tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25914847.post115441057709555161..comments2023-10-26T21:09:50.993+11:00Comments on Bits and Books ...: about the warAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07915217718843420593noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25914847.post-1154627680412413452006-08-04T03:54:00.000+10:002006-08-04T03:54:00.000+10:00I agree with every word in Mr. Krauthammer's artic...I agree with every word in Mr. Krauthammer's article. Thank you for posting it here.<BR/><BR/>I am a librarian, a Israeli librarian, and I live in Haifa. We get bombarded everyday. Today has been the worst and too many innocent people were killed by the rockets of the Hizbullah. But we are strong and we will stay strong, despite the reactoins of many countries. <BR/>Europe did not recognize Hizbulla as a terrorist group. Maybe it will only do so after one of their citizens is hurt by this group. What I know is that if Israel continues to lessen Hizbulla's strength then there's less of a chance of any European country to be attacked by this terrorist group. So IO don't care what they say, I know we are right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25914847.post-1154515596625558892006-08-02T20:46:00.000+10:002006-08-02T20:46:00.000+10:00Put aside the "moral" aspects of the current confl...Put aside the "moral" aspects of the current conflict, take a deep breath, and ask yourself these questions about the likely consequences of the war:<BR/><BR/><B>Will Israel deliver a crushing defeat to Hizbollah in Lebanon?</B> <BR/><BR/><B>No.</B> Israel has paid dearly in blood and treasure in a futile attempt to defeat militias in Lebanon before. The previous campaign lasted 20 years, saw the birth of Hizbollah, and ended in a humiliating retreat for the IDF. <BR/><BR/><B>Does a failed state on Israel's northern border help its national security?</B><BR/> <BR/><B>No.</B> A country with up to 700000 displaced people, a crippled economy, a severely weaken government, and badly damaged infrastructure is a fertile breeding ground for exactly the kind of "enemy" Israel now faces. <BR/><BR/><B>If the IDF "loses" the war (and many argue that it already has, in a very real propaganda sense), how will the war be perceived by Israel's other Arab neighbors?</B><BR/><BR/>Surely if Israel achieves anything less than the complete destruction of Hizbollah (something it failed to do previously in 20 years of bloody conflict) it will only serve to elevate Hizbollah in the eyes of the Arab world; it will embolden those that might choose to take a pot shot; it will galvanize hatred and serve as justification for yet more military spending in the region.<BR/><BR/> So my unsolicited advice to you is to put away your moral compass, stop living in a fantasy world of right and wrong, of just and unjust, and simply assess the current actions by their likely consequences. <B>Are these consequences the best for the state of Israel?</B>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com