The rockets red glare

Thoughts on Israel/Hezbollah war:

[*] A lot of people blame Israeli behavior in Lebanon on the kidnapping of two soldiers. Their reaction is "disproportionate" these people say. I sez Israeli behavior is more likely explained by the rockets Hezbollah started lobbing at Haifa. No country can allow a million of its citizens to live in bomb shelters without a heavy response.

[*] Israel is a democracy and their form of government isn't spreading throughout the region. I wonder if US planners thought of that when they invaded Iraq.

[*] Bombs are deployed with more haste than secretaries of state.

[*] I always recognize a foolish war in three ways:

1. Is it an aggressive war?
2. Do the politicians lie to their own people to get it on?
3. Is anybody talking about what comes after?

With regard to the current conflict in Lebanon I think Israel can answer No, No, and No scoring two out of three.

But, point three will mean the difference between another futile occupation and a focused rolling back of a hostile enemies capabilities. It can also tie in with the over-all effort if ordinary Lebanese believe Israel will help them rebuild and strengthen their official government.

[*] Western-style democracies ought to stand together but Israel makes it difficult with their really bad PR. Maybe they should join NATO if they want to receive our support in conflicts.


[*] The US made a half-assed attempt to help Lebanon get the Syrian influence out, but should have pressed hard to find out who killed Rafik Hariri, then followed up with carrots to the fledgling government. Rhetoric doesn't rebuild.

[*] God doesn't kill people. People kill people.

[*] Hezbollah is akin to an American militia arming itself and then deciding to fire rockets at Canada from the heart of downtown Detroit. Hezbollah wants to draw an Israeli response that will kill their own compatriots, then blame Israel for the deaths. Israel is happy to oblige if it means their own citizens suffer less for it and who can blame them.

[*] Because Israel has a right to defend itself that doesn't mean they have a free pass to inflict citizen casualties. They must uphold honor to uphold morale.

[*] Israel has a long tradition of fighting well and deserves more credit for it than they get. Hezbollah isn't dropping leaflets on Haifa to warn Israeli citizens of incoming missiles, but Israel is doing that for Lebanese just the same.

[*] I saw that the US just made a rather large arms sale to Saudi Arabia. That seems really stupid. I bet most of those weapons are used against US soldiers and Israeli soldiers.