War in The Middle East

[simonig]

Re: War in The Middle East

It looks like the U.S. gave Israel one week to finish off what it's doing in Lebabon. I don't see this escalating much further but the U.S. has diectly and indirectly set the people of Iraq and Lebanon back dozens of years.

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

Where are the Christians?

Posted: July 18, 2006 By Patrick Buchanan

© 2006 Creators Syndicate Inc.

When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his navy and air force
on
Lebanon, accusing that tiny nation of an "act of war," the last pillar of
Bush's Middle East policy collapsed.

First came capitulation on the Bush Doctrine, as Pyongyang and Tehran
defied Bush's dictum: The world's worst regimes will not be allowed to
acquire the world's worst weapons. Then came suspension of the
democracy crusade as Islamic militants exploited free elections to
advance to power and office in Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank,
Iraq and Iran.


Now, Israel's rampage against a defenseless Lebanon – smashing airport
runways, fuel tanks, power plants, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges,
roads and the occasional refugee convoy – has exposed Bush's folly in
subcontracting U.S. policy out to Tel Aviv, thus making Israel the
custodian of our reputation and interests in the Middle East.

The Lebanon that Israel, with Bush's blessing, is smashing up has a
pro-American government, heretofore considered a shining example of his
democracy crusade. Yet, asked in St. Petersburg if he would urge Israel to
use restraint in its airstrikes, Bush sounded less like the leader of the
Free World than some bellicose city councilman from Brooklyn Heights.

What Israel is up to was described by its army chief of staff, Lt. Gen.
Dan
Halutz, when he threatened to "turn back the clock in Lebanon 20 years."

Olmert seized upon Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers to unleash
the IDF in a pre-planned attack to make the Lebanese people suffer until
the Lebanese government disarms Hezbollah, a task the Israeli army
could not accomplish in 18 years of occupation.

Israel is doing the same to the Palestinians. To punish these people for
the crime of electing Hamas, Olmert imposed an economic blockade
of Gaza and the West Bank and withheld the $50 million in monthly tax
and customs receipts due the Palestinians.

Then, Israel instructed the United States to terminate all aid to the
Palestinian Authority, though Bush himself had called for the elections
and
for the participation of Hamas. Our Crawford cowboy meekly complied.

The predictable result: Fatah and Hamas fell to fratricidal fighting, and
Hamas militants began launching Qassam rockets over the fence from
Gaza into Israel. Hamas then tunneled into Israel, killed two soldiers,
captured one, took him back into Gaza and demanded a prisoner
exchange.

Israel's response was to abduct half of the Palestinian cabinet and
parliament and blow up a $50 million U.S.-insured power plant. That cut
off
electricity for half a million Palestinians. Their food spoiled, their
water could not be purified, and their families sweltered in the summer
heat of
the Gaza desert. One family of seven was wiped out on a beach by what the
IDF assures us was an errant artillery shell.

Let it be said: Israel has a right to defend herself, a right to
counter-attack against Hezbollah and Hamas, a right to clean out bases
from
which Katyusha or Qassam rockets are being fired and a right to occupy
land
from which attacks are mounted on her people.

But what Israel is doing is imposing deliberate suffering on civilians,
collective punishment on innocent people, to force them to do something
they are powerless to do: disarm the gunmen among them. Such a policy
violates
international law and comports neither with our values nor our interests.
It is un-American and un-Christian.

But where are the Christians? Why is Pope Benedict virtually alone among
Christian leaders to have spoken out against what is being done to
Lebanese
Christians and Muslims?

When al-Qaida captured two U.S. soldiers and barbarically butchered them,
the U.S. Army did not smash power plants across the Sunni Triangle. Why
then is Bush not only silent but openly supportive when Israelis do this?

Democrats attack Bush for crimes of which he is not guilty, including
Haditha and Abu Ghraib. Why are they, too, silent when Israel pursues a
conscious policy of collective punishment of innocent peoples?

Britain's diplomatic goal in two world wars was to bring the naive cousins
in, to "pull their chestnuts out of the fire." Israel and her paid and
pro-bono agents here appear determined to expand the Iraq war into Syria
and Iran, and have America fight and finish all of Israel's enemies.

That Tel Aviv is maneuvering us to fight its wars is understandable. That
Americans are ignorant of, or complicit in this, is deplorable.

Already, Bush is ranting about Syria being behind the Hezbollah capture of
the Israeli soldiers. But where is the proof?

Who is whispering in his ear? The same people who told him Iraq was maybe
months away from an atom bomb, that an invasion would be a "cakewalk,"
that
he would be Churchill, that U.S. troops would be greeted with candy and
flowers, that democracy would break out across the region, that
Palestinians and Israelis would then sit down and make peace?

How much must America pay for the education of this man?

[Suren_o_k]

Lebanon Israeli conflict, what do u have to say about it

Just looked through and dint see the latest event being discussed. So what do u think about it??

I think that the Israelis are out of control they have no right to bomb Lebanon just because the kidnapers are hiding there. The are just using this as an excuse to do what they wanted to do for a while.

Would they bomb Armenia if the kidnapers where hiding there?????

[Ari]

Re: Lebanon Israeli conflict, what do u have to say about it

yeah what there doing is bad really bad

but i dont think lebanon and syria are doing their best to get rid of the terrorists groups themselves, so its xxxxt up on both sides


if there were terrorists in australia i will garantee you that the government or whoever, will find them and put them in jails, is lebanon ?

[Suren_o_k]

Re: Lebanon Israeli conflict, what do u have to say about it

Well its actually all over the place I mean when USA invaded Iraq I mean they didn’t take care of the terrorist there all they did was find Sadam. But since then things haven’t been better. American, Italian, Japanese, French, Russian, etc., diplomats are being kidnapped or taken for ransom and killed and no one can fix that. That might be lead to the same situation in Lebanon.
I feel sorry for all those innocent people that get killed because of the Israeli bombing...

[Quarteria]

Re: War in The Middle East

Hey, I just heard North Beirut is virtually untouched. Is that true?

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

Some pictures of Hizbolah:

[simonig]

Re: War in The Middle East

The Christian and Armenian areas are relatively safe. If Israel were to start attacking those areas, the international community would get more involved. The thing that I found the most concerning is that business' have been closed for over a week. Most Armenians own business' in Beirut and are unable to get income while this is going on. The future tourism does not look good either. Economicaly the country has taken a huge hit.

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East



Two Israeli tanks destroyed at Lebanese-Israeli border

Two Israeli Merkava tanks have been reportedly destroyed in clashes at the Lebanese-Israeli border. The clashes are taking place near the village of Marun Al Ras (Lebanon), close to a place where, as Hezbollah states, its fighters destroyed four Israeli tanks the day before. Six Israeli servicemen were killed there, 14 wounded. The Israeli Armed Forces admitted losing only two servicemen, RSN reports.

Russian Regnum Agency - http://www.regnum.ru/english/israel/676574.html

National resistance foils an Israeli attempt into South Lebanon

The Lebanese national resistance foiled on Thursday an Israeli military attempt to infiltrate inside the Lebanese lands towards Maroon al-Ras area South Lebanon, the resistance said in a statement. The statement added that the Israeli attempt was foiled after violent clashes with the national resistance and two Israeli tanks were destroyed. Meanwhile, the national resistance also foiled an Israeli attempt to airdrop which was carried out by Israeli helicopters in Haboush Valley Deir al-Zahrani area. The Lebanese National News Agency said that the national resistance foiled the Israeli airdrop which was preceded by a tank shelling and seven air raids.

Syrian News Agency MH.Zein/ Idelbi - http://www.sana.org/eng/22/2006/07/20/49333.htm

[karoaper]

Re: War in The Middle East

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reaction_to_the_2006_Israel-Lebanon_crisis

http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2006/07/7C65814E-6898-4BE7-8B4D-C44194C5FEFC.ASP

Anyone know of demonstrations in Yerevan? I can't imagine there won't be any.