Text 21749, 92 rader
Skriven 2006-08-04 16:03:53 av Alan Hess
     Kommentar till en text av BOB SAKOWSKI
Ärende: Response?
=================
Whilst masticating on <Aug 03 06>, BOB SAKOWSKI (1:123/140)
wrote to ALAN HESS:

BS> Comments from JCZ, Portland, OR as seen at:

BS> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/  (Page down)

BS> The blog of Eric Alterman for 08-03-06.

BS> 1. If Lebanon doesn't control Hezbollah, is it really appropriate 
BS> to wage war on them?  Would you also support an invasion of Mexico 
BS> as part of the 'war on drugs'?

I'm no fan of the "war on drugs," but... If that's what it takes to control the
movement of drugs from Mexico into the U.S., and Mexico refuses to handle the
problem or is unable to, yes.  

BS> 2. Perhaps Hezbollah doesn't want peace, but by immediately 
BS> breaking their own suspension of bombing, it doesn't look like 
BS> Israel wants peace very much either.  Both sides have extremists, 
BS> be they terrorists or settlers.

The difference is, extremists are a small minority of Israelis.  Hezbollah and
Hamas are 100% comprised of extremists.  The Israeli government does not have a
policy of killing off all Muslims and/or driving them out of the Middle East
(indeed, Israel has returned land won in war to Muslims, and over a million
Arabs are citizens of Israel.)  Hezbollah, Hamas, PLO, et al, have as their
goal the elimination of Israel and Jews.

BS> 3. Even if Israel has no choice in whether to do battle with 
BS> Hezbollah, it has options when it comes to tactics.  Bombing 
BS> campaigns are horribly destructive to civilians and 
BS> infrastructure, but not necessarily good at stopping mobile rocket 
BS> launchers.  Plus, this sort of disproportionate response is 
BS> exactly what Hezbollah was hoping for. Perhaps supporting Israel 
BS> should mean discouraging tactics that provide exactly what their
BS> enemies want.

Unfortunately, due to Hezbollah's (and Hamas') chickenshit tactic of hiding
among civilians and launching rockets from among them, they do win propaganda
victories when civilians are killed.  Unfortunately, nobody has come up with a
better idea of how to stop the rocket attacks and try to prevent further arming
of Hezbollah from Iran and Syria than what Israel is doing.  All that's heard
is the whine "disproportionate response."  

Was our response to Pearl Harbor disproportionate?  The U.S. killed far more
Japanese and Germans than they killed Americans.  That's what happens when
someone chooses to start a war - they may get a response they don't like or
expect.  That's what Hezbollah is getting now (unfortunately, due to their
tactics, they're taking south Lebanon with them.)

BS> 4. Dead is dead. To say that Israel doesn't deliberately target 
BS> civilians is meaningless, because they know people will die when 
BS> they drop bombs. You aren't innocent of murder if you fired with 
BS> your eyes closed. And I'm sick of hearing that the civilians can 
BS> just leave. That's not remotely true when all of the roads and 
BS> bridges have been destroyed.

They weren't destroyed before the air strikes, which came after the first
warnings.

And a cop is innocent of murder if you shoot a hostage holder, and a hostage
unfortunately also dies.  Hezbollah is the hostage holder, the civilians they
hide among their hostages.

BS> 5. Israel withdrew from Gaza... sort of.  It's not like the 
BS> Palestinian authority was ever given the sort of freedom needed to 
BS> keep their crazies under control.

The crazies were then voted into office, so there apparently isn't a desire to
control them.  The claim from the world was that if Israel pulled out, it would
lead to peace.  As soon as Israel pulled out, rocket attacks from Gaza started.
 

BS> 6. I think you're too quick to dismiss that "right of return".  
BS> Not only does it seem fair to me- for one thing, how is it really 
BS> a Palestinian State if they don't get to decide who can come live 
BS> there?  My understanding is that Arafat gave up just about 
BS> everything he could without being assassinated by his own side.  
BS> He'd given up plenty too, and the Israelis share just as much 
BS> blame for walking away without an agreement. As to Israel's 
BS> options, I go back to the choice of tactics. By engaging them 
BS> directly, they've handed Hezbollah a victory simply for surviving 
BS> this long in the face of overwhelming military superiority. That 
BS> probably doesn't help Israel at all.

Nobody has said the Palestinians can't allow whomever they wish to live in
their state.  What Israel will not allow is Palestinians to return to Israel,
and defeat it demographically.  

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