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8/1 Middle East Live Thread
Middle East Live Thread ^ | 8/1/06 | BurbankKarl

Posted on 07/31/2006 9:38:15 PM PDT by BurbankKarl

The wife and father of kidnapped Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, Karnit, holding a wedding photograph, and Shlomo Goldwasser arrive at Heathrow Airport in London, Monday July 31, 2006. Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12, triggering an Israeli offensive against Lebanon that has killed hundreds of people, mostly civilians.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Israel
KEYWORDS: 2006israelwar; daralislam; dhimmis; dhimmitude; hezbollah; humanshieldsrus; iran; islam; israel; lebanon; middleeast; muhammadsminions; muslimcaliphate
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To: jeffers

It is truly an armed border. I have no idea how frequent these types of incidents are. Do you know?


181 posted on 08/01/2006 1:40:19 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: jeffers

Aug. 1, 2006 11:26
Syrian ambassador: Army's high alert is 'natural'
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Syrian Ambassador to the US Imad Moustapha said Tuesday that the decision by President Bashar Assad to call on his army to increase its readiness was "natural."

"We need to defend ourselves from the Israeli aggression close to our border," said Moustapha, adding that if Americans could see what was happening on the ground, "they would understand who are the real terrorists."

-----

I think this is diplo seak for "we will not shoot first" and then to their Arab brothers "look, we are with you all the way", just to show that they aren't letting Hezbollah down - which of course they are, with the exception of weapons deliveries.


182 posted on 08/01/2006 1:46:37 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

My impression is that the frequency of incidents along the DMZ ebbs and flows, and that the effect is further compounded by media attention that ebbs and flows.


183 posted on 08/01/2006 1:47:32 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: Fitzcarraldo

this is sad, they do not look willing...


184 posted on 08/01/2006 1:50:06 AM PDT by tina07 (In Memory of my Father - WWII Army Air Force Veteran)
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To: ScaniaBoy

I'd like to see our Kurds stir up their Kurds in NE Syria about now.

Now that Syria's all lined up nice and pretty, chests out, thinking they're ready to fight, sort of goose them a little, directly in their rear.

Last time those Kurds got uppity, Syria had a hard time fielding enough troops to put them down, since nearly everything Syria has is on the Golan, facing Israel.

Since even that isn't enough to go against Israel with much chance of success, having to pull units back down and send them clear across the country ought to be enough to give pause to any idea of an offensive against Israel.

The Turks would probably squall, but that's rugged country, their only easy move is through the chokepoint in northern Iraq, where a unit could hold against a force ten times its size if need be.


185 posted on 08/01/2006 1:57:35 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: tina07

I'm hoping those are toy weapons, because trigger and muzzle discipline are sadly lacking.


186 posted on 08/01/2006 2:00:05 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: tina07

From Ynet:

HEAVY EXCAHNGES OF FIRE BETWEEN IDF AND HIZBULLAH IN VILLAGE OF AITA

Heavy exchanges between the IDF and Hizbullah are taking place in the village of Aita in southern Lebanon.

Earlier it was reported that IDF soldiers have hit approximately 20 Hizbullah operatives in the last two days. (Hanan Greenberg)

------

Aita or Ayta az Zutt is found north of Bint Jubayl, about three times the distance from the israeli border.


187 posted on 08/01/2006 2:00:29 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: jeffers

Syria's strategic position has never been worse.


188 posted on 08/01/2006 2:02:09 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

ScaniaBoy wrote:
From Ynet:

HEAVY EXCAHNGES OF FIRE BETWEEN IDF AND HIZBULLAH IN VILLAGE OF AITA

Heavy exchanges between the IDF and Hizbullah are taking place in the village of Aita in southern
Lebanon.

Earlier it was reported that IDF soldiers have hit approximately 20 Hizbullah operatives in the last two
days. (Hanan Greenberg)

------

Aita or Ayta az Zutt is found north of Bint Jubayl, about three times the distance from the israeli border.





Be real careful with that location, there are two places that could be, the other is WSW of Bent Jbail, on the border.

Earlier Hezbollah reports claimed fighting near Aita al Shaab, closer in spelling to Aiita ech Chaab than Aita ez Zutt.

Either one could be correct, till we know for sure we should probably hang a big question mark there.

Good maps here, for those who don't already have them:

http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900/910/912/maps/mot-maps/


189 posted on 08/01/2006 2:09:16 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: jeffers

Actually, both locations could be correct.


190 posted on 08/01/2006 2:10:55 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: jeffers

Oops! You are correct. Could be either one of them.

To make things evven more confusing in another article Ynet calls the town "Aitta (two "t"s), west of Metulla - could it be another name for At Taiba (with various other spellngs possible)?


191 posted on 08/01/2006 2:16:10 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

I really hope Allegra didn't see that last post. My spelling/typing really gettng out of hand.

BTW where is she? Haven't seen her on this thread.


192 posted on 08/01/2006 2:18:17 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

No, that's two different fights, see post 177, this thread.

Give me a few and I'll put up a map.


193 posted on 08/01/2006 2:18:42 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: MEG33
Prayers for Israel.

Ditto that. Prayers up.

194 posted on 08/01/2006 2:23:37 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: ScaniaBoy; AdmSmith; TexKat; jhp; Dog; Coop; jeffers; nuconvert; Arizona Carolyn; BurbankKarl; ...
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
195 posted on 08/01/2006 2:38:33 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: jeffers

Thanks!


196 posted on 08/01/2006 2:44:38 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

She may be having a busy day, scroll down for Iraq news, at least two bombs so far.

12:39
Senior Iranian cleric calls on Muslim nations to arm Hezbollah (Reuters)

12:32
Hezbollah confirm four guerillas die in near border clashes with IDF (AP)

12:09
Heavy clashes between IDF troops and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
(Haaretz)

11:49
Peretz: IDF to target any vehicle carrying weapons from Syria into
Lebanon (AP)

11:33
IDF: 20 Hezbollah guerrillas hit in south Lebanon fighting over past 48
hours (AP)

11:28
Ramat Gan man dies after sustaining critical stab wounds Monday (Itim)

10:29
ABC pulls Holocaust miniseries in development with Mel Gibson`s
company (Reuters)

10:24
Saudis call on U.S. to lead efforts for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon
(Reuters)

10:22
Sha`ath: Talks over release of abducted IDF soldier Shalit in advanced
stage (Haaretz)

10:19
Five Katyushas hit western Galilee, no casualties or damage reported
(Israel Radio)

10:09
IDF troops operating in several villages north of Metula (Israel Radio)

10:09
Lebanese stock exchange opens after two-week closure (Reuters)

09:52
Hezbollah reports clashes with IDF forces in Aita al-Shaab, Kafr Kila
(Reuters)

09:14
Roadside bomb kills at least twenty Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad
(Reuters)

08:58
Ben Eliezer: Israel needs 10-14 more days to complete Lebanon campaign
(Reuters)

08:56
Car bomb kills four, wounds eleven in central Baghdad (Reuters)


197 posted on 08/01/2006 2:46:13 AM PDT by jeffers
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To: Caipirabob; All
You won't believe the editorial in today's Washington Post. Thoroughly well-thought-out. The Kerrys of the world will read it and weep.

A Solution for Lebanon

Behind all the rhetoric, there's a consensus that Hezbollah must be weakened and contained.

DESPITE THE terrible bloodshed in Lebanon and Israel over the weekend, including the tragic death of scores of women and children in the village of Qana, the United States, Israel and the Lebanese government continue to seek the same outcome to the war. That is the removal of Hezbollah's militia from the Lebanese-Israeli border as well as steps toward its disarmament; the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south; and the extension of the Lebanese government's sovereignty to all of the country's territory. Despite all the rhetoric about an immediate cease-fire and the predictable focus by media outlets around the world on Israel's mistakes and excesses, every party in the Middle East other than Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian sponsors believes that a resolution to the crisis that fails to achieve those conditions would be a catastrophe.

In other words, it's not just President Bush who believes that a solution in Lebanon must address "the root cause of the problems." The administration's rhetoric about the crisis as "an opportunity" for "a new Middle East" may horrify Washington's self-described realists. But a more hardheaded way of spelling out the same stakes came from Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader who is no friend of the United States or Israel. "Either we will have a state able to establish its control over the country or we will have . . . a reduced weakened state and a strong militia beside the Lebanese army that decides war and peace at any time and has its schedule decided by the Iranians and the Syrians," Mr. Jumblatt told The Post's Anthony Shadid. "I don't see a state of Lebanon surviving with a militia next to an army. That's it."

This quiet consensus explains why Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was vowing yesterday to get a cease-fire resolution through the U.N. Security Council sometime this week, but also saying that it must be accompanied by a mandate for disempowering Hezbollah. All sides -- including Israel -- understand that the movement, which represents many Lebanese Shiites, cannot be destroyed or entirely disarmed by military means. But it can, and must, be weakened, forced to retreat and deprived of the ability to attack across the international border at will.

The trick is determining how much of this should be left to Israel's ongoing military campaign, how much to the international force the United Nations will be asked to authorize for Lebanon, and how much to the political and diplomatic pressure that might be exerted by Lebanese political parties on Hezbollah, or by Western and Arab governments on Iran and Syria. While it would be convenient to conclude that no further military action by Israel is needed, its army's slow progress suggests otherwise. In fact, any Israeli stand-down will depend heavily on whether European governments and other Security Council members are prepared to authorize and supply an international force with sufficient strength and authority to deter Hezbollah.

As for diplomatic leverage, a first step in the right direction was the Security Council's passage yesterday of a resolution ordering Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program and reiterating an offer of incentives in the event it does. In the coming weeks both the Iranian and Syrian governments need to hear a consistent message: A decision to cooperate in stabilizing the Middle East, from Iraq to Lebanon and Gaza, will ease their present isolation. But attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction or wage proxy war through groups such as Hezbollah will be answered with strength, not appeasement.

Couldn't have said it better myself!
198 posted on 08/01/2006 2:52:43 AM PDT by Timeout (I hate MediaCrats!)
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To: Timeout

Good morning. I am trying to catch up. Best go make breakfast for Mr Marple, first.


199 posted on 08/01/2006 3:00:00 AM PDT by Miss Marple (Lord, please look after Mozart Lover's and Jemian's sons and keep them strong.)
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To: Miss Marple

Good morning Miss!

Here are some more news. The internationally acclaimed military expert (/sarcasm) the Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja weighs in on the issue of the day:


Aug. 1, 2006 12:48
EU president: Israel unlikely to dent Hizbullah
By BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

The European Union's presidency warned Tuesday that Israel's offensive in southern Lebanon was unlikely to bring success and was instead bound to increase support for Hizbullah.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU presidency and who will chair an emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting later Tuesday, said the offensive was "unlikely to bring military success." The conflict was instead "certain to increase support for Hizbullah in the region."


200 posted on 08/01/2006 3:04:51 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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