Hell, its so frustrating. 61% of the British public think Israel’s actions are disproportional.
I’m very curious what would the British do if third of their coutry would sit in in basements.
1/3 of the country!!! 20 million british who wouldn’t work, 1/3 of the country’s factories closed?!! A flourishing high tech industry ruined!!
Perhaps they would also capture 2 soldiers as a retaliatation method??? That would be proportional. But I doubt they will do it. They will probably go to to a total war, burning villages, destroying cities, bombing everything they could.
Or maybe I should remind you? Folkland, Drezden?
Israel is fighting the world’s war on terror, and instead of support and help we are being condemned!
Imp - this is, indeed, the solution. If the US hadn’t been wasting its time in Iraq, we could have joined in. That’s a bit of a red herring, I admit. We could have, anyway - long ago. But we have now given the Palestinians a country - they don’t seem to want it. I think a lot of public opinion is based on the “chronic” nature of this conflict. Radical surgery is easier to understand.
I am not particularly taking Israel’s side in saying this. It’s just time for this to end. The IRA realised that it could not win, and that the cost of either winning or losing was too high. The Palestinians have not, and show no signs of coming to this point. It’s really time to end it.
The way I see it, this conflict arises from two peoples who stubbornly refuse to give up “their” land. First some ancient “Canaanites” had it, then Israel occupied in Biblical times, then the “Palestinian” Arabs took over in the age of Islam. But the Jews never gave up and eventually persuaded the international community (in the wake of the Holocaust and other events threatening the Jews’ continued existence) to give “their” land back to them. That meant pushing out the Arabs because they wanted a democratic Jewish state, which would be impossible if a majority Arab Muslim presence remained. Now those Arab Muslims want “their” land back, but there’s a problem because now generations of descendants of Jewish immigrants to establish the Jewish state have settled and consider it “their” land too.
I liked it better when defeated people would just, you know, STAY DEFEATED, rather than waging an endless pointless guerrilla war. Arabs have their heads up their asses militarily and economically; they will never destroy Israel; they are defeated. So what do you do when, like Monty Python’s Black Knight, they keep saying “I’m not dead yet!” and kicking you with their one appendage that is not a bloody stump?
Arabs will accept nothing less than Israel’s destruction which they will never achieve. This war will never end until the Black Knight’s head is cut off. “We’ll call it a draw then…”
Well, Imp that is the most argumentative response that I have ever gotten form someone that I agree with. For what it’s worth.
I am not an accomplished military stratgeist, but we have several bases in the area, some even closer than Iraq. My problem with the whole Iraq affair is not ideological, but just that it is not a cost-effective way to accomplish goals that you and I actually agree on. Syria and Gaza can be overrun with no trouble from bases and warships that we had before Iraq. Iran is a tougher nut to crack, but we don’t want to do this all at once, anyway.
I agree that the land deal was strategy and not really a concession. But the Palestinians could still have taken the opportunity. I agree that they won’t.
I’m still not convinced that the Democrats control British public opinion. I would wager that some Brits might agree. The brits went along with a big bangin’ war in Iraq, because it’s sexier than this tired old Israli-Palestinian thing. A big bangin’ war there might just sell.
I think it will take more than killing all the present Islamist extremists - I think the populace of Palestine as a whole need some convincing that they have been defeated (years ago). But yes, the extremists need to die. My point is that extremism must die also. By extreme means, it seems.
My analogy is not bad at all. I am not talking about motive, but only stragtegy and tactics in a very long conflict.
ask their politics. 95% of the media are socialist, totalitarian, liberal democRATS with heavy marxist tendencies yet none of them have a spine. read the shit they put out and see the left wing bias for yourself. it is obvious for anyone who looks.
Many in the media are idealogues, as Bush is, however they hold hugely divergent agendas. The liberal will say you have two cows, I am poor, give me one. The conservatives says, I might give you some milk, but not a cow.
Nearly forgot, the New York Times covered-up the abuses in the Soviet Union for many years, I mean way back in the beginning. They knew, but supported the communist agenda. Most US citizens believed the drivel for years, until the communist take over of many countries after WWII, then the idiot McCarthy played the red scare game to garner votes.
Imp is correct regarding Iraq. Look at a map and see its strategic position, right smack dab in the oil rich Middle-East and is a threat to Syria and Iran.
Bush is sitting back allowing Israel to nail Hizbollah and unfortunately many Lebanese are being nailed as well. Sorry folks, but you aided and abetted Hizbollah, and they are using your civilians as human shields. Scream at the militants who will not fight a fair fight.
Israel, unless business/trade concerns develop, will drive Hizbollah to it puppet masters Syria and Iran who are funding the Iraqi “insurgency” funny how most are not Iraqis. We are sending more troops into Iraq, Bush and Rummy did not listen to the generals.
Hopefully, within the next 10 years there will be an end to terrorism. Between Israeli and US might it might work. The UN is worthless, geez, one of the worst genocides in recent history occured with usless UN peacekeepers watching as Muslims were slaughtered, oops, almost forgot how they turned tail and ran when the Huti were genocided by the Tutsi.
My only concern is whether or not Israel actually can defeat Hezbollah. No doubt the Israelis are skilled, tough and determined fighters, but Hezbollah has proven that they’ll be a tough nut to crack. And once Israel does begin to rout them, as I think they inevitably will, the Hezbollah militia can simply melt into the countryside.
I don’t doubt the necessity of what Israel is doing, and certainly the Lebanese have made the bed that they now must sleep in, but in the court of world opinion the Israeli response is coming across as overly ruthless. Not that that ultimately matters- the masses are so brainwashed that the average person can’t count his balls and get the same number twice. The UN is worse than worthless and nothing is going to change over there unless someone changes it.
Yep, and this holds true for CNN in many parts of the Middle-East. They report how the dictators want in order to report a story.
Hum, are they only reporting the “good” stuff in Iraq. I have only seen positives regarding schools, electricity, health care, on the very right wing site. I must have overlooked this.
They are proving a tough nut because they hide among the highly populated civilian centers. Good PR when civilians die. Few rockets have hit Israel today, if any. They are engaged in hand to hand combat and the militants are fighting for their lives.
How about drive the puppets to the puppet masters. Then all eyes will be forcused on Iran and Syria. This was a Iranian red herring because of the nukes and international heat. Nothing like a war to divert attention.
this happend when sudom was in power, the new york times and other, made a deal with him, though in their own defence, it was the new york times that reported that thay had done this…after a year or two of doing it