Actually if the US had decided to annex Japan they could have, but the administration at the time made a wise choice and gave them back their soverignty. Did the Romans ever do that? The Greeks? The Spartans? War is not defined by a convention, and victory and rules of war are voluntarily adhered too, just look at the Palastinians using Human bombs....disgusting..... DD
Appeasement politics against evil fanatics never works. They tried that with Hitler - only made things worse. One needs to take a stand against these people. Israel did the right thing. And all the apologists are either foolishly misguided or in reality behind the same goals as the extremists.
What exactly did Israel 'do'? The only thing they 'did' was manage to lose again to Hezbollah while rallying the Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim world behind them, not to mention Lebanese Christians who supported them in the conflict. This conflict will have negative repercussions for Israel in the long-run...mark my words. LOL! When your arguments are thoroughly discredited (which has happened more times than I can count), you resort instead to the "anyone who disagrees with me is a (insert enemy) sympathizer". Nice try.
I disagree, it is forcing the Lebanese government to actually go into southern Lebanon and deal with the problem. Israel had to show major strength, and they did..... I don't think either side won, but Lebanon surely lost. DD
Well put,...I'm just glad that at least for now, the innocent civilians won't suffer in a conflict from Hezbollaha, which honestly does not have their best interests AT ALL....
Deal with what problem? They continue to say that they won't force Hezbollah to disarm, they're merely going to act as a 'buffer' between Hezbollah and Israel to prevent/reduce the likelihood of a future conflict. Remember, Israel's original goal was to 'disarm and annihilate' Hezbollah, they not only have failed to do so, but have settled for much, much less as a result of the failure of their military campaign to achieve their goals. Heck, they couldn't even achieve a much smaller military objective of stopping or reducing the rocket attacks by Hezbollah, despite an entire month of operations...there is no getting around that fact. Yes, they did...again, the results speak for themselves. Well, let's just say that one side is 'loudly' proclaiming victory while the other is demanding the resignation of their leaders...The Israeli people certainly don't feel like they 'won', may be you convince them otherwise.
Tiger, The only way for Israel to win a war like that, is to kill EVERYONE that they came into contact with...women, children, anyone. Gorillas can hide amongst the people in a gorilla war, but when you eliminate the option of hiding in the populace, you can crush them. Israel, nor the world has the back bone for that type of campaign, but if things continue to progress, I could see it happening. DD
To me victory by Israel winning is evident on two outcomes: Destruction or Deconstruction... Hezbollah wasn't destroyed unfortunately and to the glee of Hezbollah supporters... Deconstruction? A bit so...I would say... by the buffer zone and greater attentiveness by the world body (international force) on Hezbollah's movement, and acts in the southern part of Lebanon... Hezbollah certainly can't claim much victory besides the fact they didn't get destroyed but they did get hampered on the deconstruction aspect...There is greater awareness AGAINST hezbollah now...Sure they still have the weapons, but the increased awareness and attention against them in the southern part of the country as a buffer zone surely hampers capability logistically... No side clearly won,...but If I had to give an edge to someone it would be the good people of Israel versus hezbollah...Of course the true losers are the innocent civilians in Lebanon due to Hezbollah....
DD, you know I love you, man, but that post is just silly. Even the Nazis held to the Geneva Convention when it came to prisoners of war who came from countries made up of people, in their twisted minds, that they didn't consider less than human. Thousands of British, American, Canadian and other prisoners of war were treated relatively decently, with at least a nod at the Geneva Conventions. Compared to the Japanese Empire, the Germans in charge of the Reich were saints when it came to those prisoners who came from what they considered Aryan stock. Why do you think the general staff of our own military, the brass, the ones who aren't boot-lickers for the Administration, trying for a career move, protested vigorously against the abandonment of the Geneva Convention? Because many of them are veterans of Vietnam, of course, and knew veterans of Korea, and WWII in the Pacific, and they know what a difference a callous disregard for those conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war, and the basic outlines for acceptable international behavior for the conduct of war mean to the enlisted men and officers who are on the front lines, subject to possible capture. We want our soldiers treated fairly, under the Convention. To ignore it, as Bush and company have, and have directed the military to do the same, is giving carte blanche to any enemy, now, or in the future, to laugh when we complain about the treatment our own prisoners captured in a conflict. Honest to god, whoever, or what ever he/she may be, should the being exist, the fact that otherwise intelligent people can hold these positions, putting the United States of America on par with the Empire of Japan in WWII, and in the instance of our own prisoners of war during that conflict, at a lesser level than Nazi Germany is just staggering to me. Simply staggering, and sickening. As much as anything else, it illustrates the bankruptcy of the Bush Administration, and the horrific effect it has had on this country. Ask John McCain, if you can catch him in a moment when he isn't sucking up to the same deluded people that are the core supporters of Bush and the extremists at the top of the GOP, because he thinks he needs to sell out to them to run in '08, what he thinks of the Geneva Conventions. Just ask him. You wouldn't enjoy the answer. Keep D&D Civil.
Israel would grant itself a death sentence if they ever do that, but again that's completely beside the point. The point was that Israel's stated objective of "annihilating" Hezbollah and forcibly disarming them has not come about. Instead, they have settled for much, much less (basically a 'buffer zone' to keep Hezbollah away from them). I am not dealing with hypotheticals here, I am dealing with facts, not what 'could' have happened, but what did happen. It was a strategic blow to Israel, not to mention its 'aura', which no doubt will further embolden both Syria and especially Iran, which will make it that much more difficult to deal with them on their nuclear dossier. DaDa, read the Israeli newspapers if you want a better perspective on this. I am not the one saying it, they are...
so you do have some thinking capability. Good for you. So, war is a no-win strategy for Israel, why carry them out? Their hope was, of course, Lebanon would be intimidated enough that Hezbollah would lose supoort. They miscalculated. That's the bottomline. The best way is not the war, the best way is for Hezbollah to lose the need of its military existence, and lose the support of its military existence.
Anytime a country is attacked, the populace will allways get behind the people who they see as defending there land. popularity is a non-issue. hence hezbollah's growing popularity.
I would never have gone to war if I were Israel, I would simply assisinate their leadership, one by one.... DD
exactly right. and hezbollah provided shelters to refugees from southern lebanon. they provide certain social services to the lebanese people that they don't see from their government.
Not only that, but this war has provided Hezbollah with a chance to become even more popular among the people. I was watching CNN yesterday, and they showed Hezbollah workers already rebuilding southern Lebanon, promising every single family not only a rebuilt home, but "an even better one". Hezbollah has promised them new homes and financial support, and they likely will deliver on it. Every Lebanese CNN interviewed praised Hezbollah, called them "our heroes", and praised Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, with a woman even saying that she would "proudly" have her son martyred as a Hezbollah fighter. Hezbollah is more popular than ever, and they are here to stay...not necessarily as an armed movement, but as a political and social entity, but there is little doubt that they will retain their status as a 'resistance' organization in the eyes of most Lebanese...Heck, they could be ushered into power in next year's elections, you never know.
