Posted on 08/09/2006 11:37:26 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
An Israeli soldier avoids dust as a military helicopter prepares to land on the Israel-Lebanon border August 9, 2006 to evacuate troops injured in fighting in southern Lebanon.
He just came home...now is recruiter...
Doesn't ring a bell. There are so many of us here, though.
Did he work somewhere in Baghdad or elsewhere in Iraq?
Hizbullah Has Aerial Photos of Kiryat Shmona
16:02 Aug 10, '06 / 16 Av 5766
(IsraelNN.com) IDF Lt.-Colonel Elon Doron announced that aerial photos of Kiryat Shmona were found Mis Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
Gunfire broke out when IDF soldiers arrived at the building in the village, used as a Hizbullah headquarters. Six terrorists were killed.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109711
Reservists: War morality exacting high toll
While recovering in hospitals from heavy battles in which 15 of their comrades were killed, reserve soldiers speak out: 'Why haven't we flattened villages from the air?'
Miri Chason
Soldiers injured in battle Wednesday in southern Lebanon are recovering in hospitals Thursday and thinking about the 15 comrades they left behind.
The difficult scenes are repeated in their mind, but they also cannot help but feel that lives could have been saved, if better preparation had been made.
Roitman (left) and Stein (Photo: Niv Kladron)
Greg Roitman, 27, of Moshav Herut, and Aharon Stein, 31, of Kedumim sat by one another at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed suffering from light injuries.
Roitman suffered shock in his eyes and is suffering from light hearing problem, while Stein was injured by a bullet which penetrated his
shoulder. The two are serving in reserve force in the Paratrooper Division, and recounted their experiences.
"We captured a home in one of the villages as a defensive mission and to observe the forces," said Roitman. "We stayed there for a night, but in the morning there was a strike on the home. We don't know who was shooting. A few seconds after the first strike, there was another precise hit inside the house. As a result our soldiers were injured by shrapnel and one soldier was killed by a direct hit," he added.
"Most of the guys were quickly rescued by airlift and the evacuation was quite efficient. By the time of the third barrage everyone dug in and took cover," said Roitman.
IDF soldier after Wednesday's incident (Photo: Reuters)
The consolation for Roitman and Stein is that most of their friends are lightly injured, except one who is moderately – seriously wounded.
"We paratroopers are guarding the same structure in reserves and we know everyone, including Sergeant Major Igor Kublik who was killed," said Roitman.
"Igor said that the whole Oslo procedure and all of the years in which there was attempt to talk didn't succeed. 'Until now we've been banging our head against the wall because they didn't want to 'talk.' There's no solution to the situation, it seems only a military procedure can defeat them and we can do that. We spoke about politics all the time, that's you do in the reserves," said Stein.
Roitman said soldiers dealt with morality during war time as the IDF's policy: "What really bothered us is that in all of the villages we passed through the houses are standing and are untouched. The IDF's morality during war is exacting a very high price. We can flatten the territory, without ground forces, but from the air."
'Everyone is alert and there is no fear'
Adi Berkovich, 25, of Petah Tikva described the feeling he had as a soldier in enemy territory.
"You try to go over everything you learn and apply it. To keep your eyes open in every direction, to look, to identify. I didn't feel tense during the walk, everyone is alert and there is no fear. But before the entrance there are butterflies in the stomach. This is why we arrived, this is our aim."
One of the soldiers killed in the incident in which Berkovich was injured marched a few meters next to him. "He walked a few meters in front of me, a quiet guy who just came back from vacation. In such as situation of fighting no one complains. This is everyone's efforts, and we help one another," he said.
Unlike Roitman, Berkovich does not doubt the army.
"I believe that the IDF wants the best for its soldiers and is doing the job in the best possible way. What I hope for s that everything ends as soon as possible and we can go back to traveling in the north. Me and my friends are talking about it and we're all waiting for it to finish so we can go back to traveling there. The north is an amazing place," he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289295,00.html
(08.10.06, 15:17)
Defending ourselves against messianic movement
A soft hand will not appease religious fanatics and will not force them to seek appropriate solutions
The Lebanese army, whose troops are primarily Shiites, will groan in agreement to the assignment it has been given, and will do very little to fulfill it.
Sooner or later a ceasefire will be reached, but it will only serve as a lull leading to the next campaign. Hizbullah will not disarm as long as the division of political power in Lebanon discriminates the Shiites.
The discriminating government will come to an end when the majority of seats on the Lebanese government are taken up by Shiites, then they wouldn't need an armed militia. This ethnic group comprises half of the Lebanese population; however, when dividing the power among the various groups, the important political posts are allocated to the Christians, Moslems and Sunnis.
Shiite roots
Their roots lie in the history of modern Lebanon, a country established by the Western world in order to enable the Moronic people to rule. Their leaders, people of the capital and mountains of Lebanon, urged the ruling powers in the area to expand their territory, and in so doing brought about their demise.
They believed that they could maintain their hegemony forever, vis-à-vis the masses of poor, ignorant Shiite farmers. They didn't foresee that a day would come when these poor people would demand a fair part in the prosperous country.
The Beirut bubble began to burst in the 80's, when hundreds of thousands of Shiites fled from the south to find a source of livelihood and to get out of the battleground raging in the vicinity of their homes. The Shiite proletarian in Beirut became the furnace of the revolution. The Israeli occupation accelerated a process that would have evolved nonetheless. It transformed the Shiites into the protectors of Lebanon. This is Ariel Sharon's contribution to our neighbor's history.
The awakening
The awakening of the Shiites in Lebanon closely coincided with a theological change that took place in the Shiite religion. For more than 1,300 years, Shiite followers were obliged to accept the humiliation of a lifetime of suffering while believing they would be compensated in life after death. Only in the 50's did the religious clerics - teachers at the colleges of the holy cities of Iran and southern Iraq – develop activist disciplines. The Hizbullah was established by Lebanese and Iranian Shiites who absorbed these disciplines, going on to create a massive network of social and economic institutions that made up for the failures of the central government.
The movement's leadership lives by a messianic ideology, similar to the one followed by the Ayatollahs in Iran, and uncannily resembling the ideology in Israeli society that supports messianic elements. The role they have taken upon themselves is to impose the Shiite Islamic faith on the world, and to welcome the coming of Mahdi, the successor of the prophet Mohammed.
The destruction of Israel, the killing of Jews and the conquest of Jerusalem are at the basis of their beliefs.
Looking at the constraints of reality
When a movement of this type succeeds and ripens, it is forced to look at the constraints of reality and develop a solution that minimizes the gap between pure ideology and necessary pragmatism. Paradox: Conquest of the regime exacerbates the need for compromise. A Hizbullah government in Lebanon would not be able to cast the responsibility for its failures on the discriminating government, because it will be the body governing the country.
That's what's happening to the Hamas at an agonizingly slow pace, and may very well happen to the Hizbullah as well, with whom we may be forced to talk openly in a few years from now.
This forecast, if accepted, could effect Israel's calculations in two opposite directions. There are those who will say that we must calm the flames, in order to give a chance to the moderate forces among the Shiites, who are not all messianic fundamentalists.
No soft hand
Others, including ourselves, believe that our strength derives from the constraints of reality, and the Shiite leadership will have to deal with it. A soft hand will not appease religious fanatics and will not force them to seek appropriate solutions. Namely, we should hit them as hard as we can, while taking into account our diplomatic and military constraints.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289160,00.html
(08.10.06, 12:24)
Although I post a lot of news, I am one of the worst about OT topics...it comes with needing to talk....but you can't have my news research without my ot chatter...thus is life...
Mahdi related scripture like that makes it easy to understand why the Sunni consider such Shia heretics and have been trying to exterminate them for centuries. They certainly don't understand "Mohammed is the last prophet," which even most of us infidels realize is pretty basic to Islam. Some of their stuff makes even the DU seem sane by comparison.
That's a good one. I haven't heard that before. We have a manager like that at work. He always comes to the meeting late, so we all know he is in the room. Within 60 seconds he starts spouting his crap, and then leaves. BTW, he brings zero to the table. Funny thing is his management team thinks he is great.
Air raid siren heard in Haifa, Krayot, and Akko
An air raid siren has been heard in Haifa, Krayot, and Akko. Residents have been called into safe rooms and bomb shelters. (Ahiya Raved)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289365,00.html
(08.10.06, 16:30)
Ammo. Don't forget *lots* of ammo.
For some reason the fear of flying has gotten worse as I get older. Maybe it has to do with the pilots looking like they are about my son's age. HA!
I am sure your flight home will be fine, and I know how much you're looking forward to getting home. Hopefully this will be mostly cleared up before next month.
Good morning....don't blame me, that's Ynet... ;)
Smoke explosions in Tyre - Pipeline 4
Real ones or Photoshoped ones?
I love your "chatter"...and if it would please the other regulars..
I would rather stay here...with comments thrown in re: the terrorist plot in London...
Anyone have a problem with that??
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=ar%7Cen&u=http://alsaha.fares.net/sahat%3F128%40223.hMKHfgcqcE1.0%40.2cc14937&prev=/language_tools
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.