Israel and Leba-nin

Because, at least as far as the Middle East is concerned, negotiation has worked so well.

 

" ... plans are being made to extract Americans" is what the guy on CNN just said.

Extract? What, are we a mouth full of infested teeth?

Well, good morning everyone. World War III is still going on, these being the early stages. It's 8:25 in the a.m. I watched Syriana last night to see if there were/are any parallels between it and World War III. Complicated movie. I watched it on my iBook, so I don't think I got all of the dialogue clearly. That was fucked up when Clooney's character and the jilted prince-to-be son got killed by the CIA.

Well, I'm still shaking off the ya-ya's and picking morning from my eyes. At 10, I have to cover a Babe Ruth baseball game.

Baseball at 10 a.m. in Lebanon. Do they sell hot dogs at 10 a.m. baseball games? That's a question folks in the real Leba-nin won't have to worry about any time soon.

 

Let's see, despite the fact that every country that borders Israel wants to see it destroyed, the Israelis did what people have been asking for decades and gave up territory to the terrorists Palestinians because that was the only thing that would bring peace to the Middle East.

Israel is rewarded with the daily lobbing of bombs into its territory from Gaza and incursions across its borders that result in the deaths of some soldiers and the kidnapping of others.

Yet some G8 leaders think the Israelis are over-reacting? Right. I wonder how the Russians would respond if Poland started lobbing missiles across its border. Or what France would do if Spain did the same. The only way this is going to end is when one side destroys the other one. I'm not saying that's right I'm just saying that's the reality. Israel didn't start this fight but they can't back down from it.

 

Agreed, but that's the way it has always been for Israel.

If the shit really does hit the fan in the Middle East, it will be interesting to see how Europe reacts. Will Britain, France, Germany, etc. get involved? And if they do, on whose side?

 

Holy Dumbshit, Batman!

 

China wouldn't agree with that. What with their 1M man army.

 

Geez, I don't know.
China invaded North Korea and killed a whole lot of US soldiers, and yet, we didn't respond by listening to the crazy people and nuking Beijing.
There is reaction and there is overreaction, and this is overreaction that's likely to bring on a general war that, I fear,. a number of people on both sides want.

 

But here's a reality: The kids fight you describe doesn't disappear in adulthood, it just takes on "mature" forms.  It's a part of human nature, as reprehensible and wasteful as it seems, that's what it is.  Does it justify the behavior? No. We have moral choices, but freedom to choose.  Religion calls this the choice to sin or not to sin, and by sinning, you help screw up the world. Then the non-religious sometimes use this as justification for the comment: "If there is a God, why would he let the world get this way?" And the religious say: "God often walks away from the mess. You wanted to run the show, you deal with working out the script details."

Is this fixing to escalate? Probably. A quote from RED DAWN - "sooner or later, the biggest boys in the neighborhood are going to duke it out" comes to mind.  In that neighborhood, it's Israel and the extreme of Islam.  So it sure looks that way.

But you know, with those kids described above, sometimes, an adult throws out a "if you guys will shut up, there's a trip to the ice cream parlor in your future," and things quiet down.  It's doubtful, but the banking community of China and the West could decide ice cream, metaphorically speaking, is what heals. We'll see.

 

"Bartender, I'll have a Kool-Aid please."

 

fenian,

you cant compare this to the korean war.

unfortunately, this is the battle for the future of israel. for years, that countrys doves argued that if you get the jewish settlements out of the west bank and gaza, things will calm. well, the settlements were forced out of gaza -- at gunpoint in some cases -- and the palestinian people were given free elections. while the international community wasnt exactly thrilled with hamas victory, it shouldnt be surprised given arafats years of corruption and exploitation of his own people under the guise of the palestinian authority.

so, whats the first thing that happens when the israeli army pulls back? hamas terrorists use the opportunity to attack and kidnap a soldier. then, hezbollah pulls the same stunt in the north. until israel changed its policy towards exchanges, there were a few instances where it would trade a large group of prisoners for a small number of soliders or bodies of soliders. the terrorists know how much israel values even one of their missing soldiers. they knew how much those kidnappings would inflame a nation.

so, here you are with noted hawks like ehud barak and ariel sharon going against their own instincts to try peace, while others like benjamin netanyahu call them traitors to their own country. ehud olmert -- who is dovish compared to those guys -- goes ahead with the plan. this is how they are repaid. they are embarrassed, and those constituents against the pullouts are furious because their safety has been compromised.

putins condemnation is hysterically funny considering what hes done in chechnya. it was just a week ago that russia was celebrating the death of basayev. meanwhile, a loopy iranian leader is denying the holocaust, threatening to wipe israel off the map -- and, surprise, it turns out the israeli ship hit off the coast of lebanon was clobbered by an iranian rocket.

youre being attacked by hamas, hezbollah -- which means syria -- and possibly iran. youve given up land and been betrayed for it. you are dealing with people taught from birth to hate you. tell me, exactly, how israel is overreacting here.

 

Number One -- by crushing the indepedent Lebanese state which, as I recall, was a victory for our foreign policy back a year or so. Leaving behind a vacuum that will result in either a permanent Israeli occupation, which worked out so well last time., or a vacuum in which Hezbollah actually runs the state.
Number Two -- By launching a general war against Syria and Iran, which it will not win on terms that make the area tenable ever again, for the purposes of crushing proxy armies at a distance from both capitals over what were relatively small provocations. (Capture two of our soldiers=lose your country?)


Update: Here's another take, anyway.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=11724

 

I'd like to see Israel bomb Hezbollah back to 1864.

Just like our gub'ment knows where OBL is, the Israeli's know where Hezbollah's leaders are. Just go kill the fucker. Put his head on a platter for the world to see.