I for one sure am glad that the Israel/Hezbollah war is over

[madokie]

way too much in-fighting going on here at du to suit me. And I fully expect to be flamed for this comment, so be it.

[ananda]

1. That's why I'm liberal..

.. free speech....

.. right to dissent....

.. open debate and disagreement....

[Virginia Dare]

2. I for one don't think it's over....

not the war and not the infighting. ;)

[FlavaKreemSnak]

7. I don't think it is over either

Everybody is saying that Hezbollah won but it doesn't look to me like they won, and how could they or anybody win against Israel?

I think either Israel decided it was losing more soldiers and more tanks than it wanted to so they decided to take a break and do a new strategy, which they can afford to do, because they are the ones who are occupying. They are there.

Or it was planned to do it this way and we (America) still has the next part of the plan up our sleeve. I just don't believe that either we or Israel really think, oh they can destroy tanks so they won! Because it is Lebanon that is all destroyed, not Israel, plus Israel is in Lebanon occupying it.

So they are just sitting there for now, letting Nasrullah make these speeches and all these people are talking about it is such a great victory for Hezbollah and has changed the balance forever.

OK so if that is true how come Hezbollah is not running the Israelis back home? Because if you read that UN resolution it doesn't really spell out what that international force is going to be doing. But if I was Hezbollah I would not be thinking oh cool an international force is going to come run the Israelis off and keep them from bothering us any more. Because we do not want Hezbollah to have any weapons and we do not want them in Lebanon's government, and yesterday we said we would give the army of the pro-American Lebanon leaders money to fight Hezbollah!

Anyway I think it is so not over and saying Hezbollah one is something more for psychological purposes because you don't really win if the other side is occupying you.

[madokie]

12. or could it just be that hezbollah is now accepted by more as a

legitimate organization as far as terrorist groups are concerned that maybe that is the 'win':shrug:

[FlavaKreemSnak]

18. But they are not accepted by America or Israel

It doesn't matter if they are accepted by Lebanon or other Arab countries. All that will happen is we will have to give the pro-American leaders of those countries some more funds so they can tighten up their crackdowns.

[Solo_in_MD]

17. Concur

The ceasefire is holding in anticipation of the peacekeepers whose arrival keeps getting pushed back. That coupled with Hezbollah saying it will not disarm in compliance with the UN resolution means the lull is temporary.

[Junkdrawer]

3. I'm waiting to see if and when peace keepers arrive.

Glad the bombings have stopped.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. Yeah, I heard Skinner's been calling the UN constantly to get them here.

:D

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. What? You don't like these?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

13. It wasn't quite that bad.

There really was substantive disagreement, and good arguments on both sides, and the conclusion mattered. It wasn't as bad as some of the perrenial DU flame wars like liberals v moderates, which serve no useful purpose at all.

[bigbrother05]

6. Isn't it supposed to be a "big tent"?

Every time I hear that, can't help thinking 3-ring circus. Something for everyone, but the clowns still scare some folks.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Hey, the bigger the tent

the larger the circular firing squad.

[Igel]

9. Wait until the next one.

Then we can sit around and fight about that particular skirmish, and how/whether/if/to-what-extent it's an immoral/appropriate/inevitable/moral/amoral/planned continuation/repudation/denial/extension/consequence of this one.

[treestar]

10. Oh relax

Every internet board has disagreement. If it didn't it would be boring. No one would learn anything, either.

[Philosoraptor]

11. Good one.

It's what you call a cease fire, it won't last long.

But I too wish we didn't even have to fool with it.

[Texasgal]

14. Do you really think it's over?

I doubt it's over and I doubt that this "cease-fire" will last.

[madokie]

15. No, I am sure it's not and won't

it just gets so heated here sometimes thats all

[MamaBear]

16. It's not over.

It (Israel's ongoing skirmishes) will never be over because, basically, too many people want it to continue; so one border will settle down while another flares.

The way to peace isn't easy; in fact, war is seemingly the quickest, most efficient way to solve a conflict, because at some point consensus is reached that one party is defeated and the other one is not. The defeated party admits defeat to avoid total annihilation and the world moves on.

To make peace without having to go through the horror of war, everybody's needs and desires must be addressed. Not everybody's needs and desires will be fulfilled, certainly, but all parties must be satisfied that they've had their day in court.

In the Middle East, in the beginning of the 21st Century, nobody is willing to do that, so the wars go on. I'm afraid that rule may now apply to Iraq as well; hopefully, the people of Iraq will get a handle on their situation before it becomes too much worse.

Sooner or later, I keep telling myself, enough people will say "enough" and the work of peace can begin.

I guess that would apply to discussion board participants, as well. :)