The Middle East Continues...

[RGBVideo]

I'm surprised so few of you use the ignore function on permanent trolls who never provide any sort of information or amusement.

[notyoueither]

Re: Sic Semper Trolls

Originally posted by Adam Smith
Thank you, Mobius, for a very educational evening.

That is a bit worse than I expected.

[lightblue]

To be honest, by now I wouldn't blame the Lebanese army and any allies they might have to enter this conflict, considering their positions have been targetted as well.

[notyoueither]

The funny thing is that Mobius is quoting plagerists.

The original article can be found here, dated July 20, and apparently written by Ned Parker and Stephen Farrell (Times staff, presumably).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2277717,00.html

with a second page.

The original wording:

The Hotel housed the Mandate Secretariat as well as the Army Headquarters. On July 1946 (sic) Irgun fighters at the order of the Hebrew Resistance Movement planted explosives in the basement. Warning phone calls had been made urging the hotel’s occupants to leave immediately. For reasons known only to the British the hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded, and to the Irgun’s regret and dismay 91 persons were killed.



The amended version

. . .Warning phone calls had been made to the hotel, the Palestine Post and the French Consulate, urging the hotel’s occupants to leave immediately.

The hotel was not evacuated, and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded. The entire western wing was destroyed, and to the Irgun’s regret 92 persons were killed.

One imagines the official policy of Mobystan is to never mention the Times.

[germanos]

Originally posted by lightblue
To be honest, by now I wouldn't blame the Lebanese army and any allies they might have to enter this conflict, considering their positions have been targetted as well.

The Lebanese army has been part of the conflict since day one, as they take potshots at Israeli aircraft.

Allies? Lebanon doesn't have any...

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


So then it was legitimate for al-Qaeda to hit the WTC, because the companies headquartered there helped sponsor the exploitation of the Muslim world.

Oh, and Lebanon didn't have the military capacity to shut down Hezbollah without reigniting the civil war. Maybe they wanted a few years of peace after thirty years of war.

And perhaps Israel wants to force the rest of the world to get involved so it isn't left up to the feeble Lebanese government, that Hezbollah is a part of, and something will actually be done about half a country ruled by a mob paid by foreign governments that habitually wants to attack them.

Oh, and office buildings are not normally considered military targets, unless they happen to store particularly dangerous forms of paper.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Flip McWho
Though it's interesting how the morally better options leads to more casualities overall isn't it.

Not really. That has less to do with morality than with the wildly inaccurate missiles Hzb is using compared to Israel's state-of-the-art weaponry...

[Sandman]

It's interesting to see Lonestar's so glib about Israel trashing a slowly recovering Lebanon - a valuable asset for America and the West.

[DinoDoc]

Why? Were there any babv steps on the horizon toward disarming the Iranian/Syrian army that had taken over the southern half of the country that hadn't made news? If not I fail to see how it could have been valuable.

[germanos]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Why? Were there any babv steps on the horizon toward disarming the Iranian/Syrian army that had taken over the southern half of the country that hadn't made news? If not I fail to see how it could have been valuable.

Uhm, yes.

The syrian army was forced out, with the help of the west. Help that was actually encouraged by the government.

There's little to indicate that a similar approach would have been deadlocked by the Lebanese government with regard to Hezbollah.

[DinoDoc]

There's little to indicate that a similar approach would have been deadlocked by the Lebanese government with regard to Hezbollah.

Except for the fact that Hezbollah refused to be disarmed by the central government and the central government was in no position to do anything about it. Let's just say that I'm sceptical of the view that sees a failed state as anything other than a potentially dangerous burden.

[germanos]

Likewise the Lebanese was not really in a position to do much about the Syrian hold on it. Yet they managed to do so.

Indeed Lebanon is not in a position to deal with Hezbollah decicively in a limited timeframe. But the babysteps were certainly on the horizon.

Now however, I predict a return to the situation before Barak pulled the Israeli's out of Lebanon, Hezbollah not being weakened to a state less then during that period. Hezbollah will again claim they are fighting the Israeli occupation etc. etc., precicely recreating the state of affairs that made it impossible for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah in the first place.
Hezbollah was the only militia allowed to keep it's weapons under 'Taif' ONLY because of the Israeli prescence in the Shi'a south.

I agree with you that the situation was far from perfect, but it was better then during the existence of the Israeli buffer zone.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Lonestar


Yes, but then Lebanon would have been more "in the right" than right now, where they are tacitly supporting Hezbollah but not doing anything to stop them.

Like how the American people tacitly support the actions of their government and corporations abroad, and thus deserved 9/11. You're in the same company as Ward Churchill and his "little Eichmann's" comment.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Oh, and office buildings are not normally considered military targets, unless they happen to store particularly dangerous forms of paper.

Neither are hospitals, apartment buildings, or fleeing refugee caravans.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Elok


Not really. That has less to do with morality than with the wildly inaccurate missiles Hzb is using compared to Israel's state-of-the-art weaponry...

That says nothing good about Israel.