The "Real" Middle Eastern War

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

Propaganda the people of the Arab world are receiving out of Damascus.

Syrian-Lebanese Joint Media Dialogue Session Is Held

(Syrian) President Announces Complete Withdrawal From Lebanon

And while reading some stuff from Damascus, I came across a citation about the US Institute of Peace, which I found out was a nonpartisan, federal government-funded policy study institute officially created in 1984 by the Reagan Administration. There's an interesting Hawai'i twist to this organization, in that one of the key supporters of the establishment of this center was Sen. Spark Matsunaga, who was appointed by Pres. Jimmy Carter to direct the study body called the Matsunaga Committee. What an incredible honor for the State.

This month, the Center published a report called Dollars and Diplomacy: Foreign Aid and the Palestinian Question which discusses the critical role Israel can play in helping to rebuild Palestine.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

I really truly hope this IDF General was misquoted in Ha'aretz today, which reported that this particular General said that IDF forces would be justified in looting Lebanese stores if the troops were short on food and water.

This kind of action will not make for a very welcoming reaction from the civilians.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

I just had a very interesting thought pop into my peabrain: how ironic would it be if Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was co-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon?
Olmert (even as his Administration's popularity is sinking fast in Israel) for wisely not caving under to the demands of the IDF for more aggressive occupation of Lebanon and Siniora for his impassioned pleas to the rest of the world community about the fate of his citizens, and of the ability of his government to at least talk some sense into Hezbollah?

That would really truly mean something in my book, even if they weren't eventually awarded the Prize.

Miulang

[Leo Lakio]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

I just had a very interesting thought pop into my peabrain: how ironic would it be if Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was co-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon?

I believe that's called "set a fire...put out a fire."

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

I really truly hope this IDF General was misquoted in Ha'aretz today, which reported that this particular General said that IDF forces would be justified in looting Lebanese stores if the troops were short on food and water.

This kind of action will not make for a very welcoming reaction from the civilians.

Miulang

Well, this story has changed slightly. Now apparently the original source was IDF Army Radio, and Ha'aretz printed the following revised story:

The IDF Spokesman's Office said Monday that comments attributed to Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the army's logistics branch, to the effect that soldiers deep inside Lebanese territory without food could break into local stores, had not been made by him.

Earlier Monday, Army Radio's website had quoted Mizrahi saying, "If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food or water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem."

Mizrahi did tell Army Radio that if the army was "at war and there is a danger that the soldiers will not be able to carry out their operational mission like they should, and what they need to do is to take water from a store, then yes, they can take it."'

Mizrahi's comments followed complaints by IDF soldiers regarding the lack of food on the front lines.

The only teensy problem, even with this correction, is that Israel is currently NOT at war (remember the cease fire agreement?)

So wouldn't this constitute thievery?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

Some sad confirmation that war is hell on its participants as voiced by reservists serving in the IDF:

"Reservists take things differently from the younger soldiers," said Amir Schwartz, a medic at the field hospital and a magazine editor in Tel Aviv. "They are still full of it and just want to get back to their buddies back in the field. We have to convince them to take a rest and a shower. By then their parents usually turn up and they calm down.

..."The effects of the fighting will take time to show. With the reservists, who have been plunged from their regular life straight into battle, the shock comes much sooner. A lot of them broke down here, especially when they hear about friends who were killed."

...The signs of shell-shock are either depression or hyperactivity and the need to constantly recount details of the battle. One reserve paratrooper who was in a house in Kantara that was hit by Hizbullah fire is walking up and down outside the hospital, describing what he saw. The first treatment for such a case was to have one of his friends continually accompany him, just listening. After a couple of hours, a car arrived from his unit to take him to the base near the Kinneret.

These are the same kinds of things reservists in our armed forces on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing. War is hell! Sadly, I also found out that a female IDF reservist was killed in Lebanon over the weekend.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

Meanwhile, on the Palestinian issue, Egypt is very close to announcing an agreement with Hamas for the release of Cpl. Shalit, in exchange for members of the Palestinian cabinet and other citizens who have been held captive by Israel.

More ominously, however, Ha'aretz released some of the details of a government study on the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

A source with access to the report said its main conclusion is that Israel has no security solution to the threat of rockets launched from the West Bank against population centers. The report's authors assume that following a unilateral Israeli pullout from the West Bank, Hamas will takeover and deploy rockets. Currently, the only solution to the missile threat that the Israel Defense Forces has to offer is its actual presence in the territories and control of the high ground.

...Another conclusion is that Israel will not gain international recognition for an end to the occupation if it continues to hold significant portions of the West Bank. Similarly, it is doubtful whether such recognition would be forthcoming even if it unilaterally withdraws to the Green Line.

...The committee showed that Israel's two main interests are contradictory: on the one hand, Israel wishes to relinquish responsibility over the Palestinians as an occupying force; on the other, it would like to ensure that the territory it pulls out from is demilitarized. Controlling an "external envelope" of the West Bank borders will make it easier for Israel to prevent the transfer of weapons into the area, but will increase the level of responsibility vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

... One of the alternatives examined by the committee is transfering the territory to international responsibility. Another is for the evacuation of all Israeli citizens, but maintaining an IDF presence there. A more limited settlement evacuation was also discussed.

The committee assessed that the state economy can sustain compensation for 15,000 settler families, even though the cost would be "astronomical."

Also today, The Jerusalem Post reported that formerly rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah are meeting this week to discuss the formation of a unity government. And this certainly does not sound very good for Israel.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Condi was right!

Apparently, there is a little tension in Dodge City. Even though Condoleeeeeezza had pretty much been given carte blanche by the White House to do her job for the last 18 months, she was overruled by the President (probably with some prompting from the puppeteer-in-chief Dick Cheney and Court Jester Donald Rumsfeld) in her attempts to convince Israel to reduce its assaults on the civilians in Lebanon and for the US to have direct communications with both Syria and Iran.

State Department sources said Ms. Rice has been repeatedly stymied in her attempts to pressure Israel to end strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. The sources said the secretary's trip to the Middle East last week was torpedoed by the Israeli air strike of a Lebanese village in which 25 people were killed.

The U.S. response to the Israeli-Hezbollah war was said to have divided both the administration as well as the family of President George W. Bush. At the same time, it marked the first time since Ms. Rice became secretary of state that the president has overruled her.

The disagreement between Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice is over the ramifications of U.S. support for Israel's continued offensive against Lebanon. The sources said Mr. Bush believes that Israel's failure to defeat Hezbollah would encourage Iranian adventurism in neighboring Iraq. Ms. Rice has argued that the United States would be isolated both in the Middle East and Europe at a time when the administration seeks to build a consensus against Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Instead, Ms. Rice believes the United States should engage Iran and Syria to pressure Hezbollah to end the war with Israel. Ms. Rice has argued that such an effort would result in a U.S. dialogue with Damascus and Tehran on Middle East stability.

...Aides for Mr. Cheney have argued that the United States should have targeted Hezbollah and Syria during the war against Iraq in 2003. They said despite U.S. intelligence warnings Hezbollah was allowed to dominate Lebanon and build a formidable force along the Israeli border.

"There was talk of taking care of Hezbollah and Syria, but Condi and [then-Secretary of State Colin] Powell said 'no way. We don't need another front,'" an official said.

But the sources said Mr. Bush has been dismayed by the Israeli failure to defeat Hezbollah. They said several high-ranking Republicans have expressed amazement at the plodding Israeli advance into Lebanon.

"One Jewish friend of Bush actually called up a senior Israeli official and began yelling, 'What the hell's going on here,'" a source said. "'Are you going to fight or what?'

I think Condi's caught between a rock and a hard place. Even though she doesn't have any military experience, she has enough sense to know that you don't isolate yourself from the rest of the world when the rest of the world can help you. I just hope she doesn't go the way of Gen. Colin Powell, a truly truly wise American.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The costs to Israel and Lebanon

Factsheet reported by Lebanese Forces Party, the official Maronite organization in Lebanon.

Both the Israeli and Lebanese people lost more than they won in this battle.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

Tough old warbird Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres has got the right idea. The 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner knows that Israel has to play the same game as Hezbollah: Declare that Israel had met its objectives and the other side was weakened, compliment the US and the UN for bringing the members of the Security Council to the same table in agreement, ask that all nations fighting the war against terror contribute to the rebuilding of Lebanon before Iran can do it (this may be a little too late in South Lebanon, where Hezbollah is already starting to help Shia rebuild their homes), and ask the US for help in retrieving the 2 kidnapped Israeli soldiers now held by Hezbollah.

I've been wondering what Peres was going to do during this whole conflict, because he is about the only one in the Knesset who's been through this before. In project management, we believe in "lessons learned" and I think Shimon Peres is remembering the lessons learned in the last occupation of Lebanon. Too bad he was one of the minority opinions during this conflict. If the government had listened to him, how many lives could have been spared on both sides?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

If German troops become part of the International UN Peacekeeping force (and there is a chance that they will), can Israel overcome its past and welcome these peacekeepers as they would the French, Italian or any other European country sending in troops into Lebanon?

As troops from France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and other donor nations prepared to deploy in southern Lebanon, Germany’s late decision to participate ranked as its most delicate foreign policy move since it was held to account for the Holocaust in 1945. Since then, it has been unthinkable that Germans would put themselves in a combat situation in which their soldiers could shoot at Jews.

The decision to deploy troops to join the 15,000-strong Unifil peacekeeping force was made by Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, in consultation with three Cabinet ministers. They agreed to take on such a role in their first venture into the Middle East because of the difficulties of recruiting enough properly equipped peacekeepers for the mission.

“We have to do this, not in spite of the Holocaust, but because of it,” Werner Sonne, a leading commentator, said on German state television. “If German troops guard Israel’s borders, they are there to protect Jewish lives. Frankly, there has never been a better reason to bring in soldiers in German uniform.”

That set the tone yesterday of what promises to be a huge national debate, not only about Middle East policy but about how the Nazi past should inhibit Germany’s expanding role in world politics.

Frau Merkel seems ready to send some 3,000 troops, of whom about 1,000 will be Pioneers with heavy earth-moving equipment to help to rebuild airports and harbours. The navy, already in the eastern Mediterranean on Operation Active Endeavour, would be strengthened with frigates to patrol the coast of Lebanon.

Germany apparently is willing to bury the hatchet in the spirit of international cooperation. Will Israel do the same in order to ensure that no more Hezbollah missiles are lobbed in their direction?

Miulang

[Miulang]

Re: The "Real" Middle Eastern War

The horrible number of incidents of Palestinian terrorists killing Israelis has already been elucidated elsewhere. But to show that there are always at least 2 sides to any story, here is a list compiled by B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, showing the casualties inflicted by Israeli soldiers on Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Check out also the stats on the number of minor children being detained by the IDF and the number of non-Israeli houses that were destroyed as punitive measures. The statistics B'Tselem is gathering only refers to things happening in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Is a death by inches less painful to the survivors than one by the masses?

Miulang

P.S. as far as combattants using innocent civilians as human shields, B'Tselem uncovered at least one instance of the IDF doing the same thing in a village (Beit Hanun) in northern Gaza on July 20, 2006.

[Miulang]

Dissension in the IDF

This report from an Army reservist in the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, sheds light on the growing conflict between the generals and the fighting forces of the IDF. How come the men and women who are risking their lives to defend their country have to go underfed, lacking sufficient training and equipment? And this is the ISRAELI army! If you're going to have an army, then give them the supplies, training and equipment to be effective, not cannon fodder! Make sure they have jobs to come home to when the war's over, and that their families are taken care of while the soldiers are off to battle.

In this war, I think the Israeli reservists, like their counterparts in the US National Guard, got the short shrift of things.

On a hill near Jebel Bilat, on the evening of August 7, 2006, a supply convoy with reinforcements was being delayed. The cause: brigade commander Colonel Shlomi Cohen's convoy was getting public relations services from Yedioth Ahronoth reporter, Nahum Barnea. The Colonel received another dose of "promotion coverage," and his soldiers, who did not receive supplies, had to break into local shops and steal foodstuffs.

On a hilltop overlooking the bay of Tyre at 8:30 AM, on August 15, 2006, slightly more than 24 hours since the cease-fire went into effect, reconnaissance unit 609 is sitting in a Lebanese house, taking cover from the anti-tank missiles that could appear at any moment. They are not sure about what the next day will bring.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Animal detente!

Last week, there were reports that dozens of Israeli cows, hungry because their grazing areas had been hit by bombing and fire, wandered over to the Lebanese side of the fence marking the border between the two countries through a hole that IDF forces had made with their tanks on their way to fight Hezbollah.

Today, there were reports that 100 Lebanese sheep and 2 shepherds wandered over to Israel by mistake, thereby possibly upsetting the UN peace treaty.

Seems to me that the cows and the sheep have the right idea: to hell with artificial borders and wars, we'll just go where we can find some food to eat!

Miulang

[Miulang]

"Israeli brothers with conscience refuse to fight"

There is some hope in this world that even some hardened military veterans--this time in Israel--know the difference between fighting a "just" war and an illegal one.

Brothers Zohar, Yonatan and Itamar Shapira were inculcated with the ideals of patriotism and giving their all to their country's defense. But during the recently concluded Operation Change of Direction, Itamar Shapira, 26, a paratroops engineer who fought in Lebanon during his mandatory army service in the years leading up to the 2000 pullout, refused to take part in the war and was sent to military prison for up to 28 days.

His brother Zohar, 37, who co-organized the 2003 petition signed by himself and 12 ex-comrades in the ultra-elite, ultra-secret Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconaissance Unit) unit against service in the second intifada, said he would have refused to fight in this war after it expanded beyond a retaliation in the first few days, and would have refused even at the beginning if he had been called to attack a civilian target.

Miulang