Now why is it wrong for Lebanon or Hasmas to get weapons from

[cantstandbush]

Iran, Syria? Israel not only gets weapons from the US but is one of the greatest exporters of arms and WMDs to India and other places. It's like no other people have a right to defend themselves or fight for their own customs and nation?

[tuvor]

1. Nothing more than innuendo.

[Redstone]

2. You're right! It's like no other people have a right to shoot rockets into

other people's cities for six years, without suffering any retaliation!

What an injustice!

Poor, poor Hezbollah.

Redstone

[catmother]

4. we meet again.

:hi:

[Redstone]

5. I can only do what I can do, and won't be able to do much more tonight.

But it's good to know you're around.

Redstone

[catmother]

9. thanks. have a good night.

[The Stranger]

19. The people dying right now never did any of that, and you know it.

[High Plains]

36. Oh, boo-hoo. Poor Iittle Israel. Never did nuthin' to nobody.

[merci_me]

3. It's ALL about what god you pray to. n/t

[burythehatchet]

6. If you think about it

The UNited States
- supports terror groups
- trains terror groups
- arms terror groups
- finances terror groups
- harbors terror groups

[Redstone]

11. So...if we do it, that makes it OK for others to. Gotcha.

Redstone

[burythehatchet]

14. I've previouly told you that you have no credibility

why do you bother to respond to my posts?

[Redstone]

15. Well, if YOU SAY that I have no credibility, then I must not. I'll go hang

my head in shame, maybe go eat some worms as well.

Redstone

[burythehatchet]

17. You're correct

I should have added "in my opinion". When you threw out the "Germany 1938" comment last night, I thought that was way over the line and showed me that reasonable debate was out of the question.

[Redstone]

22. I stand by that statement. The current (not even an UNDERcurrent) of

anti-semitism in the threads about this latest Middle East conflict is revolting.

And I'm not even Jewish.

Redstone

[Minnesota Libra]

7. I don't think anyone is saying Hamas or Lebanon to have.............

.....weapons. I think the issue is Hamas/Hezballoh using those weapons against Israel.

The problems are the suicidal attacks Hamas/Hezballoh/Palestinians/Arabs carry out inside Israel, the missile attacks, and other acts of violence.

I know, I know, Israel is the terrorist. Yea well, there are at least 20to 30 times more Arabs/Muslims/Hamas/Hezballoh/Palestinians than there are Israelis

[Redstone]

16. Well, yes, shooting those rockets into Israel WOULD be the issue,

wouldn't it?

Except it's not, for all the people here who think that Hezbollah is just a warm & fuzzy social group, kind like a Muslim version of the Salvation Army, and that Big Bad Isreal should just sit ant take the rocket attacks because I guess, they're JEWS and have all the advantages and all the money, so what's a couple thousand rockets?

I am still thunderstruck at the number of people at DU who think that way. I thought we were the good ones.

Redstone

[sendero]

18. Please Get Real..

... nobody thinks Hezbollah is good. It's just that Israel is really no better, and they've proven that over and over and over again to the point to where even the thick get it.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

30. That's not entirely true.

I've seen more than one post here saying that Hezbollah's actions are justified, and even right. It certainly isn't the majority opinion, but it does exist.

[sendero]

31. Ok...

... excuse my over-specific comment. I've seen no such postings, although I'm not disputing that they exist - there is certainly a bell-curve of opinion here just as in the real world.

Let me rephrase: while there are many here who seem to share my view that there are no "good guys" in this situation, only a tiny minority think that Hezbollah are the "good guys".

[The Stranger]

20. We are the good ones -- who call murder of innocents what it is --

Murder.

[Minnesota Libra]

26. Redstone, by now you've no doubt noticed that the far left.............

......is just as unreasonably rabid in their pro Arab/Muslim/Hezballoh/Hamas/Palestinian/?? views as the far right is unreasonably rabid in their pro Israel anti Arab/Muslim/Hezballoh/Hamas/Palestinian views.

What ever happened to the reasonable and balanced view that BOTH SIDES have done wrong BUT there are many many more Arabs striking at Israelis. What ever happened to acknowledging that Iran and other Arabs/Muslims have professed their desire to wipe Israel off the map and their actions have supported that view and wish.

I try to turn the situation around and make it personal to see how I would react. I can tell you with definite certainty if someone or some group professed their desire to wipe me and mine off the face of the map and then went about trying to do exactly that, I would most definitely adopt the I'll get you before you get me method of doing things. And I am just human enough not to be very nice about how I go about keeping that professed enemy at bay too. Would I apologize for that "trigger happy" way of doingthings? To an enemy that swore to wipe me and mine off the face of the earth?? Not hardly!!

[slaveplanet]

24. what do superior numbers have to do with anything

In this day and age.

for example...

I know, I know, white South Africans were the terrorist. Yea well, there are at least 20to 30 times more black South Africans than there are apartied Whites.

sounds pretty ignorant in a different context, does it not?


I know, I know, Israel is the terrorist. Yea well, there are at least 20to 30 times more Arabs/Muslims/Hamas/Hezballoh/Palestinians than there are Israelis

[Minnesota Libra]

27. Rather than type the whole thing out again, kindly read............

.....post # 26 for my views on this entire situation.

To more specifically answer the issue of there being 20 to 30 times more Arabs/Muslims/Hamas/Hezballoh/Palestinians than there are Israelis - no in my book it does NOT sound "pretty ignorant" to use your words. Why?? A variety of Arabs/Muslims have professed their desire to wipe Israel off the map. That is where post #26 comes in.

[orwell]

8. Because...

...the PNAC plan was to take out Iraq, Syria and Iran.

It's really quite simple...

[Igel]

10. You've confused Lebanon, a UN member state,

with Hezbollah, a private fundamentalist Shi'ite militia that combines preaching victimization and hate with providing social services to Shi'ite Muslims, thereby gaining a dedicated populist following.

It's a common enough mistake. Hezbollah's made it.

Lebanon does not have enough weapons.

Hamas, similarly, is not a government. It is a private fundamentalist Sunni militia that combines preaching victimization and hate with providing social services to Sunni Muslims, thereby gaining a dedicated populist following.

Traditionally, the right to an army has been reserved to nation-states. If you want multiple private militias in a state to have arms and all want to protect exclusively their people, you're welcome to 1980s Lebanon or the current Iraq.

[Redstone]

12. Or the current Lebanon, yes?

Redstone

[Igel]

33. It's certainly getting there.

Not quite so bad (i.e., the death rate and prospect for a high long-term casualty fate, not considering the sheer physical damage done to things). The evil Falangists and nasty Sunnis/Druze (to poorly conflate two disparate groups) aren't doing the shooting, just the manly, studly Shi'ites.

Presumably if the Falangists and the Sunnis/Druze were shooting, their studliness would depend on the targets.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

29. Unfortunately...

...at this point Hamas is part of the government of the Palestinian territories.

[Igel]

34. Yes, just as

Hezbollah is part of the the Lebanese government. Actually, it's worse with Hamas, because they're a majority of the parliament.

However, one could hope that the distinction could be drawn and become more salient. I, for one, would like to see Hamas go moderate (notice I'm no so stupid as to use the word 'hope'), and would hope that it would become a trivial portion of the PA.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

35. Thanks.

Yes, it's important to keep a distinction between arms for Hamas and arms for the legitimate security forces of the Palestinian Authority.

[Redstone]

13. By the way, I saw a picture of a Lebanese soldier this morning. He was

carrying an M-16. Not an AK-47.

And M-16s are made in America, not in Syria or Iran.

So your argument, I think, has at least one serious flaw.

Redstone

[mmonk]

21. Technically, the arms market is wide open.

While they may get their weapons from Iran and/or Syria, they are by no means limited to those sources. You'll be amazed at all the weapons trading and the country most involved is the US. We're number one in that area. We even play both sides against the middle to keep it all stirred up. Chaos and need is our government's best friend.

[Redstone]

23. Well, now, you may not believe it, but I'm going to not only agree with

you, but also compliment you for a good post.

You are absolutely right.

Redstone

[hedgetrimmer]

25. See, if they get weapons from there it will be harder for us to bully and

kill them... Further, it is not to our economic benefit if they are not buying weapons from our dealers; People! Can you not see the overwhelming necessity for them to be armless (or legless,or anything-less so that we can maintain a power position in that part of the world)?

[malaise]

32. Bingo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1822923,00.html?gusrc=rss

[theHandpuppet]

28. I'm always impressed at how the media fuels the flames...

... with its hypocrisy. They always preface their reports with descriptions such as "a Syrian-made missle slammed into Haifa" but nowhere do I ever hear, "an American-made F-16 bombed Beirut today". The double standard is pathetic.