Civilian targets in Lebanon
Ahnimus
Posts: 10,560
I didn't want to start a new thread on this, but I wanted this information to be seen clearly.
Here is a picture of the region that Hezbollah operates in (red area)
That same area prior to 2000 was occupied by Israel.
Here is a map of major cities in Lebanon
Areas bombed by Israel include Beirut, Aitarun, Jumhur, Zahle, Beirut-Damascus Highway, Tripoli and Kafarshima. Only some of these are on the map, when I get home I will try to find time to put all this together into a map showing the bombed areas and the areas Hezbollah operate in. But this gives you an idea anyway. Tripoli is nowhere near the Labanon-Israel border, I can't see why it was hit, Beirut is the main hub of all traffic, so nobody will be able to flee at this point. According to a Lebonese-Canadian I've spoken with all the main roads between the major cities have been severed. Also according to him the Hezbollah occupy a slightly larger portion of the south.
Here is a picture of the region that Hezbollah operates in (red area)
That same area prior to 2000 was occupied by Israel.
Here is a map of major cities in Lebanon
Areas bombed by Israel include Beirut, Aitarun, Jumhur, Zahle, Beirut-Damascus Highway, Tripoli and Kafarshima. Only some of these are on the map, when I get home I will try to find time to put all this together into a map showing the bombed areas and the areas Hezbollah operate in. But this gives you an idea anyway. Tripoli is nowhere near the Labanon-Israel border, I can't see why it was hit, Beirut is the main hub of all traffic, so nobody will be able to flee at this point. According to a Lebonese-Canadian I've spoken with all the main roads between the major cities have been severed. Also according to him the Hezbollah occupy a slightly larger portion of the south.
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
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Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
the strategy being that israel in order to defeat the terrorist organization hezbollah must stop the flow of weapons that iran is supplying via syria so therefore they must bomb roads, airports, and other means of transportaion of weapons.
8-23-00,8-24-00,4-30-03,7-08-03,7-09-03,7-11-03,9-28-04,9-29-04,10-1-04,5-13-06,5-27-06,6-01-06,6-03-06
That explains targetting the Beirut-Damascus Highway, what about the rest?
well, clarify the rest..the airport? they also bombed a few trucks carrying missiles on remote narrow roads..
8-23-00,8-24-00,4-30-03,7-08-03,7-09-03,7-11-03,9-28-04,9-29-04,10-1-04,5-13-06,5-27-06,6-01-06,6-03-06
who's gonna cut off Israel's??
Israel Violates US Law With Attack on Lebanon
by Thalif Deen
Israel is in violation of U.S. arms-control laws for deploying U.S.-made fighter planes, combat helicopters, and missiles to kill civilians and destroy Lebanon's infrastructure in the ongoing six-day devastation of that militarily weak country.
The death toll, according to published reports, is over 200 people mostly civilians while the economic losses have been estimated at about $100 million per day.
"Section 4 of the [U.S.] Arms Export Control Act requires that military items transferred to foreign governments by the United States be used solely for internal security and legitimate self-defense," says Stephen Zunes, professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.
"Since Israeli attacks against Lebanon's civilian infrastructure and population centers clearly go beyond legitimate self-defense, the United States is legally obliged to suspend arms transfers to Israel," Zunes told IPS.
Frida Berrigan, a senior research associate with the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute in New York, is equally outraged at the misuse by Israel of U.S.-supplied weapons.
"As Israel jets bombard locations in Gaza, Haifa, and Beirut, killing civilians (including as many as seven Canadians vacationing in Aitaroun), it is worth remembering that U.S. law is clear about how U.S.-origin weapons and military systems ought to be used," Berrigan told IPS.
She pointed out that the U.S. Arms Export Control Act clear states that U.S. origin weapons should not be used for "non-defensive purposes."
"In light of this clear statement, the United States has an opportunity to stave off further bloodshed and suffering by demanding that its weaponry and military aid not be used in attacks against Lebanon and elsewhere, and challenging Israeli assertions that it is using military force defensively," she added.
That would demonstrate the kind of "utmost restraint" that world leaders called for at the G8 Summit of the world's most industrialized nations, which just ended in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The 25-member European Union has said that Israel's military retaliation against Lebanon is "grossly disproportionate" to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers last week by the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, which is a coalition partner of the U.S.-supported government in Beirut.
Israel has accused both Syria and Iran of providing rockets and missiles to Hezbollah, which has used these weapons to hit mostly civilian targets inside Israel.
Israel's prodigious military power currently unleashed on a virtually defenseless Lebanon is sourced primarily to the United States.
Armed mostly with state-of-the-art U.S.-supplied fighter planes and combat helicopters, the Israeli military is capable of matching a combination of all or most of the armies in most Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
The air force has continued to devastate Beirut and its suburbs with no resistance in the skies during six days of incessant bombings, causing civilian deaths and infrastructure destruction.
"The Israeli Air Force now flies only U.S.-origin fighters, a mix of F-15s and F-16s, and the rest of the service's fleet is almost completely of U.S. origin," says Tom Baranauskas, a senior Middle East analyst at Forecast International, a leading provider of defense market intelligence services in the United States.
While in earlier years Israel bought from a variety of arms suppliers, with the French in particular being strong sellers to Israel of such items as Mirage fighters, over the past couple of decades the United States has developed into Israel's preponderant arms supplier, he added.
"The U.S. domination as Israel's arms supplier can be seen in the Congressional Research Service's [CRS] annual study of arms sales," Baranauskas told IPS.
He said the latest CRS survey shows a total of $8.4 billion of arms deliveries to Israel in the 1997-2004 period, with fully $7.1 billion or 84.5 percent coming from a single source: the United States.
A major factor in this trend was the rise in U.S. foreign military financing (FMF) outright U.S. grants to Israel which now totals about $2.3 billion a year paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
By U.S. law, Baranauskas said, 74 percent of FMF assistance to Israel must be spent on U.S. military products. This U.S. assistance has now become the main source of financing for Israel's major arms procurements, especially its fighter planes.
From a historical perspective, he said, U.S. assistance to Israel during 1950-2005 has been staggeringly high: FMF amounting to $59.5 billion; $27 billion in foreign military sales (FMS) mostly government-to-government arms transactions; and $8 billion in commercial arms sales by the private sector.
Berrigan of the Arms Trade Resource Center said the United States is undoubtedly the primary supplier of Israeli firepower.
In the interest of strengthening Israel's security and maintaining the country's "qualitative military edge" over neighboring militaries, the U.S. Congress provides Israel with annual FMF grants that represent about 23 percent of its overall defense budget. Israel's 2006 military budget is estimated at $7.4 billion.
According to the Congressional Research Service, FMF levels are expected to increase incrementally by $60 million a year to a level of $2.4 billion by 2008 compared with $2.2 billion in 2005.
"Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid every year since 1976," Berrigan said.
Additionally, the United States provides Israel with billions of dollars worth of weaponry.
She pointed out that recent military sales to Israel include propulsion systems for fast patrol boats worth more than $15 million from MTU Detroit Diesel; an $8 million contract to Lockheed Martin for high-tech infrared "navigation and targeting" capabilities for Israeli jets; and a $145 million deal with Oshkosh Truck Corp. to build more than 900 armor kits for Israeli medium tactical vehicles.
In December of last year, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $29.8 million contract to provide spares part for Israel's F-16 fighter planes.
Berrigan also said that Israel has one of the world's largest fleets of F-16 fighter planes, made in Fort Worth, Texas, and also in Israel by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Israel has a total of over 378 F-16s, considered one of the world's most advanced fighter planes besides 117 F-15s, 94 Skyhawks, 110 Phantoms all supplied by the United States.
(Inter Press Service)
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I didn't hear that, I read they bombed trucks carrying medical supplies, they also hit a few ambulances and civilian vehicles.
i say the killing of 8 soldiers and the kidnapping of 2 on israeli land not to mention the hundreds of rockets launched into israel is legit. you may not agree, but we can agree its subjective
8-23-00,8-24-00,4-30-03,7-08-03,7-09-03,7-11-03,9-28-04,9-29-04,10-1-04,5-13-06,5-27-06,6-01-06,6-03-06
8-23-00,8-24-00,4-30-03,7-08-03,7-09-03,7-11-03,9-28-04,9-29-04,10-1-04,5-13-06,5-27-06,6-01-06,6-03-06
But this shows the Israeli occupation and colonization of Lebanon.
Thank you for taking a look at it. You know, most people don't want to know. I talk to a lot of people about this kind of stuff all the time, and it's not too often I find people even willing to learn about it or look at the information. So far, I've found this to be the best place, with alternate opinions and a lot of interest.
I think most uninformed people don't want to know...those of us who are informed know the situation and are really far apart. "Diplomacy" only works when people have a common goal to work towards, this is clearly not the current situation.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
You really dont think the majority in Lebanon dont want to live normal lives????
And senseless fighting is the route for success?
Hizbollah is a minority comprisng 18% of Parliament...hardly enough to dub them as common mans party or belief....but I guess justification to bomb the hell out of the other 82% I suppose....
Everyone wants to live "normal" lives, that's the whole impetus behind all this.
The fighting is not senseless, fake "diplomacy" is. This has to end before islamofascists gain nuclear power...it will be much less painful if it ends now as opposed to 10 years down the road.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Well our means to an end are very different...by the way do you really think this is going to bring peace...I'll put my bottom dollar Israel has just caused another generation of radical Muslims...this time comprised maybe of a normal, I wanna be a democratic nation believing man, who in the last few days just seen his wife killed because of this attack....if you really think this iwll bring peace I cannot agree with you
Do you really think "diplomacy" will really bring peace? Seriously. I think being optomistic is great, but the reality is...is that there are several radical groups that don't recognize Isreal's right to exist. They think they have a right to exist. It doesn't get more contentious than that. If you think something more tame than fighting can solve it, I'd love to hear details.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
I don't recall Lebanon stating that Israel had no right to exist...I believe that was Iran...first do you remeber the Suez crisis...guess what solved by diplomacy....our Prime Minster won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work during a conflict where the chanting of WW3 was being said...brought in the UN and created a buffer zone...
The problem here is that you are thinking like nation states are the only entities that exist in today's world. Unfortunately, that's not the case, there are radical groups that use civilian infrastructure to advance PR strategies. I admire Israel because they don't engage in these circular arguments.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Israeli actions sicken me....just as suicide bombers sicken me....BTW the world will always have radical groups...killing them out will only breed future terror or do you really think once this is all said and done it will all be hugs and giggles around in the Middle East....
I'm not sickened by Israeli's action's in the least, they aren't interested in marketing and PR, or manipulating situations so that when the opposition makes a move, it's counterproductive. Quite simply, they are interested in the right to exist and don't believe in bullshit. It's refreshing.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Hey I've got a plan. The next time ALF firebombs a building. Let's start launching rockets and bombing every suspected ALF facility. If a few thousand civilians die it shouldn't be a problem, right?
You are the one's pushing moral equivalency, aren't you?
They are doing what needs to be done, and everyone knows it.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
I was being sarcastic. I don't see that as "doing what needs to be done", that is a matter of personal opinion. I can think of other ways of resolving the conflict, that Israel and the USA will not agree to.
....killing civilians is refreshing....or I forgot, its a necessity to get the job done....
Anything that involves a peaceful resolution is obivously off the table because that never works...but attacking does....
I can think of ways to resolve the conflict that Hezbollah, hammas, etc would not agree to. I think we've reached a point where we agree to disagree.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
pretty much
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So you believe that when Israel was given the land they currently occupy, that did not invoke a sense of wanting to exist from some Palestinies or no?
This sob story goes both ways....which is my whole arguement....
So shouldn't they just fight over the land and get it over with?
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days