Do you support the actions of Israel or Hezbollah?

3/4 of the people support neither ... then why is everyone fussing about it??? Let them blow themselves up.

 

you cant just ignore previous conflicts because those conflicts are what made this 'current' conflict what it is

when you say hezbollah started this current conflict, it really means nothing

 

the thing is most people are not aware of "those conflicts"...i'm guessing he's just another one that thinks the conflict originated with Hezbollah capturing those two soldiers and killing 7 others…these little incidents had been going on for some time… BUT I’m guessing these other incidents were not on the same scale as the last one … which basically ignited it all.

 

I never said anything about 'ignoring previous conflicts.'

Well....no. That's pretty silly. Everyone from the Arab League to the EU criticized Hezbollah for 'starting this conflict.' There is a reason for that - when we're evaluating culpability and justification, it is relevant how the current conflict started. Stating that Hezbollah started the current conflict doesn't necessarily equate to justification for Israel, but it's a factor in the evaluation.

 

It seems to me the best way for this struggle to end is to continue fighting. There is no way that Israel is going to protect itself no matter what they do. The same should be said for the surrounding arab states.

Sometimes it is just best to "get it on". I know this is cruel and horrible, but it seems like they (both parties) have tried to get along for too freaking long and they likely never will. So war is the best and only solution left.

Let's see who is left as the victor and deal with them!

 

At least we don't have to see any more posts that say no one here supports Hizballah.

 

We also know who supports Israeli actions, it's good to know -- for future reference -- where people are coming from...

 

Pretty obvious many of those voting "neither" are not voting their true sentiment. Some of us are not voting...

 

Well, it's not a scientific poll by any means, and neither you or I can judge the 'true feelings/sentiments' of posters around here, we can only judge based on what they say in this forum, otherwise slanderous accusations would be running rampant...

 

If the poll is accurate there is less than 5% who support them. You are correct that is different, than nobody. But it isn't far removed.

 

Agreed...and duly noted - for future reference.

 

Because the ignores the damage to the Lebanese people, the semi-innocent bystander in all this. If it was just Israel and Hezbollah, that's one thing - but it's not.

 

What is that supposed to mean? What about the Israeli civilians getting blown up by terrorists and the Israeli civilians getting fired at with Rockets?

"If it was just Israel and Hezbollah"?

What are you talking about? Are you putting a democratic country (the only one in that region) and a terrorist organization on the same level?

 

What it's supposed to mean is that if there weren't Lebanese people being randomly bombed as collateral damage, I wouldn't have a problem with Israel bombing the hell out of Hezbollah and doing whatever needs to be done to protect themselves.

As it is, their "solution" to the problem is creating a bigger problem for both themselves and the US in the long-run. They are re-energizing domestic support for Hezbollah. As will always happen when a foreign power attacks, the people will rally around the people that defend them, no matter how much they disliked them before. You see that in the US in how popular support went to 90% for Bush the day after 9/11 - it's a patriotic issue. Hezbollah's army is stronger than the Lebanese national army, and is the one fighting back, so they are going to gain support. That makes this a total f***ing disaster for Israel as they are building a new enemy on their border. And that hurts US interests as it creates instability in the region.

 

Israel's isn't the only democratic regime in the region, please stop with your ignorance and blanket statements.

 

I can respect that analysis. You might well be right, unfortunately.

But on the other hand, if Hezbollah's army is stronger than the Lebanese national army and kept attacking Israel from Lebanon, what is Israel supposed to do? Just let them keep attacking? If, as you say, Hezbollah was the ruling military power in Lebanon already - and it did keep attacking Israel - then I cannot blame Israel for trying to eliminate that military power's ability to attack them. And if civilians are killed because of that, it's terrible, but the root cause for that is Hezbollah and those fanatics from other countries (Iran, Syria) who armed them and support them.

 

Then name the others, please.

 

Lebanon's a fledgling democracy - it's one of the reasons this is so problematic and Bush has said, several times, that the people of Lebanon aren't our enemy. Certainly there is still corruption and other such things, but that happens in every democracy in its infancy.

 

The country Israel is presently pounding into pieces is -- or was -- a democracy. The Palestinians had a free and fair elections just a few months back, they're a democratic government. Turkey is a democracy. And if we're to take the current Iraqi regime seriously, it's a democracy. Moreover, Afghanistan is an elected government, and a number of Arab states have undertaken democratic reforms (Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco...heck, even Saudi held nation-wide municipal elections).

 

I have no problem conceptually with what Israel was doing - and much of the Arab didn't either, which was a bit surprising and a huge positive. Initially, most of their comments blamed Hezbollah for the crisis.

The problem is that Israel's actual implementation of the policy was extremely inefficient. They aren't hurting Hezbollah much, if at all, and they have killed and injured thousands of civilians. And ultimately, you get judged by results rather than intentions. They needed to use better intelligence, better precision, and probably more special forces rather than blanket bombing. Lebanon was nearly fully rebuilt as a functional, thriving democracy after a mess of a civil war, had become a premier tourist destination, etc. Essentially, they were as close to what America would love the rest of the Middle East to become - and now their infrastructure has been bombed back to oblivion. And as we've learned in Iraq, you don't beat a terrorist group through overwhelming military force. They can just disappear and wait you out.

From what I understand, Israel has basically figured this out and is looking for something to hang their hat on and claim victory and pull out - but basically, in this mini-war, Israel has accepted that they aren't going to accomplish their goals. What the US needs to do after whatever ceasefire is declared is pump hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) into rebuilding Lebanon. Over the last two years, the two Muslim countries that have had a massive change in how they view the US are the ones where we pumped Tsunami and Earthquake money into - that's the same strategy that has to be put in place here. Help rebuild and pull them up. That also puts US eyes and ears on the ground to help watch over Hezbollah and such. I'm hopeful that will happen and I know the US has committed $30MM to rebuilding, but I think it needs to be much more and a much more public commitment. We'll see.