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War in The Middle East

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  • Armenian
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Interesting analysis.

    Hezbollah missile threat assessed


    By Frank Gardner
    BBC News, Jerusalem

    The impact of more than 300 short-range missiles launched by Hezbollah this week has been felt well beyond the towns and olive groves of northern Israel. After three weeks of an intensive Israeli air campaign in Lebanon, backed in recent days by about 10,000 Israeli troops on the ground, Hezbollah is demonstrating a remarkable resilience.

    On Wednesday it sent a record number of missiles (231) into Israel, proving that despite the Israeli military's claims of success this Lebanese militia group remains a threat to northern Israel. As long as that threat remains, Israel's military campaign in Lebanon - codenamed Miftza Shinui Kivun or Operation Change of Direction - will be perceived as a failure.

    Easy operation

    So how powerful is Hezbollah's arsenal of rockets and missiles and why, ask Israel's citizens, is it taking their military so long to neutralise them? At the start of hostilities on 12 July Hezbollah had an estimated 13,000 missiles, amassed over the six years since Israel withdrew from Lebanon after its controversial 18-year occupation there.

    Hezbollah prides itself on being a Lebanese movement, but it also has strong connections to Iran

    The Israeli government says a large proportion of this arsenal has been destroyed but that may be wishful thinking on its part. Most of these missiles are relatively crude Soviet-designed Katyushas with a range of 25km.

    Although that restricts their target range to only the northernmost towns and villages in Israel they are having a psychological impact on Israelis since they say Hezbollah is packing them with ball bearings that can shred human tissue from some distance. The Katyushas are easy to operate, easy to hide and easy to resupply. Measuring less than two metres long, they can be concealed in orchards or, say the Israelis, among the civilian population in southern Lebanon.

    But their small size also means their explosive power is far smaller than that of a Scud missile or indeed of an air-to-ground missile. An estimated 19 Israeli civilians have been killed to date while the Lebanese government says more than 900 of their citizens have been killed, many by Israeli airstrikes.

    Hezbollah is also believed to have a smaller number of longer range Fajr-5 missiles with a range of up to 75km, long enough to hit the West Bank but not enough to hit Tel Aviv. The only missile in Hezbollah's arsenal believed to be powerful enough to reach Israel's commercial capital is the Iranian-made Zelzal-2 with a range of 200km and a huge warhead of 400-600kg.

    This large missile, which is about eight metres long, is effectively a strategic weapon and Israel has been at pains to destroy any suspected launch sites in Lebanon. Some Israeli military analysts have said that if and when Hezbollah do fire such a weapon it would be a sign of desperation, a last-ditch blow against Israel before it sues for peace.

    Iranian connection

    Hezbollah prides itself on being a Lebanese movement, but it also has strong connections to Iran. Instructors from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have spent long periods in Lebanon, notably in the Bekaa Valley, teaching Hezbollah cadres how to use their weaponry. Likewise, Hezbollah fighters have reportedly spent time in Iran undergoing military training.

    One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah in this conflict has been the Iranian-made C-802 anti-ship missile. A variant of the Chinese Silkworm missile, one of these was successfully fired at an Israeli warship last month, killing four people onboard and severely damaging the vessel. The Israeli military appears to have been taken by surprise by the attack and now believes that Iranian advisers from the IRGC were present at the launch of the missile.

    One of Israel's major concerns, which has a bearing on the terms of any UN-brokered ceasefire agreement, is that once the fighting stops then Iran will replenish Hezbollah's arsenal of missiles via Damascus and the Syrian-Lebanese border. So, Israel will likely insist on UN or international monitors being stationed along the 375km (233 mile) border.

    Story from BBC NEWS:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...st/5242566.stm

    Leave a comment:


  • Armenian
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Originally posted by Anonymouse
    Thread has been cleaned up. Unnecessary posts and rants have been removed. Let's start over and keep the coherence of the topic: War in the Middle East.
    Thanks, you did well. But you should have kept Skhara's post intact. Al-Qaeda, what it is and what it is not, is directly related to this topic of discussion. The powers that be will be trying to mix in Al-Qaeda with Hizbollah and Iran in the comming future in order to set in motion the 911 mind control.

    Leave a comment:


  • Anonymouse
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Thread has been cleaned up. Unnecessary posts and rants have been removed. Let's start over and keep the coherence of the topic: War in the Middle East.

    Leave a comment:


  • skhara
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Anon,

    Think about this for a second.

    So-called "Al-Qaeda" and their famed international "mujahedin" have never shown up in Palestine or Lebanon in support of their "Muslim brothers".

    Washington and Tel-Aviv are pushing the "Al-Qaeda" and Hezbollah links for their own interests and yet Hezbollah wholly opposes and rejects everything "Al-Qaeda" is.

    Nasrallah once made a statement in response to Washingtons/Tel-Avivs effort to tie his Hezbollah with "Al-Qaeda".

    He of course denied any links, moreover he clarified something.

    Hezbollah's aim: "confrontation of the Zionist plan."

    then

    "Bin Ladin’s focus has been Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and Chechnya"

    Note that everywhere "Al-Qaeda" has shown up, Washington's interest have also shown up.

    Afganistan - when Al-Qaida was first created by the CIA to fight the Soviet Union.

    Yugoslavia/Bosnia -- the famed 'mujahedeen' fight is support of Bosnian Muslims, allied with Washington, against Serbs. Bin Laden was witnessed to have had a meeting with the 'democractic' head of the Bosnian Muslim state Alija Izetbegovic.

    Chechnya -- Look up "Freedom House" and names of the members of this organisation.

    Leave a comment:


  • ARK
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    The blood wedding in Qana

    This southern Lebanese city is where Jesus Christ performed his first miracle at the wedding of Qana of Galilee(according to gospel of John ) but today the blood of innocent Lebanese were replaced by wine at a wedding which children and women were the special guests of the joos.
    May Hezbollah take revenge .

    Leave a comment:


  • Armenian
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East


    Israel military death toll rises to 4 Thursday after one of two injured soldiers died of his wounds. Their tank was struck by Hizballah anti-tank fire in the Western Sector of South Lebanon. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported that guerrillas also clashed with Israeli troops in the village, less than three miles from the border, destroying a tank and two bulldozers and injuring its crew members.

    Eight Israelis were killed, one of them a child, and several others wounded by Hezbollah Kaytusha rockets in northern Israel Thursday, Israeli police said, as two IDF soldiers were killed in gun battle with Hezbollah guerrillas across the border in Lebanon. More than 180 rockets, which cannot be guided like missiles, were fired across the border, with almost 100 of them being launched within one half-hour period, according to Israeli police. The barrage came a day after Hezbollah launched a record 210 rockets into Israel.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, Iranian state media reported. "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," Ahmadinejad said, according to state-run television in a report posted on its Web site.

    Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to strike Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. "If you hit Beirut, the Islamic resistance will hit Tel Aviv and is able to do that with God's help," Nasrallah said in a televised address.
    All in all - a good day for allah.
    Last edited by Armenian; 08-03-2006, 10:57 AM.

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  • Artsakh
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Beirut Armenian Block Not Bombed by Israel
    03.08.2006 14:21 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Lebanese Army will be able to worthily rebuff the Israeli Armed Forces, Head of Defense of Released Territories organization, native of Lebanon Zhirayr Sefilyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “My confidence is grounded: Lebanese Army’s will unite with Hezbollah against Israel. This was the case in 1996, when by joint efforts the fire was ceased, Israel left South Lebanon with the mediation of the US and France. In 2000 the same military operations resulted in Israel's defeat. I do not doubt it will lose this time again. The Lebanese Army along with Hezbollah and with the support of all of the Lebanese people will fight for independence and Israel will have to withdraw from Shebaa. Otherwise Northern Israel, including Haifa, will always live being threatened,” Sefilyan underscored.

    At that he noted that the Christian block of Beirut and the Armenian block next to it were never bombed by Israel. «Most Beirut Armenians live in Eshrefi block, many live in Burj-Hamud town. Armenians also reside in Antilias, Zalkan, Jel-el-Dib and other suburbs. Many Armenians live in Tripol, second largest city in Lebanon,» Zhirayr Sefilyan said.

    Leave a comment:


  • Artsakh
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Number of Displaced Persons in Lebanon Reached 900 Thousand
    03.08.2006 17:13 GMT+04:00
    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Over 830 Lebanese have been killed and some 3200 wounded since the start of Israel’s military operations. Most of them are civilians including women and children. The number of replaced persons reached 900 thousand. A great damage was caused to the civic infrastructure and ecology, Lebanese Ambassador to Russia Assem Jaber said at a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov. The Ambassador of Arab states accredited in Moscow thanked Russia for efforts targeted at ceasefire and political settlement in the Near East.

    The Russian party confirmed the determination to press for immediate stop of bloodshed and restoration of the peaceful process. “Neither of the sides can count for victory in this conflict,” Alexander Saltanov said.

    Leave a comment:


  • Artsakh
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    Armenian and Shiite Communities of Lebanon Have No Political Differences
    03.08.2006 14:11 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Relations between the Armenian and Shiite communities of Lebanon have always been fraternal and there is no single case, when interests of both communities were complicated by political differences, Head of Defense of Released Territories organization, native of Lebanon Zhirayr Sefilyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, Armenians of Lebanon have always supported Lebanon's demand on release of territories, occupied by Israel. «Our political and religious leaders have always supported Lebanon's efforts to that end,» he said.

    In Sefilyan's opinion, the key personage in that struggle is Hezbollah. «It should be noted that Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah grew up in an Armenian environment, in an Armenian block. When speaking about domestic problems in Lebanon in his speech on the TV and the press, Nasrallah appreciates the role of Armenians in the country's life. Armenian parties periodically meet with Hezbollah leaders. We also see the role of that organization in Lebanon’s life and appreciate Hezbollah having nothing in common with Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda,» Sefilyan underscored.

    Some 100 thousand Armenians live in Lebanon at present. The residence of Cilician Catholicosate (Antilias) is also situated in Lebanon.

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  • Davo88
    replied
    Re: War in The Middle East

    About Qana..

    Israel says that the military did a "mistake" by hitting Qana. In my opinion, it was a planned attack in order to make the world forget about the killed UN peacekeepers and concentrate on the Qana event.

    Leave a comment:

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