Israel attacks Lebanon 6

Israel is going down the path of starting a major war in the Middle East by invading Lebanon in a response to an attack/abduction on Israeli soldiers by the militant group Hezbollah. Israel was already busy on the Palestinian front with invasions as a response to an another soldier abduction last week by a Palistinian militant group.

White House spokesman Frederick Jones only escalated the situation by directly blaming Iran and Syria for the attack. “We call for immediate and unconditional release of the two soldiers,” he said. “We also hold Syria and Iran, which directly support Hezbollah, responsible for this attack and for the ensuing violence.” The offensive in Lebanon has resulted in the recent bombing of Beirut International airport by Israeli warplanes.

I believe these events are going to trigger a major war in the Middle East involving many states, similar to that of the 1967 Six-Day war in which Israel fought Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. Israel’s attacks on Lebanon are going to enrage nearby Arab states and encourage them to fight back. It was reported that overnight attacks in Lebanon killed at least 22 civilians.

http://www.blogger.com/profile/16252632293116411353 iBrett

Equally as disturbing is Canada’s response, solidly behind Israel without qualifying that support by urging restraint. I read this morning that upwards of 60 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the bombings––a toll that will escalate as a consequence of Israel cutting off Lebanon from aid and supplies by bombing commercial airports, bridges, and arteries out of the country. I don’t know how Prime Minister Harper can call this a “measured response.”
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04454437680686627778 Jim

I totally agree. The Israeli attacks on the Lebanon general population and vital infrastructure was not warranted by the Hezbollah soldier kidnapping in my mind. Even George W. himself is urging restraint.
Anonymous

One word for all of this is: HYPOCRISY
All nation states who have a vested interest in Arab oil say to Israel “show restraint” when acts of war are directly perpetrated against them (i.e. rockets being launched into towns, or soldiers being abducted). When have any of these nations, like the United States, Britain, etc, shown restraint? Pearl Harbour = the automic bombing of civilian populations: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. US Embassy Bombings = US Cruise missile strike on a Sudan pharmeceutical factory. September 11, 2001 WTC = bombing and attack by a coalition of nations (including Canada) of Afghanistan and Iraq (which is publicly declaired to have had nothing to do with it). But they act under the banner of “fighting the war on terror”. The Isreali population is surrounded by nations who have always been extremely hostile towards them and have fought against them in the past. A one-sided stance on this shows how effective slanted media and political spin can be.

Case in point: the 6 Day war was mentioned without appropriate context. Egypt and Syria, prior to that war were responsible for continuous shelling and guerilla attacks on Isreal, sometimes using Jordan as a staging ground. With help from Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, Algeria, and Kuwait, plans to attack Israel were made and armies were mobilized.
With U.S. authorization, Israel launched pre-emptive strikes, not on Egyptian civilian populations, but on military positions capable of destroying key points in Israel, fearing the possibility of annihilation. Israel deliberately attacked military insallments. Jordan and Syria deliberately attacked both military installments and civilian towns.

It’s important to show more than one side of the very complicated existence in the Middle East and the political lip-service that presidents and other heads of state dish out – even when they know they would and have done the exact same thing – even when they were in less grave circumstances. From what they have experienced in the past, why is Israel the only country that does not have a right to take a hard stance on terrorism?
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04454437680686627778 Jim

Well you state that other countries are hypocrytes about Israel’s response because of their military history. So does Israel have the right to kill civilians because the United States dropped an atomic bomb in 1945?

First of all, the attack by the Hezbolah can’t be compared to September 11th because the Hezbolah attacked the Israeli military. It also can’t be compared to Pearl Harbour because the US was not at war with Japan when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941.

I think the point here is that there was an attack on the Israeli military, in which 2 soldiers were abducted. I don’t believe that gives Israel the right to cut off an entire country and kill dozens of civilians. In Iraq, there have been dozens of attacks on the US military, and even some kidnappings.

Let’s not forget why these militant groups are kidnapping Israelis. They are attempting to use the kidnapping as leverage to release prisoners. On many occasions in the past, Israel has released prisoners in exchange to return their soldiers. A precedent was set, but now their policy has changed.

I think Israel is well aware that destructing Lebanon is not going to get their troops back, if anything it will encourage the militant groups not to return the troops. So I can’t help but think that Israel is using the kidnapping simply as justification for their operation.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04454437680686627778 Jim

PS: I wasn’t suggesting that the 6 day war was attacks on civilians by Israel. I merely said “I believe these events are going to trigger a major war in the Middle East involving many states”. In other words, I believe the attack on Lebanon is going to spark a major war in the region with multiple countries involved. Obviously the circumstances of this war are different than the Six-day war.
Anonymous

Great points. Israel’s response is indeed overwhelmingly stronger and shows that as with the US war in Iraq, the plans and tactics were held long before. The kidnappings provided them with an opportunity to carry them out.

Every side in the struggle is speeding up their own downfall. The Israeli’s are speeding up their downfall because retaliation breeds more retaliation and will cause UN troops to be sent into the region, something the Israelis do not want because they mistrust the UN’s historic bias against them. Hezbollah is in the wrong because they trespass on foreign soil, target the Israeli military, and launch rockets at Israeli towns. The Lebanese are in the wrong because after Israel removed the buffer zone by withdrawing from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese government did nothing substantial to crackdown on Hezbollah terrorists – when based on a UN resolution, Hezbollah is mandated to disarm. Innocent Lebanese citizens are suffering for their actions.

Israel says it will no longer negotiate with terrorists as it did in the past in exchange for prisoners. This is also the current policy of other nations. Iran is still calling for Israel’s destruction and uses Hezbollah as a proxy. Syria provides supplies and transport to Hezbollah and Lebanon complacently provides the launching ground for Hezbollah’s actions against Israel.

The final world war will be on account of Israel-Palestine and the middle east struggles. There will be a calm before the final storm, but it is slowly brewing as we speak.

The Urban Country

Israel attacks Lebanon 6