AP:
BEIRUT The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah warned Israel Friday his fighters would hit Tel Aviv with rockets if Israeli forces attack Beirut or the guerrillas' stronghold in its southern suburbs.
Speaking on the anniversary of the end of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the Shiite militants are now capable of striking any Israeli city.
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So let's see, the leader of the nation that attacked and invaded Lebanon in 2006 because a couple of soldiers were appended by insurgents, , a nation armed with illicit nuclear weapons, is threatening the voters of democratic Lebanon that if they continue to have freely elected Hamas as part of their government -- Israel will pulverize the country.
Of corse, such an action would virtually guarantee that the Lebanese back Hamas out of nationalistic outrage, and demonstrate the futility of depending on the US and the West for security.
So let's see if Netanyahu is actually that stupid or is just issuing empty threats. Either way, he loses.
Those who the gods would destroy they first make mad, or at least -- dumb.
great blog arvy . . . totally agree with you
Well said.
Do a little more research. Hizbullah killed the soldiers and then took there bodies. They didn't give them back. Is that ethical in your book? I am not saying that Israel's response was the most ethical thing either. But not allowing families to bury there fallen sons? Are you going to try to defend Hizbullah's actions?
A minor operation, and well within the scope of standard combat practices.
Israel's "response" was, as was revealed in an article in the New Yorker magazine by Seymour Hersh, as a premeditated move that used the capture as an excuse. It was galactically disproportionate to the Hizbollah action, of course -- more than a thousand defenseless civilians killed to avenge a couple of armed soldiers.
http://www
Happily, the IDF was mauled, the bombing failed to dislodge Hizbollah and the IDF was revealed to be not invulnerable -- a view only reinforced by its attack on Gaza, which merely killed a lot of people without denting Hamas appreciably.
To clarify: I support Hizbollah's war of liberation and if it were not illegal, would send them money. I look forward to the day when the Palestinians recapture their homeland. I hope that's clear enough :-)
Ok, so that comment is no different than any comment made by a US president , especially one named GW Bush. But any country who is worth a darn would make the same comment if they were in fear of being attacked. The US , UK, and even Israel has made these threats, and follows through with them.
The US is the only one in recent history besides Israel who had executed Preemptive attacks against countries and people they thought might attack them. So just threatening to retaliate is not much these days , unless someone is trying to make it into more than it is.
Iranian puppets gambling with Lebanese lives.
Observation:
There is no gamble -- they are promising that if Israel strikes again at Lebanon's capital, this time Lebanon /will/ strike back at Israel's capital.
Just as Memory Alpha is a big supporter of Hamas, she is also a big supporter of Hezbollah. I love these Western women who are so full of hate for Israel that they are ready to put on Burkas, give up their rights to education, give up their legal rights and join the war on the zionists. Hatred can make one very irrational
Hezbollah does not equal Lebanon. Hezbollah is a paramilitary guerilla group inside Lebanon that takes it orders from Iran. The gamble is that Iran can intimidate Israel into not attacking their nuclear facility with threats of destroying Tel Aviv through their proxy in Lebanon. If Israel destroys Iran's nuclear facility Hezbollah, not Lebanon, will attack Israel which will result in an Israeli counterattack. Thus the Lebanese people will be paying the bill for Iran's regional ambitions. Which has nothing to do with the oppressed or the rights of the Pals and everything to do with Iran's ambition to become a global superpower.
Suggested reading:
http://www
timings right, they haven't had a good scuffle in a while. I say a month or two.
....why can't we all just get along?
Memory check for all Hezbollah supporters here
244 Marines
http://www
Memory check for Israeli supporters: USS Liberty
The US government's investigation concluded that was a "friendly fire" incident.
source: http://en.
The organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing, but that organization is thought to have been a nom de guerre for Hezbollah—or a group that would later become part of Hezbollah
Some analysts believe the Islamic Republic of Iran was heavily involved and that a major factor leading it to participate in the attacks on the barracks was America's support for Iraq in the Iran Iraq War, its extending of $2.5 billion in trade credit to Iraq while halting the shipments of arms to Iran, A few weeks before the bombing Iran warned that the providing armaments to Iran's enemies would provoke retaliatory punishment.
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog,
Winston Churchill
http://thi
Amused Observation:
You are a massively huge fan of European racism.
Hmmm..... choices...
On one side Winston Churchill
the other side,
His contemporary, Ar.ab leader Al Husseini, hr.erpenführ.er S.S
http://www
You made your choice. I made mine.
Words--very brave.
actions--total halt of rocket attacks after the spanking last winter.
Let them talk.
Observation:
That "spanking" by the IDF slaughtered over 1,200 civilians outright and continued to murder civilians thanks to the cluster bombs Israel spread across the countryside. Whole neighborhoods in Beirut were destroyed and the bombing of the power plant along the coast lead to a fuel oil spill that did widespread ecological damage.
Yeah, that oil spill was a disaster. The mainstream American media gave it a little coverage, then dropped it like a hot potato, as they do with most stories that negatively reflect on our great and wonderful ally, Israel. Wonder why that is?
Ironically Palestinains benefited most from Israeli efforts to pacify Gaza.
Now Hamas is too scared to attack Israel. And civilian causalities on BOTH sides are down to nil.
Learn from it.
And your 1200 civilians killed casualty number includes how many Hamas terrorists?
None of course. EVERYONE is a civilian according to you or your "sources"
It never ceases to amaze me that there never seems to be any Hezbollah or Hamas fighters killed - just civilians.
Where do all the "fighters" go? Do they hide in Mosques or hospital basements or schools? Its as if there are NO Hezbollah or Hamas fighters at all.
And yet whether its Hezbollah or Hamas, after their "win" overIsrael, they seem to get awfully quiet.
Total halt of Rocket attacks?
What Planet do you live on
HOW HEZBOLLAH DEFEATED ISRAEL
PART 1: Winning the intelligence war
By Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry
http://www
PART 2: Winning the ground war
http://www
PART 3: The political war
http://www
You might benefit from a little reading.
He is doing nothing different from what Hillary Clinton said to Iran in her election campaign. She threatened to "annihilate" Iran if they attack Israel. He is merely stating the obvious, he will retaliate against Israel if Lebanon is stricken.
This is how you deter Israel from acting like fools the way they did in 2006.
Goals of last winter's incursion into Lebanon
1. Return of kidnapped soldiers--failed.
2. Pacification of the border area. halt to rocket attacks and other border violations --total success.
Scoreboard.
There are a lot of talkers in the Arabic Middle East--Hussein, Nasser...L
Obesrvation:
Israel's goal was to martyr their own soldiers and kill as many civilians as possible. They even attacked the UN observation outpost in an effort to blind the world to what they were doing to the Lebanese people.
#2 was not one of the goals. Hezbollah didn't start firing rockets into Israel until after the Israeli invasion and the shelling of southern Lebanon.
No one plays victim better than Israel. Did you read the recent article in the NY Times in which Ethan Bronner reported that the Israelis are having such a peaceful summer that they are worried that this is the calm before the storm? It's so peaceful that the belligerent Netanyahu felt it necessary to pre-emptively threaten Lebanon that Israel would hold Hezbollah accountable if anything disturbed this calm. Hezbollah is merely responding that it would defend Lebanon if attacked. What nation wouldn't respond in kind? I don't think the innocent Lebanese or Palestinians are enjoying the state of peace the Israelis are having this summer.
This is all true, but I'd add that Hezbollah is made up of Lebanese citizens who enjoy the same right as any other citizen of that country to defend themselves. The fact that they have to do it through Hezbollah needs to be put in the context of the fact that the west and the U.S. haven't sufficiently bolstered the Lebanese armed forces to the point where they could do the job that a national army should be doing rather than an individual political organization. Of course AIPAC and its ideological allies in the U.S. have made sure that neither Lebanon or any other Arab state receives any amount or type of armament that would ever "threaten" Israel - read, pose a credible defense of their own sovereign territory.
I don't care any more. How's that for plain speaking?
I'm sick of hearing about it--all of it.
Right now, we have problems enough at home, and I don't care what happens in these others places, not even if they all blow each other up.
Sick of hearing about it.
Hezbollah can't get over the fact is does not fully control the government of Lebanon, so they want to start another war (with Iran's help) to allow them to finish off the other factions in their country and establish another lunatic jihadist government like Hamas in the Gaza strip - all victim ideology and war with Isreal - no effort whatsoever to promote the well-being of their own people. Peace usually is better for well-being than war, and trade is usually better than isolation.
Query:
Who is starting this conflict? Israel is the one threatening to restart the war. Hezbollah is only promising that if Israel attacks Lebanon's capital /again/, this time Hezbollah will attack Israel's capital.
have you ever looked into the mirror and just thought about the incredible hypocrite you are? i really want to know
Hey,putzol
ENEMIES!
Spare us the threats! They are taken with a grain of salt anyway.
Thus far, threats are flying from every quarter in the region.
Hezbollah through its leader is voicing its fear of yet another Israeli action against Lebanon. But Israel is trying to facilitate the task of the Lebanese government to disarm the Hezbollah military forces and eventually to dismantle these forces.
It is amazing to watch Israel on the move, deploying it's well thought strategy. Disarm you enemy first then kill him. Except that in this case if the enemy knows in the end that he would be killed why would he disarm? This enemy though the voice of its commander Hassan Nasrallah an apt and astute leader is warning of dire consequences for any action taken by Israel. It is a given in this area of the world that Israel will interfere on and on again in Lebanon's internal affairs. Lebanon is not really a sovereign nation. Destroying Lebanon again will only perpetrate the justification of Hezbollah. It's about time that Israel adopt a long term policy and build peace bridges with the nations living in the area.
Hez is an Iran proxy. Iran is in dire straights and needs to shift focus away from the abuse of its' own citizens. Provoking Israel into conflict solves several aims for both Nasrallah and Iran. It's a no-brainer for anyone that has taken in ALL the data and not just a self-proclaimed genius.
Observation:
Because it isn't Israel that is trying to shift focus away from its illegal settlement program by provoking Hezbollah? Last time around Hezbollah actually played nice -- they left Tel Aviv alone while Israel leveled whole neighborhoods of Beirut.
By that logic, Israel is a US proxy.
The current Lebanese Government.
Iran behind Hezbollah has become a political doctrine almost a dogma. Who is the party to blame in the eyes of Israel: The Hezbollah because it follows Iran orders or the other way around Iran is seen as conductinga proxy war against Israel? The Hezbollah is caught up by its own dynamic in Lebanon and Israel not in Iran!
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First Posted: 08-14-09 11:57 PM | Updated: 09-14-09 05:12 AM