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From: shaig@composer.think.com (Shai Guday)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: was:Go Hezbollah!
Date: 15 Apr 93 22:02:00
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
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Message-ID: <SHAIG.93Apr15220200@composer.think.com>
References: <1993Apr15.152455.14555@unocal.com>
	<Apr15.175334.72079@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>
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In-reply-to: bh437292@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu's message of Thu, 15 Apr 1993 17:53:34 GMT

In article <Apr15.175334.72079@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> bh437292@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu (Basil Hamdan) writes:
   [snip]
   In the first place the death of three soldiers on a patrol in occupied
   Lebanese terrritory is NOT an act of terrorism or murder.  It is 
   disingeneous to compare their death to that of athletes in Munich
   or any other act of terrorism or mrder.  This exercise is aimed 
   solely at diverting the issue and is far from the truth.

I agree that the death of three soldiers on a patrol etc... is
not terrorism.  That having been said, lets continue.

   [snip]
   imagine ????  It is NOT a "terrorist camp" as you and the Israelis like 
   to view the villages they are small communities with kids playing soccer
   in the streets, women preparing lunch, men playing cards, etc.....

I would not argue that all or even most of the villages are "terrorist
camps".  There are however some which come very close to serving that
purpose and that is not to say that other did not function in that way
prior to the invasion. 

   SOME young men, usually aged between 17 to 30 years are members of
   the Lebanese resistance.  Even the inhabitants of the village do not 
   know who these are, they are secretive about it, but most people often
   suspect who they are and what they are up to.  These young men are
   supported financially by Iran most of the time.  They sneak arms and
   ammunitions into the occupied zone where they set up booby traps
   for Israeli patrols.  Every time an Israeli soldier is killed or injured
   by these traps, Israel retalliates by indiscriminately bombing villages
   of their own choosing often killing only innocent civilians.  Once they
   are back they announce that they bombed a "terrorist  hideout" where
   an 8 year old girl just happened to be.

Some of the villages, and yours might well be among them, are as you
describe.  Not all are.  There are a large number of groups in the area,
backed by various organizations, with a wide range of purposes.  Hizbollah
and Amal were two of the larger ones and may still be.  As to retaliation,
while mistakes may be made, that is still a far cry from indiscriminate
bombing, which would have produced major casualties.

   Israel's retalliation policy is cold hearted, but a reality that
   we have come to accept and deal with, the Lebanese Resistance
   on the other hand is not going to stop its attacks on OCCUPYING 
   ISRAELI SOLDIERS until they withdraw, this is the only real 
   leverage that they have to force Israel to withdraw.

Well, here we disagree.  I think that Israel would willingly withdraw if
the Lebanese gov't was able to field a reliable force in the area to police
it and prevent further attacks.

   This is the only realistic solution, it is time for Israel to
   realize that the concept of a "buffer zone" aimed at protecting
   its northern cities has failed.  In fact it has caused much more
   Israeli deaths than the occasional shelling of Northern Israel
   would have resulted in.  

Actually that is not clear at all.  I will agree that the death toll is no
longer civilian and now primarily military though.

   There seems to be very little incentive for the Syrian and Lebanese
   goovernment to allow Hizbollah to bomb Israel proper under such 
   circumstances, and now the Lebanese government has proven that it is
   capable of controlling and disarming all militias as they did
   in all other parts of Lebanon.

No, the Syrian gov't is more than happy to have Israel sink into another
Lebanese morass.  I could elaborate if necessary.

   I agree, only in the case of the Isareli soldiers their killing
   CANNOT be qualified as murder, no matter what you say.

No, but it is regretable, as is the whole situation.

--
Shai Guday              | Stealth bombers,
OS Software Engineer    |
Thinking Machines Corp. |	the winged ninjas of the skies.
Cambridge, MA           |
