Don't forget the Carnation Revolution! Dissolved the first and longest-lasting colonial empire on the planet, and only four people died (killed by PIDE). Truly a fascinating case, check out the film Capitaes de Abril (April Captains), it's good.

Posted at August 3, 2006 7:28 AM in response to Violence and Insurgency

Tell me, in what context does the forcible relocation of 500,000 civilians constitute self-defense? Seriously, I would love to hear you defend this in any context. I don't need a "lawyer that work in that area on NPR" to tell me that that's wrong. Sorry if I'm not willing to abandon my critical faculties to the biased coverage in the US (and really, this is a no-brainer anyway). Regardless, Israel is now targeting Lebanese television stations with no relation to Hezbollah, so the coverage out of Lebanon will likely get even more one-sided.

And if we're going by expert assessments, I'll take Kofi Annan over "lawyer that work in that area" any day:

"Israel's disproportionate use of force and collective punishment must stop." -UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 26 July 2006

Posted at July 22, 2006 2:43 PM in response to The Trucker Threat

It's stupid glib answers like Transhumans that make people ask questions of why is Israel being blamed for Hezbulla terrorism and have folks rooting for Israel even if it means many innocent civilians are hurt or killed.

Posted at July 22, 2006 2:32 PM in response to The Trucker Threat

You're right, there were rockets and mortars fired at Shelomi when the Israel soldiers were attacked (five civilians injured). I still think the bombing of the International airport constitutes an unnecessary escalation, as does the rest of Israel's conduct.

Posted at July 22, 2006 2:21 PM in response to The Trucker Threat

Check the rest of this thread or any other thread about the current conflict. There's lots they can do, but the main is DON'T BOMB AREAS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HEZBOLLAH.

Remember, Hezbollah hadn't fired any rockets at Israel until AFTER Israel had started indiscriminately bombing Lebanon. Israel's initial bombing was the first undue and ineffective escalation.

Even if it was necessary for Israel to bomb Hezbollah, Israel should have at least confined the bombing to the south of Lebanon, which is where the rockets are being fired from.

Oh yeah, and Israeli leadership has admitted that the bombing campaign has little chance of either freeing the Israeli soldiers or destroying Hezbollah. So explain again to me how it's about self-defense? The Israeli campaign is a callous political move by a weak government being run by the military.

If you can think of any way to defend the targeted bombing of a Lebanese army barracks in which 11 soliders died, I'd like to hear it. Keep in mind that Israel claims that 1) it's not attacking Lebanon, but Hezbollah, and 2) it wants the Lebanese army to come south to engage Hezbollah. Oh, also, the unit bombed wasn't even a combat unit.

Posted at July 21, 2006 5:03 PM in response to The Trucker Threat

Really strange logic. We did it, so it must be bad.

Actually no. Actually during the Gulf War we pretty much paid attention to all those ugly treaties we like to ignore right now.

Posted at July 21, 2006 8:42 AM in response to The Trucker Threat

I think you missed the point - by "remove the reason" he means Israel should attempt to address the humanitarian crisis within its own country and try to get along with its neighbors better.

It's stupid answers like yours that leave me in my perverse moments cheering Israel on uncritically.

Posted at July 21, 2006 8:32 AM in response to The Trucker Threat

Israel's response goes far beyond "self-defense." Dan Halutz specifically threatened to "turn Lebanon's clock back twenty years." Bombing population centers with no relation to Hezbollah is not self-defense. Bombing a Lebanese army barracks and killing eleven Lebanese soldiers is not self-defense, particularly not when Israel claims that it's not attacking Lebanon (they're attacking Hezbollah), and that they want the Lebanese army to come south and engage Hezbollah. Forcing the mass migration of hundreds of thousands is not self-defense (it's a form of genocide).

Posted at July 21, 2006 8:27 AM in response to The Trucker Threat

I think you need to keep in mind that Hezbollah didn't start bombing Israel until AFTER Israel had started more or less indiscriminately. This is an outrage.

Nonetheless, even if extensive (though ineffective) bombing of Hezbollah-controlled territory were warranted by the taking of two Israeli soldiers, there is no need to bomb all of Lebanon indiscriminately.

Therefore, to prevent the missles falling on Israeli cities I would suggest:
1)don't go completely overboard when two of your soldiers are kidnapped
2)when you do go overboard and bomb everything in sight, try to keep it confined to the south of the nation, Hezbollah's main base of operation and the source of the real threat to Israel. Also, it would be a good idea not to completely destroy the infrastructure of the entire nation. It would also be good to attempt to differentiate between civilians and combatants, so you wouldn't have to urge civilians in the south to get the hell out, which is both an admission that Israel is doing little to protect civilians and forced migration, which is also a form of genocide.

As I've noted elsewhere, the height of Israel's hypocrisy is evident in the recent attacks on a Lebanese army barracks. Israel claims that it is not making war on Lebanon, but on Hezbollah. Israel has stated that one of its conditions for a cessation of bombing is for the Lebanese army to engage Hezbollah. Why then would Israel deliberately target a Lebanese army barracks, who they say they aren't attacking and who they supposedly want to engage Hezbollah? Eleven Lebanese soldiers died.

http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060718-052333-8797r

Posted at July 20, 2006 4:53 PM in response to The Trucker Threat

Yeah, and I've long argued that what the US and Israel must do before conducting any military operations is to check out the Geneva Conventions. I've also long argued that it's the media's responsibility to investigate and document war crimes. Nice attempt at snark, though.

Posted at July 20, 2006 11:56 AM in response to The Trucker Threat