A Difficult Lesson that must be Taught in the Middle East

egyptian,

I agree with you that merely blanketing Lebanon with rockets while killing hundreds of civilians, included with them many Hezbollah members won't solve anything. I think history has taught us that to really destroy an organization, you have to kill its army. It is possible that these attacks are just the beginning of an overall strategy to kill Hezbollah's army. The next phase I'm assuming would be ground troops and a full land battle. What I don't understand is why we don't see riots in the streets in Lebanon clamoring for an end to the violence? Their country attacked Israel first. Why aren't they going crazy for a compromise and a settling down of the violence? I have my own theories on this but I'd like to hear your opinion first.

BS Yaakov. It will be the same as every other time. Israel wont get the Prisoners back unless they release the prisoners they are holding and stop there kidnappings. Israel Kidnapped Arabs since 1967. The latest was when they Kidnapped half the Hamas Government. Hezbollah have not invaded Israels territory. Israel is not recognised outside its 1967 borders. So they have a right to act against the occupiers.

What will happen is when each side has decided they have murdered enough civilians they will do a prisoner exchange.

The argument that it was cross border is preposterous, Israel has never respected borders and the re-occupation of Gaza negates the Nth Israel argument. What I am angry about Yaakov is that now instead of those annoying toy Qassams now Israeli's are forced to live in fear under the ground like worms. This is not an improvement. Once again we have Zionists saying "They want to drive us into the Sea" the problem with this statement is that it infers that the Zionist war machine must driven into the ocean to defeat it. It implies that the same rule applies to Israels enemies. They must be driven into the Sea.

You know as well as I that there is no military solution to Lebanon. Those rockets that are now a real threat will not stop. Next they will hit Tel-a-Viv.

I do not think that attacks would be legitimate even if they were in the Golan Heights

An interesting comment. I had to stop to ask myself would I support such an action. Answer. Probably. Why? there would be something worth fighting for and something to gain.

I'm confused I SPY.

You know as well as I that there is no military solution to Lebanon. Those rockets that are now a real threat will not stop. Next they will hit Tel-a-Viv.

You are acting as if you honestly care about the civilians in Israel. Now most Israelis understand that while war is a horrible state to be in, it is sometimes a necessary state. Because of previous wars, Israel has been able to develop an advanced society in every way while being surrounded by countries aimed to destroy it. Most Israelis understand that having to hide in a bomb shelter is a scary thing but the reason for it is a good one and their government is working to stop the attacks and protect them for the future.

It seems like the Israeli citizens understand that the goal here is not a cease-fire but protection for the future.

Do you not agree with them?

No in this situation Israel is being used as a political whore. This is about the Hezbollah and the IDF murdering civilians to prove a point to each other. Presumed innocent people are getting killed for nothing. It will not halt the rockets. They will keep coming until Israel is no longer a threat or until the stars burn out. Israel will fail as a modern state if it cant provide investors a secure environment and there raison d'etre for existence the Eilat-Askalon pipe will last until about 2040 tops. After that Israel will be left to the mercies of the near east

I don't see how you can say that the IDF is separate from Israel, and for the current conditions, that Hezbollah is separate from the Lebanese government. Israel is attacking to create a future peace for its citizens. Hezbollah is attacking to retaliate for Israel attacking.

If Israel really wanted to kill as many civilians as possible, they wouldn't drop leaflets to tell people to get out of the area. They also would specifically target civilians. Considering how many rockets Israel has shot into Lebanon, it's a credit to Israel's targeting technology that thousands in Lebanon aren't dead already.

I don't think this war is about proving points. It's about ensuring security. It seems like Israel is doing what it needs to do to ensure the future security of its people. Do you not agree that they should be doing this?

Well then by your logic Israel is a state not a people. So Israeli's share collective responsibility and all Israeli civilians are valid targets.

It will not halt the rockets. They will keep coming until Israel is no longer a threat or until the stars burn out.

Are you suggesting Israel shouldn't attack? Should they sit around and allow anybody to fire rockets at them because they probably wouldn't be able to stop them anyway?

I said a few weeks ago that Israel could end up as the Local whipping boy for other Peoples political ends. This is an example of Israel being used. If Israel can be provoked into this kind of action so easily then, whenever we need to take the media focus off say Iraq or Iran or Syria or Kurdistan then all anyone needs to do is lob a few cheap rockets over the Israeli border and "Voila" Israel is the true evil in the near east. The rockets will keep coming.

You understand I think of the space between #2 and #3 as more of a slippery slope than a thick red line, but that's a matter which time will show. The same thing goes for knocking out Hezbollah in Lebanon. I don't see much point in trying to argue the point about this - it's a matter of pragmatism (where I question the outcome but time will tell) versus ethics (where we perhaps also disagree.)

Let's talk about it again when we can see the outcomes, both for the supression of terrorism and in its effects on civilians.