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Reader comment on item: Hold Damascus Responsible

Submitted by GF (India), Aug 4, 2006 at 11:32

...Mazel Tov, Israel!!!! The Israeli campaign against Hizbollah is a major blow to Islamic terrorist groups and their State sponsors in that region. This is the fourth anti-terror campaign launched by Israel following the ones in 1978, 1982 and 1996. The tiny Jewish state is single handedly fighting for democracy against a ruthless enemy that is barbaric and cowardly. Hizbollah (Party of God) is a largely Shiite militia backed by Iran and Syria. The goal of Hizbollah is the annihilation of the state of Israel. Hizbollah is responsible for the murder and killing of journalists, writers, UN peacekeepers and more than 200 marines in a massive explosion inside thier barracks in Beirut.
The spark for this conflict came with the killing of 8 Israeli soldiers and the abduction of 2 others by Hizbollah terrorists. These incidents happened inside Israel and with no provocation from the State of Israel.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had withdrawn from Lebanon in 2000 following a decision by the Ehud Barak Government to pursue peace with its Northern neighbor. This allowed Hizbollah 6 years to build up a terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon with Iranian and Syrian assistance. 1000s of Katyusha rockets and longer range missiles were shipped into southern lebanon, bunkers dug up, tunnels built, and guerillas trained in this so called period of peace. This latest campaign proves that peace with Islamic terrorism is like chasing a mirage. Islamic fundamentalism can never be tamed, appeased or controlled. Islamic Fundamentalism has to be found, hunted and destroyed.

The Military Campaign and its fallout
Israel quickly escalated the Military campaign by conducting air strikes against Hizbollah positions in Southern Lebanon. Hizbollah unleashed waves of terror attacks by launching 100s of Katyusha rockets into Northern Israel. All these rockets were aimed at civilian towns, villages and farms with the aim of killing civilians inside Israel.

Katyusha rockets can be fired easily and require little training. Hizbollah uses civilian facilities to store its rockets. It is estimated that most of these Katyushas are stored in homes and apartments of the Shiite population in S.Beirut, Tyre and the Shiite villages in S.Lebanon. This act makes these homes and apartments a necessary and correct target for Israeli strikes. This is the reason why Israel has to target homes and apartment blocks in Lebanon. It is not a desire to kill civilians but a necessity to dismantle the infrastructure for terror.

The Israeli campaign is a well planned and thought campaign with an aim to minimize the pain and suffering of non hizbollah supporters in Lebanon. Since a failed kidnapping of Israelis in 2005, the Israeli Military has been preparing for a possible invasion of Lebanon. Israeli ground intelligence, Special Operation forces and its Ofer satellites have been used in delivering Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) by F16 planes. Israeli has destroyed key infrastructure and bridges to prevent Hizbollah guerillas from escaping from S.Lebanon into Syria. It is estimated that more than 70% of the Hizbollah infrastructure has been successfully destroyed with air strikes.

It is imperative that Israel doesnt leave this campaign partly finished. Hizbollah over the last 6 years has acquired 1000s of Katyusha and also the longer ranger Fajr and Zalzel missiles from Iran. The Zalzel missiles are capable of targetting the Israeli Capital - Tel Aviv. With time, Hizbollah's capacities will only increase and not diminish.

Unfortunately this campaign has also resulted in the deaths of so-called civilians. These civilians - usually Shitte Muslims - have been active supporters of Hizbollah. As mentioned before their homes have been used by Hizbollah terrorists to store arms and ammunition. Hence the death of all Lebanese and Israeli civilians are solely the responsibility of Hizbollah.

Long term peace for Lebanon
Lebanon is a beautiful country and its non-islamic population are largely peaceful and enterprising. Unfortunately the funding of terrorist groups by Syria and Iran have turned that country into a place for civil strife and war. Very recently thousands of Lebanese had poured out into the streets of Beirut asking for Syrian troops to leave the country. Syria had thousands of troops in Lebanon and was believed to be behind the assasination of Rafik Hariri. The UN resoluion 1559 demanded that Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon and asked for the complete disarming of Hizbollah. Hizbollah has not complied with the UN resolution and continues to receive arms from Iran.

Lebanon has unfortunately become a pawn which is being used by Syria and Iran in a proxy war against Israel. Iranian Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Hizbollah guerillas and Iran spends close to 250 million dollars in funding and sutaining Hizbollah. Iran is using the current war as an attempt to divert international attention away from its nuclear program.
Needless to say peace and prosperity can be returned to Lebanon only if Hizbollah is destroyed. By doing this Israel is really fighting for the Lebanese people against the proxy armies of the terrorist states of Iran and LEbanon

Bush doctrine succeeds
The Bush administration has responded to this crisis in an admirable fashion. It has refused to ask for an immediate ceasefire. As Bush has repeatedly stated, any ceasefire is bound to be temporary without the dismantling of the Hizbollah terror infrastructure. Long term peace can only happen if Hizbollah is destroyed and Lebanon is liberated from being the terror depot for Iran and Syria.

Unfortunately the European community and past US administrations have been unable to grasp this doctrine. Heavy diplomatic pressure was usually brought upon Israel to stop any military campaign. This might have resulted in a temporary peace but the peace usually ended with terrorism raising its ugly head again. It is the personal credit of George W Bush that the world community and the UN are being forced to take a firm stand against terrorism.

This will also lead to inevitable strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. If anything this shows that Iran is an active backer of islamic terror and should be firmly dealt with. Both America and Israel have the ability and now the reason to take out Iran's campaign to make weapons of mass destruction. A terrorist state like Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons.

Leftist propaganda campaign against Israel
As usual the Leftists have jumped to the difference of their allies - the Islamic fundamentalists. The Leftist medias have castigated Israel accusing it of disproportionate response and causing civilian deaths.

These accusations are wrong. First of all the leftists define disproportionate response by pointing to nearly 8 Lebanese killed for every Israeli. This is laughable. Should Israeli citizens allow themselves to be killed to satifsy leftist nut cases? Israel has lower deaths becauses its towns and homes have been designed with undergound shelters, bunkers and safety houses. This argument is sadistic at best.

The Israeli campaign has targetted civilian areas in S.Beirut. But these houses stopped being civilian when they started storring arms and ammunition for Hizbollah guerillas. While Israeli civilians have expressed a desire for peace, the savage backers of hizbollah have repeatedly called for more deaths.

The Leftist propaganda against Israeli is sadistic and goebellisian. It ignores the fact that Hizbollah started the war and is responsible for civilian deaths in Israel. While Israel is a democracy that grants full rights to its Arab Citizens, both, Hizbollah and Iran are aiming to create theocratic societies that will treat their non muslim population as worse than dirt. Many of these leftist intellectuals are best left ignored. Unfortunatley, Indian Communists like their counterparts elsewhere have been the biggest supporters of Islamic terror against the democratic state of Israel. While Islamic Militants have killed and raped innocent hindus, the Jewish people have only good will for the people of India. Israel helps Indian defence and 1000s of jewish tourists visit India to understand Indian culture and its people. The Leftists are essentially Anti-Semitic and their stance against Israel is a reflection of their hatred against Jews.

Finally I hope all of you will join me in wishing the real friends of India, the Israeli People, Good Luck and Congratulations !!! Mazel Tov, Israel!!!!

Raise your glasses and drink to the inevitable victory of Israel over the beast of islamic terrorism.

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