--- Miguel Braganza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Some time back the Hizbollah in Lebanon kidnapped > two Israeli soldiers. The Israeli government set > its military might against the Hizbollah and > Lebanon. It killed thousands of innocent Lebanese > civilians, destroyed towns and residential houses > and lost a 168 soldiers of its own in the effort to > find the two soldiers. Does it make sense to lose > 168 persons in search of two? Does it make sense > to kill thousands of unconnected persons to find > just two persons? To the Israeli Prime Minister, it > does. It makes sense even when they did not find > the two soldiers for whom they were supposed to be > searching for. As long as one does not get killed in > the process, the death of anyone else makes sense. > It is for this reason that Mark Twain once > wrote, "Man is the only animal that blushes or needs > to." Such is our vanity and stupidity. > > The cause of action and the action need to have some > proportion. It is a matter of scale. > Mario observes: > Miguel, perhaps it is you who needs to keep Mark Twain's admonition in mind at all times, to avoid using inappropriate examples to make possibly appropriate points:-)) > Perhaps you are unaware that it is Hezbollah, along with Hamas, Syria and Iran, that have not only publicly stated as their goal the ELIMINATION of Israel, but have failed not for any lack of trying since 1948 along with several other Arab states that have since given up after repeatedly having their behinds kicked. > Perhaps you are also unaware that Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 as part of a UN brokered "land for peace" deal called UN resolution 1701, which also required Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and prevent attacks on Israel from it's territory. > If several parties had not only threatened me with extinction but had repeatedly tried to do so, common sense would dictate that they had given up all expectations of any "proportional" response from my side. With this background, why would I even wait for their next lethal attack, as Israel did? I would feel free to attack them any time I felt the need to do so. > What "matter of scale" can you possibly be looking for from someone targeted for elimination? > Do you even know that the terrorists have demanded the release of thousands of their own people in return for the two soldiers? Obviously they do not share your sense of proportion or scale. > Secondly, when dealing with a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, who even Amnesty International has accused of hiding among and behind innocent civilians, how could someone like you know who was a terrorist and who was a civilian in the fog of battle? Did it even occur to you that every dead terrorist can immediately be transformed into a "civilian" depending who is doing the reporting. > Thirdly, you failed to make ANY mention above of the thousands of Katyusha rockets that were randomly fired at Israeli villages and towns before and during the conflict, targeting innocent Israeli civilians. I wonder why you left this out? > In the conflict you misrepresent with considerable bias, the Israelies were not simply trying to recover the two soldiers. They were trying to degrade or destroy Hezbollah's ability to continue to attack them. With the Lebanese and UN forces now in south Lebanon, they succeeded to some extent. > I guess, as long as one is writing from the safety of some distance from this conflict, and is not being targeted for extinction for some 58 years now, one can continue to pontificate and twist what is going on and make inappropriate moral equivalences about proportionate responses to one's hearts content. > However, since the terrorists have been active in India recently, I hope you or anyone you know are not in the vicinity the next time they decide to blow up some trains, or buses, or, God forbid, a church next time instead of a mosque. >
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