Bluesman

We have to assume that in the absence of evidence to the contrary...they ARE alive.

He stated very clearly what it is: to 'break' Hamas and Hezbollah, and I think he means it.

Good.

How do you figure THAT? A 'special forces rescue team' deep in hostile territory is NOT the same thing as killing an incompetent bank robber with hostages. Sometimes, EVEN IF YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE, rescue is simply not possible, and please note: the Israelis have NO IDEA where they are, or whether the soldiers are even being held in the same place. I assume they are not.

Now, let's address whether sending in a division was a mistake, and would be a cause for embarrassment to Olmert. NO, IT WOULD NOT BE. Not if the objective were to punish the terrorists for their crimes, to make this policy choice so expensive that it will not be resorted to again. THAT is the point, not to recover soldiers that may or may not be alive. We all hope that they ARE alive, but do you really think Olmert sent in an armored divison as a rescue force?

He and his General Staff ain't that dumb.

HUNDREDS of Qassams and dozens of Katyushas fired...less than a dozen Israelis killed. Would that be the reality if there had been no evacuation?

I don't know why you say they were evac'ed for nothing. I can see the point quite clearly.

You sure 'bout dat? It may be EXACTLY what Israel wants. This could be show-down time, and Israel may have made the calculation that Assad will not survive any Syrian intervention politically, possibly even physically. Assad either makes the decision to go down fighting, or to back down as his proxies are slaughtered. Personally, I call that li'l dilemma 'being cornered'.

Well, we'll see how it plays out, but I don't think the Israeli leadership is as strategically retarded as you do. I believe YOU may be missing it; I can see the rationale clearly.

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- George Orwell

visioninthedark

the UN is a joke ....

and this is not the first resolution whose implementation was not enforced!

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dalem

I think another factor may be the fact that right now there is a U.S. administration that is not going to be mewling for restraint and diplomacy over this, and that has neither been nor may be the reality in the future.

-dale

Parihaka

Well, they've isolated Lebanon from the outside world except foot traffic into Syria, they've isolated the south of Lebanon from the rest of Lebanon, and the bombing/arti phase is in full swing. Anyone want to place bets on how long the 'new, sophisticated, well armed Hezbollah' holds out?

MsPalestine08

Confed999

No, most of these folks are born and raised in Israel.
I don't see that. They pretty much seem to know who they are, where they came from, and what they had to go through, and do, to get this far.
This part I can certainly agree with. Amen...

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No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

Tronic

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Tronic

i doubt even god can reverse their brainwashed state....

Jay

I hope the moderate Lebanese muslims and Christians dont join the Hezbollah, while Israel is fighting them out.

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Confed999

Hopefully they take this chance to get control of Lebanon after the current government crumbles.

MsPalestine08

hahahaha
Are you serious?
Anything else you want to take control of?
Why don't yea go ask God that you want to control the skies and the living planets also..... HAHAHA.....

You don;t know who the hell gave u this world .. After 1948; this is when really u came up with a name to call urselves.. Israelis???

Confed999

Yes, it would be nice if the moderate Lebanese got to run their country. It would be a far far better place to live in no time.
Me? What are you talking about?
Planets are alive?
Who gave us the world? We humans evolved here, I don't think anyone "gave" it to us.
I'm not an Israeli, I'm an American. I was born to American parents, in an American military hospital near Frankfurt Germany, and currently live in Florida. If you're talking about the Jewish people, they've called themselves Israelites for a long long time.

smilingassassin

Are you finished with your senceless banter?

Try an arguement with substance, something other than Israel=U.S. because we are all smarter than that here son.....

Heres a better idea, how about Hezbollah and Hamas return the captured soldiers and we can all watch how quickly the situation defuses in the region, or are you guys that intent on starting a war you WILL lose?

sparten

"Break Hizbollah"? Fine. How? To do that they need to occupy the whole country, Hizbollah is a gurellia entity, can't be destroyed from a far. And where exactly will they find the troops, to occupy Lebanon? Back in 1982, Sharon used the Christian thugs as an auxillery on the ground. They don't exist anymore.






The fact they had to be evacuated at all. Going in with a whole division was probably the cause of all those Qassams and Katyushas being fired (from the Leb) in the first place was it not? If Olmert come back sans the two soldiers and with Hizb strenghtened,then certainly the evacuations would have been for nothing.


Well lets see. Syria gets involved, then thats a war on three fronts. Add to that, a long war on three fronts, not the short sharp conflicts that Israel fights so well. And if you remember a long war on multiple fronts was exactly what traditionally Israeli thinking has sought to avoid.

As for being strategically "retarded", well Sharon in 1982 went all the way to Beruit against the advice of the General Staff (nor I might add telling Cabinat). Looks like Olmert has doen the same.

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Parihaka

I don't think the current government IS going to crumble. The Israelis seem very surgical this time. I think they're just going to **** Hezbollah bigtime.
I hope BR is ok, anybody heard?