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Hezbollah Rearms, Raising Risk of Reigniting War With Israel

bloomberg.com — Six months after a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia is rearming, raising the specter that even a small border skirmish might trigger another war.

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  • smokeybehr, on 10/12/2007, -20/+35What a surprise. I will bet my next paycheck that the arms are coming from Iran via Syria.
    • trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -18/+23Its just a continuation of a religious / state boxing match.
      Hopefully Hezbollah will be out via KO in the 5th round...

      Round 5, *DING*
    • AdmiralAdama, on 10/12/2007, -27/+26Hezbollah is arabic for "Party of God" -- they think they've got Allah on their side, who has instructed them to wage eternal war against the evil Infidels -- in this case Jews. They will not stop fighting until they are smashed, and since the Lebanese refuse to do it, there is going to be another war.
    • Krymore, on 10/12/2007, -28/+10I'm glad we have Adama here who somehow has magical insights into the secret inner workings of Hezbollah's collective mind. They SAY they want to take back their land, but thanks to Adama's infinite wisdom, we now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're all closet antisemites. Israel =/= Jews and Muslims =/= Arabs =/= Terrorists. No one is disputing that Hezbollah is bad, but intentionally spreading misinformation is stupid. I guess no one ever accused your hate cult of being intelligent though..
    • Prysorra, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18"They SAY they want to take back their land"

      Err....Israel finally left Lebanon. What else would they want?

    • str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10What we need is a deathmatch, take the Government of Israel vs the Leaders of Hezbollah and make them duke it out in Quake 2, last man standing gets total control over the opponents land and territory.
    • fugazi, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5Can we give Israel hacks so they win?
    • str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5no hacks or spawn campers
    • Photokon, on 10/12/2007, -15/+20@AdmiralAdama

      Iran has the largest jewish population of any muslim country. It isn't a war against Jews, it's a war against Zionist aggression.
    • BeefBaron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Fighting a government military with almost every weapon conceivable and a lack of morals as to where they are deployed, with only a random assortment of old guns and a few RPGs isn't a "War"; It's called a massacre.

      Wouldn't even make for a good GLA replay.
    • JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -13/+12If Isreal just didn't occupy Lebanon then there shouldn't be a ***** problem. It's when they do that ***** that Hezbollah gets popular in the Arab world.
    • smpx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Try reading the title of the article 5 times quickly.

      Not as easy as you think.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4At least some of it is from Russia via Syria, but doubtless Iran is chipping in as well.
    • cyberpass, on 10/12/2007, -11/+12All i got to say is pull your head out of your ass...Israel has done a 100 times more harm than hezballah and AMAL(another ***** group) combined and yet american people(notice i didnt include european) still consider them terrorists while they hold Israel up on a ***** ladder. Compare them to israel and you'll see they are almost identical. The only differnce is Israel has the support of the us government. ***** Israeli racism and ***** you for thinking the world is made up of good vs evil.
    • dmjarrington, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10This is *****. Hizbollah are not terrorists. They are the Lebanese national resistance dedicated to pushing Israel out of their land which they have occupied for the passed 30 years. They contain thousands of Palestinian hostages in their dungeons. Israel has always been the agressor. Do your homework and throw away your tv.

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9071731896689197790&q=george+galloway
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10@dmjarrington: Perhaps you should try and get your TV back. Israel left Lebanon several years ago and is not occupying one square centimeter of Lebanese soil. Hizbullah are NOT the Lebanese national resistance, as a matter of fact they're currently attempting to overthrow the Lebanese government and strengthen Syrian and Iranian influences in Lebanon.
    • RoflcopterFUEL, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6^not true, they're still occupying the sheba farms, and still have hundreds of their comrads in israeli prisons. Hezbollah themselves said that if Israeli returns all of the land and releases their prisoners then they will cease hostilities.

      Israel is also re-arming
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@roflcopter: Sheba farms are Syrian territory, Israel announced it will hand the land over to Lebanon when the Syrians complete the due process. The UN recognised that Israel completely withdrew from Lebanon.
      Israel has this nasty tendency to arrest people who try to harm it, like Samir Kuntar. Unlike Hizbullah's prisoners, they are afforded their rights including Red Cross visits.
    • dmjarrington, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3@yonoz

      You're simply wrong. You are reciting propaganda. The fact that people agree with you is very disheartening.
  • mrharvey518, on 10/12/2007, -16/+41Wow, not only does Hezballah hate their Israel, they hate their own country as well. They are sacrificing the peace in Lebanon for their own selfish hate for the Jews. It is very sad.
    • teadrinker, on 10/12/2007, -10/+30Hezballah are mostly Syrians who are present in Lebanon. They do not care if Lebanon is shredded to pieces. In fact some of them would probably prefer it that way.
    • Aliasing, on 10/12/2007, -9/+23That's absolutely the case, the destruction of Lebanon by Isreal would be a seriously positive side effect for Syria. And to before anyone says they should just invade Syria: they'd be insane to.
    • nixonrichard, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22Yeah, when you fire rockets from the middle of a street in a populated residential area, that's pretty ***** up, because you know some ***** is going to come raining down on you.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Lebanon is not Hizbollahs country. They may occupy a part of southern lebanon, and they may be strong enough to keep both the lebanese and the israeli army out, but that's not their country.
      They don't give a ***** about the palestinians, and they dont give a ***** squared about Lebanon or the lebanese people.
    • dmjarrington, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7omfg you're all morons. Hizbollah is not a terrorist organization!!! THEY ARE THE LEBANESE NATIONAL RESISTANCE. DON'T BE AN IDIOT. You are following propaganda.


      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9071731896689197790&q=george+galloway
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWR0tavb-zo
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@dmjarrington: Who's following propaganda here? Isn't George Galloway a POLITICIAN?
      The facts are Hizbullah is undermining the democracy in Lebanon and acting on behalf of Iranian and Syrian interests, they've admitted to it publicly.
  • RadicalRon, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8smokybehr, does your check have a SOD on it like mine does?

    This month's check, the SOD was holographic. That looks so-o-o-o-o totally cool!!
    _____________

    Oh, almost forgot.

    You may have made a slight error: Russia to Iran to Syria, or, China to Iran to Syria, maybe both.
  • Aliasing, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22Honestly, I don't think Israel could enter Lebanon again with incredibly serious repurcussions; they used up most of their international goodwill last time, and given how unstable the politics have become in the region even in the last year, it could have catastrophic consequences.
    • limbo1334, on 10/12/2007, -18/+12International goodwill? Most of the world has always hated Israel. People keep bitching about stolen land; the land Israel claimed after winning a war. Israel wants peace, it's the arab barbarians and their religion of peace that cause the problems.

      But no matter; Israel has America to fall back on, and is strengthening ties with emerging powers like India.
    • Prysorra, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Goodwill was never real if it could be "spent" like money.
    • str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I know..they had a lot of support initially, but it's hard to support them when they knowingly give orders to attack UN Peacekeepers and Canadian scientists. Israel needs a better PR team, I suggest getting whoever's running the PR for hezbollah..those guys were amazing at setting up fake ambulance runs [see anderson cooper 360's expose on it]
    • Mu99ins, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6@ aliasing

      International goodwill? Surely you joke. Israel has one ally. It's surrounded
      by Arab states that hate it, and by shear numbers outvote Israel in the U.N..

      Hezbollah and Hamas' raison d'etre is the destruction of Israel, and the U.N.
      tolerates them. That's some sour goodwill.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Irael ***** up SO BAD with the 2006 attack on Lebanon.
      They...
      a) Intentionally weakened the legal Lebanese government by destroying the Lebanese infrastructure (bridges, power plants, oil depots, airfields... even newly constructed tourist resorts FFS!) far away from the theatre of operations. This was all over lebanon, not just in Hizbollah-held territory.
      b) Made Hizbollah the heroes of the entire arab world by, against all odds, *losing* to them, despite massive numerical and technological superiority, and complete domination of the sky. Apparently they were caught completely unaware that Hizbollah had thousands of fairly decent russian-made anti-tank missiles.

      Result: Lebanon, until 2006 on the road to becoming a stable democracy, is on the verge of becoming Hizbollahstan. All thanks to a truly, god-awfully, botched operation by the Israelis.

      Then they proceeded to...
      c) Use cluster bombs against civilian targets;
      d) Levelled entire villages;
      e) Alienated the UN by intentionally targeting UN troops, and continuing firing for *hours* after being informed that they were, in fact, shooting at UN troops;
      f) Topped it all off by pissing off the EU by trying to continue shooting through the EU peacekeepers as they were deployed after the official end of hostilities.

      Seriously, the only thing Israel missed out on which could have made it a worse fiasco was firebomb a nunnery (with TV-crews present to film the mayhem). Maybe they're saving that for the next incursion.

      I should point out that I'm PRO Israel. I'm ANTI Hizbollah. However, the 2006 incursion is the worst ***** in the history of Israel. The israeli propaganda machinery still tries to put a positive spin on it, but not only did the israeli 2006 incursion not reach ANY of the stated goals, it achieved the absolute opposite of ALL of them!

    • RoflcopterFUEL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5^ Pretty nice analysis.
  • SwissCamel, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
  • AdmiralAdama, on 10/12/2007, -10/+30Hezbollah has started to piss off the Lebanese, who unfortunately are being held hostage by them. The "Party of God" was created by Iran and should be considered Iran's Foreign Legion. Here is what one Lebanese blogger wrote about The "Party of God"'s leader, Nasrallah, from the fine blog
    http://www.beirutbeltway.com/beirutbeltway/2007/02/thus_spoke_agai.html

    Nasrallah is a monster, and unfortunately, Lebanon and this region are fertile grounds for monsters like him....Solution? Evolution needs to be inflicted on this region that bred people like him and the ones who worship him.

    The Best Blog to read about Lebanon is
    http://www.michaeltotten.com
    Here's him describing Hezbollah firing on Lebanese civilians to keep them in their village to use as human shields.

    18 days after the start of the war a large group of civilians decided it was time to leave Ain Ebel and flee to the north. On their way out of the village, Hezbollah fighters stood on the side of the road and opened fire with machine guns on the fleeing civilians.

    Because Hezbollah wanted to use the civilians of Ain Ebel as “human shields.”
    http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001361.html
  • Billiam627, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Good. Although I think that it would be best if they could accomplish this diplomatically.
    • JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6When Isreal gets the ***** off of the soil of Lebanon diplomacy will be an option.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@JonForTheWin: Israel is not occupying Lebanese soil.
  • nakba, on 10/12/2007, -15/+8Israel is well on its way to bombing the antisemitism out of Lebanon!
  • NSResponder, on 10/12/2007, -11/+12If the hezbullies decide to start shooting again, I hope that this time, the IDF doesn't screw around. This is not a problem that can be solved by a proportionate response.

    -jcr

  • Miniman, on 10/12/2007, -14/+9Israel Will win.
    • thecolor11, on 10/12/2007, -11/+9If it comes to conflict, nobody wins you moron.
  • nakba, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9Does anyone find it ironic that the Israeli military is called the Israeli !!!Defense!!! Force?
  • digitalarcanum, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7Now way back some time ago I would've made some sort of an inflammatory, unintelligent comment that would more than likely get me buried to holy hell, such as "***** hezbollah" or "the jews brought the problem on themselves.." but now... now.. I honestly don't care about the middle east anymore. The United States has got the worst international rep in the world for mucking around in the affairs of the people of the desert when we have no business doing so. We should've just left well enough alone. if the people of the desert, wherever they may be wanted to stage a revolution, they would have done so... with their own people. If they wanted a democratic government... they would've implemented themselves. Congratulations to the Dark Counci- I mean, Government that is supposed to represent our fine nation for forcing our beliefs and way of life on to a people who have a culture all their own.

    The U.N. is impotent, and like almost all international governing bodies, a vast majority of it's power comes from the United States. If we broke away from the U.N., the U.N. would crumble. What does this mean in the long run? the U.S. pulls the strings as much as I hate it. It gives us a swelled head that we don't need.

    My opinion, as wrong as it may be, is to leave them be. The U.N should have nothing to do with it and neither should the U.S.. Of course, that can't happen since Israel is one of our allies, but the whole "A CHALLENGER HAS APPROACHED! LET ME CALL MY ALLY" thing is what starts world wars.

    I'm going to stop at this point because there's prolly a dozen grammatical errors that spellcheck hasn't caught and of course... because I'm rambling.
    • digitalarcanum, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2nice partisan nationalistic retort. Do yourself a favor and try to believe that not everyone speaks for their 'wing' of the government. Some people like to speak for themselves. like me.
    • williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If they both stayed the ***** out of my wallet, they can kill each other all they like.
  • Phipman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16Being someone who was actually IN Lebanon during the bombing and have been going to Lebanon every summer ever since I was a little kid, I'm flippin my ***** right here...

    You think we Lebanese support Hezbollah? You find me one ***** person who supported Hezbollah while they continued to piss Israel off so they bombed innocent civilians during the war, I'll congratulate you on your rare find. As for you assholes who are just like Haha another middle east war you have never been in the middle of a bombing raid hiding in a ***** hallway for four hours hoping your windows don't blow out. Hezbollah does not care about the welfare of the Lebanese citizens, and the innocent people should not be held responsible for Hezbollah actions, especially while Hezbollah was not supported by anyone there I know (and everyone knows everyone).

    As for my opinion, Hezbollah needs to ***** themselves and get out of Lebanon and go back to Syria or some place that supports them, and Israel needs to not completely blow this conflict out of proportion again and bomb Lebanese orphanages, hospitals, and innocent civilians. If they do anything, it should be directly targeted at Hezbollah, not innocent people. In the last war, they were just douchebags. All this coming from a US citizen who goes there every summer and really appreciates the beauty and how nice EVERYONE is, and can't now because of all this stupid conflict. Just my opinion.

    And as for the US supporting Israel, they might as well have been blowing the orphanages up themselves with all the weapons they gave Israeli forces.

    ***** wars...
    • mjazzguitar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+18hezbollah hides among civilians and won't let them leave when they fire on Israel, to try to get Israel to hit civilian targets. It's against international law.
    • jc807, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14"Hezballah didn't start the war, Israel did with it's disproportionate response."

      First off, they didn't start the war. Secondly, what's the appropriate response against a genocidal militia, operating in a foreign country, continually defying UN resolutions, whose stated goal is the extermination of Israel?

      Quote from Nasrallah:
      "Iran assists the organization with money, weapons, and training, motivated by a religious fraternity and ethnic solidarity," Nasrallah said. "And the help is funneled through Syria, and everybody knows it."

      The Hizbullah leader added that his organization is ready to accept assistance from any Arab or Islamic party, like Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

      Nasrallah's genocidal rantings:
      http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=23841
      Just do a search for Hezbollah and genocide, they go hand in hand.

      I'm not saying Israel deserves unconditional support, but Hezbollah needs to be seen for who they really are and the real effect they are having in the region. Nothing positive can result from their philosophy or mindset.
    • powerclam, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10@diggbansmuslims:
      "Hezballah didn't start the war, Israel did with it's disproportionate response."

      You must be irony deficient.
    • kronix2, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6"hezbollah hides among civilians and won't let them leave when they fire on Israel, to try to get Israel to hit civilian targets. It's against international law."

      During the Israeli-Lebanon war, Israel peppered civilian areas with cluster bombs and fired on journalists and UN peackeepers. Both are violations of international law. There's also the small matter of the occupation of the Palestinian Territories, which is also a violation of international law. They don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to legality.

      Independent institutions such as Amnesty International accused both sides of violating international law. Israel is not the poor, innocent defenceless victim; they have one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world, access to American military hardware and a nuclear arsenal.
    • CJWright, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@ kronix2
      Get a clue.It's hard to take Amnesty International criticisms of Israel seriously based on their
      behavior. Amnesty does not recognize the Hizbullah as an army and, therefore,
      speciously describes Hizbullah casualties as civilian casualties. Yet Amnesty has the
      temerity to accuse Israel of purposely targeting civilian targets.
      (from http://www.ngo-monitor.org/archives/infofile.htm#amnesty)
      Read also this excellent article, entitled Amnesty International - Not a Reliable Source:
      http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=8141
      Also see: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200608/INT20060823b.html
      And see http://www.snappedshot.com/archives/84-Amnesty-International-misses-the-obvious.html
      You can even verify the Wikipedia write up: In 2004, the Jerusalem Center for Public
      Affairs's NGO Monitor released a study comparing Amnesty International's treatment of
      Israel to its response to the twenty years of ethnic, religious and racial violence in Sudan
      (a predominantly Arab country) in which (at that time) two million people had been
      killed and four million displaced. They argued that Sudan's human rights abuses were
      incomparably worse than Israel's.. . "the Sudanese Government in Khartoum bombs
      southern villages and blocks food relief flights to areas where it wants the population to
      starve."[13] In June 2001, "the wholesale abduction of individuals and communities is
      not uncommon."[14] The New York Times reported murder, abductions, and property
      destruction against the southern Sudanese.[15] When NGO Monitor focused on the year
      2001, they found that AI issued seven reports on Sudan, as opposed to 39 on Israel.[16]
      "While ignoring the large-scale and systematic bombing and destruction of Sudanese
      villages, AI issued numerous condemnations of the razing of Palestinian houses, most of
      which were used as sniper nests or belonged to terrorists. Although failing to decry the
      slaughter of thousands of civilians by Sudanese government and allied troops, AI
      managed to criticize Israel's "assassinations" of active terrorist leaders."— Asleep at the
      Wheel: Comparing the Performance of Human Rights NGO's on Sudan and Arab-Israeli
      Issues, NGO Monitor For 2000–2003, they found 52 reports on Sudan and 192 reports on
      Israel. They state "[t]his lack of balance and objectivity and apparent political bias is
      entirely inconsistent with AI's official stated mission."[16] Amnesty International, among
      others, has been condemned for their obsession with Israel, to the exclusion of other,
      worse violators." This obsession would make sense if Israel was among the worst human
      rights offenders in the world. But by any objective measure this is not the case. Even with
      the harshest interpretation of Israeli's policies, which takes no account of cause and
      effect, and Israel's predicament of facing existential war, there can be no comparison to
      the civil wars in Sudan, Algeria, or Congo. Like the UN, the policies of AI and HRW
      have more to do with politics than human rights. — Human Rights NGOs and the
      Neglect of Sudan, Don Habibi

      As Defense Secretary Rumsfeld eloquently stated: ". . . .it's a time when Amnesty International refers to the military facility at Guantanamo Bay -- which holds terrorists who have vowed to kill Americans and which is arguably the best run and most scrutinized detention facility in the history of warfare -- "the gulag of our times." It’s inexcusable.

      Other potential example sources to read include
      http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=39&x_article=920
      and http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_article=920&x_context=7
      and http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=2&x_article=189 Or
      take the Amnesty International report on Jenin that was completely discredited):
      http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE151432002 (see IDF initial response at:
      http://www.idf.il/newsite/english/1104-5.stm and then
      http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/Three_Lessons_from_a_Wo
      man_Terrorist.asp
      http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/reports/Palestinian_Intimidation_of_the_Press.a
      sp
      http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Children_Under_Fire.asp
      and Discrimination and Double Standards:
      http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODI0MWMzYzQyMmE3MTBkZTUwYjk5YjgzN
      GRiZDNkYWM=
      http://theaugeanstables.com/
      http://seconddraft.org/
      and
      http://www.eyeontheun.org/ etc. etc.
    • CJWright, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@kronix2 "There's also the small matter of the occupation of the Palestinian Territories, which is also a violation of international law."

      From http://72.166.46.24/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/02269298.htm :

      "YOU WANT TO SPEND the rest of your life in a futile debate? Get into a discussion of how the Middle East got to this point, beginning with the ancient Jewish kingdoms, through the Roman occupation, to the centuries during which resident Jews had no real authority in the Holy Land. Move on to the era when Muslim caliphs controlled the region through the dominion of the Ottoman Empire and then to the period of post–World War I British control, following the defeat of the Ottomans. From there go to the United Nations–proposed two-state solution in the mid 1940s through the 1948 war following Israel’s establishment of independence, when the Arabs were bent on pushing the Jews from their new state into the sea. Talk about Jordan’s control of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) from 1948 to 1967 and Egyptian control of Gaza during the same period. If you haven’t yet come to blows, go over the Six Day War launched by the Arabs against Israel in 1967, which resulted in Israeli occupation of Judea and Samaria, and then try to talk about our own time, when mass murderers routinely ply their trade to a chorus of praise by the Palestinian Authority, the Jordanian queen, and the kept intellectuals and sycophants of the Arab world."

      "The Allied occupation of Germany and Japan was a legitimate action intended to pacify hostile populations and expunge murderous regimes. Also legitimate was the decision not to end occupation until those former enemies had proven they had abandoned their wretched policies of the 1930s and ’40s and erected democratic structures in their place. Today, the Israeli occupation of Judea and Samaria is also fully justified; it is the outcome of a war prosecuted against Israel. The Israelis must and will remain there until its Arab residents agree to abandon their commitment to destroy Israel. Of course, there’s no indication that the Palestinian Authority dictatorship under Arafat has any such intention. On the contrary, its statements in Arabic (visit www.memri.org for the English translation) reiterate the belief that the whole of what was once the mandate of Palestine, including all of pre–Six Day War Israel, must be a Palestinian-Arab state. The simple principle that the victor in a war brought on by an attack against it has the full right and a moral obligation to pacify the enemy, including occupying territory from which the aggression was launched (and continues to be launched), makes scarcely a dent in the minds of folks who call talk shows, . ..or who trudge off to "peace" rallies. Nor does it influence those who take their cues from the manifestly anti-Israel news reporting on National Public Radio or the opinion pieces in many liberal newspapers and magazines — all of which view Israeli and Palestinian actions in terms of moral equivalence. With press coverage like this, it’s not surprising that Palestinian sympathizers see the Israeli presence in the territories as "occupation" in the most illegitimate sense of the term. Nor is it surprising that they believe the entirety of the so-called West Bank — which is simply the area controlled by Arabs after the ceasefire of 1948 — is Palestinian territory. How quickly they forgot (or perhaps never knew) that the occupants of this land, formerly governed by the Jordanians, were never given the same rights accorded Jordanians and didn’t start referring to themselves as Palestinians until the mid 1960s. To describe this land as "Palestinian territory" betrays an ignorance of history (if knowledge of events occurring in just the last half-century can rightly be called "history"). This land is nobody’s territory, though it is held by Israel for good reason. Its final status and borders were to be determined by negotiation — as recognized by international agreement and reiterated in the Oslo accords. It has become popular over the past year to forget that fact."

      "But at this point, negotiation to determine the borders of a state run by Palestinians — before they abandon their irredentist fantasies, before they pledge full acceptance of Israel's legitimacy, before they abjure violence and commit to living in harmony with Israel — would be absurd. The United States would never have left Japan and Germany had there been hordes of Japanese militarist kamikazes and Nazi "suicide bombers" tossing themselves into American military camps, apartment buildings housing servicemen’s families, and restaurants and shops patronized by Americans. The "occupation" of Judea and Samaria must continue until their residents begin to act like civilized adults instead of rabid juvenile delinquents routinely employed in the slaughter of innocents. Indeed, this occupation must continue until Palestinians stop teaching their children how to turn themselves into projectile human explosives.People unfamiliar with, say, the redrawing of the European map from the late 19th century to the present (owing to population shifts and war) believe with a passion usually reserved for revealed religion that the 1948 ceasefire line is the result of a settled agreement.

      They think that "pre-1967 Israel" may try to remain a Jewish state, if those pesky Jews really insist, but the part previously occupied by Egypt and Jordan absolutely must be — and in their minds already is — the State of Palestine.The predominant goal of the Arab dictatorships — and the only one safely expressed — is the total elimination of Israel. "

      Even forget the ancient historic claims Israel has to the land
      ( ) and religious claims in holy books (or that for thousand years all of your Jewish neighbors say and have said "next year in Jerusalem" every year at Passover.) because that only results in arguments about giving the US back to Indians. THEY FIRST TRY TO DELEGITIMIZE ISRAEL #1 BY SAYING AT THE FOUNDING THEY STOLE THE LAND Besides a historical connection (See:http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf1.html) and just as valid a basis of origin as Jordan. Transjordan 300% times the size of Israel, was also created as part of the British Balfour Declarationwas given to the Hasemite rulers to run (a small % of the population the
      rest who are "Palestinian") but no one is questioning Jordan's legitimacy as a country. Read about Jordan as a country and think about it: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1003/dershowitz_2003_10_15.php3

      At that time there were some disputed territories based on WAGE FIVE DEFENSIVE ARAB WARS AGAINST ISRAEL TO KILL AS MANY CIVILIANS AS POSSIBLE waged by Arab states who would not accept Israel's existence. Never before has land won in war been questioned or even voluntarily ceded for empty promises of peace or recognition (e.g. Israel giving the Sinai in return for nothing from Egypt - a country that popularizes television shows based on anti-semitic blood libels!!) When they couldn't win the military wars against Israel the Arabs already made sure to victimized the 'Palestinian' refugees (same # of Arab refugees as there were Jewish refugees thrown out of Arab countries) not alllowing them citizenship and characterizing the UN funded refugees (who grew in number due to lax rules on claiming refugee status) as refugees even after many generations (50+ years - unprecedented with any other group in the world!!) because the other Arab countries with 100's & 100's of times the land mass would not all any of them citizenship. Israelis include the Jewish refugees from the Arab world - at least equal in number of Arab "Palestinans" - impacted by it's founding but you never hear about them. Why? Because they were absorbed into the country. Does tiny Israel have more resources than the 22 massive Arab countries (look at a map http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/arabworld.html) many of which make billions in oil money? No. And why have they forced 3 generations (50 years growing to millions) of Palestinians to remain refugees without citizenship? Arab leaders wanted to keep their Palestinian brethren in refugee camps provides an important view into the cause of Palestinian suffering. After Gaza came under Israel's control after the Six-Day War, Israel sought to destroy refugee camps in Gaza and build proper housing for Arab refugees. The Palestinian leadership and their Arab co-conspirators went ballistic over the plan and brought the issue to the United Nations (who sided with the Arabs - bigsurprise), and Israel wasforced to back off from its plan to provide humane conditions to Arab refugees. This is the reality that you will never read about in the New York Times or hear about on NPR or the BBC - that Arabs in general do not care about Palestinian suffering, and their only use for Palestinians is as a battering ram against Israel. Did the Arab world (or the international left) cry out when Jordan massacred thousands of innocent Palestinians? Did the Arab world or their leftist travelers say a word when Kuwait ethnically cleansed tens of thousands of Palestinians after the first Gulf War? If possible exaggerate issues they having dealing with their own citizenry (e.g. treatment of Israeli Arab traitorship, etc.)

    • williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At last, a voice of actual reason.

      Hizb'allah is not the answer. They are a proxy for Syria and, maybe, Iran.

      Israel is not the answer. They think anyone who is not an Israeli is an expendable life. Arrogance, entitlement, and perhaps despair over their future has led them to act irrationally. The U.S. needs to step back from supporting Israeli war plans and force the Israelis to think of other ways out of their situation.

      Destroying Lebanon is not the answer. Though goading Israel into doing it again might serve Hizb'allah's goal of making Israel too much of a pariah for even the U.S. and U.K. to support uncritically. It was U.S. bombs and jet fuel that made that adventure possible.
  • Raidenwolf, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10I really don't buy into the reason US pushed the creation of Israel. (Give wandering peple a home) I think even back then it was US desire for oil. Lets face the facts Hitler (Germany) owed the Jews for what they did in the Holocaust. So why did arab countries have to get diced up and give up land to create Israel. What confuses me is why the US tolerated Israel during the 1967 Israeli attack on a U.S. surveillance ship which killed over 30 soldiers and injured 100+ I think Israel (Jews) are overcompensating for their "lack of fight" during the Holocaust.

    The only solution is to get our country oil indepentant and resell that technology to all coutries but muslim countries ASAP so the OPEC nations can shrivel up and die.
    • mjazzguitar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12You don't know anything about the history of the middle east.
    • RoflcopterFUEL, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3No, he's right. Why did/do the arabs have to pay the price for european genocide? Why did the U.S close its borders to jews trying to escape to their country? It's unfortunate, but there're many who use the Holocaust for political agendas. I'd even go as far as saying that Zionists actually welcomed the holocaust, since because of it, they could finally convince european jews to actually immigrate to palestine, which they had a hard time doing before hand, since they didn't want to move out of their respective homelands initially.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@roflcopterfuel: At last you show your true colours. Zionists welcoming the holocaust? Why don't you join your friends erikf and macktwo over at stormfront.
      Jews started settling in Palestine in great numbers long before the holocaust. No one asked the Arabs to pay for European crimes, what was asked of them was to allow Jews to live among them in peace - a coexistence that benefited the entire region.
    • CJWright, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@ raidenwolf "why did arab countries have to get diced up and give up land to create Israel." Please read my posting above to get a clue about history. Besides a historical connection (See:http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf1.html) and just as valid a basis of origin as Jordan. Transjordan 300% times the size of Israel, was also created as part of the British Balfour Declarationwas given to the Hasemite rulers to run (a small % of the population the
      rest who are "Palestinian") but no one is questioning Jordan's legitimacy as a country. Read about Jordan as a country and think about it: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1003/dershowitz_2003_10_15.php3

      " What confuses me is why the US tolerated Israel during the 1967 Israeli attack on a U.S. surveillance ship which killed over 30 soldiers and injured 100+"
      On the US Liberty: it was an accident. Get over it. See: http://www.libertyincident.org/ and http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/libertytoc.html
  • kolanos, on 10/12/2007, -14/+16Israel started the last conflict, and they'll likely start the next. The captured Israeli soldiers that prompted the last invasion were captured in Aita al Chaab, which is in Lebanon. This is a fact that most people want to overlook. It is a shame that we cannot look at this situation objectively. Instead we have to spread hate and make excuses for the aggressor.
    • Cog1018, on 10/12/2007, -13/+17Right. This makes sense. Hezbollah kidnaps two soldiers from Israel's army which must mean that Israel started the war.

      You are a complete moron that has distanced him/herself from reality and the facts.
    • emiles, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11@diggbansmuslims:
      Digg doesn't ban Muslims but I am blocking you.
    • whichDan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8@cog1018

      Gee, I thought that when it was a soldier it was called capturing - particularly when they are on foregin soil. Kidnapping was what Israel did with Mordechai Vanunu when they took him illegally from England (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu).
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@kolanos: No, the latest kidnapping did not take place there. It was carried out on the Israeli side of the UN demarkated border quite far away from Shaba Farms. It seems you're the one making excuses for the aggressor.
      The Shaba Farms are still Syrian territory until the Syrians forfeit it, at which case Israel announced it will hand the land over to Lebanon. Until then it's occupied Syrian territory.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zar%27it-Shtula_incident
      "The UN,[11][12] the EU,[13] the G8,[14] the US,[15] and prominent news agencies,[4][16][17][18][19] including Al Jazeera,[20] have characterized the Hezbollah action as "cross-border" (and therefore an act of war under international law), although allegedly the Lebanese police, and later Hezbollah, stated that the Israeli soldiers were abducted on the Lebanese side of the border "during a mission to infiltrate the town of Ayta ash-Shab".[21]"
  • Mu99ins, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"Hezbollah rearms..."

    Is that news? Catch anybody by surprise?
  • whichDan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7In other news, Israel does not pull out of Gaza or the West Bank. Continues to maintain nuclear weapons.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Uh, I don't know where you get your news but Israel has been out of the Gaza strip for a while now.
  • BillDoE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I don't recall the news that Hezbollah ever disarmed.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7They're rearming in the sense "throw me another clip, I'm out of ammo", not in the sense "damn I shouldn't have turned all my swords into ploughshares".
  • RawGamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4They're rearming for the upcoming civil war. Lebanon is like a game and training ground for other countries. Syria and Iran are arming Hizbollah and the West is now arming the opposition groups. None of those militias care about Lebanon.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9That's a bit harsh. The druze and the christians are lebanese, remnants of the people who lived in Lebanon before the palestinian immigration, and are at least fighting for their subsets of the population.
      Hizbollah... they have no ties to Lebanon, couldn't care less about Lebanon. They're only in Lebanon because the Lebanese government isn't strong enough to throw them out, and the only reason they get support from Iran, Russia and Syria is because they annoy Israel and shift the focus of the US from Iran, Russia and Syria.
  • passingthru, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Israel is not occupying Lebanese territory. The Shebaa Farms area was Syrian territory that was lost in the 1967 Six-Day War, (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_day_war) the war in which Israel fought, and beat, the armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, along with soldiers and aid from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria. When the war was over, Israel found herself in control of the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the west bank of the Jordan River (formerly part of Israel back in the day), and a small part of Syrian territory called the Shebaa Farms.

    The Shebaa Farms (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebaa_farms) was part of the Golan Heights. The UN has certified it as Syrian land, not Lebanese. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the UN certified that Israeli forces withdrew completely. The Syrians and Hezbollah, eager to keep up their war front with Israel, deny the accuracy of the UN report and insist that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese. They made this "legal" by having Syria cede the territory to Lebanon after the fact.

    This is the claim of occupation that Hezbollah uses to stir up people outside of Lebanon who haven't the patience to click through to Wikipedia to find out the facts.

    The Lebanese prisoners that people keep complaining that Israel holds for no reason? One such prisoner whose freedom is demanded is Samir Kuntar (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samir_Kuntar), who, along with three other terrorists, slipped into the Israeli town of Nahariya and killed four Israelis. He murdered a 28-year-old Israeli man in front of his four-year-old daughter, then smashed the daughter's head on a rock and killed her. When the terrorists attacked their house, Danny Haran's wife, Smadar, hid in a crawlspace with her two-year-old daughter. She covered her daughter's mouth with her hand to keep her from screaming so the terrorists wouldn't find them.

    The daughter died of accidental suffocation.

    Samir Kuntar was was found guilty of murder after a trial and sentenced to four life terms. This is the man that Hezbollah calls a hero. This is one of the prisoners that Hezbollah wants released.

    These are the facts that most people don't know when they take the Hezbollah slogans and turn them around. There is no truth in Hezbollah. Read those links, and see for yourself.
    • RoflcopterFUEL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3If you're gonna be all technical about it, then there's no Lebanon to begin with. It was all called Greater Syria prior to the Ottoman break up. Syrians and lebanese aren't really that different.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@roflcopter: so I guess you think the Syrian occupation of Lebanon was completely justified?
      Sorry, I didn't mean to let the technicalities get in the way of your hatred.
  • givemereplay, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Hezballah is no more vile than the IDF. Each is responsible for a great deal of the violence. I do not doubt that the IDF is rearming for a new offensive against civilian targets too.
  • amightywind, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Bring 'em on. Israel cannot destroy Hezbollah if they don't fight. Where is that pig Nasrallah? Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River is traditional Israeli land anyway.
    • RoflcopterFUEL, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Im not sure, but it did seem like Hezbollah wiped the IDF last summer. If you take the ratio of military vs civilian casualties and stated objectives into consideration, then Hezbollah was the winner.

      Isreali land is in eastern europe, central asia, germany, and new york....where they actually came from.
    • yonoz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@roflcopter: Yes, we remember the gracious hospitality of the Europeans, and the open reception the US granted our refugees.
      Here's a deal: you go back to England and reinstate the monarchy, and we'll go back to where we came from. Oh wait, we're already there!
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah
      BTW who would've thought that when you fire at Israeli civilians in the midst of civilian populations, Israel will fire back, hitting civilians in the process. I bet Hizbullah were surprised.
  • coldkodiak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6If you're a hezbollah supporter, please read about the horrid organization you agree with in principle, and find out about them from a person actually in Lebanon.

    http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001355.html

  • analyze, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Hezbollah must be Arabic for "stupid decisions." They remind me of the mental patients who keep hitting their head against the wall--their actions only hurt themselves.
  • mos6507, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"No, he's right. Why did/do the arabs have to pay the price for european genocide? "

    Why should it have had to play out as "paying a price"? Why couldn't the arabs absorb the Jews and establish a peaceful melting pot society together? They sure as hell would have been better off. Multiculturalism doesn't work well in the arab world, as you can see in Lebanon or Iraq.

    And even more importantly, why don't the surrounding countries see the Palestinian refugees/squatters as "paying a price"? It's just paying a price if you're talking about people you HATE.

  • synaesthete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2900,000 jews were kicked out of Muslim lands. you never hear about those refugees. Why do Jews have to pay for hatred?
  • abdul88, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This just shows that the majority of "politicians" on this thread are MAJOR idiots , and DO NOT know crap about the Middle East and politics there.Most of you guys are spoon-fed daily the U.S. media propaganda which is EXTREMELY biased and is no source of information for anything about the Middle East. Have any of you guys been to Lebanon? or to Syria? I've lived in the Middle East for 12 years , and I've traveled to Syria , Jordan and Lebanon numerous times.And it just so happened that I was in Lebanon during the war , and I had to take the "death highway" into Syria.Of course a couple days later after I took it , it was completely destroyed by IDF. That was the only route for escape , and believe me , driving in a small cramped bus , with bombs dropping around you , and air force planes flying overhead is COMPLETELY no fun.It's pure torture. If any of you people would actually read some useful , you'd know the direct translation of Hezbolah (Party of God) , is Al Muqawa'a Al Lebnaniya which means the Lebanese Resistance Army. Lebanon is cut into 2 parties: One party is Pro Syrian and the other is Anti Syrian. Some people like the Syrian "interference" in Lebanon while other don't like it at all.
  • 911Bldg7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is for all the democracy loving ***** out in digg land. If you all forgot, Hezbollah is the legal representative arm of the Palestinians. With that refreshed in your dimwit minds I propose that they acquire nuclear weapons ASAP to ward off the American and Israeli terrorists beating at their door. They cannot have enough high tech weapons as far as I am concerned. I support them with all my heart and soul because I love democracy, don,t you? Too bad we lost it here in Amerikkka. But it seems to be working in Palestine.
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