ISRAEL - IRAN - SYRIA - HAMAS - HEZBOLLAH - WWWIII?

I am sure that someone who is ignorant of the fact that the Israelis (Hebrews) were in Palestine in the Twelfth Century BC, does not know just how fanatic and murderous the Hezbollah really are--




THE HEZBOLLAH MODEL

In the U.S. demonology of terrorism, Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda are relative newcomers. For most of the past two decades, Hezbollah has claimed pride of place as the top concern of U.S. counterterrorism officials. It was Hezbollah that pioneered the use of suicide bombing, and its record of attacks on the United States and its allies would make even bin Laden proud: the bombing of the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. embassy there in 1983 and 1984; the hijacking of twa flight 847 and murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem in 1985; a series of lethal attacks on Israeli targets in Lebanon; the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994. More recently, Hezbollah operatives have plotted to blow up the Israeli embassy in Thailand, and a Lebanese member of Hezbollah was indicted for helping to design the truck bomb that flattened the Khobar Towers U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia in 1996. As CIA director George Tenet testified earlier this year, "Hezbollah, as an organization with capability and worldwide presence, is [al Qaeda's] equal, if not a far more capable organization. I actually think they're a notch above in many respects."

In the course of its 20-year history, Hezbollah has amply demonstrated its hostility, its lethality, and its skill. However, to focus exclusively on this record is to miss how much it has evolved over the past two decades -- an evolution that has altered both the nature of the threat and the best means of confronting it.

Hezbollah today is dramatically different from the ragtag collection of Shi'ite fighters that first emerged in the early 1980s. In 1982, in the midst of the Lebanese civil war, Israel invaded Lebanon in an effort to expel Palestinian guerrillas there. The Shi'ites, traditionally underrepresented in Lebanese politics, welcomed the Israelis, whom they saw as protection against the Palestinian militias that dominated much of southern Lebanon. Israel overstayed its welcome, however, and the Shi'ite community soon turned against it. As the situation unraveled, the United States deployed peacekeepers to Beirut and worked to form a new government. Although the Amal movement, until that time the leading voice of the Shi'ite community, embraced the U.S.- and Israeli-backed regime, much of its constituency rejected this cooperation and denounced the government as a puppet of Israel. Syria and Iran encouraged such dissent; Iran hoped to export its Islamic revolution to Lebanon, and both Syria and Iran sought to use the Shi'ites as a proxy force against Israel. With support from Damascus, Tehran helped organize, arm, train, inspire, and unite various Shi'ite groups into the movement that became known as Hezbollah -- "party of God."

The organization literally exploded into the world's consciousness with devastating suicide attacks on the U.S. embassy and marine barracks in Beirut, causing over 250 American casualties. As a result, Washington concluded that there was little peace to keep in Lebanon and withdrew its forces in 1984. Israel suffered similar blows, fighting a long, bitter struggle against relatively autonomous fighters who became more and more effective over time. Faced with ferocious Hezbollah resistance, Israel withdrew to a "security zone" in southern Lebanon in 1985 and, 15 years later, left Lebanon altogether.

In Hezbollah's struggle to expel Israel from Lebanon in the 1990s, much of its activity vis-à-vis Israel was best characterized as guerrilla warfare rather than terrorism. The vast majority of Hezbollah's actions were focused on Israeli military personnel on Lebanese soil and intended to drive Israel out of the country. At times, however, Hezbollah did target civilians, through operations such as Katyusha rocket attacks on Israeli settlements near the border and the attacks in Argentina. Hezbollah's supporters argue that such strikes occurred only after Israel violated "red lines" or escalated tensions by assassinating Hezbollah leaders.

Both Hezbollah's terrorist actions and its guerrilla warfare are facilitated by the group's extensive international network. Hezbollah operatives have been found in France, Spain, Cyprus, Singapore, the "triborder" region of South America, and the Philippines, as well as in more familiar operational theaters in Europe and the Middle East. The movement draws on these cells to raise money, prepare the logistic infrastructure for attacks, disseminate propaganda, and otherwise ensure that the organization remains robust and ready to strike. In 2001, U.S. federal investigators discovered a Hezbollah fundraising cell in North Carolina.

Hezbollah's founding document calls for Islamic rule in Lebanon, an end to Western imperialism, and the destruction of the state of Israel. But the group has now abandoned these founding principles, at least in practice. Hezbollah leaders participate in Lebanon's political system, and some have rejected the forceful imposition of Islam. Hezbollah still denounces the United States, but it has become much more cautious in its opposition. It has not been involved in an attack on a U.S. target since the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, when it assisted others rather than using its own capability.

end of quote

I wonder what Setanti said when the Hezbollah fanatics murdered our Marines in Lebanon!!!

"U.S. Department of State accuses Hezbollah of killing up to 300 American citizens (over 230 of whom were U.S Marines in Lebanon - though accountability for the Marine barracks bombing has never been thoroughly established or proven). Hezbollah, however, denies any involvement in these attacks." http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:TJB5Ba50Qv4J:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Justice_Organization+hezbollah+denies+marine+barracks+attack&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4&ie=UTF-8

I am personally wondering when possum offers an apology to Setanta.

Apology? A description is much better:

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But, despite any protestations from the learned Setanta, I must, I really must comment on his one word reply-

I reference Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand.

In the first act of that wonderful play, Cyrano warns those in the audience that they are not to "find this feature of my countenance a theme for comedy"

Then. "Valvert" an aristocratic fop who thinks he can best Cyrano answers-

"Ah...your nose...your nose is rather large"

Cyrano answers-"Rather" and then says--

IS THAT ALL? You are too simple. Why you might have said a good many things! Mon Dieu, why waste your opportunity...

For example, thus-

Aggressive- I, sir, if that nose were mine, I'd have it amputated on the spot
Pedantic--Does not Aristophanes mention a mythologic monster called Hippocamelephantocamelos"? Surely, we have here the original
Eloquent- When it blows, the typhoon howls and the skies darken--When it bleeds- The Red Sea.
( CYRANO STATES AT LEAST 12 MORE WONDERFUL ALLUSIONS AND THEN SAYS)

These, my dear sir, are things you might have said had you some tinge of letters, or of wit, to color your discourse. But wit--not so--You never had an atom, and of letters, you need but three to write you down--An Ass!
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So possum, when confronted with actual facts of history, it is your preference to deny and/or obfuscate rather than omit error? Interesting but reflective of your posting history=blowhard without factual references. Possum, you are a miscreant.

THE CHRONOLOGY

Hezbollah crosses the Lebanonese-Israeli border and abducts two Israeli soldiers.

Israel's military crosses the Lebanonese-Israeli border and attempts to search for and rescue its two abducted soldiers.

Hezbollah starts shooting rockets into Israeli non-combatant neighborhoods.

Israel's military attacks Hezbollah rocket sites killing combatant Hezbollahese and non-combatant Lebanese in the neigborhood of these rocket sites.

Hezbollah escalates its rocket attacks and starts killing Israeli non-combatants.

Israel's military escalates its attacks on Hezbollah rocket sites killing more combatant Hezbollahese and more non-combatant Lebanese in the neigborhood of these rocket sites.

Hezbollah escalates its rocket attacks and starts killing more Israeli non-combatants.

...

Eventually comes a temporary armistice occassionally violated by Hezbolla continue to arm itself and Israel's military attempting to stop Hezbolla from continuing to arm itself.

...

Eventually comes

ANOTHER QUESTION

Why did Hezbollah shoot rockets into Israeli non-combatant neighborhoods?

That's pretty much the way I've read the chronology, Ican. But some seem to recall it as:

1) Hebollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers

2) Israel overreacts and carpet bombs Lebanese civilians (or some other idefensible scenario.)

I wouldn't count on them answering your last question though. Most don't want to include the rockets in the story.

I want to try, too!


CHRONOLOGY

12/08/06 - 3 IDF soldiers are killed and 2 others are abducted in attacks by guerillas from the militant Hezbollah organization.

12/08/06 - Immediately after the Hezbollah attack, Al-Manar television station begins broadcasting clips calling on Israel to release Lebanese prisoners held in Israel in return for the soldiers.

12/08/06 - IDF responds to the attacks from Lebanon with heavy artillery and tank fire. Al-Manar television reports that IDF artillery was pounding the fringes of the villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in the hills east of the coastal border port of Naqoura.

12/08/06 - Two rockets fired from south Lebanon explode near Shlomi, located about 15 kilometers east of the Mediterranean coast.

12/08/06 - Hezbollah guerrillas attack IDF positions in the Shaba Farms area to the east, according to Lebanese security sources.

12/08/06 - Israel Air Force jets strike roads, bridges and Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security officials. Two Lebanese civilians are killed and a Lebanese soldier is wounded in the IAF air strike on the coastal Qasmiyeh bridge in the south of the country.

12/08/06 - Israeli troops cross the border to search for the missing soldiers, marking the first incursion into Lebanon since the withdrawal in May 2000.

12/08/06 - Israel's Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, tells Israel's Channel 10, "If the soldiers are not returned, we will turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years."

12/08/06 - 4 IDF soldiers are killed when their tank hits a mine some 6 kilometers inside Lebanese territory.

12/08/06 - Israel's cabinet authorizes what it calles a "severe" response after the cross-border attacks.

12/08/06 - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet issues a statement saying "Israel must act with appropriate severity in response to this attack and it will do so. Israel will respond in a forthright and severe manner against the perpetrators responsible and will act to prevent future efforts and actions directed against Israel."

12/08/06 - Israel Navy warships enter Lebanese territorial waters and IDF forces are massing in the border area, according to the Lebanese government-affiliated press.


....

Darn. Only got as far as the first day.

Foxfyre--I just finished "The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism by Walter Laqueur. HIs description of people who hate the Jews and the tactics they use to foster their hate almost perfectly describes Old Europe.

Could it be that Old Europe is a former SS man like Gunther Grass and never got the blood lust out of his system?

Yeah. Could be.

You better watch out, Possum. Your bridge is no longer safe........

Bridge? Bridge? I don have no Bridges! I don have to show you no stinkin Bridges!!!

Such is done by the Federal Prosecution Office, police agencies acting for them. (All regulated by the constitution and laws.)

Foxfyre- Mr. Walter Hinteler is NOT worried, BUT HE SOON MAY BE--

Note___


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Germany's near-miss

Published August 23, 2006


Two bombs in two crowded trains. Neither bomb, though, exploded. It would have been one of the most lethal terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001. And it was planned not for Britain, not for Indonesia, not for the U.S., but for Germany, of all places. Suddenly the threat to the people there seems very real.

German authorities say two people placed suitcase bombs on regional trains that departed from Cologne's main station on July 31. One suspect, a Lebanese student enrolled in a prep program at Kiel University in northern Germany, has been arrested. Police are searching for the other suspect, who apparently has fled the country.

And Germans are left to wonder why they are the latest target. Why the country's strong opposition to the invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein didn't inoculate it from terrorism. In short, their question is, "Why us?"

One possibility: Although Germans (and their government) vociferously opposed the war in Iraq, the nation is engaged in the war against terror. German forces are taking over more responsibilities in the protection of Afghanistan from the resurgent Taliban. Germany cooperated with the investigation of Sept. 11, which was engineered in part by terrorists living in Hamburg.

But the more likely and more sobering reason for the attempted train bombings is this: Islamic terrorists don't really differentiate between "good" and "bad" Western governments and nations. There is no appeasing nihilists.

Since the belated disclosure last Friday of the terror attempt, politicians from all parties have been trying to come up with new ideas on how to fight, to prevent, terror in Germany. Because Germans now have little choice but to confront what's evidently a sophisticated threat.

That means Germany is having the kind of debate the U.S. has had, wrestling with how to balance personal privacy and national security in an open society. The German public is, for obvious historical reasons, very sensitive about government measures that could smack of authoritarianism. And yet even the left-leaning daily newspaper widely know as "taz" has raised the question of whether public video surveillance will be necessary. There is talk about armed marshals on trains, broader rules for government surveillance, more scrutiny of foreign students.

Of course, while everyone wants to stop terrorists, no one wants to stereotype natives of Arab or Islamic countries. That adds another layer of complexity as Germans struggle with their attitudes--some appreciative, some resentful--toward the millions of Muslims now living there.

These are difficult issues for many nations--issues that defy glib analysis. The roster of nations grappling thoughtfully with those issues has now expanded by one. Not that Germany's will be the last name added to the list.

Not while there are so many people eager to kill innocents in so many lands.
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I am very happy that the bombs did not explode and kill innocent men, women and children. I AM CERTAIN THAT THE GERMAN POPULACE WOULD BE FURIOUS IF SUCH A THING HAPPENED AND WOULD DEMAND JUSTICE!!!!

I'm glad, you've found some three weeks old news by now, BerhardR!

Not THREE WEEKS OLD TO ME- Mr. Walter Hinteler-- Notice when the EDITORIAL from the Chicago Tribune was published, sir!!

August 23rd!!

As I said, I am glad that nothing happened and I hope that nothing does happen, but it shows ME that the civilized world is fighting a war against Islamo-facist murderers who HATE anyone who is NOT A MUSLIM?

Why else would they make Germany a target? Germany OPPOSED the war in Iraq. As the editorial said--"Islamic terrorists don't really differentiate between "good" and "bad" Western governments and nations. THERE'S NO APPEASING NIHILISTS""

I wasn't referring to the publishing date but to when the planned attacks happened. That was discovered on July 31, 2006.

AND I was referring to the date on which I read the Editorial in the Chicago Tribune.

The Editors in the USA are not as intelligent as those in Germany, Mr. Walter Hinteler. They have to sit around to discuss the meaning of events before they write an editorial on the subject.

If you had read what you had quoted, you would have noticed that the Chicago Tribune's editorial mentioned the date:

I read what I quoted but the date of the occurrence is not important. What is important is what the Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune said about the attack---

AGAIN- QUOTE

"But the more likely and more sobering reason for the attempted train bombings is this: ISLAMIC TERRORISTS DON'T REALLY DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN 'GOOD' AND 'BAD' WESTERN GOVERNMENTS AND NATIONS. THERE IS NO APPEASING NIHILISTS"

Again- I hope that Germany and any innocent men, women and children on German Trains have to discover the truth which we, in the USA, have known for a long time--The fringe elements in Islam--The Islamo-Fascist Murderers hate everyone who is not a Muslim and want to kill them. They wish to re-establish the Caliphate after the Twelfth Imam returns!

You should give your analysis to the German Federal Prosecution: as of now, it's completely onknown what and who is behind these attacks. (The only thing which IS known, is that the two suspects don't have a terroristic background.)