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Messages - captainccs

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401
Politics & Religion / WW3
« on: July 23, 2006, 01:36:15 PM »
Quote from: Richard Cohen
[Israel] is an honest mistake, a well-intentioned mistake, a mistake for which no one is culpable, but the idea of creating a nation of European Jews in an area of Arab Muslims (and some Christians) has produced a century of warfare and terrorism of the sort we are seeing now. Israel fights Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south, but its most formidable enemy is history itself.

By Cohen's measure, America was also a mistake, the native Americans took quite a toll on the colonials. The Washington Post would not exist if the American Founding Fathers had taken Cohen's advice and gone back where they came from. Where does that leave Cohen's view of history?

402
Politics & Religion / WW3
« on: July 23, 2006, 12:57:46 PM »
Quote from: Bowser
Regarding the war on terror, I believe that the best way to fight it is quite simply by fearing nothing.

Been there, done that, didn't work.

Quote from: George Santayana
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

For almost 2000 years starting with the destruction of the temple Jews feared nothing. They took what the world had to dish out believing that god would protect and provide. But in the 1900s they got tired of this attitude because it was not producing visible beneficial results. The young rebelled against their elders in the Warsaw ghetto.  Against overwhelming odds they took on the NAZI army of extermination. That worked better, they now have a state to call their own and they are not going to roll over and die for some mythical appeasing "higher consciousness" that seems to exist only in the minds of their adversaries.

Quote from: George Santayana
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

Katyusha rockets raining down from the heavens is not enjoyable therefore we have to stop it from happening.

403
Politics & Religion / WW3
« on: July 22, 2006, 03:52:40 PM »
What is a "mass market global military war" anyway?  :?:

Do you consider Israel's current defensive action a "mass market global military war?"

I don't think so, it is a legitimate self defense action.

For the record, I'm not a practitioner of martial arts.

404
Politics & Religion / U.S. rushes precision-guided bombs to Israel
« on: July 22, 2006, 01:38:07 PM »
Report: U.S. rushes precision-guided bombs to Israel

By Reuters

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

Citing U.S. officials who spoke on Friday on condition of anonymity, the Times said the decision to ship the weapons quickly came after relatively little debate within the administration, and noted in its report that its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others who could perceive Washington as aiding Israel in the manner that Iran has armed Hezbollah.

The munitions are actually part of a multimillion-dollar arms-sale package approved last year which Israel is able to tap when it needs to, the officials told the Times. But some military officers said the request for expedited delivery was unusual and indicated that Israel has many targets it plans to hit in Lebanon.

The arms shipment has not been announced publicly. The officials who described the administration's decision to rush the munitions included employees of two government agencies, one of whom described the shipment as just one example of a broad array of armaments that the United States has long provided Israel, the Times said.

Pentagon and military officials declined to describe in detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, the newspaper said, and they would not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft or some other means. But one U.S. official said the shipment should not be compared to the kind of an "emergency resupply" of dwindling Israeli stockpiles that was provided during the Yom Kippur War, according to the Times report.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington told the Times: "We have been using precision-guided munitions in order to neutralize the military capabilities of Hezbollah and to minimize harm to civilians. As a rule, however, we do not comment on Israel's defense acquisitions."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/741392.html

405
Politics & Religion / WW3
« on: July 21, 2006, 10:39:43 AM »
Quote from: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (said)
"Arab and Islamic countries... do not even bother to condemn the fact that Muslims are being butchered by non-believers. This is a historic catastrophe," he fumed.

Right, only believers are allowed to butcher Muslims as is patently evident in what is happening now and in the past in Iraq and many other Muslin nations. And, of course, Muslims are allowed to butcher non-Muslims anywhere in the world as was evident in 9/11, USS Cole, Argentina, the US Embassy in Beirut, India, Indonesia, Russia, London, Madrid, and very specially in Israel.

The Sunni rejection of Hezbollah clearly shows how dangerous they think the Iranian backed militia is for them, not just for infidels. As often happens in politics, we are seeing strange bedfellows, Sunnis backing Israel against the Shia Heizbollah.

406
Politics & Religion / Editorial: Self-defence is a universal right
« on: July 19, 2006, 12:21:06 PM »
Editorial: Self-defence is a universal right
The Australian
July 20, 2006

Israel's critics are too often guilty of selective outrage

THE tyranny of distance still afflicts Australia, or at least certain segments of the Australian commentariat. For from a distance of nearly 15,000km, many local media outlets look at the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and see a decidedly one-sided affair. Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald headlined a front-page story declaring Lebanon "UNDER SIEGE" by what its correspondent called "Israeli attacks causing soaring civilian death tolls in Gaza and Lebanon", setting the tone for the paper's coverage of the conflict. Meanwhile, at the ABC on Tuesday night, Tony Jones badgered former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak over Israel's refusal to call a ceasefire, while the UK Independent's Robert Fisk regularly rants against Israel on the nation's broadcaster. Yet the closer one gets to the front lines, the less Israel cops the blame. In the Middle East, the normally anti-Israeli Saudi Arabian Government has said Hezbollah bears "full responsibility for . . . ending the crisis". In Lebanon, there is even more support for Israel's actions. On Tuesday night's 7:30 Report, of all places, several Lebanese officials placed blame for the current conflict on Hezbollah ? not Israel. The question that comes to mind, then, is whether those who effectively suggest Israel should meekly accept its neighbours' attacks actually support the Jewish state's right to exist?

It's a legitimate question. Certainly Israel should not be immune to criticism. But if Israel's right to exist is accepted, then the exercise of its corresponding right to protect itself should not be treated with such outrage. Since Israel pulled out of Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah has become more powerful in southern Lebanon, thanks to its friends in Iran and Syria. During this time it has also subjected Israel to regular harassment ? even as Israel has, until the kidnapping of two of its soldiers last week, been restrained in retaliation. One wonders how those who criticise Israel's response to Hezbollah would urge the Howard Government to respond were a foreign enemy seizing cops and dropping artillery shells into Balmain in Sydney or Fitzroy in Melbourne. Those who condemn images of Israeli girls writing messages on artillery shells are rarely if ever heard denouncing the relentless propaganda that brainwashes Palestinian children to hate their Jewish neighbours and celebrate the deeds of suicide bombers. Meanwhile, the ancient idea of proportionate response has lately become a rhetorical cudgel for those who would hobble Israel. Yet in taking the possibility of overwhelming retaliation off the table, the doctrine encourages bad behaviour on the part of Israel's enemies who know they would never be called to account.

In retaliating against Lebanon and evicting that country's Shia interlopers, Israel is simply behaving as a rational actor. And in doing so it strikes a blow for the principle that all states should be treated similarly. This is the only way forward for Israel in dealing with the Palestinians: if Hamas wants to be recognised as the legitimate government of the Palestinian people, then the world should go along with this and no longer accept "rogue state" claims that Qassam rockets and suicide terrorist missions launched from its territory are not its responsibility. Violent internal politics or historic grievances about dispossession and occupation do not excuse bad behaviour. The situation is still fluid in the Middle East. And any attack on Tel Aviv by Hezbollah would radically change the equation. But the quick defeat of Hezbollah ? and by extension its mad backers in Tehran ? would not just be a win for Israel but for Lebanon and the region as well.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19847517-601,00.html

407
Politics & Religion / Editorial: Israel's response is self-defence
« on: July 19, 2006, 11:14:25 AM »
Editorial: Israel's response is self-defence
The Australian
July 17, 2006

Lebanon should help disarm Hezbollah guerillas

IF there was ever any doubt that Israel's response to Hezbollah's hail of rockets was proportionate to the threat they pose to Israeli security, it has been dispelled by attacks launched from southern Lebanon deep into Israel. With Hezbollah guerillas apparently well-armed thanks to money and material from Iran and Syria, Israel has been obliged to strike back in self-defence and to protect its civilian population in the north, including Haifa and Tiberias, a city hitherto thought to have been beyond the range of Hezbollah's rockets. Reports that Hezbollah has an armoury of thousands of rockets capable of reaching Israel's heartlands - and conceivably its capital, Tel Aviv - leave it no option because, it's worth repeating, Israel is facing an implacable enemy that denies its right to exist and wants to wipe it from the map.

Hezbollah appears to have little sympathy for its host country, Lebanon. By attacking Israel - no doubt taking the opportunity to strike by snatching two Israeli troopers while Israel was preoccupied with its mission to free a kidnapped soldier in Gaza to the south - Hezbollah has invited a red-blooded reaction. No nation can sit back watching missiles rain down on its territory. Retaliation with a purpose has been Israel's modus operandi. It has hit key highways and Beirut airport to make it difficult for Syria to resupply or reinforce Hezbollah, while also attacking the source of the rockets and those who are launching them. If that includes the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah - reported yesterday to have been wounded in an Israeli air raid, reports denied by Hezbollah - then that's the brutal reality of what Israel must do to survive.

Moreover, Israel is doing Lebanon a favour by containing Hezbollah, a parasitic organisation that has outstayed its welcome in the new but fragile democracy that is Lebanon. Better late than never, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora says there can be no sovereign Lebanese state without disarming Hezbollah. Sadly, the Lebanese Government has been unwilling to take the hard steps necessary to achieve this end. Lebanon's army of about 70,000 soldiers is far superior to Hezbollah's guerilla force, estimated at about 6000, but does not appear to have the will to tackle the task of ridding Lebanon of its unwelcome guests. And given that the Lebanese army could spilt along sectarian lines if ordered to disarm Hezbollah, Mr Siniora should thank Israel further: he gets to keep a relatively unified army intact, while also watching Hezbollah arms and missile sites being destroyed, and its influence on Lebanese politics collaterally reduced.

Of course, disarming Hezbollah from within would be no easy task. With 12 MPs and two cabinet ministers, Hezbollah is a strong political entity. Nevertheless, if Lebanon is going to make progress and be embraced by the international community as a responsible and independent nation, it must face up to the malign influence of Hezbollah and take away the group's weapons - or at least help Israel to do so. Otherwise Lebanon will remain a hostage to the guerillas and their principal backers, Iran and Syria.

Israel's defensible military response coincides with yesterday's meeting of world leaders in St Petersburg for the annual G8 summit. As might be expected, US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have called for restraint, and the other six leaders will probably fall into line. Coupled with the European Union's routine condemnation of Israel's response to aggression from its enemies, the opinion of the G8 should not deflect Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Israeli Government, which has resolved to make it clear to Hamas, Hezbollah and other militant groups that there is a heavy price to pay for cross-border raids, rocket attacks and the taking of hostages.

Mr Bush's call for restraint - while making it clear Israel has the right to defend itself - is partly prompted by a desire to see Lebanon remain a friend of the West and his hopes the country can strengthen its democracy. But what Mr Bush and his G8 colleagues should be doing is calling for Lebanon to abide by UN Resolution 1559 to disarm Hezbollah. The G8 leaders could also reflect on comments from the most powerful Arab country, Saudi Arabia, which last week accused Hezbollah of "uncalculated adventures" that could bring destruction to Arab nations. Hezbollah elements should "shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behaviour and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone". Stern words, indeed, and a guide for the rest of the world's nations - especially those that jump at the opportunity to attack Israel's right to self-defence.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19809776-7583,00.html

408
Politics & Religion / G8 Statement on the Middle East
« on: July 16, 2006, 11:44:36 PM »
G8 Statement on the Middle East
July 16, 2006

Today, we the G8 Leaders express our deepening concern about the situation in the Middle East, in particular the rising civilian casualties on all sides and the damage to infrastructure. We are united in our determination to pursue efforts to restore peace. We offer our full support for the U.N. Secretary General's mission presently in the region.

The root cause of the problems in the region is the absence of a comprehensive Middle East peace.

The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace. In Gaza, elements of Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israeli territory and abducted an Israeli soldier. In Lebanon, Hezbollah, in violation of the Blue Line, attacked Israel from Lebanese territory and killed and captured Israeli soldiers, reversing the positive trends that began with the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, and undermining the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict. The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.

It is also critical that Israel, while exercising the right to defend itself, be mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions. We call upon Israel to exercise utmost restraint, seeking to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure and to refrain from acts that would destabilize the Lebanese government.

The most urgent priority is to create conditions for a cessation of violence that will be sustainable and lay the foundation for a more permanent solution. This, in our judgment, requires:
  • The return of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon unharmed;
  • An end to the shelling of Israeli territory;
  • An end to Israeli military operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza;
  • The release of the arrested Palestinian ministers and parliamentarians.
  • The framework for resolving these disputes is already established by international consensus.[/list:u]In Lebanon, UN Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1680 address the underlying conditions that gave rise to this crisis. We urge the U.N. Security Council to develop a plan for the full implementation of these resolutions.

    We extend to the Government of Lebanon our full support in asserting its sovereign authority over all its territory in fulfillment of UNSCR 1559. This includes the deployment of Lebanese Armed Forces to all parts of the country, in particular the South, and the disarming of militias. We would welcome an examination by the U.N. Security Council of the possibility of an international security/monitoring presence.

    We also support the initiation of a political dialogue between Lebanese and Israeli officials on all issues of concern to both parties. In addition, we will support the economic and humanitarian needs of the Lebanese people, including the convening at the right time of a donors conference.

    In Gaza, the disengagement of Israel provided an opportunity to move a further step toward a two state solution under the Road Map. All Palestinian parties should accept the existence of Israel, reject violence, and accept all previous agreements and obligations, including the Road Map. For its part, Israel needs to refrain from unilateral acts that could prejudice a final settlement and agree to negotiate in good faith.

    Our goal is an immediate end to the current violence, a resumption of security cooperation and of a political engagement both among Palestinians and with Israel. This requires:
    • An end to terrorist attacks against Israel;
    • A resumption of the efforts of President Abbas to ensure that the Palestinian government complies with the Quartet principles;
    • Immediate expansion of the temporary international mechanism for donors established under the direction of the Quartet;
    • Israeli compliance with the Agreement on Movement and Access of November 2005 and action on other steps to ease the humanitarian plight of the people of Gaza and the West Bank;
    • Resumption of security cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis;
    • Action to ensure that the Palestinian security forces comply with Palestinian law and with the Road Map, so that they are unified and effective in providing security for the Palestinian people;
    • Resumption of dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli political officials.[/list:u]These proposals are our contribution to the international effort underway to restore calm to the Middle East and provide a basis for progress towards a sustainable peace, in accordance with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. The Quartet will continue to play a central role. The G8 welcomes the positive efforts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan as well as other responsible regional actors to return the region to peace. We look forward to the report of the Secretary General's mission to the Security Council later this week which we believe could provide a framework for achieving our common objectives.

409
Politics & Religion / Lebanon
« on: July 16, 2006, 03:55:38 PM »
Since my friend Craft Dog likes to talk about politics I think it is appropriate to post these thoughts about Lebanon. The post was originally a comment I made at a Venezuela blog to a totally unrelated post that got to talk about the war in the Middle East. The post features a curious video titled: "The Extremely Abridged History of Venezuela."

http://caracaschronicles.blogspot.com/2006/07/extremely-abridged-history-of.html


My comments:

Lebanon is not the problem for Israel. Iran, Syria and their proxies Hamas and Hezbollah are the problem.

If you take a good look at what is being targeted in Lebanon you will realize that it is an effort to isolate and destroy Hezbollah. The targets besides Hezbollah proper are communications: airports, bridges, oil storage, gas stations, cell phone towers, radar and such. Israel is trying to prevent Iran and Syria from resupplying Hezbollah.

Unfortunately for the Lebanese, they have not had an independent country for decades. They have been occupied by Palestinians, Israel and Syria in turn. Until Lebanon can regain its full independence and that includes getting rid of Hezbollah, it will suffer from foreign intervention, it will continue to have to live with surrogate wars started by Iran and Syria.

Jordan and Egypt have learned to live in peace with Israel. Why can't Lebanon? Because Iran and Syria don't want it to and Lebanon is too weak to have its own way. If Jordan can control its Palestinian citizens, why can't Lebanon? Same answer, they are too weak.

You might have noticed that there has been no great international outcry for Israel to stop. This would be very strange indeed if it didn't have a realistic explanation. Not even the Arab summit in Cairo managed to call for a ceasefire and for a condemnation of Israel. The reason, at least for me, is clear: everyone except Iran and Syria would be very happy if Hamas and Hezbollah were destroyed because they, along with al Qaeda, are destabilizing the whole world.

Please be clear about my position. When it comes to the actual fighting, I'm on the side of Israel, no doubt about it. When it comes to the international scene, I would like nothing better than peace in the Middle East. Egypt and Jordan have managed to make peace with Israel. Turkey is most happy to trade with Israel. I guess we have to look at the motivation of Iran and Syria to keep the flames of war alive. How do they profit from it? Let's face it, Iran is trying to face down the Great Satan via its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. This is in part a distraction for the G8 meeting so they have something else to worry about besides Iran's nuclear ambitions. Clearly the Group of 8 is not buying it.

Coming back home (Venezuela), Chavez blames the Great Satan for all our ills and the Arabs blame Israel for all their ills. How is one different from the other? If Chavez is wrong then so are the Arabs. If the Arabs are right, then so is Chavez. We have to take responsibility for our actions and our destiny. We cannot blame others for everything and make progress at the same time. We make progress when we take responsibility for our lives and work to improve them.

Sorry about the long post but I had to get it off my chest. Thank you for listening.

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