Omar writes: "It is true that it doesn't seem to have gotten to building
bomb shelters yet, maybe because it was busy bulding hospitals, schools etc.
That probably justifies the recent airstrike in which 56 Lebanese civilians
were deliberately killed, most of them children."
I don't think Hezbollah has not gotten to building bomb shelters. They've
chosen not to. As long as they use children and women as human shields to
stand behind and fire their rockets from, it's in their self-interest to
have civilians out there unprotected so Israel can look bad. As a
strategist, Hezbollah uses civilians in order to make Israel's response look
like a lunatic response.
Listening to you, Omar, writing about Hezbollah winning back South Lebanon
is nonsense. Hezbollah won back Southern Lebanon the same way that Hamas won
back Gaza. Fact is Sharon simply left. Sharon's decision to pull out of Gaza
unilaterally -- without asking for anything in return -- was a mistake. He
removed every vestige of Israeli presence and returned Gaza to the
Palestinians, something Palestinians have claimed they wanted. Instead of
capitalizing on that, Hamas took it as a sign of weakness. It wasn't. (Why
Sharon behaved that way is still a mystery to me.)
He behaved the same way in Southern Lebanon. Giving the area back
unilaterally. Asking for nothing in return. Giving land in return for peace
doesn't work.
Charles Schumer, Sen. from NY, recounted an anecdote this morning to Wolf
Blitzer on CNN about an Hezbollah member who barged into the backyard of his
neighbor to shoot off his arm-held rocket. Then he went back to his own home
next door. That put his neighbor's family and home in danger, not his own.
Thinking of Hezbollah as an organization who cares for the Lebanese is a
mistake. Offering social services to Lebanese is simply a manipulation to
make themselves look like they care and make Lebanese trust them. They've
used and abused that trust by building tunnels and storing their rockets
under the homes in villages all over Southern Lebanon. Villagers trust them
and listen to them. It's as clear to you as it is to me that when Hezbollah
fire rockets into Northern Israel, that the IDF will reciprocate, tracing
where the rockets are coming from and pounding that area to smithereens.
Qana was a source of a lot of rocketfire. Qana was pounded to smithereens.
That's what Hezbollah wanted. It killed two birds with one stone: assaulting
Israel and getting Israel to return fire so that they look like the bad
guys.
Who really made sure that Qana was pounded to smithereens? Wasnt that
Hezbollah, after all. Hezbollah was willing to sacrifice the lives of all
those women and children who stayed behind to hide in a basement or two of a
building that was the center of rocketfire. The IDF dropped flyers all over
the place -- sacrificing any surprise attacks -- to warn the residents to
get out of there.
This whole war leaves me heart-sick. I could never be a general. But
listening to Omar's lies and obfuscations about Hezbollah (they're really
good guys, not a terrorist group) makes me think: Hey, this guy really knows
how to misrepresent. He'd be a good Hezbollah general. If I lived in Qana, I
might just listen to him, God help me.
Stan Spiegel
Since the Hezbollah had spent a decade fighting numerically and technologically superior Israeli forces in South Lebanon, and eventually forced Israel to withdraw from most of South Lebanon, there is some evidence that it does care about Lebanon. Its social involvement might be some evidence of that, too. It is true that it doesn't seem to have gotten to building bomb shelters yet, maybe because it was busy bulding hospitals, schools etc. That probably justifies the recent airstrike in which 56 Lebanese civilians were deliberately killed, most of them children. There is no need for Stan to, God forbid, adopt a somewhat more humble tone in the face of that massacre.
O.K.
--- Stan Spiegel <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/320/324/324.2/hizballah/From Hizbollah's statement: "What is not commonly understood abroad is that the aim of the resistance in southern Lebanon is not military activity against northern Israel as carried on by the Palestinian guerillas of the 70's and early 80's, but the liberation of occupied Lebanon."
Oh really? And you think we should believe that, Omar? That Hezbollah cares about Lebanon? And what validates that rhetoric? Perhaps the way they've hidden their weapons in civilian homes, children's bedrooms, etc. The way they've attacked Northern Israel, knowing that the attacks would be reciprocated and tear Southern Lebanon apart?
Did you show us that garbage, thinking we'd believe it? Have you noticed that Israelis are able to hide in bomb shelters? How come the Lebanese dont' have bomb shelters to hide out in?
Stan Spiegel
----- Original Message ----- From: "Omar Kusturica" <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 6:17 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Hezbollah (cont'd)
> Not sure if my earlier message has gone through - it > appears on the list website but in the mail. Anyway > you can read the Wikipedia article here: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbullah > > And here is another good website which includes the > Hizballah Statement of purpose, electoral platform and > other things: > >
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