War in The Middle East

[Janavar]

Re: War in The Middle East

Hezbollah's modern military tactics 'are amazing the world'
08/08/2006 10:01 PM | By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor

Dubai: On the 12th day of the Israeli war on Lebanon, Alex Fishman, a veteran Israeli writer on one of Israel's main Hebrew newspapers, Yediot Ahronot, asked what if Hezbollah stays standing after the ground campaign achieves its goals? Fishman's worries were not answered in his July 23 article.

Instead, he concluded his comment with five other questions mirroring the dilemma of the state of Israel in its war against Lebanon.

But, the problems facing Israel in this war are not local in their impact. A number of global leading strategists and military experts believe the results will change the military strategies of Western armies.

Fishman rightly said it was possible that attaining all the ground goals in south Lebanon would not bring a halt to Hezbollah's attacks.

"The Katyushas will continue to fly from north of the Litani and the party will come out of the campaign standing."

So, what was a worst case scenario from an Israeli point of view has become true four weeks into the war. Hezbollah, which has fired 3,000 missiles on targets inside Israel in the past 28 days, is still in control of a minimum 9,000 missiles.

So far, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) casualties have surpassed those of Hezbollah by nearly 20 per cent.

Technological privileges enjoyed by the Israeli soldiers have failed to secure IDF supremacy. The question that looms in the mind of every Israeli is: What can Israel do?

A ceasefire? Big No. A ceasefire would not solve the problems of Israel because no one can guarantee no more missiles would be fired even if the US managed to deploy a 20,000-strong UN stabilisation force.

To go ahead with the ground operation? This is even worse because of poor intelligence about Hezbollah's capabilities. Continuing the ground mission is akin to conducting a suicidal mission for many young Israeli soldiers.

Many Israeli commentators, like Fishman, believe this operation is leading Israel nowhere. In its current war against Israel, Hezbollah has established new concepts in modern military tactics, wrote Riad Kahwaji, a Lebanese military researcher.

"The ability to communicate amongst the military structure of the party has astonished the IDF and the world," he said.

Air supremacy and technological advantages cannot win the war alone. Although these were successful in the US war against the Saddam Hussain regime, they are failing now.

The key factors are the Hezbollah fighters who are defending their land with a strong belief in winning the war, while keeping all their resources to hand, in addition to maintaining clear communication with their leadership. Very simple, but very important.

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Lebanon/10058579.html

[Janavar]

Re: War in The Middle East

Israel to attack all moving vehicles
08/08/2006 08:46 PM | Agencies

Beirut: Israeli planes dropped leaflets in southern Lebanon warning residents that forces will destroy moving vehicles in an area near the Litani river.

The leaflets dropped in the city of Tyre said operations against what they described as terrorist elements would be increased with extreme force.

According to reports on the BBC, any vehicle of any kind moving on the road south of the Litani will be attacked on suspicion or carrying rockets, material or terrorists.

Reporters in the area say there is hardly any traffic in the area, which will mean it will be increasingly difficult for anybody to leave or for relief agencies to deliver supplies.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regav told the BBC that Israel was trying to coordinate aid efforts with the international community, but could not assume every lorry was carrying aid and not weapons.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights Council said the body will hold a special session this week to examine alleged rights violations in the month-old war in Lebanon.

Marie Heuze told a news briefing, "A special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council is planned this week. We received an official request." It is expected to be held on Thursday or Friday in Geneva.

The meeting was wanted by a group of mainly Muslim countries, and is likely to hear fierce criticism of Israel over the conflict which has left nearly 1,000 Lebanese and nearly 100 Israelis dead.

http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Lebanon/10058503.html

What are they going to target next, donkeys?

[Janavar]

Re: War in The Middle East

Lebanon Oil Spill May Rival Exxon Valdez of 1989 (Update1)

Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Lebanon's oil spill, caused by Israeli bombardment of oil storage units at a power plant, may rival the leakage from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989 if left untreated, the United Nations Environment Program said.

``In the worst case scenario, and if all the oil contained in the bombed power plant at Jiyyeh leaked into the Mediterranean Sea, the Lebanese oil spill could well rival the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989,'' the UN said in an e-mailed statement today.

The spill has yet to be cleaned up or assessed more than three weeks after the bombing of the coastal Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut because of the continuation of hostilities, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, said in the statement.

The spill, which has polluted around two-thirds of the Lebanese coast and spread into neighboring Syria, may threaten East Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus and Turkey, Lebanon's Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf has said.

About 10,000 tonnes (about 3.1 million gallons) of oil has escaped from the Jiyyeh power plant and 35,000 tonnes (10.8 million gallons) in total may be spilt, the UN's shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization has said.

The Exxon Valdez, which struck the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska, spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil, making it the largest spill in U.S. history.

``The quantity of oil spilled in Lebanon is already comparable to the disaster caused in 1999 off the coast of France when the Erika tanker spilled an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes (about 4 million gallons) of oil into the Atlantic Ocean,'' the UN Environment Program said.

Marine Life Affected

Marine life, such as sea turtles and Bluefin tuna, has been affected by the Lebanese spill because the Eastern Mediterranean is a spawning ground for the tuna, the program said.

The Israeli navy has maintained a sea blockade for more than three weeks, preventing ships from entering or leaving Lebanese ports without its prior approval.

Israel has bombed airports, ports, bridges, roads and other facilities in Lebanon, inflicting losses estimated at more than $4 billion, according to the Lebanese government.

Israeli jets, which attacked the power plant twice, deterred firemen from putting out the fire at the storage units, which continued for 10 days, Sarraf said in an interview on Aug. 3.

The Israel navy also prohibited Lebanese and foreign officials from surveying the damage of the spill from Lebanon's territorial waters, the minister said. The spill has grown into a 3,000-square kilometer area because it absorbed water, Sarraf said.

The Lebanese government is relying on the international community to provide as much as $200 million to clean up Lebanon's territorial waters, the minister said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apje8CwcPPSA&refer=home

[Illuminator]

Re: War in The Middle East

EGYPT: COURT AGAINST ISRAELI WAR CRIMES SET UP, ATTORNEYS' GROUP

Cairo, 9 August (AKI) - A group of attorneys and jurists in Egypt has created a 'popular tribunal' on Israeli war crimes in Lebanon, Egyptian independent daily 'Al Masri Al Yom' reported on Wednesday. The lawyers claim to have documents proving that Israel committed war crimes in Lebanon. The decision to create the tribunal was reportedly taken after a meeting on Tuesday night at the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights in Cairo during which participants agreed that Shiite militia Hesbollah are a legitimate resistance group and not a terror organization.

The daily also reported that some group members mean to file a lawsuit with an international court against Israel and the United States on charges of violating international laws at the expence of Arab countries.

Rights groups and the public opinion in Egypt have staged many rallies against Israel's offensive in Lebanon and in support of Hezbollah.

On Tuesday night, Egypt's main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, organized a march in Cairo asking Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to break diplomatic ties with Israel.


(Ale/Aki)


Aug-09-06 11:36

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.329003369&par=0

[Illuminator]

Re: War in The Middle East

MIDDLE EAST: TURKEY SCRAPS MULTI-MIILLION DOLLAR ISRAEL DEFENCE DEAL

Jerusalem, 8 August (AKI) - Turkey has scrapped a 500 million US dollar defence industry deal with Israel in protest with the xxxish state's offensive in Lebanon, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday citing a senior military official. Israel would have upgraded 50 Turkish airforce Phantom jets, according to the agreement, the online site of the Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, said.

"They are old costumers, and the cancellation of the deal is a very bad sign," a senior military official was quoted as saying by the Ynetnews.com website. The Israel Aircraft Industries, which was to have carried out the upgrades refused to comment on the decision, the reoport said.

Turkish defence ministry sources contacted by Adnkronos International (AKI) also refused to comment.

Turkey's interest in Israeli military products has long been considered as a "goldmine" in Israel, Ynetnews said.

"Turkey was conceived as a replacement for South Africa and Iran, who were big customers of Israeli weapons," said the Israeli official who was not identified in the report.

Since the war in Lebanon opposition parties in Turkey have increased pressure on the government to cut military ties with Israel.

Turkey is one of the few Muslim nations to have good relations with Israel.



(Rak/Aki)


Aug-08-06 16:12

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.328723583&par=0

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

At least 15 IDF soldiers killed Wednesday in south Lebanon

By Amos Harel and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies

Fifteen Israel Defense Forces troops were killed on Wednesday, the IDF announced late Wednesday night, as fierce fighting with Hezbollah guerillas raged in the southern Lebanon villages of Ayta al-Shaab and Debel. The 15 IDF soldiers were killed in a series of firefights across the front. In the most serious incident, nine reserve paratroopers were killed and 11 wounded by antitank missiles fired on a house in the village of Debel, in the central sector. Four reservists from an armored brigade were killed in a tank explosion, apparently caused by antitank missiles, in the town of Ayta al-Shaab. An infantryman was killed late Wednesday when he was hit by a mortar in Marjayoun. Twenty-five soldiers were wounded in Wednesday's actions, six seriously. Two of the seriously wounded were members of the standing army; the rest of the wounded were reservists. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747820.html

I am loving every minute of this. This will force the aloof IDF to push even harder into Lebanon. If the Hizbollah and Syria play their military cards right, there will be a major massacre of IDF troops in Lebanon in the coming weeks. I only hope that Syria and Hizollah do not panic or lose their nerves. They have the military home field advantage, they only need to be patient, disciplined and maintain high mobility while conducting their operations.

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

This will force the aloof IDF to push even harder into Lebanon.

The IDF is preparing for a major scale ground incursion. Right now they try to engage in propaganda and psychological warfare.

[Anonymouse]

Re: War in The Middle East

The IDF is preparing for a major scale ground incursion. Right now they try to engage in propaganda and psychological warfare.

I think I read that now they are going to increase the force to 30,000 to accomodate the bigger operation.

[Anonymouse]

Re: War in The Middle East

Crisis atmosphere builds in Israel
By Mike Head
9 August 2006

Israel’s fragile Kadima-Labour coalition government is facing mounting popular unease, both with the atrocities being inflicted on Lebanon and with the collapse of the government’s initial claims of a swift victory in the month-old war.

According to media opinion polls, the first two weeks of the conflict produced a dramatic turnaround in the previous dissatisfaction with the performance of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who replaced the comatose Ariel Sharon as Kadima leader, and Defence Minister Amir Peretz, the former trade union federation boss who ousted Shimon Peres as Labour Party leader.

Polling published in Maariv indicated that 78 percent of respondents were satisfied with Olmert’s performance, up from just 43 percent in just two weeks. Satisfaction with Peretz had jumped from 28 percent to 61 percent.

The longer the war has dragged on, however, the more disenchantment has surfaced. Over the past week, in particular, Olmert’s claims to have already decimated Hezbollah have backfired. In another survey published by Maariv on August 4, only 55 percent of respondents said Israel was winning the war, while 3.5 percent said Hezbollah was winning and nearly 38 percent said “no one” was winning.

The loudest voices, at least in the media, are those from within the military and political establishment demanding even more aggressive action. After 12 Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed by rockets last weekend, military analyst Ze’ev Schiff, writing in Haaretz, called for “a prompt, more extensive aerial and ground operation.”

Echoing Schiff, Agriculture Minister Shaul Simhon said the Israeli army should push beyond the Litani River to the Alawi River, 25 kilometres further north. “We have to get it into our heads that this is not just a military operation; this is war,” Simhon said. “We’ve got to stop going for surgical strikes and put down massive fire. We’ve been treading water.”

Confronted by unexpectedly strong resistance in Lebanon, increasingly strident calls are emerging for the “cleansing” or “purging” of south Lebanon. “We need to use a few divisions who will have to flush southern Lebanon up to the Litani River,” Ben Caspit, a Maariv columnist, wrote. “With tremendous force, with a massive amount of armour and fire. Why? Because there is no other choice.”

In a Haaretz column, Gideon Levy, a critic of the war, cited other media commentary calling for even greater barbarity in Lebanon: “Haim Ramon ‘doesn’t understand’ why there is still electricity in Baalbek; Eli Yishai proposes turning south Lebanon into a ‘sandbox’; Yoav Limor, a Channel 1 military correspondent, proposes an exhibition of Hezbollah corpses and the next day to conduct a parade of prisoners in their underwear, ‘to strengthen the home front’s morale.’ ”

Others are publicly calling for the extension of the war to Syria and Iran in order to take full advantage of Washington’s backing. In a Jerusalem Post op-ed last piece week, former public security minister Uzi Landau declared that Syria “must also pay a direct price.” He continued: “Any further Hezbollah attacks on our citizens will result in more extensive and harsher attacks on Syria.... This war, forced upon us, is a one-time opportunity to disrupt the plans of Iran and Syria while most of the democratic world still supports us.”

Last Sunday, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli defence officials had told the newspaper that they were receiving indications from the US that America would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria.

At the same time, anti-war protests are growing, together with anger over the war’s physical and financial impact on the working class. On August 5, the largest demonstration to date was held in Tel Aviv, joined by more than 5,000 people, according to Haaretz. The turnout was more than twice the number that organisers had agreed upon with police in order to secure permission for the rally.

Among the speakers was Zohar Milgrom, a reserve soldier who announced his refusal to serve in Lebanon. “Under no circumstances am I ready to be a partner in the war crimes that the country is committing,” he told the crowd. He became the third to face jail for refusing to fight in Lebanon.

Another speaker referred to the underlying social polarisation in Israel, as well as in Lebanon. Dr. Gadi Algazi of Tel Aviv University said: “This war is being committed on the back of the most poor, both in Israel and in Lebanon. Those who cannot escape are paying the heaviest price in this war.”

Thousands of Arab Israelis marched through Umm al-Fahm last week, despite fear of official and police victimisation. Their chants included “Israel is a terror state” and “Our people in Gaza and Lebanon will not surrender.”

While still relatively small, more than 100 anti-war demonstrations have been staged in Israel over the past month, even though the leaders of the former protest movement, Peace Now, have backed the war and the Israeli media has largely refused to report the protests.

Protesters have bitterly denounced Peretz, who took office as an avowed supporter of negotiations with the Palestinians and claimed to oppose the severe cuts to welfare and working class living standards imposed by the previous Likud-Labour government of Sharon and Peres.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/aug2006/isra-a09.shtml

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

Vive la France!!!

With France now backing the Lebanese cease-fire terms, the rest of the security council will as well. I'd imagine the next step would be to start putting pressure on the UK with the goal being to isolate America?

What are the chances at breaking up the UK-US alliance here?

Anyway, the opposing axis in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East is forming.

With the

Central Asian former Soviet Republics, Russia, Armenia, Iran, Syria

vs

Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Israel, America