*Official* Israel/Lebanon thread (politics)

[Felix_Nietzsche]

LOL! I can see why you have an asterisk in your title.
I see you edited you original post with a less offensive pic. Smart Play [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
It is people like yourself that caused the politics forum to get shut down. The simple fact is you are incapble of addressing my arguments so you resort to name calling.

Don't hate me because I'm smarter and more educated than you. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[HLMencken]

[ QUOTE ]

I see you edited you original post with a less offensive pic. Smart Play [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually I edited it for what I thought was a more offensive and appropriate pic.

[HLMencken]

[ QUOTE ]
The simple fact is you are incapble of addressing my arguments ...

[/ QUOTE ]

You haven't made any arguments. You are saying that burning all the Persian Gulf's oil fields (which is impossible) will solve the terrorism problem (which is insane). There is nothing of substance to counter... except to point out the ignorance and deangerous ideas of the poster.

[iron81]

[ QUOTE ]
You say the Mullahs "alowed" the moderates to gain power.
Does this not imply the Mullahs are the ones really in control?
Every Middle-eastern analyst I have listen too has said the Mullahs are the real power in Iran. You nonsense about the Iranians giving power to the Mullahs because of the "axis of evil" remark is not supported by any analyst that I have heard.
Please cite evidence, which I don't think you can.
Wishful thinking is clouding your reasoning.

[/ QUOTE ]

There are two kinds of dictatorships: one kind where any dissent is brutally suppressed (Stalin or Saddam) and the other kind where a certain degree of independence is tolerated (Modern China). Of course the Mullahs are the ultimate authority in Iran, but what you are missing is that Iran was the later kind of dictatorship. This means that to a certain extent they rely on the goodwill of the people.

Until "Axis of Evil", the moderates were gaining power in Iran. The elected moderate President was regularly fighting the Mullahs for more power and he achieved a considerable amount of power. There was a limited amount of freedom of the press and some newspapers got away with taking positions contrary to doctrine. After the Axis of Evil, the Mullahs took all this away. The limited the President's power to the point that he had no power and eventually quit. The independent newspapers were shut down and eventually the mullahs began becoming much tougher on the candidates who were allowed to run, removing most of the moderates. Now you might think that the Afghanistan and Iraq wars (which both border Iran) was a coincidence, but I don't. And if you are looking for a source, try this one (PDF). There is good stuff all over, but I particularly liked chapter 1, section 2.

[Sniper]

Just when I thought it was safe to get back in the water... ceasefire guys!...

[Sniper]

The postponement of the Lebanese cabinet meeting today has put the diplomatic track in a tizzy...

A senior Lebanese government source said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora received calls from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, French President Jacques Chirac and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

According to the source, Annan told Siniora that if Hezbollah maintains its position against disarmament south of the Litani, an international force can't go into Lebanon.

Israel has made clear it will not immediately pull out, but will wait until other forces arrive to prevent the Hezbollah militia from again taking over the area on Israel's northern border.

At best, it seems that an international force could not arrive for at least 7-10 days... however, if the international force will not move in while Hezbollah fighter are armed south of the Litani... we could be in for a standoff...

This appears to be shaping up to be a very tense week.

[RR]

[ QUOTE ]
And there is no defense that these are surgical strikes being advocated, Felix is advocating destruction of a people's way of life, the basis of their economy, and the largest environmental disaster ever witnessed, and killing anybody who gets in the way. The equivalent would be advocating the burning of America's forests and farmlands.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am pretty sure those that hate America would do this if they had the means.

[Sniper]

Rice calls Lebanese PM to warn him that if the UN Lebanon resolution is not implemented, “We will not be responsible for the consequences”

Earlier, Israeli FM Tzipi Livni put in urgent calls to the US secretary and the French foreign minister in an effort to salvage the ceasefire from Iranian-backed Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s 12th-hour retraction of his consent.

Lebanese minister Marwan Hamadi accused Hassan Nasrallah Sunday night of reneging on his pledge to abide by the UN ceasefire.

Hamadi information minister, a Druze, said Sunday night that Nasrallah had broken his word to order Hizballah fighters south of the Litani to hand in their weapons to allow Lebanese army troops to be deployed there.

Some sources are saying that Nasrallah received orders from Iran to keep fighting...

[Sniper]

While the ceasefire agreement with the Hizbullah was "fragile," the IDF planned to uphold its side to the agreement and to suspend all offensives against the guerrilla group Monday morning, a high-ranking officer in the Northern Command told The Jerusalem Post Sunday night.

On Sunday, the IDF completed taking up positions along the Litani River in preparation for a UN-brokered ceasefire scheduled to go into effect Monday morning at 7 a.m. IDF troops operating in Lebanon, the officer said, would halt their attacks on Hizbullah strongholds in nearby villages but would maintain their positions and would be ready to "jump into any village or city, including Tyre, if necessary."

If Hizbullah fired Katyusha rockets into Israel after the ceasefire went into effect, the IDF, the high-ranking officer said, would see itself allowed to bomb targets throughout Lebanon, including in Beirut. "If Hizbullah breaks the ceasefire, we will see ourselves allowed to respond," the officer said.

Late Sunday night, officials indicated that the navy and air force would not lift the siege on Lebanon until its government took action to control access into the country, as required by the UN's cease-fire resolution.

[Sniper]

IDF estimates 530 Hezbollah militants killed in last month, 180 deaths verified (Reuters)

Poll: 68% of Israelis think Hezbollah should be destroyed even if civilians are hurt (Itim)