Posted on 04/13/2002 4:10:58 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
| Heavy fighting flared anew on the Lebanon-Israel border despite Iran's plea for a de-escalation and U.S. warnings of a full-blown Middle East war if Hizbullah's renewed attacks in the Shabaa farms zone were not quickly halted. The New York Times, a leading U.S. national newspaper, said the threat of an expanded war loomed dark over the Middle East as a result of the 14-day border hostilities. "There is a perilous possibility that Israeli will attack Syria," the newspaper said. It also said an Israeli cabinet minister, which the paper did not name, has warned that "Israel is serious about hitting Syrian targets, which means the theater of the conflict will be vastly expanded." Ariel Sharon, in turn, warned both Syria and Lebanon of "the cruelty of the Israeli response" if Hizbullah continues to attack Israel's northern border. He said he has asked U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney to convey this warning to President Bashar Assad. U.S. secretary of State Colin Powell also warned that Hizbullah's attacks, if not rapidly checked, "could lead to devastating consequences for the entire region." Powell served the warning during a helicopter tour of Israel's northern frontier with Lebanon. "I call upon all countries with influence over Hizbullah, especially Syria, to do everything in their power to curb Hizbullah before the conflict spreads to engulf the whole region." On the battlefield, Hizbullah fighters blasted three Israeli army outposts in the Shebaa farms with repeated volleys of Katyusha rockets, prompting Israel to scramble up F-16 fighter-bombers to hammer the environs of several Lebanese border towns, wounding a 21-year-old woman and her 6-year-old son. |
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Beirut, Updated 13 Apr 02, 11:52 |
Russia and America both should resign from the UN club and form a northern alliance....break away members of the EU welcome.
As for America, even with all its moral wabbling, I don't think they are that wacked out to side with the Arabs...that leaves China and the EU. China is just to far away. EU...not yet a credible force.
So this will be a one sided fight.
My wife's family comes from a part of Germany that is now Poland. No one complains about the third of Germany that was taken by Poland and the Soviet Union.
Arab leaders know that for their countries to have prosperity, they need freedom. If they have freedom, those Arab leaders won't stay in power. They selfishly put their own desire for power ahead of the well-being of their countries. So, the Arab leaders distract their populations with anti-Israeli, anti-American and anti-Semitic claptrap. That is now threatening to blow up in their faces.
You Mean "Peace Observers".....IMO we need more UN personnel in southern Lebanon to observe firsthand....unfortunately, they wont be able to report back on the new level of peace arranged by the IDF air force.
I saw an interesting comment somewhere (probably the Wall St Journal) that indicated that the last time the world had a truly Global economy was the first years of the 20th century. It began late in the 19th century, but it ended in 1914. That was a time when you could order goods from just about any country and really expect them to arrive at an agreed upon price. Everybody did business with everybody. But WWI ended that. Then came the Depression and tariffs, and then WWII and then the Cold War.
It is only since about 1990 that the world has returned to a global economy where you can mostly buy anything you want from any country in the world (no Cuban cigars -- but they're the exception that proves the rule).
Now in the Middle East we may well be seeing an event which will either a) cripple the global economy or b) usher in a new world where both socialism and terrorism have been vanquished.
Either way, it seems to me that we are (once again) witnessing events of great historic importance.
I don't recall either one of them publically threatening without 110% intention to follow through to the letter--and more than plenty follow-through to do exactly that.
This is one of the more sobering prophetic bits of news I've read in this whole period of conflict.
I stll suspect it will die down and not turn into WWIII but I am most definitely NOT sure about that. In any case, buckled seatbelts are fully in order.
I wonder what would happen if we attacked Iraq, and Israel attacked Syria and Lebanon at the same time? WWIII?
Yup. The American was on terror has been hijacked. Both the Islamic terrorists and Israel wanted our war turned into an Israeli/American war on Muslims. And they've done it.
50,000 take to the streets of Bahrain in show of solidarity
Israel has the military might to wipe out her enemies overnight. But she doesn't. Israel wants to blame Bush and Powell for all of her problems and to make her war our war. We will have a much harder time and lose more American lives if we lose bases such as those in Bahrain. But the Israeli flacks on FR could care less about that.
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