Hezbollah: If air strikes end, we'll stop rocket fire

[lovuian]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746583.html

Israel Air Force warplanes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs early Friday, launching at least 24 bombing runs in less than an hour, local media reported.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Thursday that if the IDF attacks Beirut proper, his militants would launch rockets that would hit Tel Aviv. However, Nasrallah also said - for the first time since fighting began 22 days ago - that Hezbollah would stop firing rockets on northern Israel in return for an end to air strikes throughout Lebanon.

"If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity... We will bomb Tel Aviv," Nasrallah said.
more...
Well the gauntlet has been dropped by Israel... they bombed Beirut ... lets see if Telaviv gets bombed now...

[RB TexLa]

1. How about they do what the UN and their country wants them to do

and disarm? If they want to "defend" Lebanon they can join the Lebanese army.

[Erika]

2. Where do you get the bit about what their country wants?

Thank you.

Why didn't Israeli stop the bombardment?

[lovuian]

3. Why didn't Israel stop the bombing ???

I guess they didn't want to...

[Erika]

5. When someone else is paying the cost

maybe they don't care. I do.

[RB TexLa]

4. I thought Lebanon wanted them to disarm, sorry

[Erika]

6. The Lebanese gov't is friendly to Hezbollah. n/t

[RB TexLa]

9. delete

[Clarkie1]

22. Because Lebanon is not a sovereign state...

it is difficult to know what "Lebanon wants."

Certainly the people of Lebanon want to live in peace, and also live in a sovereign state. As long as the Hezbollah militia is more powerful than the elected goverment, Lebanon can neither be sovereign nor democratic.

[JackNewtown]

7. Hezbollah is the only violater of UN resolutions in the region

Hezbollah must comply with Un resolution 1559, although Israel is exempt from adherence to international law.

I agree that Hez should abide by UN res. 1559 but the hypocrisy regarding the numerous UN resolutions Israel is violating is sickening.

[Erika]

8. True- Israel has violated many U.N. resolutions

More than Iraq did before we invaded.

[Sherman A1]

19. Agreed

[JackNewtown]

31. Probably more than the rest of the ME combined nt

[lovuian]

10. My advice to Lebanon's government is shut the sheik up

taunting isn't working...

[Erika]

11. Israel needs to be told that also.

Israel is used to fast wins, and this one isn't going down that way.

[Clarkie1]

23. Who do you propose tell them? Perhaps you should write a letter. nt

[upi402]

12. involve Syria and you get your Iran war

tit for tat meet escalation

[Erika]

13. Syria's going to get involved?

What's your source? Thank you.

[upi402]

14. just working an idea out eloud

seems that a lot of gauntlets are flying and sabers more than rattly all 'round

[Warren DeMontague]

15. "usurping entity"

Whaddaya suppose they mean by that?

[poverlay]

16. Blood and hatred are all that has been gained by both. Blame

will not absolve America, Israel, or Hizbollah. These hate-filled, self-righteous avatars of selfishness and all those who support or defend them are infinitely responsible and abhorrent for each death. We all know who has caused the most death. I don't care what it's "in the name of". It's wrong.

Cowards

[lovuian]

17. Well TelAviv has got to be on alert ...

Why do I have the feeling that the Saudis and Bush are popping champagne right now

[Erika]

18. W always entertains the Saudis at his ranch

He doesn't care is they are polygamists, Muslims, or anything else. Prescott Bush showed him the Saudi advantage.

You think W ever worked a day in his life at anything?

[PCIntern]

20. It makes sense,

because Hezbollah's running out of rockets - and they can't get resupplied by the Iraninas or Syrians So of course they call for a cessation to bombing.

And there is a multiple-front war opening up which they can't effectively fight. The tactic of the Israelis going deep into Lebanon and staging the removal of those gentlemen from that 'hospital' showed the glaring weaknesses of a small guerrilla force. Standard military tactic - Hez is losing this campaign.

[cynatnite]

21. Israel: If Hezbollah stops, then we'll stop

:eyes:

Yeah, it'll keep going and more innocent people will continue to die. :grr:

[Rex]

24. The news guy called it tit-for-tat. Like they are both 5 year olds.

For some reason, I think it's a little more serious than that. :eyes:

[PCIntern]

25. the true tragedy of war is that innocent people die

not that soldiers die. If it were only the soldiers dying, wars would go on forever. I mean, when 241 Marines were killed in their barracks while sleeping by Hezbollah, they were a 'peacekeeping force', doing their paid duty. These things happen in soldierdom - if the US had listened to the Israeli statements thatthe security for the installation was gossly inadequate, they'd be alive today. (In the ME, peacekeeping force usually means people from countries who are partial to the anti Israel cause, so since the Americans were exceptions to that rule, well they had to go.) But back to the point, after Pearl Harbor, we sent bombers over Tokyo, The British bombed the crap out of Dresden, and there were few areas untouched. Civilian deaths were enormous.

At the risk of being repetitive, this is the risk you run when you tolerate a group who fires rockets at regional superpowers. Horrible things happen. Just terrible. Tragic in fact. It's a shame. It really is.

[cynatnite]

28. Yes, a shame it is and more people should be ashamed...

They're so busy trying to kill each other they don't give a damn who else gets killed in the process.

Nobody wants to talk...they want to kill each other.

You're talking about collateral damage and accepting it as the tragic consequence of war when war in itself is immoral and unacceptable.

There was a time when they actually were talking and no one bothered seeing it through. I could sit here and say Israel should have done this, Lebanon that, Hezbollah and the US, too, but at this point in the many discussions that have taken place in DU it's practically pointless.

Because some people can't see beyond their own self-righteousness and so-called outrage no matter which side they are on, they refuse to acknowledge the true damage they do not only to their enemy, but also to themselves and the rest of the world.

Everyone is too busy taking sides and justifying the actions of who they believe are in the right to make any real attempt at stopping the violence.

I'm sick of it.

[T Town Jake]

26. In other words: "if you quit kicking our ass after we attack you first,

...we'll be even-steven."

No thanks. I hope Israel keeps kicking the Hezbollah thug's asses.

[PCIntern]

27. I have a football analogy...

Recall High School: in the lunchroom, the football team ate together. You walk over and blindside the tight end who made insulting remarks to your girlfriend that morning in the hallway. what do you think will happen to you? Will there be 'proportional response', or will there be a significant threat to your life and limb?

Golda Meir said that there will be peace in the ME when the Arabs love their children more than they hate the Jews.

[LiberalPartisan]

29. Same here...Don't stop now Israel n/t

[HawkerHurricane]

30. "We must stop shooting each other!"

"You first."