Arab League chief warns Israeli war on Lebanon still possible

[shergald]

This report, from one of the Middle East's most prestigious newspapers, the Beirut Daily Star, shows the immense change that is occurring in relations between Lebanon and Israel, especially after the 2006 invasion of southern Lebanon and Beirut, which killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly families and children, some of whom were injured by US made cluster bombs after the fact.

Threats exchanged between Hezbollah and Netanyahu are not being taken lightly. And recently, Lebanese military have been firing at Israeli airplanes that invade its sovereign space. Life is not like before, when Lebanon just accepted Israel's military domination, and there are even some suggestions that Hezbollah, now part of the Lebanese government, is acting as Lebanon's primary defense barrier in the south.

February 20, 2010

“BEIRUT: Arab League chief Amr Moussa isn’t ruling out the possibility of an Israeli war against Lebanon, as he stressed that potential scenarios should be taken into consideration in order to protect the country.

“The possibility of Israel launching an offensive against Lebanon stands, as we should take into consideration all potential scenarios in order to protect Lebanon and stand by its side,” Moussa told reporters at a news conference at Rafik Hariri International Airport before his return to Cairo. Moussa said his talks with Lebanese officials were very positive and tackled inter-Arab ties, Israeli threats and the Iranian situation.

(snip)

Israel and Hizbullah have been recently exchanging threats and counterthreats, with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu warning that all of Lebanon would be a target for potential Israeli attacks, given the resistance’s participation in the government. Nasrallah warned earlier this week in strong language against aggression against Lebanon, saying any attacks on Lebanese infrastructure would be met with reprisals on Israeli facilities.”

LINK: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=111950

Looks as if the Lebanese have had it with Israel's invasions of its country, and all the destruction it has wrought on the Lebanese people and economy. Conceivably, Iran's pugnaciousness has given other Middle East countries the backbone to stand up to US backed Israeli aggression. The balance of power is apparently changing in the Middle East.

[shergald]

1. Lebanon PM: Israel talks peace but does nothing to achieve it

That's a headline in Haaretz this morning:

"Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri blamed Israel on Sunday for seeking to start a war with its neighboring Arab countries.

"Israel can't claim to be interested in the peace process without doing anything tangible in this regard," Hariri said following a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

Hariri blamed Israel for seeking to start a war with both Syria and Iran, despite the Arab nations' desire for peace. Two weeks ago Hariri said that he was concerned over Israel's "escalating" threats to Lebanon and Syria, and that if Israel were to attack, he would stand united with his own people."

By now it should be obvious that Israel, under Netanyahu and other PMs, have chosen land over peace, Palestinian land mostly, but also pieces of southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights. So what's new? It has been Israel's policy since Netanyahu accepted "A Clean Break" in 1996, the neocon document intended to direct Netanyahu's earlier government.

"No more land for peace (Oslo); peace for peace." This policy has since been Israel's, and it is being implemented by Netanyahu today.

[oberliner]

2. Barak to UN: Hezbollah arms target Israeli civilians

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the arms Iran and Syria are providing to Hezbollah in Lebanon serve only to harm Israeli civilians.

Barak and Ban met in New York to discuss Lebanon, the Iran nuclear program, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the renewal of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Hezbollah is an army that is armed by Iran and Syria," Barak said. "It has more than 40,000 missiles aimed at Israel's civilians, and these are weapons of terror."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152055.html

[azurnoir]

3. Perhaps true but Israeli mines are still killing Lebanese civilians

and what does Israel have aimed at Lebanon? This is a case of the pot whining about the kettle IMO

[shergald]

4. That's interesting:" weapons of terror."

And just what are Israel's weapons? Weapons of just war? Killing 1,200 mostly civilian southern Lebanese during the 2006 invasion hardly makes for a just invasion. Hezbollah did not release rockets into Israel until it had been invaded Lebanon.