"You ask me, if I had known on July 11 … that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with Lebanon's New TV station broadcast Sunday.
"He more or less admitted that he miscalculated," CBC Radio's Mike Hornbrook reported.
The war devastated Lebanon, where at least 850 militants and civilians died in Israeli bombardments and land attacks, while Hezbollah rockets and fighters killed at least 157 Israeli civilians and soldiers. Estimates of the cost of repairing damage to Lebanese buildings, roads and infrastructure run into the billions of dollars.
Hezbollah fighters crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel on July 12, killing three Israeli soldiers and capturing two more. Israel responded with attacks that lasted until a UN-organized ceasefire took effect on Aug. 14.
"We did not think, even one per cent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude," Nasrallah said.
While Nasrallah claimed victory over Israel when the ceasefire took hold, he apologized in the interview for the suffering of the Lebanese people.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/08/27/nasrallah-abduction.html
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 28, 2006]
Note: http://www.cbc.ca/story...
Hindsight A Wonderful Thing...
Posted on Monday, August 28 at 10:18 by DeaconContributed By
Topic
Article Rating
(0 votes)
Options
Stumble It!Comments
view comments in forum
Page 1
<br />
Yeah, just what the hell is wrong with this guy? What on earth was he thinking? Doesn't he know Israel is the only party in the Middle East allowed to kidnap people and hold them without trial or due process - the gall of some people. Well, hopefully he learnt his lesson this time and we can now return to the status quo. <br />
<br />
Israel on the Slide<br />
by Alexander Cockburn<br />
<br />
SNIP<br />
<br />
Israel has been kidnapping Lebanese for years, a hefty chunk of the 10,000 or so rotting in horrifying Israeli prisons, like the secret Facility 1391 in central Israel, worse than Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo. On June 25 Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in Gaza, prompting an escalation in Israel's already barbaric assaults on the civilian population there. Since June 25, says the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Israel has kidnapped over 35 Palestinian Parliament Members and 10 cabinet Ministers. It was certainly hard to find in any US paper or newscast any reference to the fact that one day before, on 24 June, Israeli forces kidnapped two civilians in Gaza, a doctor and his brother, and sent them off to some Israeli dungeon. As Noam Chomsky remarked to an interviewer from al-Ahram, "The timing alone reveals with vivid clarity that the show of outrage over the capture of Israeli soldiers is cynical fraud, and undermines any shreds of moral legitimacy for the ensuing actions."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=10838">http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=10838</a><br />
<br />
Now consider that the Sheik in question has dealt with Israel pretty much all his adult life, then ask yourself how someone with as much experience in dealing with the state of Israel, as one would expect of the leader of an organization like the Hezzbollah, as he should have would be so bloody foolish as to provoke them?
Sorry, but when you kick a wolverine you should NOT expect any mercy.
Then he declares "victory"?
He just proved to me, by that action, that he is genuinely insane by any measure you care to use.
Then again, it would take a crazy like him to provoke a state known for extreme retaliation, now wouldn't it?
---
"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"
"The Weapon" - Rush
<br />
Israeli invasion of Lebanon was planned over a year ago<br />
<br />
By R. Lee<br />
Oxford, UK<br />
Monday, 24 July, 2006 @ 2:19 PM<br />
<br />
Israel's excuse for bringing death and destruction to the Lebanon seems to be centred on the arrest of two Israeli solders, the two soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aïta Al-Chaab close to the border, whereas Israeli television indicated that they had been captured in Israeli territory.<br />
<br />
Israel's second excuse that they were under attack by Hezbollah, but the reality is that there's no record of Hezbollah having attacked Israel BEFORE Israel had already illegally invaded the Lebanon. Hezbollah is described as a "terrorist" organisation but then again any organisation that opposes Israel's expansionist policies or the USA's oil imperialism are described as terrorists.<br />
<br />
Hezbollah had of course already become a part of the democratic process holding 12 seats in the Lebanese Assembly, they were well on their way to accepting the political process rather than violence in solving their problems.<br />
<br />
Israel also claims that they are enforcing UN Resolution 1559, which is a little rich because firstly they haven't complied themselves, they still occupy Sheba Farms but in any case Israel has ignored more resolutions than any country on earth, what on earth gives them the right to become an "enforcer"? <br />
<br />
SNIP<br />
<br />
The reality of course is that Israel wasn't reacting to immediate circumstances at all, the Jerusalem Post on the 12th July 2006, the same day as the two Israeli soldiers were arrested, let slip that Israeli reserve forces had been mobilized "weeks ago". It reported:<br />
<br />
"Only weeks ago, an entire reserve division was drafted in order to train for an operation such as this." Well what a coincidence that is. It gets worse. According to the San Francisco Chronicle this invasion of the Lebanon was planned over a year ago. Can there in fact be any doubt that what we are seeing in the Lebanon and the unleashing of Bush's attack dog, is an illegal invasion which was done totally with the prior agreement of Bush and his poodle? <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.arena.org.nz/leb4.htm">http://www.arena.org.nz/leb4.htm</a><br />
<br />
As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."<br />
<br />
"The state of Israel must invent dangers, and to do this it must adopt the methods of provocation and revenge.... And above all, let us hope for a new war with the Arab countries so that we may finally get rid of our troubles and acquire our space." -- From the diary of Moshe Sharett, Israeli's first Foreign Minister from 1948-1956, and Prime Minister from 1954-1956.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/quotes.html">http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/quotes.html</a>
<br />
Just because this clown repeats the line that the Israelis were in Lebanon when captured doesn’t make it so. It’s a baseless claim used by some (you) to reinforce your POV – facts be damned. Isn’t it funny how if you Google “Israeli troops captured in Lebanon” the first two returns are “whatreallyhappened” and antiwar.com”? I think it’s funny. Every single news outlet disputes those two very “neutral” sites. Maybe they are all just pawns of the Bushco regime - even al Jazeera doesn’t pump that myth (<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B054073-6646-4BCD-9269-7439EE6005B9.htm">http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B054073-6646-4BCD-9269-7439EE6005B9.htm</a>)<br />
<br />
As far as the rest of this turd…<br />
<br />
“any organisation that opposes Israel's expansionist policies…are described as terrorists” (um, didn’t Israel pull out from Lebanon in 2000? Wasn’t it Syria that was “occupying” the country?)<br />
<br />
Hezbollah was “well on their way to accepting the political process rather than violence in solving their problems” (By stockpiling Iranian weapons?)<br />
<br />
“They still occupy Sheba Farms” (I’m sorry, but the United Nations certified that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was complete. Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt has stated Lebanon has no valid claim to the Sheba farms area – It’s Syrian)<br />
<br />
So pathetically wrong it is not even worth rebutting. I couldn’t get past the fourth paragraph.<br />
Also, a link to a page of quotes is hardly a "hard source" of anything besides a quote taken out of context and presented as fact without the accompanying information required to back it up.
Did Isreal plan the invasion?
Probably.
Every military I've ever heard of always plans for every possible contingency they can think of. It's only common sense that this scenario would also have been planned for so that if it should happen that they'd need to go into another country (which they apparently did) they'd have a framework and a plan to follow.
Having contingency plans for possible events DOES NOT by any means imply intent to follow through,it only shows only intent to have a plan in place should that possibility become an immenant event.
No doubt Syria, Jordan, and every other nation in the region, and no doubt the world, have similar plans drawn up by their respective militaries for dealing with numerous possible threats specific to their nation.
They'd be foolish if they did not.
That being the case, Israel is not doing anything out of the ordinary by having such plans should they be required.
---
"and the knowledge they fear is a weapon to be used against them"
"The Weapon" - Rush