Hell Hath No Fury Like An Angry Israeli

So what do you get when your people faced genocide, you attempted to live peacefully with your neighbors only to have said neighbors invade several times, you are still surrounded by enemies who are developing nuclear weapons, you live in fear of constant rocket attacks, suicide bombings, kidnappings, and an international body (UN) refuses to even acknowledge you're on the map?

Well, you get 72% of your population ready to nuke somebody ... that's what.

The Jerusalem Post:

Approximately 72 percent of Israelis support the use of nuclear weapons in certain circumstances, according to a Canadian survey released recently.

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Proof Syria & Iran Collaborate On Chemical Weapons

Hopefully you've heard about Israel (with the help of Turkey) attacking a nuclear cache in Syria the other day.

Now Jane's Defense is reporting that a collaborative effort between Iran and Syria to make chemical weapons resulted in a severe accident.

Just so you know ... Jane's is the MOST respected source of its kind.

Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Defence Weekly report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.

According to the report, cited by Channel 10, the joint Syrian-Iranian team was attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a Scud missile when the explosion occurred, spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas.

Anyone remember Iraqi General Georges Sada?

Israel Snatches Hamas Leader Responsible For Kidnapping Of Gilad Shalit

IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

They should have done this a long time ago, but it is nice to finally see them being proactive in their attempts to find Shalit, and the other two Israelis being held by Hezbollah in violation of UN resolution 1701.

YNetNews:

Palestinians report Israeli troops disguised as members of Hamas' security force kidnapped Muhawesh al-Kadi, senior member of group's military wing in Rafah. Sources say man involved in abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Looks like turnabout is fair play punk.

A group of undercover Israeli soldiers disguised as Arabs on Friday kidnapped a senior Hamas member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, near the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians sources told Hamas' website.

Palestinian sources told Ynet that the man was apparently involved in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

The sources said that the undercover soldiers entered the Gaza Strip, and carried out their operation near the Rafah Crossing. According to the sources, the undercover soldiers were disguised as grocers riding a donkey-pulled wagon. Sources said they disguised force even chatted with locals near the crossing.

Al-Kadi was working his land when the disguised force approached and kidnapped him. The Palestinian sources reported that the operation went quickly and smoothly. The undercover force left Rafah with al-Kadi, and brought him to Israel.

At first, Hamas blamed Fatah. They were even planning an attack to retaliate until they found out it was Israel.

This was a daring operation that stunned Hamas because of how far into Gaza the Israelis went.

Israel has been appeasing Hamas and Hezbollah since their last conflict died down. They keep releasing terrorist scumbags in order to get the Israelis (including Shalit) released, but none of the Israelis have been let go. There was even a protest in NY outside of the UN building to force them to secure Shalit's release. All to no avail.

I have long said that I believe Shalit is dead, but I hope I'm wrong. Israel will interrogate Al-Kadi, and they will get the info they need from him. Let the interrogation begin!

Hezbollah: We Didn't Tell Anyone That The Israeli Hostages Were Still Alive

This seems to confirm what I've been saying all along. I wish it weren't true, but Hezbollah leader Nasrallah's words are all but confirmation that the Israeli soldiers kidnapped at the start of Operation Truthful Promise are dead.

Reuters:

The chief of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah said his organization did not tell France that the two Israeli soldiers it captured in 2006 were alive and declined to give any clues to their fate.

"This is not true," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told Al Jazeera television in an interview aired on Monday, when asked about Hezbollah envoys' "confirmation" to France earlier this month that the two men were alive.

Hezbollah's seizure of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006, resulted in a 34-day war between the Iranian-backed group and Israel in which about 1,200 Lebanese and 157 Israelis were killed.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on July 15 that he "understood" the soldiers were alive after discussing the issue with Hezbollah envoys during talks with Lebanese political leaders in the French capital.

"I understood yes. As I really understood, yes," Kouchner said then, when asked by an Israeli reporter if they were alive.

Nasrallah said he was the only Hezbollah official who could answer questions about the fate of the soldiers.

Nasrallah said there was a possibility of them being released in May, but did not want to give them back for free. I guess he figured that they planned for three months to carry out the kidnappings, and he wanted something in return.

There is still hope that they are alive, but that hope is dwindling. Especially since Hamas and Hezbollah have both refused to provide proof of the hostages safety.

21 Cease-Fire Violations

NOTICE:

The following post is from a column I wrote for another site before I had my blog. It is from Sept. 2006, and it chronicled the various cease-fire violations of UN resolution 1701. That is the resolution that ended the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

There have been far more than 21 violations of this resolution since then. Most of those violations were committed by Hezbollah, and the UN ... not Israel. Yes, the UN has continued to violate its own resolution. This is nothing new in the history of the UN ... don't act so surprised.

Sept. 1, 2006

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is a pretty simple document that established a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel to hopefully end the recent conflict. Most of us knew the cease-fire wouldn't hold, and many of us pressed for Israel to just finish it already. Unfortunately international pressure, and a far too optimistic military doctrine, saw Israel accept yet another UN resolution directly linked to the safety of that country. If 1701 fails like the Taif Agreement and UN resolution 1559 has failed for all of these years, there will be more war.

Many of us expected there to be a violation, or two, of the new cease-fire resolution. We also expected that at some point Israel would respond to violations, and thus be blamed themselves for those violations. Well, violating 1701 didn't take very long, and we were proven correct that Israel would get the blame.

Here's what the AP had to say:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday that an early-morning Israeli raid against Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon violated the 6-day-old cease-fire brokered by the United Nations. An Israeli officer was killed, and two soldiers wounded, when Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon.

It only took six days for Israel to violate the cease-fire, and draw Kofi Annan out to criticize their conduct. That's almost a record. The problem here is that this wasn't the first violation of 1701 it's the nineteenth! This is, however, the first violation by Israel. Since this was the nineteenth violation in six days, and the first by Israel, where's Kofi 'hell no' Annan been? Since this event there has been another violation of 1701, and there will no doubt be more. So what exactly does 1701 say, and what are the other violations I'm writing about?

I won't bore you with the full text of UN resolution 1701, but you can confirm the excerpts I use from it on the UN's own website. The opening paragraphs of the resolution recalls all previous resolutions on Lebanon, squarely puts the blame on Hezbollah, says there will be no weapons in Lebanon without the consent of the Lebanese government, no authority other than the Lebanese government, calls for a larger UNIFIL force, the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers, and other things as well. Even though the UN recalled all previous resolutions on Lebanon, it calls for 1701 to implement what those resolutions failed to.

Violation 1 & 2:
By STEVEN R. HURST - Aug 14
The truce that took effect at 8 a.m. (1 a.m. EDT) largely held through its first day, although six Hezbollah fighters were killed in skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that illustrated the fragility of the cease-fire.

I've actually given a pass to Hezbollah here. In two separate skirmishes, Hezbollah moved aggressively towards Israeli positions sparking a firefight. There is a long history of battles and skirmishes happening right after an end to hostilities. Nevertheless, a violation is a violation, and Hezbollah racked up two here. The first provision of 1701 is pretty clear.

1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;

Hezbollah launched two attacks, and Israel's response was defensive not offensive. Hezbollah 2, Israel 0.

Violation 3-6:
Daniel McGrory - Aug 15
It was supposed to be the day the maligned Lebanese army took control of the country's borders and policed the UN ceasefire.
Instead, the military commanders were left humiliated and troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to disarm its fighters.
The first infantry units were preparing to head south when Hezbollah showed who controls the area by announcing it would not surrender its weapons.

General Michel Sleiman, commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, and his lieutenants had been invited to join cabinet meetings to finalise plans to deploy the 15,000-strong force south of the Litani River. But they were lectured by Hezbollah's two ministers in the coalition Government on what the army could and could not do.

Very interesting. Remember, 1701 says that NO arms are allowed without consent of the Lebanese government. There is actually several violations here. Some of the provisions of 1701 that prove these are, in fact, violations of the cease-fire are as follows:

2. Upon full cessation of hostilities, calls upon the Government of Lebanon and UNIFIL as authorized by paragraph 11 to deploy their forces together throughout the South. (Hezbollah didn't allow Lebanon to deploy 1 violation)

3. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon; (under those resolutions, Hezbollah should not exist nor should they have weapons 2 violations)

5. Also reiterates its strong support, as recalled in all its previous relevant resolutions, for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;

7. Affirms that all parties are responsible for ensuring that no action is taken contrary to paragraph 1 that might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution. (technically another violation, but we'll count it with number 3 above)

8. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements: (not all listed)

-- full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State;

-- no foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its Government; (we know that Iranian Hezbollah forces joined Lebanon's Hezbollah force, and I doubt they've left 1 violation)

In case you're new to this debate, the Taif Accords and UN resolution 1559 say that Hezbollah is not allowed to exist, and it is illegal for them to still be an organization. Hezbollah 6, Israel 0.

Violation 7:
The two kidnapped Israeli soldiers still have not been returned to Israel.

The opening paragraphs of 1701 clearly call for their return in the following excerpt:

-- Emphasizing the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasizing the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah 7, Israel 0.

Violations 8-18:
AP Aug 14
Highlighting the fragility of the peace, Hezbollah guerrillas fired at least 10 Katyusha rockets that landed in southern Lebanon early Tuesday, the Israeli army said, adding that nobody was injured. The army said that none of the rockets, which were fired over a two-hour period, had crossed the border and so it had not responded.

If you read 1701, it's pretty clear that each rocket is a violation of the resolution and cease-fire. Remember the very first provision?

1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;

We have ten rockets, which equals ten hostile acts, which equals ten violations of UN security council resolution 1701. Hezbollah 18, Israel 0.

Violation 19:
AP
An Israeli officer was killed, and two soldiers wounded, when Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon, resulting in a fierce gunbattle.

Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters, while Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the operation a "flagrant violation" of the U.N. truce.

This is the one that Kofi 'hell no' Annan chose to respond to. He openly condemned Israel for their strike, which technically IS a violation of 1701, but ignored the previous eighteen violations by Hezbollah. I'd also like to point out that Kofi accused Israel of deliberately attacking a UNIFIL base, but said nothing when Hezbollah attacked a UNIFIL base. Since 1701 calls for Israel to stop all offensive operations we have to give them one point whether we support them or not, just to be fair. Hezbollah 18, Israel 1.

Violation 20:
Fox News (AP contributing) Aug 25
"It is generally accepted that the disarmament of Hezbollah cannot be done by force," Annan told reporters. "The troops are not going there to disarm Hezbollah, let's be clear on that."

Wait a minute! UN security council resolution 1701 calls for the implementation of the Taif Accords, 1559, and 1680 under the new resolution. UNIFIL has been in southern Lebanon since 1978. Their mission is defined as, and confirmed on the UN's website as follows:

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was created by the United Nations, with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 on 19 March 1978, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area.

Defenddemocracy.org writes:

During the 28 years that UNIFIL was supposed to be restoring sovereignty to the government of Lebanon, Hezbollah was created, set up an autonomous statelet in southern Lebanon, acquired tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, and launched numerous terrorist assaults against Israel.

Even though Israel complied with its obligation to leave southern Lebanon, UNIFIL failed to bring about the remainder of its mandate. As a result, Hezbollah filled the void in southern Lebanon left by the absence of Israeli troops.

Why won't the UN implement its own resolutions? How is the UN going to help Lebanon restore its effective authority in the area if they won't disarm Hezbollah according to their own mandate? What possible effect could the new beefed up UNIFIL force have if they are not willing to disarm Hezbollah? When Hezbollah violates the cease-fire again, in yet another attempt to get Samir Kuntar back, will UNIFIL engage them? If Hezbollah and Lebanese forces get into a confrontation, will UNIFIL assist Lebanon? Perhaps they'll assist Hezbollah instead.

Lori Lowenthal Marcus - Weekly Standard

DURING THE RECENT month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel, U.N. "peacekeeping" forces made a startling contribution: They openly published daily real-time intelligence, of obvious usefulness to Hezbollah, on the location, equipment, and force structure of Israeli troops in Lebanon.

UNIFIL--the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a nearly 2,000-man blue-helmet contingent that has been present on the Lebanon-Israel border since 1978--is officially neutral. Yet, throughout the recent war, it posted on its website for all to see precise information about the movements of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and the nature of their weaponry and materiel, even specifying the placement of IDF safety structures within hours of their construction. New information was sometimes only 30 minutes old when it was posted, and never more than 24 hours old.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL posted not a single item of specific intelligence regarding Hezbollah forces.

Is anyone really surprised? UNIFIL was created to prevent groups in southern Lebanon from launching terrorist attacks on Israel, and to make sure all Israeli forces pulled out. They only accomplished one of their mandates while allowing another to go unchecked. As a result, we have several years of attacks on Israel by Hezbollah. This last incident is just the latest in a long history of offensives by Hezbollah to kidnap Israelis in order to seek a prisoner exchange.

1701 also states:

11. Decides, in order to supplement and enhance the force in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operations, to authorize an increase in the force strength of UNIFIL to a maximum of 15,000 troops, and that the force shall, in addition to carrying out its mandate under resolutions 425 and 426 (1978):

(a) Monitor the cessation of hostilities;

(b) Accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces as they deploy throughout the South, including along the Blue Line, as Israel withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon as provided in paragraph 2;

(e) Assist the Lebanese armed forces in taking steps towards the establishment of the area as referred to in paragraph 8;

(f) Assist the Government of Lebanon, at its request, to implement paragraph 14;

12. Acting in support of a request from the Government of Lebanon to deploy an international force to assist it to exercise its authority throughout the territory, authorizes UNIFIL to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind, to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties under the mandate of the Security Council, and to protect United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian workers and, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence;

13. Requests the Secretary-General urgently to put in place measures to ensure UNIFIL is able to carry out the functions envisaged in this resolution. New score: Hezbollah 18, Israel 1, United Nations 1.

Hezbollah has three demands of Israel.

- Cease to exist.
- Release all Lebanese, Palestinian, and terrorist prisoners
- Give Shebaa Farms to Lebanon.

All of these demands are unreasonable. 1701, however, does state that the Shebaa Farms issue must be addressed by Kofi Annan within thirty days with the following provision:

10. Requests the Secretary-General to develop, in liaison with relevant international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa Farms area, and to present to the Security Council those proposals within thirty days;

If Kofi Annan doesn't address Shebaa Farms within thirty days the UN will have violated its own resolution more than Israel.

UPDATE:

Via Drudge

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began after two Israeli soldiers were captured by the Islamic militant group. On Wednesday, a Hezbollah cabinet minister said that the guerrilla group will not release the two captured Israeli soldiers unconditionally, and that they would only be freed in a prisoner exchange.

"There will be no unconditional release. This is not possible," Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources Mohammed Fneish said in Beirut. He is one of two Hezbollah members in Lebanon's Cabinet.

"There should be an exchange through indirect negotiations. This is the principle to which Hezbollah and the resistance are adhering," he said.

Remember that after Hezbollah launched Operation Truthful Promise this July 12, and kidnapped the IDF soldiers, they called for a prisoner exchange which was officially rejected by Olmert. If they get the prisoner exchange they desired in the first place you can officially label this a victory for Hezbollah over Israel. If Israel caves, and agrees to a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, everything they did was in vain. The deaths that resulted on all sides would be for nothing.

I'll leave it up to you if this counts as another violation of 1701 by Hezbollah. However, since the Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources is a legitimate member of Lebanon's government, I am left with one conclusion. New score: Hezbollah 18, Israel 1, United Nations 1, Lebanon 1.

UPDATE 2:

Aug 30, 2006

Haaretz Service and News Agencies

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that Israel was responsible for most of the violations of the UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah two weeks ago.

Really? Let's refer back to exhibit A, shall we? The current scorecard for violations sits at: Hezbollah 18, Israel 1, United Nations 1, Lebanon 1. The defense rests.

When Israel launched its raid in Lebanon after the cease-fire they drew critisism from Kofi Annan who had remained silent in the midst of other violations.

"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities as laid out in Security Council resolution 1701," a statement issued by Annan's spokesperson said.

He's deeply concerned about A violation on ISRAEL'S side. Perhaps he should be concerned about the violations on the terrorist's side, or better yet, his own.

Israel Releases 255 Palestinian Prisoners ... Fate Of 3 Israeli Hostages Still Unknown

This is beyond disgusting! If I were Israel I would start executing prisoners until they returned Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev, and Ehud Goldwasser alive and well as required by UN resolution 1701.

Debka File:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert freed them in a gesture of support for Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. Most were Fatah members convicted for terrorist acts.

They also included Popular Front deputy leader Abdel Rahum Maloukh, whose organization was responsible for the assassination of Israeli minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001.

One was held back for a further security check. A High Court majority of judges rejected a petition against the release filed by Almagor, an organization representing victims of Palestinian terror.

Most may have been Fatah members instead of Hamas or Hezbollah, but that is of little consequence.

There have been rumors since the end of the conflict that Israel has been willing to swap 1000's of prisoners for the 3 Israelis who were kidnapped, and Israel has released prisoners in the hope of getting their men. Their actions of good faith have gone unrewarded.

Recently in New York a rally was held near the UN building in support of the 3 Israelis taken from Israeli territory by the two terrorist groups which ignited the conflicts.

I wrote a column on why Hezbollah attacked Israel a while back, and it has been added to various sites with much praise. If you aren't familiar with Samir Kuntar, and Operation Truthful Promise ... read my column.

I also held up an effort for some time on the violations of UN resolution 1701. The rally on behalf of the kidnapped Israelis cited the continued violations of 1701 by the terrorists, and the UN.

The rally called for the UN to enforce the resolution which required that the Israeli hostages be returned unharmed. It has been over a year, and they have not been released. Nor has there been any evidence that they are alive.

It is my belief that they are dead, and that is why the terrorists will not release them. That has not stopped the terrorists from using the possibility of their release to secure prisoner "swaps." Of course, they aren't really swaps because Israel releases hundreds of prisoners while they receive none in return.

Israel May Give Golan Heights To Syria For Peace

Yet another land for peace deal may be in the works, and Olmert is catching hell for his consideration of giving the Golan Heights back to Syria.

Jerusalem Post:

According to the report in Yediot, quoting officials close to Olmert, the prime minister sent messages with German and Turkish diplomats to Syrian President Bashar Assad indicating that Israel was willing to hold direct peace negotiations and give up the Golan.

According to Yediot, Olmert repeatedly said he would be prepared to negotiate with Syria only if Assad's regime cut ties with Iran and Hizbullah and ceased its support for terror.

US President George Bush gave Olmert the green light for negotiations with Syria in an hour-long phone conversation last month, according to the report, and the two leaders will further discuss the possibility of talks during their scheduled meeting at the White House on June 19.

The interesting tidbit of this story is that Syrian officials are denying ... while Israeli officials just don't want to give details.

Asking a terrorist nation you're on the brink of war with to cut its ties with the terrorists who will conduct that war is risky business. A conflict is sure to erupt simply because Israel gave up the Golan Heights, and then there may be war anyway. Even if the transition goes smoothly Israel will be at a disadvantage when Syria doesn't part ways with Hezbollah (and they won't).

Hamas Launches Missiles At Israel ... Fatah Gunmen Seek Asylum In Israel

Hamas called off yet another cease-fire a couple of months back, and has been attacking Israel on a regular basis since then. Of course, the media isn't really covering that because no innocent Palestinians have died yet.

Hamas has also called off (again) the cease-fire with Fatah, and has been attacking them as well.

For those of you who hate Israel, and want to blame them for the cease-fire breakdown ... Hamas went public when they ended it by saying there would never be peace with the "Zionist entity."

Debka:

Sderot took heavy damage from at least 20 missiles which directly hit several homes, in which 19 civilians, including a mother and her son, were wounded.

Yes, it was unprovoked. Israel's response was less than stellar.

Israel's response was confined to a helicopter strike against unpopulated areas in N. Gaza.

The Debka File is also reporting that at least 13 Palestinian gunmen were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah yesterday, and it appears that several Fatah gunmen have sought asylum in Israel.

According to some reports, a group of Fatah fighters, some in uniform asked Israel border troops for asylum. Abbas has called for a cessation of hostilities.

The Palestinian Security Minister has also resigned as a result of the violence between Hamas and Fatah.

Update:

Qutar News Agency is reporting that Hamas is threatening more attacks after this one. Hamas spokesman, Abu Obaida, confirmed the attack was Hamas. He said that the attack was in response to Israel celebrating their existence.

He Said The Attacks Marked The 59th Anniversary Of The Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) And In Response To Israel Celebrating The Anniversary Of Its Creation.

In Another Statement On The Hamas-run Al-aqsa Satellite Channel, Abu Obaida Vowed To Fire More Barrages Of Rockets Into Israel Within The Coming Hours.

Xinhua News Agency is reporting that the US is calling for, you guessed it, a cease-fire. How many times does Hamas have to tell us that they aren't interested in a cease-fire with anyone. I told everyone that Hamas would violate the cease-fire with Fatah, and they did. That's what Hamas does.

Update:

Hamas commander killed in fighting with Fatah.

Hamas Continues To Violate Ceasefire With Fatah

They've done it several times already, and it's really nothing out of the ordinary. When they first broke out into civil war, several months back, I warned of Hamas getting a peace treaty with Fatah and breaking it. Turns out (no surprise) I was right.

That's what Hamas does. They start wars, sue for peace, break the agreement, continue fighting until they lose momentum, sue for peace, and start the whole process over again.

It doesn't matter if the ceasefire is with Israel (they just broke that one too ... again), or other muslims. Hamas is Hamas ... they can't be trusted.

Full story via LGF.

Why Hezbollah Attacked Israel

I am a talk show host in Las Vegas, NV. I do a show six days a week. Monday-Friday I am on the air between 6-8pm, and on Saturdays I am on between 10am-1pm. Since Saturdays give me more time to really dive into an issue; I typically save a special topic for my weekend audience. Given the current situation with Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah I decided to take a few days over a couple of weeks to introduce my audience to the parties involved. Most people in the world, and especially in the US, don't understand what exactly is happening right now or why. Since modern history is often debated between the two sides heatedly, I decided to go back in time to the inception of each one. One week I gave the complete history of Hamas, the next week Hezbollah, and finally the complete history of the land of Israel all the way back to 200,000 BC. I did this so that no one could deny who was the original inhabitants of the land of Israel. I have never had a more popular series of topics on my program, and receive numerous requests for the information every day.

This brings me to why I'm writing this today. I will not bore you with the great details of those three shows, but I want to answer a fundamental question that many of you out there seem to have. You see, I've already told my audience why Hezbollah attacked Israel. Yet, not one person out there has been able to explain it to the masses. The LA Times this last week is just now getting close to what I exposed when the conflict broke out. Frankly, I'm tired of watching CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. fumble around with these so called "experts" to explain why Hezbollah attacked Israel. Talk radio is not doing any better. It seems like everyday a new pundit is paraded in front of us, only to miss the point yet again.

The other day I was listening to the Radio Factor, and Bill O'Reilly introduced a man he touted as being in the "top five" in the world on terrorism. This retired Colonel, advertising his new book, seemed like a very intelligent and knowledgeable man. However, what he said stunned me. He was asked why Hezbollah attacked Israel when it did. The response: "They were copying Hamas." I could not believe that I actually just heard those words. No wonder everyone is confused. To be fair, terrorism is a massive field to study, and most "experts" have a particular field of expertise. The theory that Iran ordered Hezbollah to attack in order to divert attention away from the nuclear issue was a better theory than Hezbollah copying Hamas, but still wrong.

Perhaps I'm being a little mean, and even a little stuck up. If I am, I apologize, but my reasoning is sound. The answer is simple and very clear. Hezbollah is only doing what it has always done, and had promised to do. The reason Hezbollah attacked Israel is - Samir Kuntar. You see, in October of 2000, Hezbollah attacked Israel and abducted three IDF soldiers in order to secure the release of fourteen Lebanese prisoners. Samir Kuntar among them. A prisoner exchange was not arranged until January 2004. This was too long a wait for Hezbollah, so they executed the three IDF soldiers. They also launched several attacks, and kidnapped more Israelis in order to force Israel into a prisoner exchange.

January 29, 2004 the prisoner exchange finally took place. A total of 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 60 Lebanese militants and civilians, 420 Palestinian prisoners, and maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon were exchanged for an Israeli businessman and army reserve colonel kidnapped in 2001 and the remains of the three IDF soldiers kidnapped and executed in 2000. Where were the cries of disproportionality then? There was a problem, however, Samir Kuntar was not amongst the prisoners to be exchanged. Hezbollah had vowed to get Samir Kuntar back, but failed.

On November 21, 2005 Hezbollah launched an attack along the entire border with Israel which was supposed to provide tactical cover for an attempt by a squad of Hezbollah special forces to abduct Israeli troops in the Israeli side of the village of Al-Ghajar. In order to again force Israel into prisoner negotiations. The attack failed when an ambush by IDF paratroopers killed four Hezbollah members and scattered the rest. Hezbollah would attack Israel again one month later in Kiryat Shmona.

Having failed to get Samir Kuntar back in 2004, and the subsequent failures to kidnap more Israelis in 2005, Hassan Nasrallah declared that Hezbollah would carry out further operations at a later date to gain the release of Samir Kuntar and others. July 12, 2006 they made good on their promise with Operation Truthful Promise (a telling name isn't it). The operation killed eight IDF soldiers, and saw two others kidnapped. That's where we are today. There is no great mystery as to why Hezbollah attacked. They certainly aren't copying Hamas. They've been using the same tactic since Israel pulled out of Lebanon in 2000. In fact, after Operation Truthful Promise, Hezbollah immediately called for negotiations for a prisoner exchange hoping Israel would be preoccupied with Hamas. Hassan Nasrallah has since admitted on Al Jazeera that he did not anticipate Israel's response.

So who is the man Hezbollah wants back so bad? Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese terrorist who was convicted, and sentenced to four life terms in prison for the murder of four Israelis in 1979. Kuntar got into a shootout with Israeli police, and killed two of them. One victim was a 28 year old man Kuntar had taken hostage along with his daughter. That man's 4 year old daughter would be the fourth of Kuntar's victims. What's truly disturbing about the latter was not that she was murdered by Samir Kuntar at all, but how he did it. After he murdered her father in front of her he put her head on a rock, and smashed it with the butt of his rifle. He has admitted numerous times to the murders, and has expressed pride in them. Just in case you don't believe one man could possibly drive Hezbollah to commit these acts, I have more for you.

In 2003 Israel agreed to exchange 400 prisoners with Hezbollah for an Israeli businessman, and the bodies of those three IDF soldiers Hezbollah executed. Remember, the exchange didn't happen until 2004. Hassan Nasrallah refused unless Samir Kuntar was among them. 400 Lebanese prisoners weren't as important to Hezbollah as Samir Kuntar? Israel then agreed to release Samir Kuntar IF Hezbollah provided solid proof of the fate of Ron Arad, an air force pilot missing in Lebanon since 1986. Hezbollah never provided any details about Arad, so Israel still holds Kuntar, and Hezbollah is still kidnapping Israelis trying to get this one man back.

Casey Hendrickson