Reply #36: Analogy? More like a fairy tale.

[caduceus111]

You want analogies...here's one for you.

You live in a house next to a large apartment building. Every once in a while, the neigbor in B12 tosses sticks of dynamite onto your property. When he's really annoyed, he pulls out his rifle and pops a family member of yours. The belligerent neigbor has a few supporters in the building, but the majority that live there can't stand the guy, but put up with him out of fear or weakness.

In "retaliation", you decide to lay seige the entire apartment complex, to punish not only Mr. Belligerent Neighbor, but also those residing in the building for not keeping your neighbor in check.

You barracade the main entrance to the apartment. Then you block all the fire exits. You cut the wires to the power entering the complex, and you break the water main. You kill the milkman and the pizza delivery guy that deliver goods to the apartment, and then bomb the local grocery store and fire department. Then, you systematically destroy the building with a boom crane. You bar the ambulances and aid crew from coming to help. No matter that there are dozens of other families that have no beef with you, or just want to live their lives without any trouble. They're all cannon fodder. And you threaten the neighboring apartment buildings that if they get involved, they will get a taste of "whoop ass" too.

Once you've reduced the neighborhood to rubble, you claim the side of the apartment's property nearest your house to be your own, and send in your family members to occupy your new "buffer zone", just for good measure. Good thing you have a big family. No matter that the guy in B11 was a peaceful guy, and the family in B13 were God-fearing, peaceful stand-up Christians. You're defending yourself, by God, and as long as it's "mission accomplished", collateral damage is just a trivial matter for God to sort out later. As long as you get the bad eggs, the result is all good.


What's happening in Lebanon is tragic. I've seen the lights of Beirut, the ruins at Baalbeck and Anjar, the cedars, and most importantly, the generous, hospitable people of Lebanon, with my own eyes. My in-laws live there, like the family in B13. They barely escaped to Syria with their lives, with the roads bombed in all directions. They hate Hiz'bollah and have no personal quarrel with Israel. Their less fortunate friends, those without the resources to leave are left behind, wondering if it's their last day, or whether they'll suffer a worse fate of starvation or disease.

No one's condoning the actions of Hiz'bollah. There's no doubt they are evil. Anyone who targets innocent civilians is, by definition, pure evil. But the actions of Israel are no less evil. In their recent activities, they've decimated an entire country's infrastructure, resources, economy, and lifeblood, all for exacting revenge on a bad (and much weaker) player in the neighborhood.

=caduceus=