Saturday, August 19, 2006

Was it Worth all the Dead Babies?

Almost a month ago I wrote, in They Will All Go To Hell , "both the state of Israel, and Hezbollah want war. Why else kill hundreds of people in Lebanon because two soldiers were kidnapped? Why else kidnap the soldiers?And of course neither side can talk to the other. After all you don't talk to "terrorists" nor do you talk to a state you don't recognize."

Earlier, in Are they Nuts in the Middle East?, I had written, "They are nuts, on both sides of this conflict. Completely, irrationally, nuts."

I also worried in The "let's hide behind our women and babies war plan" that "As far as I can tell, Israel has played right into Hezbollah's hands."

So, how did it go? Did Israel win? Or did Hezbollah win?

Was it worth all the dead babies I wrote about in The Dead Baby? I said, "If you are for Israel, now we are at the stage that dead babies are on the front cover of NY Times. You think this helps Israel?"

Let's not discuss who was right or wrong, let's just look at results. After all, that's all that counts in the real world, right?

So we'll go to the Wall Street Journal, and their front page today to get the answer.

Why Israel's Plans To Curb Hezbollah Went So Poorly

Nation Misgauged Response;
Military, Civilian Leaders
Were Sometimes at Odds
Creating a New Hero for Arabs
By GUY CHAZAN in Tel Aviv, KARBY LEGGETT in Beirut, Lebanon, and NEIL KING in Washington.
August 19, 2006; Page A1

When its bombs began falling on southern Lebanon 39 days ago, Israel had high hopes that it could severely damage or even destroy Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group rooted there. Crippling it, they and their Washington allies hoped, would rid Israel of an implacable enemy. It would also set back Iran, a longtime supporter of the group, at a crucial time in Iran's nuclear negotiations with the West.

But with the fighting stopped, Hezbollah remains far from defanged. Indeed, in many eyes it is the victor, having faced down the mighty Israeli military and hugely enhanced its standing with the anti-Israeli populations across the Mideast.

Even the scaled-back ambitions that Israel and the U.S. settled on as the conflict unfolded remain in peril. A cease-fire designed to box in Hezbollah militarily appears tenuous, bogged down in disagreements over what a peacekeeping force in part of Lebanon could accomplish and which countries will participate. Lebanon's government, one of the main actors in any plan to disarm Hezbollah, says it can't do so without concessions from Israel that the Israelis appear unlikely to make. Meanwhile, Syria, dealt a big setback last year when it was forced to withdraw from Lebanon, seems to have regained some standing as one of the backers of the tenacious Hezbollah fighters.

What happened? Israel repeatedly underestimated Hezbollah. It miscalculated the political support it would win from Lebanon. Israel's civilian and military leadership divided over how to wage the war. And some Western powers, having seen Hezbollah's might, are wary of taking it on by getting into a peacekeeping venture.

The war and uneasy peace are causing earthquakes across the Middle East. Tremors are rippling through Israel, where an emotional reexamination of what went wrong is under way. Lebanon is groping for a path forward that won't plunge the country into another civil war. Hezbollah is crowing that it has won a victory -- even though the extent of the beating it took is also becoming clearer. President Bush said in his view the militant group is the loser, though it may take some time for the world to see it that way.

So here we are, a month later, and this is the result.

Was it worth it?

Let's remember some of the pictures:



















missile babies

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's kind of wierd to hear each side trying to claim "victory". It reminds me of the old cartoon showing nothing but rubble in the aftermath of a nuclear war with nothing but loudspeakers claiming victory.

While I don't think either side can claim victory, I do believe hezbollah will think twice about moves into Israel to provoke war.

If not for Iran bankrolling everything, their victory would have been non existent.

Money can make all the difference. No victors, just PR attempts.

And a lot of dead people and worse dead children.

No winners in war.

Anonymous said...

In terms of assuring continued business for the war profiteers, I'm sure they feel it was worthwhile - they probably have lots of new orders and have shown that they care for nothing but profit. They are clearly victorious.

As for humanity...



we lose.

Anonymous said...

Time for Beetah to move. Time is up, honey. You are in the wrong country!

Instead of uttering this l**d of cr*p you should move to the ME and join them. Bye, bye, sweetie! Oh, and IF you read Arabic, before you go, read Al Jazeera and a few other websites.

Now,IF you would explain to yourself why it is that a shi'a has the DUTY to kill his own child and parents, if they are suni first, that would be helpful to you.

You are underestimating, moreover, the financial means of Arabs and Persians (Iranians). I recommend some reading, such as "the convert" by Cal Thomas, on www.JWR.com, August 17th. And I quote, from that article: "they are infiltrating and undermining every part of this society (... (USA) and Europe!..added by me). We are promoting Islamic mortgages, Islamic insurance companies. There are 29 banks in the United States promoting Islamic banking. Since 1999, Dow Jones has launched Dow Jones Islamic Index and has subjected itself to be governed by an international Sharia board."

You may have a very short memory, but Arabs are buying everything up in the U.S. The Dubai port deal was prevented, but others came in its place, and the implementation on the Dubai port deal is not yet in effect.

Yes, Americans came into Europe, a.o., in the 1950's with hostile takeovers, of, a.o. banks, such as the Dutch Mees Pierson. At the same time, however, Arabs came to W. Europe for "temporary" jobs, and they are still not leaving. Before the German Holocaust against the jews, much before that, there was a holocaust by the Turks against Armenians. Those poor, "disenfranchised" muslims have a long track record.

Also see http://justifythis.blogspot.com, http://www.islam-watch.org, www.ushmm.org, www.palestinefacts.org/pf_mandate_grand_mufti.php.

Has anything been gained by Hezbullah's attack inside Israel and simultaneous declaration of war, by Hezbullah, a State within a State and an Army functioning besides the official army? Hezbullah thinks so. And it is giving the poor displaced Lebanese $ 12000.-- each! I wonder how that makes up for lost homes, possessions, memories and family members? But those who can not read Arabic, and who can not see larger pictures, now have been forced to get a view. Mahmood Ahmadinejad has been rattling his sword since his election. And his ayatollahs have been egging on an assault on Israel, both through Hamas/Fatah and Hezbullah openly, on the internet, in prson, on the tube. Again, Ahmadinajad, and he is not alone, is advocating GENOCIDE, Israel first, then the U.S. Let us not feel too sorry for him. This little exercise has been useful. The world has a better picture now.

Not Islam, but terrorism, using Islam, is illegitimate and CRIMINAL. They MURDER. They lie, and turn facts on their heads. They tunnel, like bankrobbers, into sovereign countries and take hostages and bounties. They slit throats. They burn flags and murder and get an orgasm. Just look at the pictures of those criminals in their soupdresses. They wet themselves and you can see them exposed, all the way through their boxershorts under their soupdresses.

They are a menace to the world, Islam as well. They celebrate crime and death, lies and dissembling. As you teach a child so will he grow. They teach their children to be murderers, then send them out to murder themselves and others. Those children have no childhood and no conscience.

shooter said...

"If you are for Israel, now we are at the stage that dead babies are on the front cover of NY Times. You think this helps Israel?"

Well Gollyyyy!, Shazam!, Smack myself in the head, Damn! Of course! And all this time I thought this mob of rotten, murderous, immoral, Dreck, having accomplished nothing even resembling progress or a future for the "babies" was Iran's Waffen SS for the Nobel Candidate Mahmood Ahmadinejad. How could Israel have been so stupid? Did they think that their responsibility was to protect their people from the Genocidal Maniacs running Iran, Syria, all the other "Islam is a religion of peace" Dictatorships hellbent on their annihilation? It boggles the mind to think that the Israeli leadership would put the safety of it's people over the embarrrassment of a picture of a destroyed rocket launcher on the "front cover of the NY Times. Did I say rocket launcher? Freudian slip, I meant "baby."
And you, "Anon" what do you think you're doing? Come in out of the sun, my friend. You're starting to sound crazy. Since when did logic, reason, and reality have anything to do with anything? What's a little suicidal genocide if it keeps a picture of a "baby" off the "front cover of the NY Times?" Get your priorities straight, will ya? So for everyone's benefit I'll talk slow and I want everyone to repeat after me: " 60 years of non-stop, maniacal, obsessive attacks, assaults, bombings, and slaughter is nothing, I repeat NOTHING!, compared to the embarrassment of a picture of a " baby on the front cover of the NY Times." Now if those stupid Israelis would only get with the program, commit mass suicide, then we might believe they really want peace.
I mean it's clear as a bell. I see it. Why can't everyone?

Anonymous said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-c-johnson/uncomfortable-truths-abou_b_27685.html

Everyone has an opinion.