4 comments by 1 or more people

1. Gareth Herbert

   I'm guessing that the only reason why the disbandment of Hezbollah is such a dire imperative is that UN resolution 1559 willed it so. I guess had Israel said "Hezbollah must be disarmed because a militia that is committed to our destruction, undermine the sovereignty of Lebanon, launch rockets against our civilians and kidnap and kill our soldiers without provocation whilst sharing a border with us is not acceptable" that would have been okay, but then since they mentioned "the UN" (who incidentally have done virtually nothing about the issue for the last six years) that makes them a bunch of hypocrites.

   02 Aug 2006, 02:27

2. Hamid Sirhan

   Hey Gareth – What I think irks Israel is the fact that Hizbullah had the balls to do anything whilst Israel was bombing the hell out of Ghaza, continuing its policy of destroying any and all Palestinian infrastructure since 2000. What irks them even more is that Hizbullah didn't fall for the same trap Hamas falls for time and time again and when it attacked, it attacked the military.

   But more examples of hypocrisy? "Hizbullah only target civilians. We try to minimise civilian deaths!!!!! Hizbullah use human shields, those terrorist scum! We always apologise for mass slaughter!"

   The majority of Israelis killed so far? Soldiers. Oops.

   The majority of Lebanese killed so far? Most likely civilians (if the Israelis would stop bombing ambulances and anyone trying to retrieve bodies, we might know more!)

   The number of Israelis killed in total? 50–60

   The number of Lebanese killed in Qana, ten years after another massacre? 67

   ———–

   Oh noes.

   02 Aug 2006, 17:24

3. Gareth Herbert

   Whilst the injustice of Palestine serves as a constant justification or a source of ‘understanding’ for so many of those seeking to excuse or explain away so many atrocities of late, I find it hard to believe that the basis for the current conflict is the profound empathy toward the Palestinian people felt by this Iranian–backed terrorist organisation. Neither Sheikh Nasrallah nor any other of the groups’ high profile leaders have made any public statements expressing this ‘grievance’, in fact as motives go I think the groups’ commitment to the destruction of the state of Israel as written in their manifesto is far more revealing.

   Over the past two days, Hezbollah have launched around 350 missiles indiscriminately into Israel. How on earth even the most ardent apologist could refer to this as the specific targeting of the Israeli military is beyond me. Lets face it, the mere fact that they haven’t killed more civilians is not for want of trying or because of their moral objections to anything that violates the sanctity of human life, it’s simply because, in spite of the efforts of Iran and Syria, they do not have the logistical capability to kill on a larger scale.

   First off the revised figure of those killed in Qana stands at 28. The initial prediction was based on a tenants’ list of those living in the basement and it is now apparent that they were not all there when the bomb was dropped. Still a tragedy though of course, but lets not conflate the figures.

   Whilst civilian deaths are always regrettable, one accepts that in a bombing campaign of this scale it is utterly inevitable the civilian deaths will occur. However, when you are facing a terrorist organisation that seeks to maximise the casualties of the very people it purports to defend by blending in amongst them it is Hezbollah who bear primary responsibility. In the case of Qana the Israelis have already released footage depicting rockets being fired at Israel from within the village. Other sequences have shown rocket launchers being fired from behind apartment blocks and garages and houses being used to hide launcher trucks. In fact even the UN general secretary for humanitarian affairs (hardly a body known for its pro–Israeli stance), Jan Egelund has called upon Hezbollah to stop the “cowardly blending among women and children”.

   But here’s what it boils down to, Israel did not want this war and if the international community and the Lebanese government had done its job in the first place Hezbollah would not be in a position to fight it. Kadima won the recent election on a pledge of unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza and the West Bank and as with the withdrawal from Lebanon, the people of Israel, through their choice, have recognised that such withdrawals are necessary for peace in the region. However unless the governing forces of those respective regions actually do their job it leaves Israel vulnerable to attack. In Lebanon, this has not happened. The Hezbollah militias have been allowed to operate with total impunity for six years, to build up an enormous stockpile of weapons, to gather support from Syria and Iran and to fortify the entire region.

   Now for Israel, the existence of a heavily armed, state sponsored militia, whose leader regards Israel as a “cancerous body in the region that should be removed” and who are able to act with total impunity from the safety of a neighbouring state, this is clearly a totally unacceptable state of affairs. Then, to cap it all, Hezbollah violate the Israeli border, kidnap two soldiers and kill another eight.

   Nine hundred Lebanese civilians have died in the last three weeks, approximately one third of them children under the age of twelve. Hundreds thousands more have been displaced, not to mention homes destroyed and injuries sustained. It is utterly tragic and utterly the fault of Hezbollah.

   03 Aug 2006, 23:41

4. Vincent Carroll-Battaglino

   "without provacation."
   I like that.
   Nice touch.

   10 Aug 2006, 22:08

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