Originally posted by: splaz
I think Israel is out of line. They are far too heavy handed.
I may be wrong but it was my belief from what I've read that Hezbollah, kidnapped and killed handful of Israeli soldiers. Israel retaliated and then Hezbollah began a rocket attack.
Israel did not give Lebanon an opportunity to deal with Hezbollah.
Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners, but Israel state says the attack was an act of war and that it would not swap prisoners.
"You don't negotiate with terror organizations," Gideon Meir, senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, told Reuters.
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Let's say there was a terrorist organistation in your own country. How would you feel if that organisation provokes a foreign country and then that foreign country attacks yours and kills a large number of innocent people ?
Hezbollah does have a large involvementin Lebanon but that doesn't mean that Lebanon as a whole is involved. Israel feels that they are a terrorist organisation. So why haven't they dealt with them like they are one ?
They can't deal with a foreign country the same way they do with Palestine.
Also given that Hezbollah is tied up in Lebanon's government and does have public backing it is even more reason to not attack. Syria and Iran are sympathetic to Hezbollah. They risk dragging in other countries and an all out war in the middle east. It's just heavy handed actions with no thought of the consequences.
Also another thing is that it appears to me that Israel doesn't retaliate in proportion to what has transpired. I am saddened by the fact that Israeli soldiers were killed and kidnapped, yet that doesn't justify killing many more in retaliation. I read in the newspaper that an Israeli gunship attacked 2 cars filled with refugees. 18 dead civilians, 9 children included. Unacceptable. I'm not justifying it but in this case Hezbollah attacked and kidnapped soldiers, not civilians. I find that an important difference.
I by no means support what Hezbollah has done. However I feel that Israel as the dominant military force needs to take a greater responsiblity for it's actions and work on a peaceful solution to problems with it's neighbours rather than reverting to force.