Israel airstrike kills 34 children and 12 others

Well, clearly, you go in full John Wayne mode and you kill anything that moves (ie. AMBULANCES). But Israel decided to fire first, instead of trying other means. This compromise that's being talked around -- the buffer zone, manned by an international force, the release of part of Golan -- you don't think that could have been tried before they decided to emulate the Duke? It sure would have helped the Lebanese government's standing with Hezbollah and could have given them the leverage to sit on the radicals.

And as for hiding among the civilian population -- beware. That's what the Brits, circa 1770's, accused the American colonists of. How else are they going to fight one of the most modern armies in the world? It's neo-guerilla.

 

So you're advocating using human shields. Nice.

 

and do you know why lebonan (also read syria) want the golan heights? so they can fire fucking rockets onto israel from a taller position. i don't condone shooting an ambulance, far from it. but apparently israel had warned people not to use those roads, and to get out of towns they would be bombing. it's not fair to put all these people at risk, but israel is trying to go about it the right way. they don't leave, and hezbollah uses them as shields, they die and israel is to blame. that sounds real fair.

 

And surely these people could just hop into their SUV's and drive away, right? They're the poorest of the poor. They aren't going awywhere with cabs reportedly charging $1,000 to go to Beirut. So, let's dispense with that "they were told to leave" argument right now.
Israel is using what is mainly US armaments. You've seen video of our stuff in action. That's precision ammo. Precision. They've also got US-made URV's, which are used to scout areas you're targeting. I'm just saying Israel is playing a little too fast and loose, and doesn't seem to give a damn about collateral damage. It mirrors the bombing of the refuge camp 10 years ago -- nearly to the day -- in which 100 people were killed. It shows itself in the bombing of the UN peacekeepers last week, killing what? Four UN personnel? (As an aside, an Irish commander has come out and said he'd warned Israel SIX times those UN folks were there.)
Again, Hezbollah is not blameless. But Israel is showing a real ugly streak in this "war."

 

All: As an aside, a former coworker of mine has travelled to Lebanon (well, most of the world, really), and pointed me to a website that he put together for some friends and fellow world travellers. Check out electronicintifada.org for some blogs from Beirut, Jerusalem, et al. Some interesting things there. Some heated words, and surely views that make you cringe, but some good stuff, too.

www.electronicintifada.org

 

No uglier than we've been in Iraq, with much better reason, though.

You're absolutely right, however. No one comes out looking good. I do still think Hizbollah looks the worst.

 

I don't think the folks who live in Haifa really give a fuck how many Lebanese civilians are killed -- and they're the ones whose opinions matter there now, not us ... any of us.

 

i'm not disagreeing with you that Israel is all good here and Hezbollah is all bad. But I don't think you can put them on the same level either. One actually cares about trying to limit civilian deaths. the other does not. you can't lump them into the same boat.

 

I'd separate that just a little differently.

Hizbollah clearly doesn't care, and likely sees civilan deaths as distatsteful but helpful in winning the PR war.

Israel knows they should care, but might be to the point of not caring, at least not as much as they should. In other words, adopting a US-in-Iraq philosophy.

When Israel abandons any hope of winning the PR war, that's when things get terrible.

Terrible.

 

News Alert

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel has agreed to a 48-hour suspenion of aerial activity in south Lebanon while it investigates an attack on a Lebanese village that killed a number of children, said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

 

wonder how many bombs get sent into israel during that time.

 

About 200 if Hezbollah keeps up its pace.