Beirut residents warned by Israel

[azurnoir]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5243758.stm?lss theat to devestate Tel Aviv or vice versa?

[uppityperson]

1. please change subject line to headline

and get rid of opinion question or this link will probably be locked. They are getting quite particular about the rules.

Edited to add like this: Beirut residents warned by Israel

[azurnoir]

5. Changed

The subject line was a paraphrase of article if you read and it the offending question was removed even though it was legitimate and not meant as OP.

[uppityperson]

9. I know, just didn't want to see this topic deleted

sometimes they are very picky about the rules, that is all. Thanks for changing it and keeping it open.

[Ian David]

2. Mayor Nagin better send the busses!

It's nice they're being warned ahead of time, but it's going to be damned difficult to evacuate in the middle of a war.

As always, innocent civilians will be needlessly killed.

[azurnoir]

7. Maybe the simian*

should send Brownie, I hear he does a heck of a job.

[Tight_rope]

3. Israel has lost their damn minds...

Although, I truly believe that Bushco is behind all of this. So basically this is right on cue.

[Benhurst]

8. Barbarians at the gates. Is the world going to stand by and

allow Beirut to be destroyed?

Have the Israelis gone totally insane?

[uppityperson]

4. Guardian link/story bits

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1836509,00.ht...

Israel today threatened to reoccupy most of the strip of southern Lebanon it withdrew from in 2000, as Hizbullah recorded its most deadly day of attacks on Israel since the start of the 23-day conflict.'''
(clip)

Israeli officers had hoped that occupation of the five-mile strip would prevent Hizbullah targeting the north of Israel, but officials said the severity of today's rocket attacks necessitated a broader invasion.

"We have completed the first stage, taking control over more or less the area of the special security zone we wanted to establish," Alon Friedman, head of Northern Command headquarters, told Israel's Channel One television. But he added: "There are still villages that aren't clean and from where there is resistance, and in the coming days we will apparently have to continue to clean them."
(clip)


Overnight, Israeli warplanes renewed air strikes against suspected Hizbullah targets in the battered suburbs of Beirut and around the southern port city of Tyre for the first time in nearly a week. Officials today said around 70 sites had been targeted and leaflets had been dropped on three Shia suburbs of the city warning of fresh air strikes....(more@link)

azurnoir

[Zhade]

10. "There are still villages that aren't clean" - the language...

...of ethnic cleansing.

Madness.

[uppityperson]

I noticed that also, spooky, isn't it?

very spooky.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. Coming from a Jew...

that phrase was chilling.

[liberalhistorian]

13. Exactly! That is one of the most

depressing things in this whole mess, is to see the Israelis talk the same language against the Lebanese and other Arabs as was done against them for centuries, particularly in the dehumanization and code talk for "cleansing." Truly sad and frightening.

[dwnforthecount]

6. Israel's gesture of humanity...

yea.. we're goin' bomb the fuck outta y'all... your homes, schools, hospitals, stores, and banks are all forfeit... but at least you'll still have your health. oh wait... the hospitals will be gone. welp... you'll still have your boiling rage against us and America for selling us bombs and planes.

[liberalhistorian]

12. What's the point in warning them if

a) they have nowhere to go, and b) the cars, busses, vans, ambulances, etc., that they'll flee in will be shot at and bombed by Israel anyway?????

[ikri]

15. Getting the excuses in first

If any civilians are killed or injured after the "warning" they can point to their statement and simply say but we told them to leave.

Alternatively, they can twist the logic around the civilians were told to flee, ergo anyone who hasn't fled must be a terrorist and therefore a legitimate target.

[liberalhistorian]

16. Bingo! I'm afraid

you've nailed it perfectly; too bad too many people will actually believe them.

[ikri]

18. First impressions are very important

If, in the first reports of a civilian bombing, there's a statement by anyone to the effect they were warned to leave that's the biggest impression that a high number of people will take with them. It's highly unlikely that anyone will offer a rebuttal about how the civilians are trapped there until hours or days later by which time the initial impression of the civilians choosing to stay will have stuck.

No doubt even then there would be a counter-rebuttal that suggests that hezbollah are forcing the civilian population to stay in their homes to use as human shields.

The arguments become lost in the noise and the initial impressions remain.

If anyone needs proof of how effective it is to make first impressions stick in people's minds you just need to look at how many people believe that Iraq was connected to 9/11 or that John Kerry was a coward.

[frylock]

20. CYA

[allemand]

14. Report: 2 huge explosions rock Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Two huge explosions had rocked Beirut early Friday in what local media said were new Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah strongholds south of the city.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the two strikes that hit at 12:55 a.m. Israeli had dropped leaflets late Thursday warning residents in the area to leave. Israel last hit the area about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

Many of the neighborhoods in the region just south of Beirut proper lay in rubble from repeated Israeli attacks since the fighting began July 12.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060803/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mide...

[Marie26]

19. Does anyone know

what kind of bombs they're using? From the explosions, it seems like they must be incredibly powerful.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Tel Aviv - look out - your government has smacked the wasp nest . . .

.
.
.

Tel Aviv has 1/3 of the country's population, and close to 75% of Israel's infrastructure

Hezbolla, right or wrong, has the capability of doing major damage to Tel Aviv

Like the USA, Israel has the attitude that they will aggravate a situation to it's limits

And they will pay the price -

Just ask the families of lost loved ones in the USA

Will they ever learn?

I fear not

(sigh)