War in The Middle East

[simonig]

This conflict may grow into a war which includes many countries. Iran and Syria have remained defiant against Israel. It seems like Iran is trying to instigate Israel while Syria is defending the actions of Hezbola.

If this conflict grows any larger, Turkey will be forced to choose a side. While they may want to look supportive and indulge the U.S./Israel, their population will undoubtibly support their Muslim brothers. This will cause a great divide within Turkey which will put an enormousamount amount of pressure on the Turkish goverment. They will be criticized regardless of what they do.

[Schism]

Re: War in the Middle East

This is a shock to all of us. Hopefully the war will end soon.

[NaiNoriTatiA]

Re: War in the Middle East

well, lets hope that other countries would not interfere, and let Lebanon and Israel handle it on their own, and end this war soon

[simonig]

Re: War in the Middle East

Lebanon can't do anything about it. Their hands are tied. It's up to Hezbola to release the hostages. Iran and Syria will not allow that to happen.

The longer this goes on, the more likely Syria will be a target. Once that happens, Iran will get involved and all hell will break loose.

[crusader1492]

Re: War in the Middle East

If you are watching the news in the USA, you would think that the kidnapped soldiers were American...completely biased.
All I know is that there are a lot of Armenians living in Lebanon. I hope for their saftey.

[Quarteria]

Re: War in the Middle East

I heard on the radio 15 minutes ago that Hezbola has overthrown the Lebanese government. ...That's not good...

OH! And simonig, but, how can that be, considering Turkey is a secular country?

[simonig]

Re: War in the Middle East

OH! And simonig, but, how can that be, considering Turkey is a secular country?

When the U.S. entered Iraq a few years ago, Turkey was officially going to allow the U.S. Turkish entery for the invasion. Due to the backlash of the Turkish(muslim) population, Turkey had to turn down the U.S.

[Nemesis]

Re: War in the Middle East

If you are watching the news in the USA, you would think that the kidnapped soldiers were American...completely biased.
All I know is that there are a lot of Armenians living in Lebanon. I hope for their saftey.

Check at home, we have first hand report from an Armenian in Beirut.

[Nemesis]

Re: War in the Middle East

Funny all you hear about are a couple of stinking IDF soldiers being held hostage.

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Haaretz

"And even if the Hamas government falls, as Washington wants, what will happen on the day after? These are questions for which nobody has any real answers. As usual here: Quiet, we're shooting. But this time we are not only shooting. We are bombing and shelling, darkening and destroying, imposing a siege and kidnapping like the worst of terrorists and nobody breaks the silence to ask, what the hell for, and according to what right."


A black flag
by Gideon Levy

A black flag hangs over the "rolling" operation in Gaza. The more the operation "rolls," the darker the flag becomes. The "summer rains" we are showering on Gaza are not only pointless, but are first and foremost blatantly illegitimate. It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to penetrate Syria's airspace. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament.

A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization. The harsher the steps, the more monstrous and stupid they become, the more the moral underpinnings for them are removed and the stronger the impression that the Israeli government has lost its nerve. Now one must hope that the weekend lull, whether initiated by Egypt or the prime minister, and in any case to the dismay of Channel 2's Roni Daniel and the IDF, will lead to a radical change.

Everything must be done to win Gilad Shalit's release. What we are doing now in Gaza has nothing to do with freeing him. It is a widescale act of vengeance, the kind that the IDF and Shin Bet have wanted to conduct for some time, mostly motivated by the deep frustration that the army commanders feel about their impotence against the Qassams and the daring Palestinian guerilla raid. There's a huge gap between the army unleashing its frustration and a clever and legitimate operation to free the kidnapped soldier.

To prevent the army from running as amok as it would like, a strong and judicious political echelon is required. But facing off against the frustrated army is Ehud Olmert and Amir Peretz's tyro regime, weak and happless. Until the weekend lull, it appeared that each step proposed by the army and Shin Bet had been immediately approved for backing. That does not bode well, not only for the chances of freeing Shalit, but also for the future management of the government, which is being revealed to be as weak as the Hamas government.

The only wise and restrained voice heard so far was that of the soldier's father, Noam Shalit, of all people. That noble man called at what is clearly his most difficult hour, not for stridency and not for further damage done to the lives of soldiers and innocent Palestinians. Against the background of the IDF's unrestrained actions and the arrogant bragging of the latest macho spokesmen, Maj. Gen. Yoav Gallant of the Southern Command and Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, Shalit's father's voice stood out like a voice crying in the wilderness.

Sending tens of thousands of miserable inhabitants running from their homes, dozens of kilometers from where his son is supposedly hidden, and cutting off the electricity to hundreds of thousands of others, is certainly not what he meant in his understated emotional pleas. It's a shame nobody is listening to him, of all people.

The legitimate basis for the IDF's operation was stripped away the moment it began. It's no accident that nobody mentions the day before the attack on the Kerem Shalom fort, when the IDF kidnapped two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from their home in Gaza. The difference between us and them? We kidnapped civilians and they captured a soldier, we are a state and they are a terror organization. How ridiculously pathetic Amos Gilad sounds when he says that the capture of Shalit was "illegitimate and illegal," unlike when the IDF grabs civilians from their homes. How can a senior official in the defense ministry claim that "the head of the snake" is in Damascus, when the IDF uses the exact same methods?

True, when the IDF and Shin Bet grab civilians from their homes - and they do so often - it is not to murder them later. But sometimes they are killed on the doorsteps of their homes, although it is not necessary, and sometimes they are grabbed to serve as "bargaining chips," like in Lebanon and now, with the Palestinian legislators. What an uproar there would be if the Palestinians had grabbed half the members of the Israeli government. How would we label them?

Collective punishment is illegitimate and it does not have a smidgeon of intelligence. Where will the inhabitants of Beit Hanun run? With typical hardheartedness the military reporters say they were not "expelled" but that it was "recommended" they leave, for the benefit, of course, of those running for their lives. And what will this inhumane step lead to? Support for the Israeli government? Their enlistment as informants and collaborators for the Shin Bet? Can the miserable farmers of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia do anything about the Qassam rocket-launching cells? Will bombing an already destroyed airport do anything to free the soldier or was it just to decorate the headlines?

Did anyone think about what would have happened if Syrian planes had managed to down one of the Israeli planes that brazenly buzzed their president's palace? Would we have declared war on Syria? Another "legitimate war"? Will the blackout of Gaza bring down the Hamas government or cause the population to rally around it? And even if the Hamas government falls, as Washington wants, what will happen on the day after? These are questions for which nobody has any real answers. As usual here: Quiet, we're shooting. But this time we are not only shooting. We are bombing and shelling, darkening and destroying, imposing a siege and kidnapping like the worst of terrorists and nobody breaks the silence to ask, what the hell for, and according to what right

[Anonymouse]

Israel, The Warmonger

Can anyone doubt that Israel is nothing but a warmonger in the Middle East?

After two of its solders are kidnapped (boohoo) it unleashes war upon the region. Quite frankly, I am tired of Israel. It has been nothing but a drain on America financially, militarily and politically. It has been at the heart of the discord in the Middle East and these recent events only confirm Israeli's blood lust.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html