But whether you agree or not, let’s be clear that Hizbullah DID start the 2006 war. They launched a simultaneous attack on the Israeli soldiers and on a nearby civilian town to create a diversion. This was an unprovoked attack and it was definitely launched by Hizbullah. Nasrallah just wasn’t expecting to be attacked with large forces and the type of military campaign launched by Israel.

Wars cause losses to both sides, but Israel cannot afford to lose a single war. Remember that when you consider what drives the Israelis. They cannot afford to lose even one war.

I agree with you that no one is evil. Israel has done some tremendous mistakes over the years (the first Lebanon war was one of the biggest and dragging the feets for 25 years until agreed to negotiate with the Palestinians is another), on the other hand some progress was made during the 90s and it seems that all that just went away by now (I have seen it from a close range not through the media and believe me that the Palestinians had a lot to lose back in the 90s, but nevertheless they decided to start their own independent war, as we in Israel know too well but never learn, it is easy to start a war but it is much harder to control the outcomes, so they have lost it all. The situation is tough and it seems that war is at the area door step. I agree with you that Israel military force is great, and justly so, otherwise Israel would not survive thus far. Let’s be honest that if Israel will lose a war it will be the last war it will participate in, on the other hand if Iran or other middle east country will lose a war, they will still exist. Israel most likely fight Iran since it has no other good choice. It is purely pragmatic; believe me that no one in Israel “hates” Iran. But if someone is threatening to destroy you and develop nuclear weapons it is wise not to wait to see if he is serious about it, by then it will be too late. As for Lebanon, I am sure that a lot of people there don’t want to fight or be involved in any war, but you guys seat in the same boat with Hezbollah and Hezbollah is Iran’s little army (if it is so little I wish someone in Lebanon would arise to fight it, but this is just false hopes.) I hope that after the next war this region will come down. At this point we should hold on tight and pray that we will all survive the bumps ahead.

The “people of Lebanon” interact with Israel through the efforts of Hizbullah and, previously, Fatah. They led and lead you by the nose to war, and you sit there afterwards and blame the Israelis. Seven eights of Beirut sat around in coffee shops in 2006 because Israel tried to attack the attackers, not the Lebanese. In the meantime, Hizbullah rained 4000 rockets randomly at Israeli cities and towns in the north of Israel. So you may not be stupid enough to kiss Israel’s ass, but you appear to be stupid enough to kiss the ass of Hizbullah or others who bring war upon you.

Hey, when you get tired of kissing those asses, why not move on to Syrian asses?

Oh wait, you’ve already done that.

Ben-David,
I just read in the Yedioth that there is no such thing and if someone signs such a paper on his/her own account the army would ignore it.

youtube video of murderer Olmert sset free

“And, as we’ve seen in Iraq, our government does not believe in negotiating for the release of our soldiers taken hostage by terrorists, even if that means those soldiers are slaughtered like farm animals. ”

SAY WHAT?

You are compared apples to orangutangs!

This sick piece of work and thief Olmert traded for 2 dead bodies. He was trying to save their lives. They were dead for over 2 years and this lefty thief Olmert who refuses to step down until he gives the Golan Heights away and allows Palestiniann descendents all 20 million of them back into Israel, this Olmert must be removed whether by military OR whatever means like the unsuccessful try at the airport.

WRONG!

Woe to the thieving Prime Minister for the left Olmert wh turned this racist child murderer loose!

Olmert will get his and soon!

But if by “isn’t it more punishment to not let him die easily”, you mean torturing him slowly so he dies a long and painfully excrutiating death, then I agree.

Sending him back in a box with his junk stuffed in his mouth would have sent a better message.

You’ve heard of General “Blackjack” Pershing and how he defeated the Islamic Moro insurgency in the Phillipines, haven’t you?

He captured a bunch of Moro fighters in a battle and executed all of them except one by firing squad with bullets that had been dipped in pig’s blood, then buried the bodies in a mass grave filled with pig carcasses. This prevented the dead Moro from entering “Paradise”. He sent the the survivor back to tell his buds what they could expect.

The result?

No more rebellion.

1) It was not always like this. The pressure for this deal came largely from a sensation-seeking press pushing the subject in the public’s face, and giving the families inordinate influence over policy decisions.

Previously, these situations were not exploited in this way, and there were no emotional appeals to use “any means necessary”.

This is part of a general weakening of the Israeli civic spirit.

2) It still is not all like this. The real heroes of this whole episode are the soldiers and officers who signed the declaration requesting no such interventions if they are captured.

Many of the reservists you mention see quite clearly that this game encourages further kidnappings, and endangers them.

Joshua,
you are ill-informed. The government declared the soldiers dead already, about 2 weeks before the deal. Yet in halacha it is impossible to declare someone dead before you are not absolutely sure of it. Also, the families of the abducted soldiers literally begged and pleaded to bring back whoever, whatever possible, as long there is the slightest chance to someone’s life, which price is too high? Face it. It is a no-win situation.

Ephraim,
there is no need to take words from the dictionary of barbarians. For someone who came to die for his sick martyrdom, isn’t it more punishment to not let him die easily? And what does Nasrallah want with a druze terrorist anyway? He’s just another snake in the pit.

Olmert needs to go. The fact that the Cabinet agreed to this abject surrender means they need to go too. The whole Knesset needs to be hosed out, for that matter.

They came back in a box, Kuntar should have gone back in a box. As I said, he never should have been captured to begin with. He should have been shot down like the rabid dog he is.

Pretty easy to be a “martyr” when you know that the stupid fucking Jews are going to capture you, put you in prison, and then release you later. Such a deal.

We’re our own worst enemies.