does not have that capability. So without Hezbollah, who is going to stand up to defend the country? There in lies one of the problems with Israel's solution, they want to leave Lebanon practically defenseless.


That's good but I think you should examine every party's motives with a little more scrutiny. Astronuc has posted some insightful interviews a few pages back, I suggest you listen to them and do some research.

Trust me, I do. I am not for support of Hezbollah, but at the same time I won't stand here before you and say that Israel has always done it's best to find peace. It has not.

Hurkyl said:
What sort of perspective were you going for? Were you just trying to remind us of the militants' attitudes, or arguing that this really is part of the bigger picture?

Eh?
 
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  • #373
cyrusabdollahi said:
Sure, I agree that Hezbollah is not their defense force and that the Lebanese government should play that role. But the Lebanese military simply does not have that capability. So without Hezbollah, who is going to stand up to defend the country? There in lies one of the problems with Israel's solution, they want to leave Lebanon practically defenseless.
That's highly flawed reasoning. If I decide my military isn't strong enough, can I buy rockets and launch them at civilian targets without provocation? No, that's my government's role. Israel shouldn't pay the price for the Lebanese government's internal affairs. Furthermore, Israel has no interest to attack Lebanon out of the blue - I'm not sure you're in on this little secret so I'm letting you know now.

cyrusabdollahi said:
Trust me, I do.
It certainly doesn't seem so.
cyrusabdollahi said:
I am not for support of Hezbollah, but at the same time I won't stand here before you and say that Israel has always done it's best to find peace. It has not.
You're pretty much legitimizing Hizbullah's terrorist attack. I never said Israel has always done it's best to find peace, but as far as this conflict is concerned, I'm convinced it has.
 
  • #374
Yonoz said:
That's highly flawed reasoning. If I decide my military isn't strong enough, can I buy rockets and launch them at civilian targets without provocation? No, that's my government's role. Israel shouldn't pay the price for the Lebanese government's internal affairs. Furthermore, Israel has no interest to attack Lebanon out of the blue - I'm not sure you're in on this little secret so I'm letting you know now.

What!? No, I never said they could buy rockets and launch them at civilan targets! Far from it, they have no right to do that. And for that reason, as I said before, I have no problem with Israel acting in response. I just do not like the method they chose to use.

It certainly doesn't seem so.
You're pretty much legitimizing Hizbullah's terrorist attack. I never said Israel has always done it's best to find peace, but as far as this conflict is concerned, I'm convinced it has.

Again, when did I ever say their attacks were acceptable? I never said such a thing, and I'd appreciate it if you not put words in my mouth.

As for this conflict, bombing civilian buildings is not the best way to achieve peace, no?

Edit: Perhaps I was not clear. I was saying that Hezbollah is the only real force to defend Lebanon. Their military can do some, but not a whole heck of a lot. That's not the same thing as saying Hezbollah can launch offensive attacks.
 
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  • #375
Yonoz said:
I've shown that they failed to prevent at least 3 major escalations. That's 3/3, which is pretty much a failure in my book. If you wish to contend that, all I ask is that you find one single instance in which UNIFIL has done anything short of failure. Just one. Should prove an easy task.
Sure, a quick Google search makes it an easy task; old examples they are are, but 150 strong in showing that the UNIFIL's job involves much more than the 3 instances you criticize them for:
...UNIFIL stopped some 40 major infiltration attempts, involving 140 terrorists. By contrast, paragraph 36 of the Secretary-General's report for the period from June to December 1979, document S/13691 of 14 December 1979, mentions 110 infiltration attempts involving almost 800 terrorists...
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/HomePage2...C12-4C5A-8B40-5732F02635A0}&NRCACHEHINT=Guest
Yonoz said:
Perhaps Israel should also supply the troops with uniforms, weapons and training?
Please do some research before making silly claims like that, Israel is not the executive branch of the United Nations, and has no authority nor responsibility for planning multinational forces - there's plenty of overpaid UN personnel that are meant to come up with a plan. Since you expect me to spoon-feed you with basic research to support each and every sentence, here it is straight from the horse's mouth (0.5 seconds on google):
From the http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/"
I said a plan. The UN charter doesn't restrict you from presenting a plan, and a plan is what could have went towards preventing this current conflict.

Yonoz said:
That's been covered already, and you seem to conveniently ignore the facts that Israel has made some widely recognised genuinely generous offers, as well as unilateral withdrawls and acts of good faith...
I'm standing by the fact that the widely reported "generous offers" are less that what you claimed and I agreed is fair.

Yonoz said:
...and in return the other parties never ceased to undermine Israel's right to exist in peace by actively pursuing terrorism against its civilians.
Not just the other parties, your continuing occupation and expansion undermines the Palestinian right to exist and you have some extremists on your side who engage in terrorism on Palestinian civilians as well.
 
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  • #376
Yonoz said:
I fail to see how you've come to that conclusion from the article. Have you even read it?
Ahem:
Yonoz said:
"The larger question is: Who is their enemy? Are they looking at Israel? Al-Qaida? Syria? ... In our minds, this is the army that sooner or later will have to stand up to the armed branch of Hezbollah. ... And right now, it's a military (whose equipment) may be too large and too heavily armored for the threats around them," Kimmitt said.
As I said, they weren't in the postion to deal with the problem.
 
  • #377
cyrusabdollahi said:
What!? No, I never said they could buy rockets and launch them at civilan targets! Far from it, they have no right to do that. And for that reason, as I said before, I have no problem with Israel acting in response. I just do not like the method they chose to use.

Again, when did I ever say their attacks were acceptable? I never said such a thing, and I'd appreciate it if you not put words in my mouth.
Then what did you mean by this:
cyrusabdollahi said:
Does Hezbollah not have that same right when you occupied their land for 22 years, without UN support?

cyrusabdollahi said:
As for this conflict, bombing civilian buildings is not the best way to achieve peace, no?
It is if there are weapons hidden inside those buildings that will be used to attack civilians.

cyrusabdollahi said:
Edit: Perhaps I was not clear. I was saying that Hezbollah is the only real force to defend Lebanon. Their military can do some, but not a whole heck of a lot. That's not the same thing as saying Hezbollah can launch offensive attacks.
The only thing needed to disarm Hizbullah is a decision by the Lebanese government that it will not allow anyone to hijack its decision making. The world will be more than happy to help them.
 
  • #378
Ah, perhaps that is not clear.

Does Hezbollah not have that same right when you occupied their land for 22 years, without UN support?

They have the same right to stand up and defend their homeland. Note, I said to defend, not to go out and start wars.

It is if there are weapons hidden inside those buildings that will be used to attack civilians.

Well, I for one would like to see these weapons. So far, I have only seen peoples houses being destroyed.

The only thing needed to disarm Hizbullah is a decision by the Lebanese government that it will not allow anyone to hijack its decision making. The world will be more than happy to help them.

Sure, I agree with you on that.
 
  • #379
cyrusabdollahi said:
The resolution was passed in 1978, they withdrew in 2000 only because the occupation was not going so well.
Oh, I agree - and I've said this before - that the UN has been way lax in holding Israel's feet to the fire. But they've been way lax with holding anyone's feet to the fire. :rolleyes:
 
  • #380
kyleb said:
Sure, a quick Google search makes it an easy task; old examples they are are, but 150 strong in showing that the UNIFIL's job involves much more than the 3 instances you criticize them for
Perhaps they were relevant back in 1980, the year that document saw light. Hizbullah was 2 years old back then. I still contend that they're irrelevant today.

kyleb said:
I said a plan. The UN charter doesn't restrict you from presenting a plan, and a plan is what could have went towards preventing this current conflict.
You fail to see the point. UN peacekeeping forces are formed de-facto. How can Israel come up with a plan without the authority to divert budgets, provide supplies and most of all - when it hasn't been decided where the troops will come from? Should Israel provide those as well?
Have you ever written an operational plan? It's difficult enough when you don't control the resources, impossible when you don't even know what resources are available, and plain imaginary when those resources don't even exist.

kyleb said:
I'm standing by the fact that the widely reported "generous offers" are less that what you claimed and I agreed is fair.
You can keep standing there. I'll be right here with all the others that have achieved the amazing feat of grasping the difficult concept of N-E-G-O-T-I-A-T-I-O-N.

kyleb said:
Not just the other parties, your continuing occupation and expansion undermines the Palestinian right to exist and you have some extremists on your side who engage in terrorism on Palestinian civilians as well.
I don't know how much more proof you need that Israel recognises the Palestinian's right for an independent state alongside Israel, but that doesn't matter since apparently you know better than I the inner workings of the Israeli borg-like conscience.
Regarding the handful of Israeli extremists that have committed acts of terror, let me remind you of the word of the day - "proportions".
 
  • #381
Around and around and around we go --- "same ol' sh*t" over and over and over. The UN cannot be a guarantor of peace in the ME. The U. S. cannot be a guarantor of peace in the ME. Who can be?

Arab culture and concepts of "negotiation, agreement, bargain(ing), contract, and treaty" are different than in "the west." Islamic spin on same is even more different. Solomon's gone (if he ever existed), and the limits of involvement by the U. S., UN, NATO, Arab League, and other denizens of the alphabet soup bowl is defined by limits of the congruence of the meanings of "negotiation, agreement, bargain(ing), contract, and treaty" in all these various cultures --- that, the congruence, at the moment, is zero, same as for the last 5-6 ka.

"Shall 'the west' adopt Arab and Islamic definitions for the terms?" Don't think the Arabs and Islamic world would like that, but, who knows. We certainly have had no luck getting the Arab and Islamic worlds to adopt western usage.
 
  • #382
cyrusabdollahi said:
Ah, perhaps that is not clear.
They have the same right to stand up and defend their homeland. Note, I said to defend, not to go out and start wars.
Do you believe an array of ground to ground rockets that are too inaccurate to fire at anything short of a population center to be a defensive weapon?

cyrusabdollahi said:
Well, I for one would like to see these weapons. So far, I have only seen peoples houses being destroyed.
I've already posted a link to one movie showing a vehicle used to launch rockets hidden in a mosque. Here's another http://video.nrg.co.il/lib/wmv/558/082.wmv" . About 8m 45s into the video you can see an example of some of the tedious intelligence work needed for this campaign. It shows a room in several stages of construction, used to hide a medium range rocket. It's hard for anyone with no experience in analyzing aerial photographs to identify the rocket and the picture quality isn't great (it's a live recording of a projected image) but it only serves as an example. Pardon me if I can't show you more specific details of intelligence work. If anything else shows up on the media I'll be sure to post it here.
 
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  • #383
Yonoz said:
Do you believe an array of ground to ground rockets that are too inaccurate to fire at anything short of a population center to be a defensive weapon?

For them, that's all they have. It's that or a rock. Do you consider Israel's atomic bombs a defensive weapon? Those atomic bombs would turn Lebanon into a parking lot. It's a deterrent.

I've already posted a link to one movie showing a vehicle used to launch rockets hidden in a mosque. Here's another http://video.nrg.co.il/lib/wmv/558/082.wmv" . About 8m 45s into the video you can see an example of some of the tedious intelligence work needed for this campaign. It shows a room in several stages of construction, used to hide a medium range rocket. It's hard for anyone with no experience in analyzing aerial photographs to identify the rocket and the picture quality isn't great (it's a live recording of a projected image) but it only serves as an example. Pardon me if I can't show you more specific details of intelligence work. If anything else shows up on the media I'll be sure to post it here.

Sure, cases like that are fine by me. There was a clear threat in that building. As for the other buildings, can you show a clear threat? Sure, intelligence might say there are weapons in there, but it could be wrong. Why not send ground troops to find said weapons rather than use bunker buster bombs on people’s houses?
 
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  • #384
cyrusabdollahi said:
Sure, cases like that are fine by me. There was a clear threat in that building. As for the other buildings, can you show a clear threat? Sure, intelligence might say there are weapons in there, but it could be wrong. Why not send ground troops to find said weapons rather than use bunker buster bombs on people’s houses?
Well, let's think it through.

First off, remember that the IDF is not the Lebanese police force. They are not responsible for prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there were weapons there.

The risks of bombing are clear -- collateral damage, and the possibility of anti-aircraft fire. What are the risks of sending in ground forces?

I would think that sending in ground forces would lead to urban warfare with Hezbollah militants, which I would think would lead to heavy casualties for all parties involved. (Israeli, Hezbollah, and civilian) The scale of the operation seems, to me, to require a full scale invasion, though I suppose we're getting that anyways.

It is not clear to me that sending in ground troops is a preferable option.

Incidentally, I don't know what sort of damage a tactical strike does these days. Do you know where I could find info on that?
 
  • #385
Incidentally, I don't know what sort of damage a tactical strike does these days. Do you know where I could find info on that?

I don't have that kind of information, what do you think I am, a terrorist!? :-p
 
  • #386
Yonoz said:
Perhaps they were relevant back in 1980, the year that document saw light. Hizbullah was 2 years old back then. I still contend that they're irrelevant today.
So the 3 examples you mention are all boarder crossings they had prevent sense then but but failed at? Surely not.

Yonoz said:
You fail to see the point. UN peacekeeping forces are formed de-facto. How can Israel come up with a plan without the authority to divert budgets, provide supplies and most of all - when it hasn't been decided where the troops will come from? Should Israel provide those as well?
Have you ever written an operational plan? It's difficult enough when you don't control the resources, impossible when you don't even know what resources are available, and plain imaginary when those resources don't even exist.
It's what you are working with them on now, rather late obviously:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the...ni+meets+with+special+UN+team+18-Jul-2006.htm

Yonoz said:
You can keep standing there. I'll be right here with all the others that have achieved the amazing feat of grasping the difficult concept of N-E-G-O-T-I-A-T-I-O-N.
L-O-W-B-A-L-L-I-N-G, I grasp that, and I thumb my nose at it. You have hard liners controlling your government that refuse to even consider giving up East Jerusalem areas and sections of the West Bank, until you can overcome those extremes that insist on denying Palestinians their land then you aren't negotiating, you are strongarming.

Yonoz said:
I don't know how much more proof you need that Israel recognises the Palestinian's right for an independent state alongside Israel, but that doesn't matter since apparently you know better than I the inner workings of the Israeli borg-like conscience.
Regarding the handful of Israeli extremists that have committed acts of terror, let me remind you of the word of the day - "proportions".
You want to talk proportions here then let us count bodies between their terrorist acts and your terrorist acts and resistance to the occupation along with the civilian causalities from your IDF's occupation. Yeah, your argument here isn't going to win you anything.
 
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  • #387
cyrusabdollahi said:
I don't have that kind of information, what do you think I am, a terrorist!?
In another thread, you seemed to know a lot about aircraft. I figured I'd take a stab and see if you knew about the sorts of bombs they drop these days.
 
  • #388
wiki said:
The Lebanon War (Hebrew: מלחמת לבנון, Milkhemet Levanon), also known as the Operation Peace of the Galilee (מבצע שלום הגליל, Mivtsa Shalom HaGalil in Hebrew), began June 6, 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon. The Government of Israel gave a green light for the invasion as a response to the assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov by Fatah - Revolutionary Council and to artillery attacks launched by the Palestine Liberation Organization against populated areas in northern Israel. See also Operation Litani.

After attacking PLO, Syrian and Muslim Lebanese forces, Israel occupied southern Lebanon. Surrounded in West Beirut and subject to heavy bombardment, the PLO and the Syrian forces negotiated passage from Lebanon with the aid of international peacekeepers.

History has a tendency of repeating itself, no?
 
  • #389
Hurkyl said:
In another thread, you seemed to know a lot about aircraft. I figured I'd take a stab and see if you knew about the sorts of bombs they drop these days.

The kind that you don't want to be anywhere near when they come down.
 
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  • #390
cyrusabdollahi said:
Sure, cases like that are fine by me. There was a clear threat in that building. As for the other buildings, can you show a clear threat? Sure, intelligence might say there are weapons in there, but it could be wrong. Why not send ground troops to find said weapons rather than use bunker buster bombs on people’s houses?

Well, I don't know about Yonoz, but I can't provide a clear threat for every single target hit by the Israelis. For the simple reason that not every single intelligence report is made public. Remember: intelligence is usually classified information.

As for your second point: these people's houses are, most unfortunately (not sarcasm in this paragraph!), housing Hizbollah arsenals/personnel. Yonoz's convincing clip was in Hebrew, so allow me to translate 9:40-9:48 for you: "He who goes to sleep at night next to rockets aimed at Israel may wake up in the morning to find the room next to his house destroyed." Me: or his whole beautiful building destroyed. Aren't rockets explosive?
Do you really think it's so simple to send some soldiers to stroll into an enemy's arsenal, confirm and supplement intelligence reports, deal with it, and stroll out? Frankly, yes, I think it does make a bit more sense to level the whole building and be done with it.
 
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  • #391
cyrusabdollahi said:
For them, that's all they have. It's that or a rock.
Not quite, thanks to Syria (http://www.army-technology.com/projects/kornet/" ).

Regarding the second part, I think hurkyl and mbrmbrg hit the nail on the head.

EDIT:
cyrusabdollahi said:
Why not send ground troops to find said weapons rather than use bunker buster bombs on people’s houses?
Once again you're throwing wild unsubstantiated accusations. The armaments for each target are selected to reduce collateral damage as much as possible. The only target bunker busters were fired at was the command center in Beirut.
 
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  • #392
kyleb said:
It's what you are working with them on now, rather late obviously:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the...ni+meets+with+special+UN+team+18-Jul-2006.htm
You don't really read these, do you?
The diplomatic process is not intended to reduce the window of opportunity for military operations, but will take place in parallel.
"We are beginning a diplomatic process in parallel to the military operations, which shall continue," she said. "The military objectives are to hit Hizbullah's infrastructure and physical strength. The diplomatic process is not intended to reduce the time available for the IDF's operations, but as an extension of it in order to avoid the need for additional operations in the future.
Regarding the possibility of stationing an international force on Lebanon's border with Israel, Livni stated: "Past experience with UNIFIL was not satisfactory. We shall examine what solutions are suitable for us. The criteria are: the implementation of 1559 and the Lebanese Army deployed in the south."

I'm going to have to put a stop to the Palestinian question argument, it's off topic and somewhat circular.
 
  • #393
cyrusabdollahi said:
History has a tendency of repeating itself, no?
Since there have been no major incursions yet, I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
  • #395
Yonoz said:
You don't really read these, do you?
Of course I read the links I post, but I read the whole pages and not what you selectively quote as if to contest my points. As I did last time you tried to pull that, here is the bit I have been saying should have been done years ago:

This must, of course, include the effective deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces through the south, in place of Hizbullah, and the disarming of Hizbullah as a militia.
Yonoz said:
I'm going to have to put a stop to the Palestinian question argument, it's off topic and somewhat circular.
It is most relevant to all Muslims grevinces with Israel, but if you want to drop the discussion then so be it; your continuing defense of Israel's expressed intent to permanency hold Palestinian land despite the fact you know that is less than fair has been getting really old.
 
  • #396
kyleb said:
Of course I read the links I post, but I read the whole pages and not what you selectively quote as if to contest my points. As I did last time you tried to pull that, here is the bit I have been saying should have been done years ago:
This must, of course, include the effective deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces through the south, in place of Hizbullah, and the disarming of Hizbullah as a militia.
This is nothing new, it's something Israel has always called for.
 
  • #397
Call for yeah, but I had been asking when you:

...discussed the most effective ways to achieve these objectives.

Seems you are just now getting around to that.
 
  • #398
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  • #399
kyleb said:
Seems you are just now getting around to that.
:smile: What's happened to your demand that Israel should have drawn up a plan for a neighbouring country to police itself? What about your claim that Israel should create a multinational force out of thin air? Does it hurt much when you bend head over heels like that?

kyleb said:
Could you describe what factors you are refferingto when you say "residential area"?
See those rectangular things, you know - with all the walls, windows and roofs? It may not be the Manhattan skyline but that's what people live in over here at this part of the world.
kyleb said:
And what prior to this makes this footage "more"?
The 2 previous video clips I linked to.
 
  • #400
Yonoz said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords" .

That was not lasting peace, peace for five minutes is no peace I know.

I've shown there was no such treaty, only a UN plan, and that the State of Israel was established according to that plan. It was the Arab nations that attacked it the next day thus "breaking the treaty" in your own words.

I wonder why, turfing the indeginous population off their land is likely to upset people wouldn't you say, and you telling us that they have no state so it's not their land is hogwash of the finest order, you'll convince no one that Palestine did not have a right to that land. Might it not have been better to move to the US or UK, in hindsight? 2/3rds of the worlds countries recognise Palestine as a state. Which means they can own land if they talk to an Englishman, but not an Israelite? :rolleyes:

Yonez said:
Israel never refused to return the land. It actually gave most of it back already. It was the Arab leaders that decided in the Khartoum conference not to negotiate with Israel under any circumstance.
Every piece of land that was settled before the war of independence was bought. Jews all around the world put whatever money they could spare into the famous http://www.jnf.org/" "blue box" (photo attached) to redeem the land our entire culture is centred around.
Please enlighten me.

Your problem is you only see what you want to see, this seems to be standard, understandable, but standard, I suggest you make the effort to look at both sides of the issue, from where I'm standing your opiions don't sound balanced, and therefore are none too convincing.
Yonez said:
What pat on the back?


The US will support whatever Israel does, some people even condone the huge civillian casualties blaming the terroists for it as if they dropped the bombs theirselves, uninformed and partisan but that is the US for you, their media particularly newspapers neglect to print both sides of the story and their is a strong pro Israeli lobby, essentially they are not exposed or do not want to be exposed to the truth sometimes, in that way they echo yourself, I'm speaking generally and from a point of view from other web sites, but this is what I'm seeing, thus you will get no opposition from the majority of people here is as in my experience most are US citizens.

I will acknowledge that not all US citizens are biased, but they don't tend to voice opinions on fourms :)

EDITED for clarity.

I was just thinking that picture shows Bill Clinton with Yaser and Yitzak. It's a shame such liberals are not in governement now in the US and Palestine. Given the choice who'd chose Bush over Clinton? :smile:
 
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