Reply #26: scrapes and bruises is one thing.

[Shaktimaan]

you killed my wife, remember? Which is what is going on in this case, it is not bruises we are discussing but lives. Hezbollah is killing people. For no reason at all I might add.

And they did not run and hide last summer, they continued sending rockets until the peace treaty took effect. So your analogy in no way describes what happened last summer.

Israel's demands were very simple. Return the soldiers and cease aggression. You see this as retribution but I fail to see why. It would not help them in any way. The Lebanese people are in no position to bounce Hezbollah, there is no reason to punish them. And it brings huge negatives in terms of public opinion which Israel is mindful of. They did not wantonly destroy anything unconnected to the mission. Only areas connected to Hezbollah were attacked. If civilian areas were hit it was because Hezbollah was firing rockets from rooms they had commandeered from within people's homes. Israel also took pains to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. Not maximize them as Hezbollah did. At any point the war could have been ended by Hezbollah merely by ceding to Israel's extremely reasonable demands. Had Hezbollah stopped and run away as you implied, then it would be different. Had they returned the soldier and Israel continued the attack you would have a point. But they absolutely did not.

Now, to follow your analogy, you are saying that a few bruises are nothing compared to a homeless family, right? Certainly Lebanon suffered more casualties than Israel did. So at what point does it become worth it? How many years would it take for Hezbollah to unilaterally attack Israel without cause/how many Israelis must be killed before Israel has the right to try and neutralize Hezbollah which we all know will cause untold numbers of casualties?

Because as I see it that is the sole way to neutralize Hezbollah. So unless you have a third suggestion that has not been tried the choice comes down to Israel weathering an undeserved war of attrition or allowing Israel to create havok in Lebanon in the process of ending those attacks for good. (Which would cause real havok. This past summer did not do much in the way of really hurting Hezbollah.) It is a very serious problem.

The question of what to do aside, it is still not reasonable to place the blame squarely on Israel for the damage done in Lebanon. Hezbollah's strategy is to place civilians in danger to use them as cover. While this places Israel in an awkward position it does not negate their need to defend themselves. And ultimately, defending oneself is not the practice of evening the score but of ending the aggressor's ability to harm you. Which I believe may be where your philosophy and mine part company on this subject.