<p>*AP
Updated: 8:54 p.m. ET July 12, 2006
JERUSALEM - Israel bombed and shelled southern Lebanon and sent ground troops over the border for the first time in six years Wednesday after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers. The fighting killed eight Israeli soldiers and three Lebanese. </p>
<p>Hezbollahs brazen cross-border raid opened a second front for the Israeli army. The army is now fighting Islamic militants in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, where it is looking for another soldier who was captured more than two weeks ago by Hamas-linked militants. </p>
<p>Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hezbollah raid an act of war by Lebanon and threatened very, very, very painful retaliation. The Cabinet, meeting in the wake of the militarys highest daily death toll in four years, decided to continue the army operation and call on the international community to disarm Hezbollah, according to participants. *</p>
<p>I assume they won’t harm civilians (though I heard something on the radio that the idea might be to “set back Lebanon 20 years”, so the idea is to specifically target civilian infrastructure (and the people within it)… I mean shouldn’t the Israelis be CONGRATULATING Hamas and Hezbollah for selecting military targets?</p>
<p>Well im jewish and have been to israel so maybe im biased, but when Hezbollah holds two of our troops hostage, its necessary to invade. Maybe if Lebanon HELPS us, the problem will be resolved easier. Its the same thing happening in Gaza right now. Americans dont care if their captured soldiers get executed, israel does and they have my full support</p>
<p>Anyway, when i was there we stood on the border with jordan and heard some great stories of cooperation between the two peoples. its a shame Syria and its puppets in lebanon refuse to led israel live in peace</p>
<p>How many american soldiers have died in iraq because the government didnt take enough action? too many, and very little has been done to prevent future problems. It wouldnt have happened that way with israel</p>
<p>I take great offense when I hear people critiquing israel because theyre invading lebanon and gaza (which, btw, they won after defending their country from the invading arab armies) for “one soldier”, or now three. Ive heard this quite a bit in our society, on the news or whatever. These people honestly dont seem to care that a soldiers life is in risk and the only way to stop that is force. These guys arent diplomatic. Sorry if i offended you, but ive seen too much death and am too closely tied to the situation (very close friend in IDF) to neglect the comparison. I just cant stand the ignorance taht so many people have when they dont know what its like to be in a war zone</p>
<p>My concern is that Lebanon may be adversely affected by Israel’s actions. In particular, they were recently able to get Syria out of the country and seemed to be headed towards some form of democracy. I hope Israel’s actions do not cause Lebanon to ask Syria to come back in to protect them. Syria won’t take on Israel, but they will be happy to take over Lebanon.</p>
<p>
If you are suggesting Israel is tougher than the USA, I don’t agree. One of the biggest problems with Israel is that they are afraid of taking out their enemies. They fear a complete victory will look like the things Germany did to Jews in WWII. For example, if Canada started sending suicide bombers into America, it would not be long before Canada would cease to exist. Israel, on the other hand, builds a fence and then says bad things about the Palestenians. A fence may be a good temporary solution, but it hardly reflects toughness.</p>
<p>“if Canada started sending suicide bombers into America, it would not be long before Canada would cease to exist.”</p>
<p>Laugh, what a warmonger</p>
<p>Just like how if North Korea sent in a suicide bomber…they’d no longer exist? Just like how if any country did? Ever think of alliances. Ever think of diplomats. Ever think of ANYTHING? America would NEVER do that…</p>
Im not suggesting that because i think the circumstances are too different to parallel. Israel is in a terrible predicament. Theyre afraid to take out their enemies for good reason. First of all, these enemies will stick their wives and childrens out as human shields, and then israel gets the international blame and pressure for the results. Its unfortunate. Also, Israel is completely surrounded by people that hate them. I would like nothing more than for Israel to conquer and replace governments in Syria, Lebanon, Saudia Arabia, Iran, etc. Only Jordan and Egypt (both to a certain extent, still many radical citizens in both) are cool with egypt now. When youre completely surrounded, its hard to take out your enemy without fighting the whole arab world, which they could probably win, but the global critisizm would just be too much. As i said its a terrible predicament to be in</p>
<p>Oh and about lebanon, I understand where youre coming from. But as evidence from these attacks today, Hezbollah and Syria are still very strong in Lebanon. The only way to truly rid the problem is to topple the problem makers, and thats what theyre going to do.</p>
<p>Ya that would be stupid. It’s like us suddenely taking over quebec and not expecting Canada to fight us back. The arab nation is not exactly happy with Israel. (And who knows wat weapons they have hidden)</p>
<p>lol wow using other countries as an example is really hard. Pretend that Canada’s provinces are all seperate countries, but together they form the United Canada Emirates or the Top West. Then go on with my imagery :)</p>
<p>The conscientious Judeo-Christian inability to ‘take out’ enemies is a criticism frequently leveled at the US; i.e. Vietnam, Osama Bin Laden etc. However, any comparison between Israeli geopolitics and the US geopolitics is ludicrous.</p>
<p>Israel is surrounded by wealthy countries which dearly want to ‘take it out’. Completely. Only US funding keeps them from that goal. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the US has one neighbor which hates it with such vehemence–Cuba. A poor half-dead mosquito on our little toe.</p>
<p>Kidnappings are a vital part of guerilla warfare. Do air strikes and invasions do anything but embolden the kidnappers? Don’t you think this extreme reaction will bring on a series of soldier kidnappings? Would Sharon have handled the matter in this fashion? Why hasn’t Mosad been able to retrieve the soldiers?</p>
<p>Attacking enemy military positions, killing soldiers, and taking others prisoner is what war is. They didn’t “kidnap” soldiers, they captured them. They are no more (nor less) kidnapped than the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli “detention facilities”.</p>
<p>A suitable response would be to bomb a pediatric hospital or two, or simply take out the electrical supply to the hospital that keeps the patients alive.</p>
<p>It IS a war. As opposed to “escalating violence”, Lebanon’s snatching of two soldiers is an act of war, not terrorism, as the soldier kidnap is considered from the Palestinian territories.</p>
<p>What an effing mess is right. And this is only bound to get worse. May more level heads prevail…</p>
<p>My concern is that Lebanon may be adversely affected by Israel’s actions. In particular, they were recently able to get Syria out of the country </p>
<p>Hmmmm. Not so much. Lebanon is also a client state of Iran. My own personal theory is that Iran is orchestrating this to take attention away from itself while it finishes its nuclear weapons.</p>