>>Granted [a visceral revulsion to the
death of civilians] makes us puppets to the propaganda
efforts of the Hez, but what does that matter?"
Phil: This is a silly thing to say. I fail to see how a
visceral response to the deaths of innocent Israeli
civilians makes one a puppet to the efforts of Hezbollah.
Eric: I was being silly, but not in that way. The Hez blends
with civilians and places its military sites in civilian
areas. Then when a quasi-military site like Cana gets
bombed, it's presented as entirely Israel's fault. In fact
the blame is entirely on the Hez for putting the people they
putatively represent in harm's way.
Thus, a visceral response to the deaths of Lebanese
civilians may make us puppets of the Hez propaganda crew. We
are more prone to support an immediate end to the fighting
first, thus limiting the damage to the Hez, and allowing the
Hez to keep their southern Lebanese territory.
Consider how difficult the ground war has been for Israel.
It recalls the island-hopping battles of the US in the
Pacific: slow and bloody attrition against dug-in zealots.
To imagine that an international force could eliminate the
infestation--without the Israeli motivation of stopping
rocket attacks on their own country-- is a bit of a stretch.
And to prematurely place the territory under control of an
unmotivated force is to invite a repeat of the same crisis.
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