- The end to killings of innocent civilians and destruction of infrastructure, on both sides.
- The full support of the Lebanese government and the Prime Minister Seniora for his call to an immediate ceasefire.
- The return of the captive Israeli soldiers as a solution towards ending this conflict.
Update: AlJazeera is claiming that the rockets which hit Haifa today were Syrian-made rockets. Why is Lebanon being punished?
"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."
13 comments:
support lebanon
vote on this link
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html
I truly hope the delegation is successful. Yet what I didn't hear in this was the disarming of Hezbollah as called for by UNSC 1559. I cannot see Israel budging until that part is agreed to. Seems to be in the best interest of both Lebanon and Israel if Hezbollah is disarmed. I hope this is all over soon because the innocents on both sides do not deserve this.
By "Syrian rockets" do you mean they were fired by Syria, or made by Syria and fired by Hizballah?
Israel has no problem with the Lebanese Army on the border, yet it does object to Hezbollah for obvious reasons. Who elected Nasrallah to run Lebanon? Is Lebanon a democratic country or not? If it is than the government must control the borders and not a private militia. This would be like having Ireland's borders with Northern Ireland patrolled by the IRA.
I believe he meant Syrian-made, not fired from Syria. At least that's what The Jerusalem Post is reporting.
Everyone: here is an interesting bit from Washington Post. So, as Sagi so sagely said, the kidnapping of the soldier is not the real reason behind this (I do not agree with the rest of his analysis). This has been in the making for some time now, with US blessings. In fact, if the sources are to be trusted, this is a proxy war on both sides. Funny that semites on both sides end up paying the price.
Omer, thanks for the news.
box
//i don't find the lebanese defenders of lebanon's southern border to be terrorists. i'm sorry. i don't see it. and if they're backed in order to do so, i still don't see the problem in that. does israel expect lebanon to not protect its border? outrageous demands like "move to the nitali river," which, of course, is far inland of the border, suggest that israel resents any OTHER country to protect itself from israel. (please spare me the "explanations" as to why this is a just demand - that's a preemptive "shhhhh.")//
The issue is not that they defended the border, but that they ATTACKED the defenders of ISRAEL's border. Also, the group is (supposedly) not sponsored or led by the Lebanese government, but by one non-elected madman named Nasrallah. Lebanon's inability to control its own border and its self-appointed border guards is the big problem here.
and doha, thanks again for the updates and thanks for banning anonymous comments. I'm sick of people from Western Europe lecturing us about a situation about which they know very little.
Sagi,
I agree with no.1 of your analysis.
As for no.2, I think the war between Iran and Israel/US is taking place right now. Or at least, the parties waging the war hope to settle their scores on Lebanese territory.
Iran promised to give its answer on the nuclear issue mid-August (strange coincidence?). The war on Lebanon will largely influence the outcome of negotiations with Iran which, to the consternation of Arab rulers, aspires to be the major regional player. I do not think the Iranians are crazy. I think it (and lapdog Syria) only want recognition at the end of the day. The war on Lebanon might very well be its baptism by fire. Or it could be a wild card lost.
That's what I think. What do you think?
Commenting for the first time here, from the US, so please forgive if this is intrusive. Those in Lebanon and Israel commenting here are, obviously, affected in an immediate, personal way by current events, but the situation there has the potential to affect us all in a profound way; I hope my input is not regarded as out of line or offensive.
I, too, thought Sagi's analysis was excellent, and somewhat unique, particularly regarding no. 2 and an Israeli goal of a buffer zone to the north for a coming US-Iran war.
also (unrelated to Sagi's commentary) -- box said, "kind of like america's minutemen on the US/mexican border of late."
There is absolutely no comparison. If the minutemen were firing rockets into Mexico, the US government would land on them instantly; they'd never be permitted to dictate America's fate. Likewise, if Mexico were shelling across the border, the minutemen would not be any part of the American defense strategy. To compare the minutemen to Hezbollah is laughable.
box also said, "[Israel] should have no say whatsoever about whether or not hezbollah exists. i don't see what's wrong with hezbollah, actually. israelis whine - "they don't think we should exist" - but their actions aren't congruous with that, and so, irrelevant. you can't kill people for their thoughts.
Thoughts are not the problem here, and that comment demonstrates some astounding naivete. box does, however, hit on what I see as the ultimate question that will eventually have to be answered by Israel's regional neighbors (and perhaps the world): Does Israel have the right to exist, or does it not?
My own opinion on the question is as neutral as I can find it in my heart to be. I deplore the loss of life and increasing stability in the world, as we continue to dodge what I see as an unavoidable confrontation over that question. Like Sagi, I'm pretty pessimistic.
ummm... that should read, increasing instability in the world (or decreasing stability, take your pick...)
sigh...
kind of like america's minutemen on the US/mexican border of late.
Bad comparison. The Minutemen are not firing rockets or anything else into Mexico, they are not arresting illegal immigrants (they lack the power to do so and know it) nor are they making any incursions into our southern neighbor. Hezbollah is doing all this (only kidnapping people from across the border instead of just arresting intruders). The Minutemen are acting as private citizens and informing the US Border Patrol of the whereabouts of illegals while drawing attention to the nation of the how pourous our borders really are (amazing we haven't been attacked again in 5 years). If Hezbollah were only doing what the Minutemen do there wouldn't be a problem, but they go far beyond that.
hezbollah abducted 2 soldiers (why are some saying 3?) to exchange for 3 lebanese citizens being illegally held (along with scores of palestinians) in israeli prisons. correct?
Not exactly. Besides the fact that what Hezbollah did is usually considered to be an act of war, you have your facts mixed up. First of all, some are probably saying 3 soldiers because they are mistakenly including Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas not Hezbollah. Of course the latter did say it kidnapped 2 more soldiers because of solidarity with the former. Second, who says the 3 Lebanese prisoners are being held illegally? One of them is Samir Kuntar, a convicted terrorist and murderer who butchered an Israeli family and a policeman in 1979. He was captured on Israeli soil after infiltrating from Lebanon. Third, regarding Palestinian prisoners, is Hezbollah setting Lebanese policy or not? If you are going to attach the two issues then be prepared to face the consequences.
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