Israel Defends Itself
For far too long Israel has allowed Hezbollah to operate in Lebanon and conduct terrorist strikes against their country. Each time they started to make a definitive move against these and other terrorist groups other countries would step in and ask Israel not to do anything rash, ask for a cooling off period, or in the case of the US, tell them we would not support their move against Hezbollah.
Even when Israel is attacked there are those who can not see Hezbollah as the bad guys. Take NPR for instance. I know they are liberal. Okay, they are very liberal. Take a look at the title of this post.
Beirut Suffers Through Third Day of Air Attacks. Who attacked who?
Protein Wisdom has a text of John Bolton’s speech where he outlines the reasons for this current mini-war part of which is listed here..
Hizballah’ s incursions across the Blue Line on July 12 were a deliberate and premeditated provocation intended to undermine regional stability and are contrary to the interests of both the Lebanese and Israeli people. We unequivocally condemn the kidnapping by Hizballah, a terrorist organization, of two Israeli soldiers and call for their immediate and unconditional release. (snip)
President Bush has made clear that Syria and Iran must be held to account for supporting regional terrorism and their role in the current crisis. Syria provides safe haven to the militant wing of Hamas and provides material support to Hizballah, which also maintains an active presence in Syria. Iran’s extensive sponsorship and financial and other support of Hizballah is well known and has been ongoing for decades. No reckoning with Hizballah will be adequate without a reckoning with its principal state sponsors of terror.
When we were attacked on 9/11, President Bush did not ask for permission to go after the terrorists, nor did he listen to those who asked for cooler heads. He went after those who attacked us. Israel should have been responding the same way. For several years they have been in a siege mentality, all hunkered down, ignoring what is becoming of their country. Apparently the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers has brought Israel out of their lethargy. The IDF has been relentless in their attacks. While nobody has been saying it, Israel and Hezbollah are at war. To make sure there is no doubt, Israel has in a sense declared war.
Israel said it was determined to beat Hezbollah back and deny the militant fighters positions they have held along the border since 2000. Hezbollah began the current conflict Wednesday with a cross-border raid that captured two of Israel’s soldiers.
On Thursday, Israel imposed a full naval blockade on Lebanon, bombed a main artery and put the airport out of commission, effectively sealing off the country. The assault came after scores of Hezbollah guerrilla rockets that rained down on Israel and reached as far as Haifa, its third-largest city, for the first time. (emphasis added by TRS)
You can attack another country, bomb them back into the stone age, but technically, its not war. A naval blockade is an act of war.
Sam F. Ghattas of the AP writing for Chron doesn’t leave any question where he stands on both Israel defending itself and our presence in Iraq.
The sudden burst of violence sent shock waves through a region already traumatized by Iraq and the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. It shattered the relative calm in Lebanon that followed Israel’s pullout from its occupied zone in south Lebanon in 2000 and the withdrawal of Syrian forces last year.
Having a evil dictator who attacks his neighbors traumatizes a region. Removing the same dictator does not. Having terrorists conduct unprovoked raids against others traumattizes a region. Taking out those same terrorists does not. But once again President Bush steps into the foray.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said President Bush had promised him in a phone call to press Israel to halt its attacks.
If Lebonon would remove the terrorist strong holds which continue to attack the sovereign nation of Israel, the IDF would not be ‘traumatizing’ the region. If Syria refused to support the terrorists, Israel would not be attacking. If US presidents had allowed Israel to defend itself, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would not feel compelled to invade a area friendly to terrorists.
Israel invaded the southern part of Lebanon in 1982 to stop terrorist attacks only to have the US, France, and the UN allow the Syrians to move in. What is unbelievable is that we allowed Syria in. Afterwards, the Syrians worked with the Palestinians to form Hezbollah whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel. Of course in the 1982 battle, IAF destroyed the Syrian Air Force. The same thing is likely to happen this time if Syria gets involved. This time the cooler heads to solve this crisis might actually be some of the more moderate nations.
Egypt launched a diplomatic bid to resolve the crisis, amid apparent frustration among moderate Arab nations that Hezbollah - and by implication its top ally Syria - had started the fight with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas - without naming them - of “uncalculated adventures” that precipitated the latest Middle East crisis.
“The kingdom sees that it is time for those elements to alone shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behavior and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone,” according to a Saudi official quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.
For this crisis to end, it will take some of the more moderate countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt to step up to the plate and for the US to stay out of Israel’s way. Either way, this must end in the destruction of Israel or the destruction of Hezbollah. Its escalation demands a conclusion.
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