Where’s the Outrage?

Remember when the Bush Administration convinced Israel to invade Lebanon and root out Hezbollah? Remember the destruction? Well, even though Israel is still reassessing the battle, Hezbollah still stands and the Lebanese government is still barely hanging on. Fighting continues.

Update: This post was somewhat confusing because the fighting in Lebanon is confusing. Eliedh posted a comment and straighten me out. Yes, Hezbollah is still there but the fighting is now between some terrorist group (Fatah affiliated fighters) and the Lebanese government.

From NYT:

Families of Islamic fighters left a besieged Palestinian refugee camp on Friday after the militants and the Lebanese army agreed to the evacuation, according to a Muslim clergyman mediating between the two sides.

The evacuation of the 25 women and 38 children — mostly relatives of Fatah Islam fighters caught inside the Nahr el-Bared camp for three months — clears the way for a possible final military assault to eradicate the remaining militants inside.

Only fighters, now estimated at about 70, remain in a small area deep inside the camp near the coast. (more…)

 

 Continued fighting in Lebanon [1:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Lebanon by ecthompson
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I’m not sure how we could have screwed this up any more.  The uneasy peace was lasting between Lebanon and Israel.  Then we told them that kicking some tail in Lebanon would be a cake walk (It is Lebanon not Iran.  Nothing.)  Well, it was anything but a cakewalk.  The violence has only stopped long enough in the last year or so to bury the dead and re-load the rocket launchers. 

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From NYT:

A powerful bomb exploded at a popular seaside club here on Wednesday, killing a prominent lawmaker and nine other people. It was the deadliest in a string of recent explosions that have rattled this city and shaken its fragile sense of stability.

The bomb, which security authorities say they believe was hidden inside a parked car, exploded as Walid Eido, a Sunni member of Parliament and an outspoken critic of Syria, drove by. He was killed instantly, along with his son and two bodyguards, and six passers-by.

The blast occurred near a crowded amusement park along the Mediterranean; it destroyed an adjacent building and shattered windows nearby at a time when sunbathers and swimmers were returning home from a day at the beach. (more…)

 

 Choas in Beirut [1:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Israel, Lebanon by ecthompson
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Did the fighting there ever stop?  What are they fighting over?  BTW, who killed that moderate leader a year or so ago?

 

 Lebonon continues to fight [2:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Lebanon by ecthompson
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This has the potential to get very ugly.

 

 Fighting in Lebanon [0:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Lebanon by ecthompson
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Say it ain’t so.  Bush calls for peace.  Bush the peacemonger.  This is the same man who didn’t want to go back to the “status quo ante“.  They wanted Hellbolah neutralized.  Collateral damage didn’t matter.  So, what happened?  The deaths of UN observers?  The deaths of 100’s of women and children?  The cry from both Israeli and Lebonese innocents?

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine) by ecthompson
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I’m not sure that Israel’s goal is achievable.  I do not believe that it is possible to kill or capture all members of Hezbollah.  I’m not even sure if it is possible to find every single rocket.  This is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.  Winning the hearts and minds of the people should be the goal.  Displacing tens of thousands does not help that goal.

Great article in The Nation - There will be no “destruction” of Hezbollah, and no “uprooting” of its infrastructure or that of Hamas, whatever the results of Israel’s siege of Gaza and its merciless attacks against Lebanon. The rhetoric about “terrorism” has mesmerized those who parrot it, blinding them to the fact that Hezbollah and Hamas are deeply rooted popular movements that have developed as a response to occupation–of the West Bank and Gaza for nearly forty years, and of southern Lebanon from 1978 to 2000. Whatever one might say about the two movements’ callousness in targeting civilians (a subject on which Israel’s defenders are hardly in a position to preach), both have won impressive victories in elections and have provided social services and protection to their people. more

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), War on Terror by ecthompson
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