Comments on: Desperation?

By: stan peterson

stan peterson — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 17:51:47 +0000

Hiz’b Allah is a terrorist organization with some semi-military militias that even may be well trained.

But they have no real weapons other than very inaccurate terror weapons. that cannot be used on military targets. And some small arms.

They are fighting in the best terrain they can city scapes, which negates some but not all the benenfitds of a heavy armored force with absolute control of the air.

They have to trade bodies in an outsized ratio, perhaps taking caualties at 100-1, but they do NOT HAVE an enormous force for such an attrition war. They do have an enormous body of potential recruits, but that is an untrained or unequipped mass. In any case it is of no concern in this conflict, but might serve as a source to rebuild in a few years.

They have no economic basis, do not command an economy of any sort, and can be cut off at the knees if resources from abroad is witheld for any reason. That could be a decison on either Syria or Iran’s part to protect themselves, weariness funding any more such folly or Israeli interdiction efforts and blockades.

Hiz’b Allah, is going to have to go to ground in a short time.

I just hope that Syria gets punished by the IDF. It is absolutely necessary to assert & confim teh thesis that Proxy wars are neither CHEAP nor SAFE.

By: A Blog For All

A Blog For All — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 00:47:26 +0000

Diplomacy and the Hounds of Hell, Part IX…

Any talk about international forces in Lebanon must start and end with the Syria/Lebanon border. That’s the key to ending this conflict, not the Israel/Lebanon border despite the focus being on Israel and Lebanon. Hizbullah is being supplied across t….

By: Gaius

Gaius — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:58:06 +0000

He’s a supergenius reporter. Just ask him. Powerline has a little more background on his ties to Hezbollah.

By: Jeff G

Jeff G — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:52:00 +0000

This guy has his head up his ass. But seriously, where does he get off trying to tell the American Secretary of State how to do her business?

By: pittspbm

pittspbm — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 16:34:34 +0000

Like you, I focused on this last paragraph and felt Ignatious had it exactly 180 degrees wrong.

Looking at history, those wars that “ended” with “negotiated settlement” generally have really never ended, and contain the seeds for the next phoenix-like reincarnation of hostilities.

Only the total military defeat coupled with either unconditional surrender or de-facto annihilation of the losing side are necessary prerequisites for lasting peace.

Example of good “ending” wars:
WWII – Chuchhill’s “unconditional surrender”
US Civil War – Lee’s unconditional surrender at Appomattox

Examples of bad endings:
Korea – cease-fire 1952/53 – still a war zone with a hot DMZ
Gulf War I – ceasefire – no-fly zones for 12 years and then reignited
Gulf War II – Sadaams troops melted away and were never crushed
Vietnam – US negotiated itself out but N.Vietnam just continued on & on
Kosovo – peacekeepers still necessary
WWI – Armistice, with opressive reparations, set the stage for WWII

A third possible ending is simple exhaustion – as in the 30 Years War.

We should all hope that Israel never reaches this point, after surviving almost 60 years of repeated wars, attacks and terrorism.

By: Jim,MtnViewCA,USA

Jim,MtnViewCA,USA — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 16:07:56 +0000

Not just Ignatius, much of the MSM (and Dems) are trumpeting the whole “you must talk to your enemies” meme. How can problems be solved if we don’t fawn all over Syria? How indeed
Keep wringing your hands MSM. Go IDF, best wishes!

By: The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » Ignatius Wrong Again

The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » Ignatius Wrong Again — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:53:50 +0000

[...] Others blogging on this: Blue Crab BoulevardÂ gives Ignatius more credit than he deserves. [...]

By: Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » 100+ Rockets Fall

Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » 100+ Rockets Fall — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:29:00 +0000

[...] One wonders how long it takes for counter-battery fire to land once the terrorists launch a rocket. I would guess it is not healthy to stay in the vicinity of a launch point after lighting off the rocket. One also wonders if the intensity of the rocket barrage right now indicates strength or desperation? Given that Hezbollah has seen fit to try to get the Washington Post to act as a mouthpiece for their "peace" proposals, I'm guessing the latter and not the former. [...]

By: Qzsue

Qzsue — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:17:36 +0000

This is another example of how the MSM believes itself to be the true leaders of the country. Such hubris, instructing one of the most intelligent women who happens to be the Secretary of State, on how to derive peace from this stewpot of conflict, deserves as much ridicule as we can muster. Who exactly were his sources? Do they exist? It Post lowers itself another notch.

By: da 12th Anon

da 12th Anon — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:33:47 +0000

This will end when Israel decides it has done all the damage to Hezebolla that it can do without taking greater military and political risks. When they have more to lose then gain, they will stop. Hezebollah is aware of this basic fact of life, and is trying to increase the non-military pressure on Israel, thereby adding weight to the lose side of the balance.
The Shittes think that on August 22, 2006 their 12th Imam will climb up out of the holy well , wave his hand and the whole world will surrender to them. So all bets are off after the 22nd of August. When nothing happens, the shittes will have to re-boot their entire belief struture.
Meanwhile, when will the morons of the west learn that negoiating with the Islamic zelots is a waste of time. When Churchill said “JawJaw is always better then war war” he was speaking of human interaction. Jaw Jaw doesn’t matter when one side of the jawing isn’t human by the other sides criteria. Might as well jaw jaw with a monkey, dog or camel.

By: Moonage Political Webdream

Moonage Political Webdream — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:20:43 +0000

Washington Post negotiating for Hezbollah?…

This is just nuts. David Ignatius of the Washington Post has garnered a certain amount of criticism in the blog world for telling Condi Rice how to stop the Israeli/Hezbollah conflict. His plan is simple, accept the Hezbollah offer. Now,…

By: crosspatch

crosspatch — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 05:13:01 +0000

Thought I would share this among friends. Someone posted the link to this video on Rantburg. A pair of young men decided to go to the train depot in Haifa that was hit with a missile and killed 8 people and film any damage and interview folks that work there. While they were filming the same depot was hit again with a missle. Amazing. Link