Tension in the Middle East
Wednesday, 12. July 2006, 23:39:04
Rick Moran on the razor's edge in the Middle East:
Iran, of course, has its own agenda. If Syria feels some kind of military demonstration is in order (and as Lebanon’s protector, Assad may feel he absolutely must do something or lose credibility in that regard), Israel may feel compelled to respond to any attack or demonstration with a strike of their own. Escalation would be virtually automatic after that happens.
This doesn’t help Baby Assad in Syria. Relatively speaking, Iran is a long way away and it is doubtful that Syria’s larger but vastly inferior armed forces could stand up to Israel long enough for Iranian intervention to make a difference. But the Iranians may have other plans which could include missile strikes on Israel’s cities.
God help us if the Iranians are stupid enough to initiate a missile exchange. Could the IDF be absolutely sure that those missiles contained conventional warheads? Would they wait to find out or would Israel go with a “launch on warning” policy where they just assume that any missile launched from Iran contains WMD?
This is a serious point. Suppose Israel believes, as some US intelligence analysts do, that Iran already has a handful of operational nuclear-armed missiles. What is the rational response to an anticipated missile attack on your country? Iran will learn that there are responsibilities and limitations on its actions if it owns nukes.
DEBKAfile says the soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah were Druze, i.e., members of an off-shoot Muslim sect.
You might be wondering what Kofi Annan thinks (ha,ha,ha,ha...just joking there):
“I condemn without reservations the attack in southern Lebanon, and demand that Israeli troops be released immediately,” Annan said after a meeting in Rome with Premier Romano Prodi.
You know how to solve this problem?
In his presidential address to the Church of England’s ruling body, Dr Sentamu said it was not enough to rely on security services and laws alone. Instead the country needed to “out-imagine, out-plan and out-think” would-be bombers, he told the General Synod at York University.
This could be done by building an “inclusive circle of love”, he said.
Yeah, I'm sure I could mug him, screw his wife and still he would thank me.
On a serious note, I had a job offer a couple of months ago in Lebanon. I am pretty happy not to be there now. What happens to Western expats working in Lebanon, Syria and other borderline countries when conflicts break out? I am curious.
Update: Israel injured 2 Hamas leaders when they bombed a house where 8 Hamas leaders were reportedly meeting. The worst, Muhammad Deif, was an arch-terrorist and is believed to be having spinal surgery and may be paralyzed. The NYT spins this as a collateral damage story because you have to believe Hamas over those evil Israelis.
The NYT headline:
In Gaza, Right Target, but the Wrong People Die
The AP headline:
Hamas Leader Badly Hurt in Israeli Bombing
WIDGETIZE
max muller # 13. July 2006, 04:52
They spend 8 to 15 years with a blindfold under armed guard in Islamic neighborhoods in a hot stone house eating chapatis without any beer or coke or rum ... the lucky ones.
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I think the time has come. There is no choice.
It's us or them
Wipe em all out.
Bomb them all into the stone age.
Do it while we have the chance.
Someone said we didn't need nukes we could just carpet bomb them with conventional bombs... except we would need to obliterate mecca and a few places in Pakistan and North Korea.
Nuke them all, get Russia and India on board.
If any other country objects nuke them too.
Especially nuke France. We don't need there wine anymore, we got our own vineyards.
Wipe 'em all out, the good the bad the ugly
The innocent, the guilty.
We did that in Germany in WW2 population the armed forced were targeted
Sherman did that in the Civil war in his "March to the Sea" and burning Atlanta.
All wars are Total.
Al men are brothers...like Cain and Abel.
Nuke Mecca, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia , Pakistan, the mountains that Osama is hiding in, North Korea, Syria, Iran and Islamic part of Lebanon, the smaller Islamic fundie countries and maybe Jordan and a few African countries. Bomb the entire Palestinian people into extinction. Wipe out all Muslim terrorist harboring countries, and the 1984 Totalitarians reduce the population of the earth bytwo or three billion.
Watch out for the radiation clouds and which way the winds blows.
Take out Commie China also while we got the chance.
Bomb them so badly that they won't even have the capability to feed a camel let alone drop a nuke on tel Aviv or smuggle some into America and vaporize New York and Chicago,..
Does it sound extreme? A lot of people will wish it was done yesterday if they wake up one morning to find several American cities vaporised. It's gonna happen sooner or later as long as militant Islam has backing of major countries.
History will vindicate this view. One way or another.
max muller # 13. July 2006, 06:01
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2520000/2520055.stm
1991: Church envoy Waite freed in Beirut
Church envoy Terry Waite has been freed by the Islamic extremists who kidnapped him in Beirut in 1987.
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http://hometown.aol.co.uk/lismore1/lebanon.html
Americans Kidnapped in Lebanon 1985 - 1992
Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, director of Catholic Relief Services. Kidnapped January 1985. Freed in July 1986.
Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent of The Associated Press. Kidnapped March 16, 1985. Released in December 1991.
David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut. Kidnapped May 28, 1985. Freed November 1986.
Thomas Sutherland, agricultural dean at the American University of Beirut. Kidnapped June 9, 1985. Released November 1991.
TWA Flight 847 seized shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece. The hijackers held 39 American hostages and killed Petty Officer Robert Dean Stethem, dumping his body on the tarmac in Beirut. The hostages were released after 17 days.
Frank Reed, director of the Lebanon International School in Beirut. Kidnapped Sept. 9, 1986. Released April 1990.
Joseph Cicippio, acting controller of the American University of Beirut. Kidnapped Sept. 12, 1986. Released December 1991.
Edward Tracy, author. Kidnapped Oct. 21, 1986. Released August 1991.
Jesse Turner, visiting professor of mathematics and computer science at Beirut University College. Kidnapped Jan. 24, 1987. Freed October 1991.
Robert Polhill, assistant professor of business at Beirut University College. Kidnapped Jan. 24, 1987. Released April 1990.
Allann Steen, journalism professor at Beirut University College. Kidnapped Jan 24, 1987. Freed December 1991.
Charles Glass, a journalist on leave from ABC News. Kidnapped June 18, 1987. Escaped his captors August, 1988.
Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins, head of a U.N. observer group attached to the Interim Force in Lebanon. Kidnapped Feb. 27,1988. Killed by his captors July, 1989
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Anderson
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The Hostage Crisis
http://www.photius.com/countries/lebanon/national_security/lebanon_national_security_the_hostage_crisis.html
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Find a Grave
http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=pr&FSctf=206
Buckley, William Francis b. May 30, 1928 d. June 3, 1985
US Intellegence Official. He was the Central Intelligence Agency Station Chief in Lebanon. Taken hostage in 1984, he was tortured and murdered 1985. His remains were found in Beirut Lebanon on December 27, 1991. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War. (Bio by: Erik Lander)
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
Plot: Section 59, Lot 346
Higgins, Col. William R. b. January 15, 1945 d. July 6, 1990
Col. Higgins was taken hostage by terrorists in Lebanon on February 17, 1988. He was believed to be tortured and then murdered sometime during the next couple of years. He was declared dead on Jul 6, 1990. His remains were eventually returned to the U.S., and were interred in Quantico National Cemetery on December 30, 1991. The Navy has honored him by naming a new destroyer, the USS HIGGINS DDG 76, in his memory.
Quantico National Cemetery, Quantico, Prince William County, Virginia, USA
Plot: Section 23, Number 141
Jenco, Fr. Martin b. November 27, 1934 d. July 19, 1996
Father Martin Jenco was an ordained Roman Catholic priest in the order called "The Servants of Mary" (O.S.M.). He was an American hostage held in Beirut with others, including Terry Anderson, Rev. Ben Weir, and Thomas Sutherland. Father Jenco's 564 days in captivity, which started in 1985, are told in his book "Bound to Forgive" (Ave Maria Press, c1995). His release from captivity, along with many of his fellow hostages, was allegedly orchestrated by the Iran/Contra, arms-for-hostages affair.
Cause of death: Pancreatic cancer
Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Plot: Hill #7, go straight ahead after entering through the Wolf Road entrance.
Kilburn, Peter C. b. February 10, 1924 d. April 18, 1986
American librarian held hostage by Islamic extremists in Lebanon. Murdered on April 18, 1986. (Bio by: Erik Lander)
San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA
Plot: Section H Grave 52A
Polhill, Robert B. b. June 3, 1934 d. July 1, 1999
Educator, Hostage. A Professor of business studies at Lebanese American University, he was held hostage by Islamic militants from 1987 to 1990.
Unknown*
*Editor's note: Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you!
Steen, Virginia b. 1956 d. December 19, 2003
Freedom Fighter. Virginia Steen gained national attention as she fought for nearly five years to free her husband, Alann, who was one of four people taken hostage in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1987. She was honored by the Detroit News in 1992, as a Michiganian of the Year, and was honored by President George H.W. Bush for her actions. Born to John and Dorothy Rose, Virginia grew up in Jackson, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan where she earned a BA in Art History. She received her...[Read More]
Memorial Chapel Crematory, Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming, USA
6 records found
cbjohnso # 13. July 2006, 08:39
There are 3 broad options to democratizing the Middle East then:
1) bomb them all and let God sort them out
2) destroy the governments and armies, install a semi-permanent semi-colonial government to run the place and create a democratic government as the population develops the necessary skills
3) push regime change, wait for a semi-stable government to be elected, then leave. Shampoo, rinse, repeat as necessary.
I'm starting to understand the British imperialists. The British system worked in India, Singapore/Malaysia, the US, Canada, even with the convicts in Australia (just kiddin' guys, I love you, you know that). It didn't work so well in Egypt.
Max has chosen #1. Iran would like to choose #1, but against Israel and the West.
Pragmatists would pick #2.
America will always choose #3.
max muller # 13. July 2006, 10:29
"America will always choose #3."
Depends on whether we lose New York or not.
Anonymous # 2. August 2006, 07:38
I like the idea of nuking France. I'd start with them and let it be an example to the rest.
cbjohnso # 2. August 2006, 12:03