Quote:Original post by Wutalife37
Hezbollah launched dozens of missiles into Israel and killed civilians in the process. The Lebanese government has done nothing to put a stop to the organization or even the attacks. That is an act of war. If Lebanon would handle the problem themselves, then Israel would not be justified in hitting Lebanon (and they wouldn't need to anyway). Israel's situation is something most of us Westerners can't really understand, because we live in secure nations that have no chance of being attacked. If a Mexican guerilla group started launching missiles at the US, Americans would expect Mexico to handle it.
Your recall of events is one sided. Israel bombed the Beirut airport before Hezbollah launched those hundreds of missles. Israel didn't wait for the Lebanese government to respond before it launched it's attacks. If there is an act of war here, it's the Israeli bombing of Beirut and naval blockade of Lebanon. As for your remarks about Mexico, think again:
Mexican incursions inflame border situation. According to Israeli logic, and apparantly yours, the United States should presently be at war with Mexico.
Quote:Original post by Wutalife37
For the most part Egypt and Jordan figured out how to handle their extremists, and they now enjoy peaceful relations with Israel. Now Lebanon just needs to grow some balls and take out Hezbollah. They know it won't be easy, which is why they are avoiding it. But it is their responsibility to do it. So it isn't fair to claim Israel cannot go into Lebanon and fix the problem themselves considering Lebanon isn't doing it.
Malarkey. Once again Israel has upset the balance of political forces in Lebanon. I suspect that you are too young to remember the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. You might want to read up on it. From 1975 to 1990, Lebanon was a cauldron of struggle between displaced Palestinians, Christians, Shiites, Syrians and Israelis
[1]. It was a damn bloody mess. That's something that some of us Westerners don't seem to be able to understand very well, of course, understanding and bloodlust are mutually exclusive...
Quote:Original post by Wutalife37
And all things considered, Israel has been relatively restrained. Compare it to virtually any other nation in the world that has been in even a slightly compareable situation, and it is an undeniable fact that Israel has acted moderately.
That's just wrong. Restrained? Not! Review the wiki-pedia entry on Hezbollah that I dropped earlier. In 2004 Israel negotiated for the return of Hezbollah abductees. That was showing restraint. We don't have to compare the situation with how other countries would react, we can compare it with how Israel reacted in the past. This time they're simply losing their minds.
I think Israel is escalating this conflict because ultimately it wants the United States to fight Iran and Syria for it and it's looking like the only way that's going to happen is by starting a regional war.
"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." - the Laughing Man