Lebanese army seizes weapons from Hezbollah

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The Lebanese army has confiscated weapons from Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said Tuesday.

Murr said the confiscation of arms south of the Litani River was in line with Security Council resolution 1701, which brought about the United Nations-brokered cease-fire which ended the 34-day war between the Hezbollah guerilla organization in Lebanon and Israel.

"This is a natural step. It is our obligation to confiscate weapons," said Murr.

"The Lebanese army is deployed in South Lebanon in order to protect the border and to prevent any military body aside from our forces from operating there," he added. Murr said Hezbollah has been cooperating with the Lebanese forces and has refrained from any armed demonstrations."

<snip>

"Murr refused to elaborate on the types and amounts of weapons confiscated, saying only, "we are fulfulling our obligations and the task given to us."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772852.html

[barb162]

1. Good! It needs to be done

[NOLADEM]

4. So I guess Israel is disarming too?

Didn't think so.

First, you disarm.

Then, you disenfranchise.

Hezbollah has overreached. So has Israel.

Once again, however, the 'compromise' is one-sided.

Until Israel starts acting appropriately toward their neighbors, frees some Palestinian prisoners, stops holding Palestinian fresh water hostage, stops overly disproportionate responses to violence, and generally begins to act less like those they condemn, I have a hard time caring what happens. Simply, they bring it on themselves to a great degree.

No, murder of innocents is never warranted. Suicide bombers included. Israeli gunships included. Bulldozers included.

Hezbollah disarming weakens Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian's efforts to come to a satisfactory land settlement. This insures the violence will in fact continue, not the opposite.

Screwing people makes them violent. Don't want to get blown up? Quit fucking people over.

There is a good reason Canadians aren't blowing themselves up in American malls. We haven't taken everything they have, cut off their only river of fresh water, killed their children, torn down their family farms for 'security', or any of the innumerable other actions Israel is doing in the name of security that in fact harm her.

When the powerful act in a way that makes the weak hopeless, they become desperate. Desperate actions by hopeless people will be bad. The solutions are two: either treat them fairly or kill them all. Anything in between is self-inflicted suffering. NOTHING more.

[Taxloss]

7. Hezbollah disarming strengthens Lebanon.

A free, independent and strong Lebanon is a crucial precondition for peace in the region. A private army like Hezbollah means that Lebanon's government cannot fully govern, and it cannot free itself from foreign interference. Only when all armed groups in Lebanon are disbanded or brought under the control of Beirut can Lebanon be at peace.

[pampango]

10. If there are no attacks from Lebanon, I can't see Israel invading it again

I don't believe that they have attacked Jordan or Egypt in the last 20 years, since there have been no attacks on them from those countries.

Lebanon needs a strong military, as does any country in that neighborhood, not only to defend the country but to govern it as well. Israel has a responsibility to control its military, and any private militias that exist in Israel, to prevent any attacks on Lebanon or prosecute offenders when attacks do occur. Lebanon, as soon as its government and military are strong enough, has the same responsibility.

[Taxloss]

11. Exactly. n/t

[Solo_in_MD]

13. Concur

Until armed Hezbollah resistance is history, Lebanon will not have peace. Then again, a peaceful and prosperous Lebanon is not the goal of Syria and Iran or thier Hezbollah proxy.

[The Stranger]

15. If it were Israel's goal to have a peaceful and prosperous Lebanon,

it should not have empowered Hezbollah by its catastrophic little invasion.

[pampango]

18. Gotta agree that empowering Hezbollah is not the way to go to help

Lebanon become peaceful and prosperous. Israel may have thought they could weaken Hezbollah, and indirectly help Lebanon that way, while accomplishing some security goals for itself, but that didn't work.

As you said, weakening Hezbollah by whatever means will help promote peace and prosperity in Lebanon, but how do we do this?

[The Stranger]

22. Based on the news story posted, you leave them alone.

Don't invade them.

Don't blow up their oil tankers and obliterate the Mediterranean's marine environment.

Don't bomb and murder 1200 innocent civilians.

Don't occupy the nation or funnel water from the Litani River.

Don't flyover or leave thousands of illegal cluster bombs for the kids to find later.

Just leave them alone. That is how you promote peace and prosperity.

[pampango]

23. Once again I agree. A mutual "leave them alone" on both sides would be

a wonderful policy.

[rinsd]

9. Yeah Israel bad blah blah blah what other terror? blah blah blah....

One noters are so obvious.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Israel has no need to disarm.

[LetsGoMurphys]

20. Israel is a sovereign nation, Hezbollah is not

Every sovereign nation is armed. With that being said, I am not defending Israel's actions.

[Vidar]

2. Good idea.

[BootinUp]

3. hope they capture a significant amount. n/t

[Teaser]

5. He is lying

The lebanese army isn't doing shit to Hezbollah.

I guarantee it.

What likely happened is that the local commander asked for some kind of cover from the local Hezbollah commander, who promptly gave him a crate of handguns he could say he seized.

If the Lebanese army really tried to force Hezbollah to do anything, the army would cease to exist in short order.

[The Stranger]

6. Give us a link.

You know the routine.

[Teaser]

14. nope.

Don't need to give you any link.

A cursory familiarity with the relative strength of Hezbollah and the Lebanese army tells the story. As an example, consider which force just defeated Israel in open combat this summer.

Hezbollah has promised it will not be disarmed. Therefore, it won't be.
Hezbollah is also part of the Lebanese government, and is motivated to offer fig leaves to the government when possible. The logical conclusion, then is that Hezbollah "allowed" this officer to talk some minor shit for the sake of stability.

It's called Applied Intelligence.

[pampango]

16. Guess I haven't been posting around here long enough to know the posters.

Are you a supporter of Hezbollah, believing that it is a necessary force to protect Lebanon and teach Israel a lesson? Or do you oppose Hezbollah, but believe that the Lebanese cannot do anything about it because the army is too weak? Also, even if this is transfer of weapons was just for show, can there be a change in the relative strengths of the army and Hezbollah in the long run?

Not asking for a link.

[Zhade]

21. So you're just guessing, then.

NT!

[hadrons]

8. probably got pea-shooters and sling-shots

[yellowcanine]

17. Yeah, I would take this with a pound of salt. Most of those weapons

are safely hidden away for now.

[shain from kane]

19. Boxcutters. n/t