The Latest From Israel

I apologize for not checking in yesterday but I worked a double….overtime baby.

Anyways, I figured I would update some of my readers on the Israeli front of the War on Terror, as much to get myself up to date as to you all. 

Israel is fast approaching the time when it will be prepared to invade Lebanon with ground troops.  They have already announced it, which seems quite ludicrous to me but they want to appease the UN I suppose, and are quickly calling up the reserves.

Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. Israel's army chief of staff said the army will conduct limited ground operations in Lebanon, if necessary

An Israeli envoy said it will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.

[…]After 10 days of the heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in 24 years, Israel appears to have decided that a large-scale incursion is the only way to push Hezbollah back.

The Israeli ground forces massed on the border were preparing for a limited incursion in the near future, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

As sunset approached, long lines of tanks, troops, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers lined up on a two-lane highway in northern Israel. In one area, the soldiers were close enough to see Lebanese villages and homes.

Israel depends on those reserves to bolster their army and calling them up takes time.  We now see why they have bombarded Hezbollah continuously for many days, many reports suggest Hezbollah's effectiveness has been cut in half.  With Hezbollah weakened the Israeli's will create a buffer zone to keep Israel protected:

Top Israeli officials met Thursday night to decide how big a force to send in, according to senior military officials. They said Israel won't stop its offensive until Hezbollah is forced behind the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border _ creating a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence since 1982. 

The calls for a cease fire are coming from many voices.  As Bolton said a few days ago, how in the world can you have a cease fire with a terrorist organization.  They are not a sovereign state, just a group of blood thirsty murderers.  Expect more and more calls for a cease fire such as Kofi's call yesterday which was rejected by Hezbollah today:

Hezbollah on Friday rejected a plan by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for an immediate ceasefire, the release of two Israeli soldiers held by the Shiite group and the group's disarmament. Hezbollah described Annan's proposal as "unacceptable" in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Adnkronos International (AKI) in Beirut. "Our leadership calls for an unconditional ceasefire and the start of negotiation on the exchange of prisoners," the statement added.

Annan announced his plan on Thursday afternoon in an address to the UN Security Council and also called for the deployment of regular Lebanese army troops in southern Lebanon to replace Hezbollah guerrillas stationed there.

Observers noted the unlikelihood of Hezbollah accepting the plan given that if it complied the group would have to relinquish control of its southern Lebanese stronghold on which it bases much of its political and military power in Lebanon.

I do not believe this will last tho.  Once Hezbollah realized they are getting their butts kicked they will do as everyone of Israel's enemies has done in the past, call for a cease fire.  That is what happened in 1967 where the calls came from day one and in 73 when the Arabs realized they were losing.  They will lose this time once again and hopefully Israel doesn't buckle under.  Israel needs to clear Hezbollah out once and for all.  

I mean look at what Israel has learned since the Border War started nine days ago

What the Israeli military has learned since the Lebanese border war began nine days ago is that Hezbollah managed to secretly build a network of underground tunnels and bunkers to house a vast artillery arsenal.

In the six years since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, it has learned that Hezbollah was collecting a huge number of Katyusha rockets and Iranian-made missiles shipped from Syria.

Meanwhile Iran is stating that they have sent suicide bombers to help Hezbollah

A spokesman for an Iranian militant group which claims to have 55,000 would-be suicide bombers among its members said on Thursday that 27 of its men have joined Hezbollah militias in Lebanon to fight against Israel. "The first two groups of esteshhadioun (volunteers of martyrdom) have already reached Lebanon," Mohammad Ali Samadi told Adnkronos International (AKI). Speaking on the phone from the organization's headquarters in Tehran, Samadi said the militants reached Lebanon through Syria.

The spokesman for the Headquarters for the Glory of Martyrs of the International Movement said its militants in Lebanon were "27 people selected from the 55,000 members who spoke fluent Arabic and have received adequate training to fight beside their Lebanese brothers against the Zionist enemy."

The spokesman however said the militants would not engage in combat but would "identify Zionist targets and then attack them with actions of martyrdom."

Of course the MSM and the left are not letting us down.  They have closed ranks behind the terrorists and proclaim Israel has the evil ones:

You could sense the hurt and anger as Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pleaded this week to the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Beirut for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets. "The country has been torn to shreds," he said. "I hope you will not let us down." 

What a pathetic joke.  The hurt and anger?  Hoping the world will not let THEM down?

Lebanon has let the world down for many years, they have failed to abide by UN Resolution 1559, they have failed the world by not reigning in the terrorists.  They have let us down and now they want the world to help them when Israel states they have had enough?  

Of course the writer of that article from the WaPo believes we need to help the poor widdle Lebanese

The challenge for the Bush administration as the Lebanon war explodes into its second week is just that — to keep faith with Siniora and his Cedar Revolution, even as it stands by its close ally Israel. This isn't simply a question of appearances and public diplomacy. Unless Siniora's government can be strengthened, there is little hope for achieving the U.S. and Israeli goal of bringing Hezbollah's guerrillas under lasting control.

"America's role is to energize a political outcome that helps to satisfy Israeli military objectives by other means," says one administration official. The problem is that the American diplomatic timetable is so slow that by the time a cease-fire is reached — more than a week off, by U.S. estimates — Lebanon may be too broken to be put back together anytime soon.

[…]Siniora has privately warned the Bush administration that by bombing so many targets in Lebanon, Israel is undermining its own strategic goals. Lebanese are angry with Hezbollah for starting the war by kidnapping Israeli soldiers, and most want to see the militia under government control. But Siniora has asked why the Israelis are hitting Lebanese airports, ports, roads, villages and other targets that primarily affect civilians. And he has criticized attacks on the Lebanese army, which even the Israelis say is the key to long-run stability and security.

What a huge ignorance of warfare this one statement displays.  Of course you hit airports, roads, ports, etc.  because this degrades the ability of the enemy to conduct offensive actions against Israel.  What do they expect Israel to do?  Sometimes I want to just reach through the screen and slap these MSM writers up the head. 

In other news the Hamas organization has apparently lost control of its terrorists when it decided to go political

Despite its links to the Palestinian government, Palestinian and Israeli analysts say, the Qassam Brigades does not take orders from the governing leaders of Hamas. This is why, according to many accounts, the Hamas-led government itself was surprised by the Qassam Brigades' attack against the Israeli military post in June.

"They lost their position as leaders of Hamas when they joined the government," said Abu Muhammad, a Qassam Brigades field commander in Jabaliya. "New leaders were named in the movement, and they are more senior than the government leaders, even Haniya," he said, referring to the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya.

Giora Eiland, a former director of Israel's national security council and a retired major general who led an investigation into the June 25 raid, agreed. "Recently there was the illusion that Hamas, while not a perfect partner, was at least a group that could implement decisions," he said. "But it has become apparent that the political leadership of Hamas is much less influential than Khaled Meshal and leaders of the military wing." Mr. Meshal is the chairman of Hamas's political bureau and lives in exile in Damascus, Syria.

The Qassam Brigades is the Palestinians' largest and best organized militant group but it is not the only militia operating in the area under Palestinian control. At least six other armed groups field soldiers to fight Israel or, when there are no Israelis to fight – as was the case for nine months after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year – to fight among themselves.

The current crisis seems to have pushed the militias to join ranks. Several of the militia members said the groups organized a "joint operations room" when Israel began threatening to invade Gaza two or three weeks ago. By all accounts the operations room is more virtual than real, but spokesmen for three of the groups insisted that senior political and military leaders of the seven militias now communicated regularly to plan actions.

But hey, the MSM and the leftist continue to call for negotiations from Israel.  The question is, with whom should they negotiate with.  Israel understands that the Palestinian government is nothing but a bunch of empty suits.  There is no one who can control Hamas and Hezbollah, they are terrorists, something the left doesn't seem to understand or care about.  They live to create terror.  Appeasement and negotiations will not work.

The only ones who may be able to control these groups are Iran and Syria.  What do you think the odds are that they come in to help find peace?

Last but not least in this update is the beautiful words from the Israeli ambassador to the UN:

Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman speaking to reporters today: "We have the US behind us because we are right, because we are just, because we are moral and because we are a democracy. Hamas and Hezbollah have Iran and Syria behind them because they are terror organizations."

That one sentence spells out the entire conflict.  Israel has been in a War against Terror for decades while the US has merely appeased the terrorists during that time while sending a few rockets here and there.  Since we have had the good fortune to have a man like George Bush as our Commander in Chief when 9/11 happened we have since joined the fight.  This fight we must not lose…supporting Israel as they engage on this new/old front against terror is paramount.

Other's Blogging:

• Captain's Quarters
• Dr. Sanity
• Blue Crab Boulevard
• Decision '08
• The Donovan
• Discarded Lies
• Atlas Shrugs
• CounterColumn
• Hyscience
• Bookworm Room
• Gateway Pundit
• Hyscience
• Barking Moonbat Early Warning System

Israel has been in a War against Terror for decades while the US has merely appeased the terrorists during that time while sending a few rockets here and there. Since we have had the good fortune to have a man like George Bush as our Commander in Chief when 9/11 happened we have since joined the fight. This fight we must not lose…supporting Israel as they engage on this new/old front against terror is paramount.

Curt

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