Jul

31

Hard Men

July 31, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Hizbullah prides itself on its secretiveness and discipline. “We don’t take anyone who knocks at our door and says ‘I want to join’. We raise our fighters. We take them when they are young kids and raise them to become Hizbullah fighters. Every fighter we have believes that the ultimate form of being is martyrdom.” […]

Jul

31

Photo-op

July 31, 2006 | 3 Comments

The IDF is now saying that almost eight hours elapsed between their attack and the collapse of the building at Qana in which so many children died. This much is probably verifiable, at least with accounts from witnesses. So what happened? People stayed inside a building that was not structurally sound, and died when it […]

Jul

31

Info War

July 31, 2006 | 4 Comments

The tragedy of the deaths of the child shields used by Hezbollah at Qana was entirely foreseeable. The Israelis told the civilians to leave. It appears that they didn’t. Were they held involuntarily? We don’t know. We do know that it took the abulances six hours to get to the injured and when they did […]

Jul

29

Yeah, Right

July 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced agreement today to seek a United Nations resolution next week that would send a multinational force to southern Lebanon and end hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Blair at the White House, Bush said he is sending Secretary […]

Jul

29

Bright Lights at the UN

July 29, 2006 | 1 Comment

The United Nations, meanwhile, announced that it has moved some of its observers in south Lebanon to safer positions following an Israeli airstrike Tuesday that killed four unarmed observers from the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) at a post in Khiyam, located in the eastern border region. Earlier, a U.N. peacekeeper was wounded by Hezbollah […]

Jul

28

A Hezbollah hero’s a good thing to be

July 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Many Christians from Ramesh and Ain Ebel considered Hezbollah’s fighting methods as much of an outrage as the Israeli strikes. Mr. Amar said Hezbollah fighters in groups of two and three had come into Ain Ebel, less than a mile from Bint Jbail, where most of the fighting has occurred. They were using it as […]

Jul

28

Free speech?

July 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Occam’s Carbuncle has a good story, well told, about phoning in a complaint about a bit of anti-Israeli agitprop hung from a public bridge. Go read it…
The point being that the dummy he phoned could not quite figure out how this freedom of speech thing works in relation to public property. And what, exactly, […]

Jul

28

Amartya Sen on How not be be multicultural

July 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Sen is particularly critical of the ways in which communitarian notions of identity have found their way into social policy, especially through the ideas of multiculturalism, and in so doing have diminished the scope for individual freedom. “I am not opposed to multiculturalism,” he says. “But I am opposed to the way it has been […]

Jul

28

General’s Comment

July 28, 2006 | 3 Comments

I have served in another mission where one side constantly set up its weapon systems, including mortars, in and around hospitals, medical clinics, mosques and, yes, UN positions, knowing full well that, when it engaged its enemies and received return fire, it would make for compelling TV as the networks covered the civilian carnage. (When […]

Jul

28

Commenting issues

July 28, 2006 | 3 Comments

James Bow and Alan McLeod (each, no doubt itching to heap praise upon my insight and agree with every word I’ve written) write to inform me that there is something wrong with my comments…They seem to work for me but I’m checking it now.

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