Hizbullah declares victory

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Hizbullah did not wait for the official UN Security Council announcement on a ceasefire and launched its own media campaign declaring it had 'won the war against Israel.'

In the latest video aired on Al-Manar TV the terror group says it “defeated the invincible army” and “July-August 2006: Legend shattered.”

[...]

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is preparing for war’s conclusion; Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabi Berri to discuss the deployment of the army in the south. Some reports said a Hizbullah member also took part in the meeting, but Berri’s associates denied the reports.

[...]

It appears that Lebanon will agree to the compromise offer according to which the IDF will gradually pull out of the country.

Last Wednesday Nasrallah said in his speech that Hizbullah supported a decision by the Lebanese government, which includes a Hizbullah minister, to deploy 15,000 troops to the border if that would bolster Lebanon's calls for the resolution to include a demand for Israel's immediate withdrawal from the south.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289572,00.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

And now that things have turned out the way they have, Olmert is under siege.... Clearly, no one likes a loser.

Olmert faces backlash over Lebanon war

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced a backlash on Friday over a U.N. proposal to end the war in Lebanon, with army officers saying they were held back and right-wing rivals calling for new elections.

"Olmert must go," read a front page headline in Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper.

[...]

Leading members of the right-wing opposition Likud party called the resolution a victory for Hizbollah.

"We will work to bring down the government," said Likud's Silvan Shalom. Yuval Steinitz, also of Likud, said the Israeli government should resign and call new elections.

Some Israeli military commanders said an expanded ground offensive, authorized by Olmert and his security cabinet on Wednesday, should not have been put on hold.

They accused Olmert of denying the army a chance to gain more ground militarily to secure a ceasefire that would be more favorable to Israel and less so to Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Army officers said Israeli troops massed along the Lebanese border were now "sitting ducks" while Israeli political leaders awaited the outcome of the negotiations at the United Nations.

"We need to keep on going with the military operation," one officer said. He did not want to be identified.

Another officer told Haaretz: "Nasrallah will continue to mock us, and in the end there will be another war."

IDF sources blame wishy-washy Israeli politicians for Hizballah victory

The only way to hurt Hizbullah, a high-ranking officer in the Northern Command said, was to use the military. "Diplomatic processes will not achieve the right effect," he said, acknowledging that the incursion up to the Litani was not to be. "The key is the military operation. That is the only way to stop Hizbullah."

But the political echelon thinks differently, and from the first day of this war the politicians, senior officers said, held the IDF back from escalating its offensive and hitting Hizbullah hard. First it was the massive air campaign. Then came the limited, pinpoint ground raids. Only when all that failed did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet approve a large-scale incursion into Lebanon and the re-creation of the security zone.

This wishy-washy decision-making process cost the IDF lives, according to one senior officer. "A military force always needs to be on the offensive, pushing forward and keeping the enemy on its toes," he said. "When you sit still for too long, you turn into a target and you begin to get hit again and again."

Edited August 11, 2006 by Gupt

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Olmert and Peretz' war was a colossal mistake from the get-go, on so many levels. They may lose their jobs over this. There was a great column by Gideon Levy called "The Night of the Long Knives," predicting exactly what is happening now in Israeli politics as the war comes to a close. I will dig it up.

Over the last quarter century, Israel -- with the most modern and powerful army in the region, armed with the best that American taxpayer money can buy -- has been waging war on the two weakest, least-armed populations in the Middle East: the Palestinians and the Lebanese. And the Mighty IDF has again failed to win a victory.

[incanada1234 0]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

[incanada1234 0]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

You're sad about dead Israelis?

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

You're sad about dead Israelis?

I'm sad for all the innocents who lost their lives. Why wouldn't I be ?

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

yes, who indeed could be happy.....

[mawilson 2,133]

And the Mighty IDF has again failed to win a victory.

It's not over yet. It's over when Israel says it's over -- UN resolutions aren't worth a #######

as far as Israel is concerned. They can still occupy southern Lebanon, divert the Litani

and live happily ever after.

[Jenn! 918]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

You're sad about dead Israelis?

I'm sad for all the innocents who lost their lives. Why wouldn't I be ?

Your compassion for the "other side" makes those who lack compassion for Muslims feel badly about themselves.

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

You're sad about dead Israelis?

I'm sad for all the innocents who lost their lives. Why wouldn't I be ?

Your compassion for the "other side" makes those who lack compassion for Muslims feel badly about themselves.

more like it's shocking........

[Jenn! 918]

This should make you happy, WOM (and veiled princess of course).

How could anyone be happy about such a massive and totally needless waste of human life and such wanton destruction ?

You're sad about dead Israelis?

I'm sad for all the innocents who lost their lives. Why wouldn't I be ?

Your compassion for the "other side" makes those who lack compassion for Muslims feel badly about themselves.

more like it's shocking........

It's not shocking to me.

[rclouse 0]

Over the last quarter century, Israel -- with the most modern and powerful army in the region, armed with the best that American taxpayer money can buy -- has been waging war on the two weakest, least-armed populations in the Middle East: the Palestinians and the Lebanese. And the Mighty IDF has again failed to win a victory.

Perhaps they wage war on the two weakest populations because those two populations are the only ones making attacks on Israel?

Nah, couldn't be.

[MandR 0]

Over the last quarter century, Israel -- with the most modern and powerful army in the region, armed with the best that American taxpayer money can buy -- has been waging war on the two weakest, least-armed populations in the Middle East: the Palestinians and the Lebanese. And the Mighty IDF has again failed to win a victory.

HUH........ Failed.......... Don't think so.......................

True, the airpower has not done what they tought it would do

IDF has not put in half of what they could in ground forces. Lets see if full ground forces went it what would happen....... Hopefully it won't come to that and a cease fire agreement comes about this weekend......

And again I say Hezbollah needs to stop hiding amoungst civilains like cowards. Get out and fight like the big boys

Edited August 11, 2006 by MandR

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

And again I say Hezbollah needs to stop hiding amoungst civilains like cowards. Get out and fight like the big boys

In general, when faced with a superior conventional military force, you don't do things that will result in sure defeat. Coming out in the open will result in sure defeat for Hizballah. They are fighting the only way they can win.