5 Good Reasons Not To Bomb Israel?

[Danallica]

I think that Doin sums it up pretty well; I believe that Israel has the right to defend itself against its opressors. #m#

correct

[Metallifold]

But it's still a must know that Isreal Wanted to have a war, the two or three soldiers that were kindapped is no reason to start a war for. This ain't saving private Ryan, as someone allready mentioned.

[Doin]

This is not just about 'Saving Private Gilad'.

This is about an act of unprovoked aggression by members of a sovereign country on Israeli soil.
Israel is not starting a war for the sake of having a war.

I was watching Lateline on Australia's ABC last night.
There was a very good interview between a Jewish journalist who once published a thesis on the middle east and is against the Israeli occupation and the current actions in a Lebanon and someone from the Australia/ Israel Jewish affairs council.

The journalist who was arguing against Israel got absolutely creamed by the other guy.

There were some good point that the guy from the council made such as:

Regarding civillian casualties in the attempt to solve a problem...
Great example.....

TED LAPKIN: Well, again, this started when Hezbollah violated Israel's border and violated Israel's sovereignty in a completely unprovoked and pre-meditated attack. It is very, very unfortunate that any non-combatants are being hurt. My point in the piece is there are times when a resort to arms is the lesser of both evils and I cite the example of the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944. 20,000 French civilians were killed during the liberation of France from Nazi oppression. So, would humanity have been better served had that not happened? War is a dirty business, but sometimes it is the only moral option and certainly that is the case in a situation where you are subjected to an unprovoked cross-border attack.

And regarding the difference between the number of Israelis and Lebanese killed....

TONY JONES: Let's just - we'll put it into perspective. Reuters are reporting today that Israeli air strikes have killed 49 civilians and one Hezbollah fighter in Lebanon. That brings the total conflict death now in Lebanon to 285 Lebanese, 25 or 27 Israelis. So, there is this - you don't want to put it this way, but there's this dreadful balance that we can see now is weighed very heavily against the Israeli air strikes.

TED LAPKIN: So the Israelis are to be penalised because they have a better civil defence system and better bomb shelters?

The whole transcript can be found here:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/ ... 691313.htm

[Leighton]

That comes off as bloodthirsty to me.

All I hear out of Israel is revenge, revenge, they started it, revenge. It's pathetic. When Hezbolla went into Israel they targeted the vastly surperior armed forces of Israel for a change and totally pantsed them. Israel just turned around swinging.

If Lebanon is a terrorist state with 20 seats out of 120 in their Government being from extremists, then what does that say about Israel when they're anhilating entire country?

[superman321]

What Ted Lapkin said is partly true, however, it is a rather dismissive response to the tragic loss of human life. This is, I feel, one of the biggest mistakes Israel oftem makes - not unlike other nations mind you - that they dismiss the dead of the 'enemies,' even though in many cases these people are simply civilians and have nothing to do with the war. It would be of great help to Israel's cause are they appeared more sympathetic to civilians casualties on both sides - rather than simply dismiss them.

[Bob Garage]

its all George Bush's fault!

[Doin]

I think we need to clear something up.

Israel is not at war with Lebanon. Israel are not trying to occupy Lebanon nor are they interested in doing so. Israel are not accusing Lebanon of being a terrorist state.

Israel are at war with Hizbollah - an internationally recognised terrorist organisation who has political representation, albeit small, in the Lebanese parliament. An organisation who has in its charter, the annihilation of Israel as one of its objectives.

On Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 the Lebanese government were supposed to disarm Hezbollah. They either failed or simply didn't try, possibly because Hezbollah were being armed by Iran and the Lebanon's puppet master - Syria. Hizbollah has used that time after the withdrawal to rearm themselves with higher tech weaponary.
In fact, today's Age had an article about how Hizbollah's technology has taken the international community by surprise.
Read it here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hig ... 55519.html

The reason for bombing the airport and roads is that this is the means by which Iran and Syria get their weapons to Hizbollah. Israel are also concentrating their bombing in the Hizbollah populated areas. It should be noted that prior to the bombing raids Israel dropped leaflets warning residents to evacuate. I don't believe Hizbollah, Hamas or Al Quaeda carry out a leaflet drop before a suicide bombing or hijacking. Please correct me if I am wrong.
One common tactic of Hizbollah is to hide their arsenal and headquarters in civillian areas, firstly, because they know the Israelis are less likely to attack them there and secondly, when they do, it makes the Israelis look bad. Remember - terrorists don't care who dies for their cause, as long as it helps it. They are even willing to put their cause above their own lives.

"When Hezbolla went into Israel they targeted the vastly surperior armed forces of Israel for a change and totally pantsed them. Israel just turned around swinging."

Yes, they were pantsed. However, there was an attack on Israeli soil in which 8 soldiers were killed and 2 kidnapped. Are Israel meant to sit there are take it and say 'oh well, they really got us didn't they? Shucks...'
Israel are in a situation where there enemies that want them annihilated. This is not about land and territory. This is about wiping out the Jewish state. It has been going on for 58 years since the UN declared Israel an independent state. Israel is so small (1 tenth of 1% of the middle east) it is so insignificant.

[superman321]

While it is all well and good to drop warning leaflets, where exactly are these people meant to go? It isn't as simple as saying 'ohhh well, better leave' - where are they meant to sleep, how are they meant to eat, how dot hey get shelter. Israel is in a terrible situation - but there are still ways that this response could have been a bit better - and have affected less entirely innocent civilians in the proccess.

[Doin]

What Ted Lapkin said is partly true, however, it is a rather dismissive response to the tragic loss of human life. This is, I feel, one of the biggest mistakes Israel oftem makes - not unlike other nations mind you - that they dismiss the dead of the 'enemies,' even though in many cases these people are simply civilians and have nothing to do with the war. It would be of great help to Israel's cause are they appeared more sympathetic to civilians casualties on both sides - rather than simply dismiss them.

The fact that Lapkin speaks quite clinically of civillian casualties is a good point. However he did say in the interview that he is ex-Israeli military and was probably speaking of the casualties from a military-objective perspective.
I do think that in times like these, Israel are more focussed on the security of their people.
However, keep in mind we are mainly exposed to the usually-biased Western media that prefers to go for emotion-grabbing headlines rather than informing people of the real facts.

Here is a link to Haaretz (The Land), an Israeli newspaper that seems to present an objective, well-balanced view of the situation.
http://www.haaretz.co.il/

As a side-note, I think that one of the problems in this situation is that people get their information on this conflict solely from newspapers and the media, and on this they base their opinions.
When it comes to this issue it is vital to understand the historical context of the situation.

[Doin]

While it is all well and good to drop warning leaflets, where exactly are these people meant to go? It isn't as simple as saying 'ohhh well, better leave' - where are they meant to sleep, how are they meant to eat, how dot hey get shelter. Israel is in a terrible situation - but there are still ways that this response could have been a bit better - and have affected less entirely innocent civilians in the proccess.

What could they have done? Negotiating with the terrorist would do nothing but give Hizbollah an upper-hand. If they play into their hands they will set a precedent. That way the terrorists win.

There is a humanitarian crisis going on which is not good and has set Lebanon back 20 years. Hopefully this whole thing will end soon, but I doubt it will.
Israel have said it will take another 10-14 days to complete their mission.