The impending WWIII

[kidsmoke]

Oh, excellent....

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/26/...s.ap/index.html

 

[Basil II]

Oh, excellent....

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/26/...s.ap/index.html

 

 

 

........

 

 

-Robert.

[bjorn_skurj]

 

And I do too.

[anodyne]

it's hard to disagree with that!

[kidsmoke]

Interesting, and sad, timing for this development....

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/26/sharon/index.html

[Albert Tatlock]

I am not siding with Israel or Hezbollah on this one.....it's all a big f'in mess. However, for Israel to bomb the f**k out of Beirut is an ill conceived plan of action. It has been suggested that by bombing in infrastructure and making life very hard for the Lebanese they will force the hand of Hezbollah and push them out. However, by doing this, do you think the people of Lebanon will say, "Israeli warplanes blew up my house and killed my mother.....get out Hezbollah!" or "Israeli warplanes blew up my house and killed my mother.....I am going to join Hezbollah!" ?? I think I know which scenario is more likely.

 

The thing that makes me most sad about this whole affair is that there were the first signs of a re-emergence of an independent Lebanese government with a developing popular support calling for increased efforts to shake off the Syrian domination of the last few decades. It would not surprise me if Hezbollah had stepped up it's attacks deliberately in the hope of stirring things up in order to re-establish it's power base and try and get the rest of the Arab world back on side and renew Syrian influence. Israel didn't disappoint them with it's response. Sounds familiar with the campaign of the "Real IRA" in Northern Ireland once the peace process there had started to have an effect. I wish that the Lebanese had been given more outside help earlier. Now all sides are polarised again, and ordinary arabs throughout the Middle East will have that old nagging sympathy for groups like Hezbollah who they see as the only ones standing up to Israel. Not saying that's a good thing of course, but there are always the festering arguments about Israel (and hence by implication the US) ignoring UN resolutions whenever it suits.

Also, The Syrians I met when travelling there were some of the friendliest people I have ever met - invited into houses on the spur of the moment for meals etc. I was also surprised at the number of Jews and Christians I came across in Damascus. Let's not confuse extremists and the twisted leadership of any country with the majority of the population. It is always this ordinary innocent majority who suffer the most. But, as I indicated, Israel doesn't help itself in trying to reach out to this majority, if that is even possible any more?

[EL the Famous]

 

I now have a solid postion in this whole thing. Thank you.

[ction]

That broad looks like Charles Nelson Reilly with big cans.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Sir Stewart, can we get a judgment on that?

[EL the Famous]

That broad looks like Charles Nelson Reilly with big cans.

 

Exactly.

 

[JUDE]

That broad looks like Charles Nelson Reilly with big cans.

 

I'd go so far as to call them ginormous cans.

[Spawn's dad]

solid

 

 

seconded

[kidsmoke]

The thing that makes me most sad about this whole affair is that there were the first signs of a re-emergence of an independent Lebanese government with a developing popular support calling for increased efforts to shake off the Syrian domination of the last few decades. It would not surprise me if Hezbollah had stepped up it's attacks deliberately in the hope of stirring things up in order to re-establish it's power base and try and get the rest of the Arab world back on side and renew Syrian influence. Israel didn't disappoint them with it's response. Sounds familiar with the campaign of the "Real IRA" in Northern Ireland once the peace process there had started to have an effect. I wish that the Lebanese had been given more outside help earlier. Now all sides are polarised again, and ordinary arabs throughout the Middle East will have that old nagging sympathy for groups like Hezbollah who they see as the only ones standing up to Israel. Not saying that's a good thing of course, but there are always the festering arguments about Israel (and hence by implication the US) ignoring UN resolutions whenever it suits.

Also, The Syrians I met when travelling there were some of the friendliest people I have ever met - invited into houses on the spur of the moment for meals etc. I was also surprised at the number of Jews and Christians I came across in Damascus. Let's not confuse extremists and the twisted leadership of any country with the majority of the population. It is always this ordinary innocent majority who suffer the most. But, as I indicated, Israel doesn't help itself in trying to reach out to this majority, if that is even possible any more?

 

Well put, Andrew. The line I've bolded made me think of our current situation in the US, and how much I hope that other countries recognize that our leadership (to use the term broadly) is not us as a nation.

[Shortage of Cashews]

I've noticed the talking heads of Israel using similiar lines of the Bush administration in trying to advocate why they're in conflict with Lebanon. How I feel about the situation, I'm not entirely sure. There's so much happening the middle east that none of us will ever know about.

 

If this does escalate into WWIII (which the pessimist in me says it will, but it'll be awhile), my fiance is more concerned with my willingness and desire to become a war correspondent. I thought about doing so pre-Iraq, but backed away. If WWIII were to somehow occur, or at the very least the US got involved in this mess, I'd probably get back into the game of war reporting.

[Albert Tatlock]

I also think that the US administration will be extra understanding with Israel since they would probably like the Israeli air force to carry out another bombing raid on any Iranian nuclear centre at some point in the future, like they did with Iraq in the 80's.

[WilcoFan]

Well put, Andrew. The line I've bolded made me think of our current situation in the US, and how much I hope that other countries recognize that our leadership (to use the term broadly) is not us as a nation.

 

 

The only thing about that is that we are standing by at letting this happen. Very much like the Germans stood by with their hands in the pockets as Hitler murdered millions of Jews. In the world's greatest democracy we don't have much of an excuse.

[owl]

I also think that the US administration will be extra understanding with Israel since they would probably like the Israeli air force to carry out another bombing raid on any Iranian nuclear centre at some point in the future, like they did with Iraq in the 80's.

 

Exactly. The Pres. is not at all feeling a sense of urgency about stopping this, in my opinion. Bush is perfectly happy to know that another nation is joining in on the long term attempt to cripple/put the hurt on Middle-Eastern regimes.

[cryptique]

Exactly. The Pres. is not at all feeling a sense of urgency about stopping this, in my opinion.

If nobody else is going to mention it, I will. There's another possible reason Bush isn't going to stop this. It's called The Rapture.

 

People who believe in that sort of thing are absolutely euphoric about these events.

[Guest Jules]

I am always surprised at the confusion over why the US is so supportive of Isreal. Not to oversimplify, but bottom line to me; there are millions of extremely rich & powerful jews living in the United States.

[anodyne]

there's more to it than that. isreal is a european style government within missile range of the world's largest petroleum reserves. they're also nationalistic and willing to do what they need to do to keep their borders secure. they're a perfect partner for the US when we want some dirty work done.

[bjorn_skurj]

I also think that the US administration will be extra understanding with Israel since they would probably like the Israeli air force to carry out another bombing raid on any Iranian nuclear centre at some point in the future, like they did with Iraq in the 80's.

Oh, we may as well do that one ourselves, though I think we should have taken the IDF up on its offer to rescue the hostages in Tehran. They'd had experience with that and back in 1980, the entire U.S. military was zonked on Quaaludes.

[Albert Tatlock]

You know, as someone who is interested in history, I actually have admiration (which is hard to factor into my feelings for the current situation, but there you go) for the past military genius of the Israelis, especially '67 in Sinai, for example. But that was largely in empty desert, whereas now they are taking revenge on the defenceless.

[embiggen]

from CNN

 

President Bush says he would back a U.N. resolution, deployment of multinational force, to end Middle East crisis.

 

this should take care of things. lets all muscle in there, bomb the shit out of Lebanon, send ground troops and that will take care of the situation, just like it has in Iraq. this is not good news. military force seems to be Bush's answer to any conflict of this sort, never diplomacy. is diplomacy in his vocabulary I wonder?

[oceanman]

from CNN

this should take care of things. lets all muscle in there, bomb the shit out of Lebanon, send ground troops and that will take care of the situation, just like it has in Iraq. this is not good news. military force seems to be Bush's answer to any conflict of this sort, never diplomacy. is diplomacy in his vocabulary I wonder?

I believe it is,this is what he recieved after HighSchool.

[anodyne]

bush likes diplomacy when there really is something closer to a fair fight (or at least an enemy that could inflict serious damage). look at the nuclear armed north korea for an example of this.