RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Hezbollah Declares 'Open War' vs Israel

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Israel begins troop pullout from Lebanon as tense truce withstands early tests

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel began slowly pulling out forces from southern Lebanon and made plans to hand over territory Tuesday on the first full day of a tense cease-fire that already has been tested by skirmishes and rocket fire.

But Israeli and Hezbollah forces avoided any escalation, raising hopes that the U.N.-imposed pact could stick, as governments rushed to assemble international troops to deploy in southern Lebanon and firm up the peace.
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Captain Sammitch said:

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Chant said:
...But for the people on the streets in Palestine and Lebanon all it looks like is that Israel, the "little Satan" is killing their children. Of course they hate Israel. And while some of that hate Israel has brought upon themselves and "earned" it most of it is blind hatred for something they do not understand. Or dont' want to understand...

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I don't know. I think this is another case of only the most vocal being heard. I certainly think many Lebanese and Palestinian Muslims feel that way, but you have to realize that there are also sizable Christian and (believe it) Jewish populations there, especially in Lebanon. And there are, believe it or not, a number of moderate Muslims who just want to go about their daily lives and let everyone else do the same.

The solution? Give all these people some guns and let frontier justice go to work!





I'm kidding, of course. But seriously, it's easy to fall in lockstep with the way the media portrays the current conflict and assume there are only two sides to it (the same way the media portrays just about everything else). The problem is that the wrong people are being heard too often and too easily. That's what needs to be resolved, and I personally am not overly averse to making that happen. There are some very angry voices over there that have made too much noise for too long. Something should be done about that.

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A top government official says the Lebanese Cabinet has approved a plan to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani River starting Thursday, as Israel halted its withdrawal, vowing it wouldn't pull troops until the Lebanese army was in place.

France called for Israel to lift its air, land and sea blockade, saying it was unnecessary because the U.N. cease-fire imposed was holding.

A U.N.-brokered agreement ending a month of war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas calls for 30,000 Lebanese and international troops to police southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah had controlled before the fighting.

Israel's chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said if the Lebanese army doesn't move into southern Lebanon, then Israel would stop pulling out its troops, parliamentary spokesman Giora Pordes cited Halutz as saying. On Tuesday, a day after the cease-fire took effect, Halutz said Israel could withdraw its forces from Lebanon within seven- to 10 days.

The Lebanese Cabinet has not yet ordered 15,000 soldiers to move into the area because of divisions over what to do about Hezbollah's arms. The guerrilla group said Wednesday that it would not disarm.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed a former army chief to head a committee to investigate Israel's conduct during the 34 day fight against Hezbollah guerrillas, senior defense officials said. The committee, made up of business executives and retired generals, would also look into the army's preparedness ahead of the fighting, the officials said.

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the G-man said:
Israel Won't Withdraw Troops Until Lebanese Soldiers in Place

France called for Israel to lift its air, land and sea blockade, saying it was unnecessary because the U.N. cease-fire imposed was holding.

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the G-man said:

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the G-man said:
Israel Won't Withdraw Troops Until Lebanese Soldiers in Place

France called for Israel to lift its air, land and sea blockade, saying it was unnecessary because the U.N. cease-fire imposed was holding.

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WEASELS UNDERCUT LEB PEACE FORCE

The fate of the U.N. force intended to bring peace to Lebanon was in doubt after France touched off an uproar by saying it would send only 200 troops, instead of thousands.

Germany, which was also expected to bolster the force, won't send any troops, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

The announcements raised doubts about whether the 15,000-troop force authorized by the United Nations last week would be realized.

France had been expected to lead the new force but French President Jacques Chirac indicated his country would not greatly expand on the 200 troops already in the 2,000-person U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

Exasperated U.N. officials warned that the token commitment by European leaders could reignite the Lebanon war.

Here's an idea for lasting peace: every nation on earth realize that France is our common enemy and we all spend the next century using it as target practice and a proving ground whenever we might want to fight a war.

So, for example, rather than fight in their own countries and kill their own people, we let Israel and Lebanon transport a couple of battalions of troops each to Paris and both take turns blowing it to hell until one of them runs out of ammo.

I see it as a real win/win for everyone...

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HERE

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Wonder Boy said:
Here's an interesting message board discussion, between an Israeli soldier participating in the Lebanon defensive sweep, and what appear to be several Palestinian muslims who live in the occupied territories.

HERE

While both clearly write in imperfect English, you definitely get a feel for what everyday life is like on both sides, and the views and beliefs that motivate each.

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I think that this time Israel has been very badly manipulated by Bush Government, over praised and mistaken about its strength, and then left behind, facing alone the inevitable negative effects of the war.

In my opinion, the purpose was to make Israel do the dirty job on Bush’s behalf…, Bush in fact planned to lure IRAN into a military conflict, assuming that, if Hezbollah attacked, and of course will not be able to resist to Israeli Military superpower, Iran will intervene to support it. And at that time the destruction of its supposed nuclear installation will be justified. But in vain.

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Wonder Boy said:

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Matter-eater Man said:

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Wonder Boy said:...
I'm beginning to think the only resolution for Israel would be to turn these regions into smoking nuclear craters.

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Israel probably has a bit of a different perspective on the "whole exterminate large numbers of people" thing than you.

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I didn't advocate that they go out and do that. Although several events (the 1982 Lebanon invasion by Ariel Sharon, for example) indicate that if they could get away with it, they might do it.

Israel's population is estimated to increase by 2.4 million by 2050.
The Palestinian territories and the surrounding Arab nations are projected to increase in population by another 72 million during the same time.


What the Palestinians teach their children about Israel and Jews, from elementary school forward, is akin to what the Nazis taught children and the Hitler Youth in their schools:

• A disease, a plague, a race of liars and deceivers that have to be eliminated.
  
• There is no recognition in maps that there is or ever was an Israel.
  
• Any concession of land by Israel is just seen as a sign of weakness, that inspires further attacks, toward the complete annihilation of Israel.

I simply point out that it's a case of kill or be killed. Because that's surely what the Palestinians have planned for Israel's present 5 million inhabitants.

Would it be more or less humane to see that scenario played out now, or when the Arab world has 72 million more inhabitants?

Is it more "civilized" to let a group of people hell-bent on your destruction annihilate you, because you will not do what is necessary fully eliminate the threat?
Or is it more civilized to survive ?

I just raise the question.

72 million more fully indoctrinated potential suicide bombers and terrorists. The situation in Israel will not get any better.

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Matter-eater Man said:
I'm not demonizing you. I'm fine with your words speaking for themselves. Isreal certainly does have the right to defend itself but your talking about genocide. That's not defense, it's just evil. I also doubt it would bring about peace in that part of the world. More likely it would plunge it into all out war.

I've never said much of anything positive about Palestinians beyond that they shouldn't just all be killed so turning that into some approval by me for anything they've done isn't true.

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