... and no one told Shrub.
According to the L.A. Times,
Israel set war plan more than a year ago.
"Of all of Israel's wars since 1948, this was the one for which Israel was most prepared," said Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University. "In a sense, the preparation began in May 2000, immediately after the Israeli
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There's a lot of noise coming out of the Litani Valley, it's so hard to understand what's going on there. I do continue to squarely put the blame on this on Hezbollah, and agree that there's no logic to psychologically breaking Lebanon; if anything, they want to shore up Siniora's government against Syrian and Iranian "influence" (blackmail, really).
Some of these attacks, it's clear how the civilians were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of them, it's more clear that they probably weren't really civilians. I remember reading somewhere that the Lebanese government is reporting all deaths as civilian, that they don't attempt to differentiate between "local" and "Hizballah," only between "local" and Lebanse Regular Army; if I find the link, I'll find it. The Regular Army is practically a spectator in this one. They're not stupid enough to go head-on against Tzahal.
And honestly, some of these attacks, it's pretty damned unclear what the hell's going on here. Either we're not getting the whole story, or heads need to roll over at the IAF; they may have some serious explaining to do. But when the Israelis said to evacuate to above the Litani, they meant it.
And you're right about the expert business. I've been finding it so hard to really get accurate information. I can either get neocon garbage that can be summed up with "The IDF can do no wrong, praise Jebus!" or I can get the "Zionist Entity" nonsense from the other "side." (I want a side that I can be on where I get to have Israel exist in peace with her neighbors in defensible, agreed-upon borders, and for her neighbors to be free of violence, hatred, and the abject poverty they've known since World War II; sadly, it's a very lonely side ;p). Frankly, the best thing that I've found is to take the reports from Ha'aretz, the Jerusalem Post, and the Beirut Daily Star, put them together, and assume that they've all got some element of truth. And that's time consuming.
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Good point. But, do we go around showing all these plans in detailed Power Point presentations to our allies? There may be a plan in some dark file drawer somewhere in the Pentagon to get those Lichtenstein bastards, but I don't think Downing Street has been briefed on it. That seems more like the kind of discussion Bush had with Blair about Iraq -- i.e., the sort of plans that are definitely going to happen, and they're just shoring up support/giving a heads-up.
I hadn't seen that, about even Hezbollah casualties being called "civilians" in Lebanon, it does complicate matters somewhat. Even so, it's hard to excuse the apparent disregard Israel has for civilian lives, or in some cases, what seems to be the targeting of civilians. (And yes, of course Hezbollah's rocket attacks are reprehensible as well, but a) they're far smaller in impact, and b) we call Hezbollah terrorists, and we call Israel ally.)
But when the Israelis said to evacuate to above the Litani, they meant it.
But see, that's one of the things that makes little sense to me. Israel occupied southern Lebanon for years, and not in the distant past, either. Now they're telling Lebanese civilians to clear out of that same area so they can wipe out the group that was the major resistance to Israel's occupation. First of all, this is creating hundreds of thousands of refugees, a humanitarian crisis, and, I've seen argued, a war crime (forcible relocation of civilian populations by threat of death, etc.). But second of all, this demand seems like a front for the killing of anyone who remains behind, whether or not they have ever committed any violence against Israel or Israelis, whether or not their sole crime is not wanting to leave their homes. It may provide the plausible cover for whatever they want to do, but if Israel wanted to recruit for Hezbollah, they could hardly have designed a better way than telling people to evacuate... to beyond the river whose waters they openly covet.
Frankly, the best thing that I've found is to take the reports from Ha'aretz, the Jerusalem Post, and the Beirut Daily Star, put them together, and assume that they've all got some element of truth. And that's time consuming.
That you've done this already puts you ahead of me. I just read Cole, listen to the radio, and surf... and not even those the last few days.
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