Posted on 08/02/2006 7:33:53 PM PDT by Shermy
BAALBEK, Lebanon - “It was like Apocalypse Now,” said Ali Dandash, a resident of the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbek, describing an overnight Israeli commando raid on a hospital in the area that was run by Hezbollah militants.
“We saw flares over the area before midnight ... there were like 12 raids on areas next to the hospital ... then we saw at least six helicopters hovering,” Dandash said Wednesday morning.
“The whole area was pitch dark due to power cuts, but suddenly we felt the whole area was lit and rockets started falling on our heads - dozens of shells were falling on houses next to the targeted hospital,” Dandash said.
“We saw at least one of the (helicopter) gunships landing on the roof of the hospital building,” Suleiman Amhaz, a Baalbek photographer, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa near the scene.
The area next to the Dar el-Hikmah hospital was in total destruction.
Windows at the hospital were shattered, riddled curtains hung from the windows and large holes could be seen on the top floors of the hospital.
Walking through the rubble leading to the hospital Israeli ammunition covered the ground.
Hezbollah guerrillas were still around the place early in the morning.
“This hospital was empty when they got here. We lured them into this operation,” one Hezbollah guerrilla on the scene said.
Hezbollah claimed to have spread rumours about the presence of an important Hezbollah figure inside the hospital, which had been empty since the start of the Israeli offensive.
Unconfirmed reports said the group also sent several decoys into the hospital, including the personal car of senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek.
Police present in the area said the Israelis took five Lebanese civilians with them.
The police gave the names of the five captured civilians as Hassan deeb Nasrallah, Bilal Hassan Nasrallah, Ahmad Auta, Hassan Burji and Hussein Shokr.
Asked if they were snatched from inside the hospital the police said, “We have no information yet.”
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that during the helicopter raid “several members of Hezbollah were hit while others have been taken prisoner and brought back to Israel.”
Hezbollah officials rejected the claim. “No this is false information ... none of our militants was taken by the enemy,” one official in Baalbek said.
Israeli voice messages received on Lebanese mobiles said, “The courageous operation was meant to save our soldiers.”
Lebanese security sources told dpa during the night that the aim of the Israeli offensive was to release the two captured soldiers being held by Hezbollah who they believed were inside the targeted hospital
You sleep with dogs, you will suffer from fleas...
Col Cowan on FNC tonight - talking about Baalbeck - saying that even in 1983 when hezbollah killed the US Marines, the Reagan administration refused to bomb the city because they feared damaging Roman ruins. I kid you not, this is what he said. unreal.
"I love the smell of burning turbans in the morning. It smells like...victory!"
And just when, I wonder, did Ali see "Apocalypse Now"?
Was it a Movie of the Week on al-Jazeera?
Usually we hear more flowery metaphors like "The streets were rivers of blood during this mother of all battles where the enemy was being slaughtered like sheep"
Everybody watches our movies.
Maybe pirated DVDs from China ;)
The Parthenon was essentially intact from ancient times, with a later use as a Christian Church. It was, however being used as a powder magazine when a shell it it and blew the thing up. That wass in the 1690s, I think, and what we see today is what they put back together in the 19th Century. By and large earthquakes have done great damage to remaining ruins. They weren't meant to last forever.
Hezbollah has an 87% approval rating in Lebanon. (I think thats major BS)
Israel has no choice.
We wish.
I heard that. Yep.....unreal; not to mention stupid.
My question is, where are the WMD? What would be really cool would be IDF Spec Ops getting in there, snapping pics, and then .... let the chips fall ..
Oh the horror..
Israel is off the leash after starting slowly. I also think the US is slow rolling the UN. Everybody with a thinking brains wants the rats nest of Hezbollah eliminated. I think, when some advisor told GWB that Israel was attackingHezbollah, he said, :"Let 'em!"
I like our prospects in Iraq more and more. And I like our prospects in Iraq especially now that Israel is taking care of an ugly rats’ nest called Hezbollah.
We are in a global war against terror. The we is you and me. Forget France. All the others are questionable except maybe Britain. And the Brits are ready to keel haul Tony Blair because he is in agreement with George Bush.
Nobody else is.
World opinion must be right, correct? Several hundred million people cannot be wrong, right? George Bush is a fool, right?
Wrong. I have never been more sure of anything in my life.
George Bush is a genius. On this he is certain: the terrorist want us dead and they have or seek the means to make that happen.
Right now, a volunteer group is eradicating the biggest nest of snakes or rats (pick your vermin) in the world. Israel has come to the plate and they intend to play ball. They are pounding Hezbollah into submission.
Submission is not a term that many Americans understand. Our world is neat and clean and virtually a Garden of Eden compared to the Middle East. But let me tell you something: the world is ugly. About six in ten in the world want you dead. Maybe more. And they are coming.
They came after us on 9/11. But that was just a stunt. Now they are coming after Israel: a state without friends. The Jews are hard to like; the Arabs believe it. Hitler almost made the entire race disappear. Now Hezbollah takes its shot.
Good luck.
Don’t bet on the terrorists. We are with Israel; and every American along with every freedom loving people needs to be on our side.
Israel has suffered over 1,500 missile strikes in the last three weeks. Many into Haifa, their third largest city.
If a hand grenade went off in Chicago, our third largest city, and terrorists were to blame would you care? Notice? Get excited?
One thousand five hundred missiles into Chicago would get your attention, I hope?
This is real. This is not imagined. And this is in our laps.
We Americans are the world’s only superpower. I didn’t make that up: I asked my allied friends.
The French hate us for that. They still long for a long-ago empire. Russia: same.
So now we have Iraq. Never mind why we went there. Never mind that Saddam used chemical weapons in an attempt to eradicate the Kurds, some of his loving subjects. Never mind that Saddam created, instigated and sustained an eight year war with Iran, draining the blood from his people and the people of Iran.
He is a snake. There are none larger.
In Iraq, the U.S. is fighting hard. I’ve been there, seen it; sweated. It is not pretty. But it is necessary. It is vital. It is a war between democracy (us and our allies) and hate and terror. And the cream of American youth are there helping you and me stay free. Right now. Today. And every day. This is the crisis of our times. Believe it. This is our World War.
We are already in World War III.
And where do you stand in all this? What have you done? Where will you be when gasoline is $10.00 a gallon and missiles are landing in L.A.? Or in your home town?
On the fourth of July, when most of us were enjoying the fireworks and a cook out, North Korea launched a bunch of missiles. They are working on a missiles that can his L.A. For real. Our intelligence people tell us, with certainty, that Iran’s missile engineers were right there side by side with the North Koreans.
The people we are fighting are desperate and crazy. They have weapons of mass destruction and the ballistic missiles to deliver them to your door. To your children.
I stand with my American men in Iraq and elsewhere. I stand with my President. I stand with righteousness.
Which side are you on?
"The Hora...the Hora..."
Did the IDF blast "Ride of the Valkyries" over loudspeakers to make the Hezis dump in their pants?
I suppose the IDF wouldn't be too into Wagner (I'm not), given his proto-Nazi history......
Still, it would have been most dramatic to have theme music from "Apocalypse Now" blasting as the Hezis were taken out.
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