Now I have already said . There seems always to have been a belief in air power's and precision weapons ability to win a war. Trying this theory out resulted in Zeppelins, Dresdan and much of the deaths in nam. They won nothing. The same thing is happening with Israel it is achieving nothing but death. If you really want to go after the terrorist you really have to just go in with troops. You can eye ball the missiles to call in the air force and you know the terrorists as they are the ones shooting at you. So this phase of Israelis campaign is probably the most strategically wise.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Israel the leb II
I haven't written an opinion here on the Middle east for a while and I have little time to write a big long piece now. But looking at the recent incidents in Lebanon it is clear that Israel is acting too harshly and strongly. As MacDara says "Women and children dead = Women and children dead". Now I know the same thing is happening on the Israeli side with the casualties being minimized not due to Hezbollah decency but a mixture of ineptitude and Israel evacuation and preparation. But these airstrikes are achieving nothing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It seems almost an age ago when the issue was the return of soldiers. How an end point will emerge in light of the determination of both sides and the ineffectiveness of any outside players, is beyond me. Simon you referred me outside of the blog to an article by Robert Fisk making a parallel with the situation in the North- that Britain would never have launched strikes on hillsides within the border of the Republic as they did not hold the Irish government accountable for the actions of the IRA. I don't know of such clear delineation between the groups in this case. The government of Lebanon allows Hizbollah to exist and have what amounts to territorial reign in southern Lebanon so I cannot totally object to Israels right to defend itself against an act of war and its supporters.
I do object strongly to Israels completely disproportionate response,they can no longer claim to be acting legitimately: the nature of their acts, recklessness, refusal to cease even for 48 hours and the amount of civilian death for all of which there can never be any justification.
More broadly I am entirely sceptical of motives behind these actions, I believe America are being an absolute disgrace in their watered down statements and Condi's decision not to go to Beirut, I see them as supporting Israels actions and being complicit in acts of terror. There are wider more strategic aims on both sides, there certainly won't be a victory on either side, more worryingly I don't see where a resolution can even find its footing.
How about Hezbullah though? How about them not letting up with their airstrikes against Israel dispite the carnage in their own country. Even when Israel attempted a ceasefire Hezbullah were firing rockets. You could hardly call their actions self defense, as they are doing but further provoke. They are as responsible for Qana etc as Isreal are yes they are getting more and more support from the Lebanese people. It would be a lot easier to convince Israel of the 'disproportionate' nature of their response if they had already managed to quell the attacks by hezbullah on their own homes.
Both sides are a disgrace, both sides care little about the children they are killing. Yet both sides are growing in popularity amongst their people. Whats that about?
Post a Comment