[lit-ideas] Re: Evidence that Hezbollah Uses Human Shields
- From: "Simon Ward" <sedward@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 02:45:11 +0100
Thanks for those Eric.
Ignoring the rhetoric and concentrating on the videos and photos (and on the
assumption that they are all valid), I can accept that there were instances
where Hezbollah forces were stationed in and around residential areas.
However, this doesn't necessarily mean that those residences were occupied.
And it certainly provides no evidence to support claims that Hezbollah
forcibly lined up citizens as shields - that is prevented them from leaving.
Where fighters were dressed in civilian garb, is that so they can blend in
with civlians or because they haven't got any uniforms. How can the
photographer know what the reason is for their attire? Did he ask them? I
see this as more mythologising.
On the other side of the fence, Jonathan Cook, a journalist resident in
Nazareth, has written about IDF positions, including barracks and munitions
factories, being located close to residential areas inside Israel. You'll
note that journalists in Israel were operating under orders from the IDF and
were not allowed to show general shots showing where rockets were impacting.
Although a Katushka is not pin point accurate, it is certainly not random.
The limited casualties in Israel from more than a thousand rockets fired
must have something to do with where they hit as well as the depth of
Israeli bunkers.
To paraphrase FoxNews (but with a sense of meaning behind it), there needs
to be some balance here which includes being realistic about what Hezbollah
are. Declaring them all carte blanche as terrorists allows too much of the
rhetoric to get past as fact.
For instance earlier today (yesterday now since it's 2.24am), Phil wrote:
"Hezbollah fired more than a thousand rockets well beyond the
attacking Israeli forces, targeting Israeli cities."
True, although I'd gues that they also had targets away from the cities.
"Hezbollah targeted Israeli civilians."
Unsubstantiated since we don't know what their targets in the cities were
and we don't know for sure what the tolerances in their katushka's was. Just
as the IDF wouldn't (we would hope) intentionaly target Lebanese citizens,
it doesn't follow that Hezbollah would.
Simon
PS.
A 'religious' man came calling today. When I opened the door he turned
round, his bible open, a finger pointed at a certain line.
"Today," he said, "I thought we could talk about..."
"Hold on," I said, interrupting. "I'm a devout athiest."
He blinked, but only once. "Do you think about what's happening in the
world?"
"Yes", I replied. "But I'd rather not consider it in religious terms so I'd
prefer to pass on the conversation."
"But..."
"No!"
"Are you..."
"Yes!"
Now I didn't close the door in his face. I was standing there when he turned
and sloped back down the path.
It felt like a scene from one of the Poltergeist films.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Yost" <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 12:53 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Evidence that Hezbollah Uses Human Shields
Simon: What evidence is there for the use of human shields by Hezbollah?
Here's some off the cuff--from Israeli, Canadian, and Australian media.
Selected videos and photos
at:http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2006/Operation+Change+of+Direction+Video+Clips.htm
Hizbullah's exploitation of Lebanese population centers and civilians:
Photographic evidence
12 Jul 2006
The Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon have purposely hidden themselves and
stockpiled their missiles in residential areas, thus endangering the
surrounding populations. Indeed, many of the missiles recently fired at
Israel were stored and launched from or near private homes, commandeered
by Hizbullah terrorists wishing to shield their actions behind civilians
in order to thwart Israel’s response.
_______
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=b4923801-9def-4606-af6a-bc5eea30b89b
Hezbollah uses UN posts as shields
Joel Kom, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen; with files from Reuters
Published: Thursday, July 27, 2006
OTTAWA - The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days
before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are
evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a ''shield'' to fire rockets into
Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.
_________
Photos that damn Hezbollah
Chris Link
July 30, 2006 12:00am
THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled
from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war
amid suburbia.
The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah
using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and
heavy-calibre weapons.
Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants
carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with
cannon.
The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of
Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,19955774-5007220,00.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
