having lived in the middle east, i'm well aware of how the palestinians are viewed by the rest of the arab world. i know that their plight is being used for propoganda and to justify illegal and immoral acts elsewhere.

it's not as if i expect israel to sit back and do nothing when attacked, and i certainly don't expect the efforts of the palestinians will ever pay off as well as they hope.

my issue is the way the israeli policies are viewed as acceptable by the rest of the world. You state, "I think you simply cannot imagine what it means to live in Israel and having to take into account every day you let your children go to school and leave them in the garden playing that you may not see them again, or a Katyusha knocking on the roof of your house at night, anytime, sometime, maybe - you do not know if and when."

I have 2 points with this.

1. Does anyone ever think about the state the palestinians live in -- living in what are essentially ghettos, electricity and running water available for only a few hours each day, your right to go to work or school or hospital up to the whim of some 18yr old on his national service manning his checkpoint -- if he wants to **** you over, there's no appeal.

2. As I see it, the israelis are an occupying force -- what right do they have to live in peace and security when those that were there before don't have that same right? If the world says, "they're a conquered people, they have no rights," then that exposes the world community to charges of hypocrisy, and people should stop complaining about the rights of conquered people everywhere. If the palestinians do have some modicum of rights, then why aren't those rights being protected?

regarding not trusting the words of people in the middle east -- it goes for both sides. the israelis try to portray themselves as the innocent victims of the rabid palestinians, when they are just as guilty of waging indiscriminate terror.

@August
As to the deliberate targetting of civilians
the israelis don't seem to be making much effort. but even if we disregard air strikes as part of a legitimate defense policy, what about the collective punishment of the entire palestinian people? how can one possible think that treating them the way the israelis do is going to do anything other than breed even more resistance and desire to inflict destruction on those responsible? when people feel they have nothing to lose, what's the incentive for them to act peacefully? if one is targetted for the actions of another, why should one not imitate those actions if you're going to be punished anyway?

ps -- the movie was "speed"

"The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill

1.You can't have a deal with islam radicals. Even if they call themselves a freedom fighter... Because for them all others are just infedels.
You can give them billions of dollars for peace and rebuilding the economy , and these billions will disappear in the pockets of their leaders or appear as explosive belts or rockets fireworks.
2.You can have an argue about which group has more rights on Palestine land, who is an occupant and who is abused innocent kid over there and it never ends. What was the first egg or chicken?
Carter IMHO is too old to see problem clearly.
3. There is a lot of groups like Hammas over there....
All our plans (like road map etc ) just make situation worser...
We try to make a deal with tiger thinking that it is just big cat.

I agree that the Israelis could do more but after 60 years of constant attack i'm also thinking they're displaying enormous restraint. Lets face it there are a lot of cultures in the world that, if they were put in Israels position, would have driven the Palestinians out of the area long ago.

BTW what is the movie reference about?

x2
Wonder what would happen if the roles were changed, i bet most Jews in the area would be dead.

You skipped Skybirds long post.:rotfl:

Caspofungin,

the Palestinians wasted several opportunities to live a better, peaceful, more comfortable life in their own land. It's not as if only Israel has done it's share to torpedoe any such outcome - as I see it, the Palestinians heavily contributed to that too, driven by a mtovation that says "all or nothing at all". I said that the way Israel was founded back then was anything but clever, but I also said that this is more than two generations ago and that reversing it would cause at least as much injustice and suffering again like it it was accepted with Israel'S foundings. In a few years, the old will have all died completely. And in just so near a future, there will be no Israelis anymore who contributed by his own deeds to the founding fo Israel, and the intial war. and in an as few years again there will be no more palistinian alive anymore who has exoreirnced a live in what formerly was known as Palestine. So, there will be nobody who can claim by his lifetime that "his" territory is occupied, and that he has claim for the country, nor is there anybody who can say that the Israelis has taken somerthign from him in the late 1940s. fact is that arab and Jews lived toigether in that region for centuries before, sometimes beign at war, sometimes not. The land belongs to nobody - the land belongs to everybody. Jiust an attitude of all or nothing at all, pacticed by both sides, practiced by the Palestinians too, has given rise to the unrest the modern era has seen.

Reason and pragmatism, after six decades, would have demanded to become realistic, and make the best of what has happened one man's life ago. but no, not with the Palestinians. And so they made one bad choice after the other, with instinct picked one bad ally after the other, by wishful thinking followed one bad policy after the other, and showing camera teams keys for houses in Israel that since decades do no longer exist. and all that time there was glorious babbling of how brotherly all islamic peopole feel and how mach the Arab world cares, while since the jordan coup it inf act did not only care anymore, but in fact hoped that Israel will keep the pressure up so that the Arabas must not deal with the Palestinians themselves. Nice company there, really - seen from no matter what side.

So, Palestinians had many chances to come to better terms with Israels, but it never was good enogzh for them. there is a saying: you reap like you have sown. In the long term, that will be true for Israel, as I described in my earlier reply. But it is also true for the Palestinians immidiate present as well. I could say the same about the Lebanese who since long time accepted withiut resistance Hezbollah infesting it's state and it's national structures. And nwhen there was war, they complain about being hit, as a side effect. There is another saying for that: fly with the crows, get shot with the crows.

If there would be no terrorism by Hamas anymore, Israel would find it so incredibly much tougher to evade any binding settlement with the Palestinians anymore. If hezbollah would not be in Lebanon, and people woudl resist the Syrians actively, Israel would have no need to occasionally slam it's fist onto Lebanese lands (which both in the 80s and two years ago in the long run was no success anyway). The Palestinians, since many years, could already live in peace and reasonable prosperity if only they wpould not have decided wrong so often, and would not be driven by hot emotions and illusions so completely.

that Syria and Iran interfere so massively, and that it all is an Arab-Persian (shia-sunni) confrontation anyway, does not make it any easier, of course.

But however, when terroists fire rockets and missiles by the thiousands inbto Israeli society, the state not only has a reason but also an obligation to protect it's citizens from that. The reaction shown maybe be competent or noptl., but the basic principle of justification for action is not affected by that. And if the only way to reach the enemy is through crashing through civilian infrasrtructure as well, so be it. It makes sense to destroy all bridges in Lebanon, when these bridges are used by Hezbollah to transport troops, weapons, and to quickly reloacte. It makes sense to bomb a shcool whwere hezbollah has stored a weapons bunker, fi these weapons allow it to shoot back. It makes sense to bomb a hospital, if Hezbollah has raised a communication centre or a HQ there. Becasue if you leave this locations untouched, you cannot fight Hezbollah - and that is why Hezbollah deliberately has choosen these sites. Where is your portest for that, caspofungin? and your protest for Hamas firing rockets not aiming at military taregts,m but civilian areas, hoping to kill civilians, the more spectacular, the better? where is your protest, I cannot hear you? And wherre is your protest for hezbollah enforcing local residents to stay in place so that many of them can get killed by Israeli attacks on Hezbollah positions, giving nice pictures in the global media?
After the Lebanon war, politicians in Spain and France were the first proclaiming their countries would deliver most modern european anti-aircraft-missiles to Lebanon, which means nothing else than delivering the most effectice wepaonry from europe to Hezbollah so that it can shoot at Israel when it tries to stop hezbollah terrorizing Israel. that is the same Hezbollah that today has more ATGMs of more modern age and of higher effectiveness than it had two years ago. This is nothing else than a european declaration of war against Israel. we could as well send european troops fighting with Hezbollah side by side against Israel - to me it makes no difference. And that was France before Sarkozy (who meanwhile wants to dleiver the most modern combat helicpoter in the world, the europpean tiger, to Lybia, in violation with treaties with germany that say that amrs projects to whom an objecting partner contributrs in hardware cannot be exported without acceptance by that partner - and Berlin has signalled srong oppostion to sarkozy's tete-a-tete with a mass murderer, terrorist and slaughterer. to be precise: Berlin was compketely shocked when learning about that french lunatics stunt).

Ah, the ME, a totally messed up a place, lacking both reason and innocence. In a way one could sum it up and say: everybody is getting what he deserves. My sympathies are limited. I am only interested in the consequences for Europe. Beyond that: all hell, if wanted - I do not care. One could say: poor children, the innocent young being suffering: but the bitter truth is the poor innocent sufverign chidlren of today are already object to hatefilled indoctrination, and in just some years will have turned into the weapon-holding fighters of not far away tomorrow.

:up: Skybird!!!

Hezbollah tactics were successful, that's why the kill ratios are like they are. The civilian deaths would have been far smaller in numbers, if Hezbollah would not use civilians as human shields, and would not arrange them to get killed in as high as possible numbers, children preferred, for that makes sympathies of the world go with the Hezbollah thugs, and turns them against Israel that is expected to sit still and not complain with thiusands of m issiles over the past 5 years raining down on it and raising a state of constant thread, and besieging.

No word of criticism from you guys, eh? Lebanon allowed Hezbollah in, and people did nothing when they came - until it was to late to try to do anything anymore, for the guest had taken over major parts of the house by too strong power. Today, it is a state wirthin the state, and nothing goes against it, not even the Lebanese military can keep up with them. Of course, the Lebanese have nothing to do with it and are not in any way responsible for what they decided in the past, and what kind of guests they accepted, and what kind of infiltration they did not try to resist when there still was a chance - how could I dare to mention that.

You make a wonderful applauding audience for the Hezbollah propaganda show, really. And you fall for their intended tricks.

Instead, feel free to tell us what Israel should do instead, to be no longer harmed by this enemy that has no origin in Palestine, is not to be satisfied by anything less than the destruction of Israel, intentionally targets civilians instead of trying to keep civilian deaths low and fight the military and is neither Lebanese nor Palestinian by origin, but Shia, and Iranian/Persian. Only the ending of Israel'S existence would be acceptable for Hezbollah - is that the solution you propagate? and when Israel is gone, the confrontation between sunni and shia still is there, and the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran still will be fought. but that is not important. Israel has dared to try to defend itself, now that is the real scandal here, eh?

that they lost the war, is Israels responsibility, though, no doubt. Bad planning, bad preparation, and not enough determination. I turned against them and stopped my support for them when I realised how bad they were prepared. The next war against Hezbollah is just a question of time, and Israel needs to improve dramatically, else it will get mauled very badly next time. Guerilla tactics, powerful hightech weapons, knowledge of the landscape, a clear determination to destroy Israel, religious fanatism and a total abuse of the civilian population makes for an extremely dangerous and lethal enemy.

Like i'd skip eating broccoli... :up:

Thank you very much for another competent and contructive personal comment. You're building a real history in doing so, smartass. Only offering realistic, functioning alternatives regarding the issue of debate - that you do not.

<p></p>
Your haughty behavior towards me here and in another thread just days ago is a fact. I read your posts, and find them extremely one-sided and biased. I read some of your comments at other opportunities were I did not answer to you, and again found them to be extremely one-sided and biased. You form a history, a record of being like this, indeed. I win the impression from your comments that killed and terrorized Jews in Israel are of little concern for you, only when these people dare to trying to put an end to that and kill those thugs haunting them - you become loud in cricism. Not of the perpetrators, but of the victims. While the Lebanon war did not achieve its strategic objectives and thus: was a defeat, you have no altermative to offer than just trying to drive Hezbollah away or destroy them by force. Extremely one-sided and biased indeed. Hate to say it, but so far I see you confirming every opinion there is on Franc ebeing an extrmeely anti-Israel and maybe even antisemite political actor. That France delivers weapons to terrorist organisations that try to kill Israelis, just falls in the right spot of the overall picture, then.

I am reacting to you as you give a picture of yourself here. If you do not like my reaction, be something different.

And instead of accusing others not reading your posts - better start reading others' posts in completeness yourself. And if you did, I must say the ammount to which you arbitrarily ignore and fade out everything you do not like, is stunning.

And now, play with yourself. Personal wars I have had more than enough in the past years. I dealt with you already much longer than you deserved.

i've said many times on this thread and others, i find fault with both sides of the conflict, both sides are doing what they feel is necessary to win without thought of the suffering inflicted on people who, for the most part, just want to get on with their lives.

but i think a more important question, is where is the us protest? we hear plenty about the evil terrorists, but not a whisper to the israelis to show some restraint or to be less collective in their punishments. no one has any issues with innocent civilians being killed by american-supplied missiles and rockets fired from american -made jets and helicopters, or by american-made rifles?

i think that's a very simplistic view of the relationship between hizbollah and the lebanese government. hizbollah was formed in the turmoil of the lebanese civil war, where by definition the government has no control. due to its civil activities, it enjoys local popular support, as well as support from iran and syria. tell me, what exactly could lebanon have done to stop the formation of hizbollah, or to throw them out afterwards?

this would never happen. israeli treatment of palestinians in refugee camps and at checkpoints is pretty poor regardless of the level of violence -- with every ceasefire we've seen so far, the lot of the palestinians has improved only marginally, until some hothead breaks the ceasefire and the israelis strike back, and again, everyone pays. it's really a quite cunning game the israelis play -- they do whatever they like, keep the pressure on, and only have to show a little patience before they have an event to retrospectively excuse their behaviour. also, they hold the palestinian authority responsible for security while at the same time hamstringing its ability to deliver that security.

the israelis have no qualms about breaking international agreements using their standard self-defence excuse, what makes you think they would ever honor an agreement with the palestinians?

really, the size of this audience is dwarfed by the size of the audience that israeli propoganda has reaped.

Some british lord once said, "nations don't have friends, they have interests." don't forget that france sold israel weapons in the past, too. and they're selling it to the lebanese government, not to hizbollah.

please, don't equate being anti-israeli with being anti-semitic -- its the last-ditch bs generalization i'd expect from avon lady, perhaps, but not from you.

I couldn't agree with you more, and i'm impressed by your optimism. we'll see, i guess.

But still there is a difference between intentionally firing into a civilian target and hoping to maximize civilian losses, and firing after military targets, planning a strike evntually to minimize civilian losses - but not being willing to let the vaöid targhet live becasue are civilians are near. For you, it seems to be the same. For me, it is not. Considering the duration of terror against Israel, I thinkt hey act with remarkable self-restraint most of the time. again, I am aware of the kill ratios between Palestinians and Israelis. but fact is that the IDF would not need to retaliate or kill activists if these would not open fire time and again, anbd from the middle of civilian crwods and building which they both use as human shields. This tactic of human shields is what separates the better ones from the bad ones. Ignoring all moral implications, it is an effective tactics though, militarily. An enemy killing the human shield to hit the rral taregts, loses. And if he does not launch action not to kill the shield, he loses again, and his target can keep on firing at him without getting punished or hindered.


First, the extreme bias of the US in ME policies is simpy a historical fact. The US are no honest broker in the ME region, and never were. You, or me, can like it or not - it remains to be fact.

second, "collective punishement", one needs to look close here. Much of what you may see as being just that, I probably would see as attempts to discourage further generations of young to join the active fighters of the Palestinians, for example that a suicide assassin causes his family to see their houses flattened by bulldozers. And since it were this family raising the suicide assassin all to often, and often is noit only sad, but alos proud, I cannot crfitizise the Israelis to apoproach the problem by this attempt of holding the family responsible for what kind of attitudes they try to rise in their next generation. There may be exceptions from this rule, but I see it as a rule indeed that suicide assassins do not come from nowhere, and usually become what they are with knowledge and acceptance of their families. I also cannot argue against the Israelis stoopping to supply a hostile people that allows Israel to be constantly attacked and terrorised from within it'S middle. That they switch these blockades on and of and on and off, I see as inconsistent. To cut supply of money, fuel, ammo, wepaons to Hamas, you necessarily will need to stop supplying the Palestinians in their two territories as well. the Palestinians are free to judge that they do not want to live like this any longer, hand over the Palstinians terroists and weapons, and receive needed aid in return. It is only a question of who is being stronger. so far, Israel, as said, is inconsistent - and this has lead to decades of misery without end.

what i better: terror without end, or and end with terror? As I said, for pourely pragmatism I defend the right of Israel to exist, beyond that I am neither a close friend nor an enemy to it. and in the current conflict, the people who by life experience have any claims against Israel, are slowly but surely dying out. And only after at least another two or three generations have lived and died on both sides without a confrontation between both sides, there is a chance that eventually a peace will emerge from this: when nobody lives anymore who has any claims aginst the other in territory or property. but then those traditionalists who prefer to live in the past of their ancestors will be needed to be kept in check.

If there ever would be a seize-firing, and a future of relative peace - life in that time will be the most difficult for the old ones who still remember from their own life. not before they have all died and their memories with them, there is a chance for peace.

But that is probbaly too plenty of "ifs" and "whens". But it illustrates the timetables in which I think: generations, and centuries.

Partially that is true, partially not, becaused the time of clahsing miltias in Lebanon, the 80s, are over, and since then the iranian influence was drastically, constantly being boosted by Teheran, and Syria playing it's own game as well. I see some windows of opportunities since after the 80s, where the Lebanese had fair chnaces to get rid of them or at least to keep in in check - but as I see it, they did not even try, were satisfied with a short moment of relative peave in the present momnent - and did not care for the future and what would come of the choices they made earlier.

People, individually and collectively, are always very fast to say that they could not do anything, and that it was not their responsibility, and that they had no choices. on the indiovidual level, as teacher and psychologist, I found this to be wroing almost always. People almost always have choices - but their are consequences as well, and the majority of these being unwanted makes people say: "I had no choice". but the choice nevertheless has been there. and in history, I see that to be true very often, too. Totally non-cultural, you can call it karma, if you want: cause and effect. And so, all what Lebanon did and did not, tried and tried not, wished and wished not, had consequences, and it has lead them to where they are. That is no question of sympathy or antipathy, hate or tolerance, friendly mindset and good heart: it just is how it is. Life, and the world, knows no morals. we can wish that it would be adifferent, but it doesn't matter. Only what is, can be the basis on which to improve life or the Palestinian or Lebanese situation. and a precondition for that is that they fight agaiunst the violence from within their own rows, and stop to behave like terrorists. If they behavelike terroists, they legitimiatly get labeled as terroists, and legitimitaly get treated like that.

I would like to compare it to the Tibet problem. Initially, after the chinese invasion, they was militantresitence raising, and even being financed by the CIA until the 70s. Even brothers of the Dalai Lama were involved in this. The dalai Lama nevertheless never authporized this kind of violent resistence. After a loinger while he realsised, that the independeance of Tibet had ended and was unliekly to be acchieved anymore. He then decided that it was no longer improtant wether the invasion was legitimate or was a barbaric act of aggression and injustice. From that moment on, he chnaged for the sake of being realiostic, and tried to improve tibetan'S situation and everyday-life by no congronting but working with China, and not calling for independenca but for being bound into china and stay there, but getting local autonomy only. and to be fair - it worked to some degree, becasue most basic questions of evberyday life for Tibetans found improvement indeed. The Tibet conflict is something that Palestinians and Israelis should learn from: the Palestinians should learn what they should do - acting like the Dalai Lama, and the Israelis should learn what to do NOT: acting like china. realism on both sides is needed - and no calls for all-or-nothing-at-all.

and who can accuse the Israelis to behave lime that? You said it yourself, with every seize-fire they have learnt over the past decades that it was just a question of time until the hotheads, as you call them, open fire again, and that any seizefire was not worth the paper it was written on. And you are wondering why they are so disgusted and angry, and maybe even treat Palestinians arrogantly at border controls etc. ? I would saY: that is no wonder. If my neighbour would behzave to me like the palestinians, I wouldn't like him either.

If there would be no more terror from Palestinians, international pressure would mount constantly on them now to play by the rules, too. i cannot see them being the only one braking rules. they do, with their settlement policies, but aginst that stands imo more opportunities where Palestinains broke seize-firings which they had used to regroup and resupply, or whatever. If you demand the Israelis to honiur agreements, you must demand them form the Palestinians as well - and they brake these on more occaisons, imo, becasue they play by the rule of all-or-nothing-at-all. At least a dominant majority of them.

Is it? I hear mostly anti-Israel paroles from europe, whewreas the terror against Israel - often with the greatest naturalness - gets downplayed or even not mentioned at all. whenever suicide attackers crossed a border and killed a family at night, or blew up a bus: a thereelined report in the news, a reminder on Israel to react with caution and not to exaggerate it, better: don't do anything at all and do not brake what is not existing anyway: this illusion of the dialogue. but when Israel fires a hellfire that kills the minds behind that attack in their car or houses, there is a loud yelling to be heared in many Western medias. And if Israel builds a wall (the most clever and effective thing they did in a long while, and this says me who has lived inside the Berlin wall for ten years), they are told that is imoral, and they have no right to do that, and how shabby it is. But it has saved lives, many lives so far, and it has kept many assassins out.

that makes no difference. The Lebanese army today is inferior to the Hezbollah, and the Lebanese goivernment cannot act without approval by Hezbollah. whatever you deiver to the lebanese: hezbollah takes it'S share of it, and that is not a small one. I know somebody who knows these things by profession and from the inside. In weapons deals he says: 40% for Hezbollah - at least. I know that guy personally, and have reason to trust him.

I'm sorry to say that anbtisemitism is increasing, in Germany, in France, in the easten european countries, and it often combines with a sentiment of anti-Israel, too. the Arab world enjoys more sympathy in europe today, then Israel. And in the medias, it seems to me the anti-Israeli voices are much louder and greater in numbers, than those lining up with it.


What optimism? I am convinced that there will be no peaceful settlement in the ME for hundreds of years to come - not as long as no totally superior power takes control of the place and is beyond any doubt strong enough to force both sides to comply with brute force, and penalise them without mercy, if needed. Violence will be the only thing to work down there for generations to come. And since this will let more hate and disgust sink into people's minds on both sides - go figure. what still is called the holy land - in fact is a place of doom. One probably should annihilate Jerusalem completely, and all holy places of all religions there are - they only have caused madness, and bloodshed, on and on and on and on. No change in sight.

We simply disagree on many issues, let's face it. But nice that talking was possible witout things turning personally, as often on issues liike this, so thank you for that. But from here on, I cannot see this conversation leading anywhere else.

One last post, since I just stumbled over these articles by chance while reading something different:

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20...sis_hezbol.php

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20...ah_amass_1.php

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fi...el-805763.html

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/n...icleid=2370093

Hezbollah receives missiles of higher range as well, by which it can shell Israel from north of ther Litani river, like with the Katyushas that it has used by the thousands at closer ranges. A new round will be fought for sure. I do not take it for granted that Israel will win this time. Also, all Lebanon could be turned into a battlezone this time. Wether or not the Israeli Air Force remains effecient, remains to be seen. If Israel's Air force is substantially denied air rule, Israel's ground war hardly will be successful.

Intel gathering and air control of Hezbollah activities on the ground by which it raises a heavily armed and secretly fortified defensive line and prepares firing positions for their new ground missiles by which they can strike farther into Israel from farther away, I suppose. ;)

that they do not get shot as, is no surprise. You do not give away your aces too early - and certainly not before the next war. The less Israel learns about them, the more a bad surprise they will turn out to be.

And since when has the UN in the area any credibility? they report their sightings of Israeli movements and maneuvers via radio to their important headquarter where these are importantly counted in important lists - and do not give a damn that their radios get overheared by Hezbollah and that they provide Hezbollah with intel data on Israeli activities that way.

Only Hezbollah agents sneaking into Israel and illegally crossing the border - this UNIFIL usually does not report via radio, and does not tell the Israeli. Strange.

Today alone (speaking of wednesday) 9 missiles impacted in an Israeli village, hurting several people. Everday news, every day missiles impact somwehre in Israel. Where is the protest? Where is the outcry? where is the condemnation of the assassins intentionally trying to kill civilians?

Most missiles landing in Israel these days are Hamas terror strikes indeed, but I tend to not separate Hamas and Hezbollah too much. They have the same goal, they copy each other'S schemes and tactics, they both conduct terror indiscriminately, and Hamas gets delivered the same sophisticated missiles now than Hezbollah.

In expectation of the next Israeli attack being a much greater effort on the gorund, Hezbollah has given up poisitions south of the itani, but focusses on fortification-building North of it - and that includes allmost all of the north. Since they use human shields, that includes major settlements like Beiruth, also major part of their weapon supplies get smuggled via land traffic, and from the north. that why the IAF wants to keep an eye on it. In the end, the northern Lebanon will be the next battlefield, with the south being given up by Hezbollah, and the Unifil-area simply being ignored and overrun. Before Israel goes north, they will make sure that military pressure against Unifil is rising by a few close and well-placed threatening grenades, so that they cannot report Israeli ground movements to Hezbollah anymore. minor stories like this already happened the last time - and still the UN back then did not understand that it was actively engaged in supporting Hezbollah combat actions.

that Hezbollah was able to read radio comms in the past, is pretty much confirmed. Even more so since UN observers very often radioed uncoded reports. Hezbollah also has gotten plenty of ATGMs of more modern versions than those it used in the last Lebanon war. And back then they already were in possession of stuff like Milan, and Russian made latest versions of RGP7, the latest of these can crack any tank open if only knowing how to best use them. This is again no speculation, it is pretty much confirmed.

and Lebanese sovereiognity - that's just a word on paper. They are not master in their own house, and cannot control Hezbollah, as clashes in the past also have showed. Whatever gets delivered to Lebanon: Hezbollah gets it'S share of it. This one should remember when sending medicine, oil and money to Lebanon. Deliveri ng weapons, like Spain and France said after the last war, is the most stupid thing one can do, Hezbollah is said to get at least 40% of these.

All in all I would say the Israelis are very well advised in case of douibts not to respect soverei9gnity of Lebanon, but to go there and have a look by themselves. Unifil will does not much more than sitting where it is - and that'S it. The area where they sit is abandoned by Hezbollah since long, they moved north of the Litani, as already said. One could say that Unifil is of almost zero use. and if a new war is there, we have some thousand european troops sitting between the fronts, not respected by anyone, and serving as sitting ducks at best. Last time Hezbollah used UN positions to find firing positions there and hoping to prevent the Israelis to fire back. and when Israel refused to be passive, their was a public outcry. Not because Hezbollah abused UN positions - but Israel shooting at Hezbollah near UN positions.