Israel hits Beirut airport for 2nd time

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060713/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel_airport

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel attacked Beirut's airport for a second time Thursday, with helicopter gunships unleashing missiles that set fuel tanks ablaze at Lebanon's only international air facility, Lebanese security officials said.

One helicopter gunship raked the fuel depots with machine gun fire, while three others fired missiles, the officials added.

TV news video showed flames shooting up from the airport.

Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon, striking bridges, roads, and the runways of the airport and two major army air bases as it imposed an air and sea blockade on Lebanon to put pressure on the government and force Hezbollah to free two Israeli soldiers the guerrillas captured Wednesday.

In its first attack early Thursday, warplanes punched holes in the airport's three runways.

That ditzy German woman parties with *.

Congress is debating voting rights.

Oil is going through the roof.

Israel is bombing the runways and fuel depots in Lebanon.

Is the world nuts or just asleep?

( :blush: )

like for instance: degrading Israel's military capability down to self-defense only.

This is not self defense, these attacks on civilian infrastructure are god damned war crimes and they should fucking know it.

Very much, in realist terms, disproportionate use of force. Not to mention that the average lay American probably doesn't understand the context of the conflict with Lebanon, with Syria, and with the Palestinians.

It's pretty sad.

The average American not only doesn't understand the "context of the conflict," he/she has no clue where to look on a map to find Lebanon and Syria and is only vaguely aware of the Palestinians. Unless it's related to American Idol or sports, forget it. Willfully, woefully ignorant - and proud of it.

for talks tomorrow. I guess that is something. If we had a real president he would leave the party in Germany for direct talks with the countries involved.

The US is very resistant to the G8 talks in Russia, with many in the GOP, including Cheney, suggesting that the US not attend because of 'Putin'.

The US of course can't simply not go because of Putin, but a 'made to order' crisis in the ME might do the trick and provide rationale to the long planned attack on Iran...?

Read this excellent essay with regard to US policy and post Soviet Russia.

is used by hizbollah to bring in arms from syria. those arms are then used against israel. why is israel wrong? how about the world unites to oust hizbollah and syria from lebanon instead of blaming israel.

Syria flies weapons into Lebanon?

Wouldn't be easier (and cheaper) just to truck them in over their shared border?

is supported by both syria and iran.

N/T

and they are part of the lebanese government. and they use the airport to bring in arms used against israel.

should i continue?

Israel has been very patient with this nonsense. They have put up with suicide bombings, kidnappings, rockets, and missiles. Now they are destoying the runways and the roads to Syria as they should. They are hunting down and destroying mobile rocket & missile launchers that are being used against them. If the Labanese government wants it to stop they should oust the Hizbollah themselves.

do you actually have access to military intel on this or are you just speculating?

The Israeli military gave no details, but Lebanese army sources said that the Rayak Air Base in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border had been hit as well as a small military airport in Qulayaat in northern Lebanon.

Israel said it targeted the international airport because it was a transfer point for weapons and supplies to Hezbollah."



http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html

You can't take those kinds of self-serving allegations at face value without other evidence. Same way I don't believe anything Hezbollah has to say without some kind of outside verification.

Personally, I say there's an angry pink unicorn on the far side of the moon, but my saying so doesn't make it a fact.

Last spring the world witnessed massive protests in the streets of Lebanon. The protests, along with the contribution of a UN resolution and international pressure, led to Syrian withdrawal of its twenty-nine year presence in Lebanon. The protests drew thousands of Lebanese, and brought together people holding opposing perspectives on the issue of Syrian occupation. Although the people did not share the same vision for their country, they did share the method they took up to voice their beliefs. As Rami G. Khouri stated in an article in the Lebanese Daily Star, "That they all wave the Lebanese flag, rather than their factional banners, is an important indicator that... the forces of composure, compromise and peaceful consensus-building are stronger than any inclination to fight." In a region that has experienced much violence in its past, this alternative is promising and shows that a transformation has occurred in Lebanon.

The violence that occurred in Lebanon's recent past has roots that go back to the end of French imperialism. In 1943, a National Pact was created forming political representation based on religious affiliation. According to the French system, the country is to have a Maronite Christian President, a Sunni Muslim Prime Minister, a Shi'a Muslim Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and a legislative assembly split between Muslim and Christian representatives based on population figures. This connection between religion and politics has led to much conflict in the country that escalated in 1975, when demographics radically shifted causing a change in political power as well. This ignited a 15-year civil war which ravaged the country and was further complicated by the presence of Palestinian refugees who entered the country in 1948. Israel entered Lebanon in the late 1960's after being attacked by Palestinians in Lebanon, leading to an Israeli--Lebanese war. Once the civil war began, Syria intervened to restore the peace, but also had its own political interests in mind. The civil war was about religious, political, cultural and ideological discrepancies that were not always clear-cut and led to the rapid formation and disintegration of alliances during the struggle.

http://calpeacepower.org/0201/lebanon.htm

The airport is a CIVILIAN AIRPORT, and it can't take prisoners.

are civilians of the country. They arent targeting the airport terminals, they are making it harder to move their captured soldiers. This is a tactical strike, and a smart one at that.

WHY is Israel doing things like bombing the airport? That's the question you need to answer.

The answer is quite simple. Hezbollah receives virtually 100% of their weapons from shipments that come in through that airport. It's a completely strategic move on Israel's part.

Fuel depots? Every army on earth will attack fuel depots to deprive the enemy of the ability to use automobiles, tanks, whatever.

The world is not silent on this, they're speaking out, the UN is sending a whatever it is you wanna call what they're sending, but what can any nation DO? No nation wants to get in the middle of that mess. And that's what it is, a mess!

Like Carlos Mencia said (albeit about Sigfried and Roy), "That's a fucking TIGER. You dont' fuck around with a fucking TIGER!"

... from shipments that come in through that airport."


Link?

My personal digital photographs of planes with Iranian flags on them unloading crates marked "Weapons for Hazbollah"? :D

Remember, Google is your friend. Try "hezbollah beirut airport arms shipments".

...google is your friend.

You claimed it, back it up.

Post a link showing that "Hezbollah receives virtually 100% of their weapons" through Beirut International Airport.

http://www.hezbollahreceivesvirtually100percentoftheirweapons.com

Is that the kind of spoon-feeding you're looking for? There is no "single website" out there detailing this information. It is scattered across dozens of websites.

Hezbollah used to get all shipments of weapons through Damascus's airport, until Syria put a stop to that (probably fearing Israel would bomb that airport).

Now Hezbollah gets it weapons through the Beirut airport. It's Iran's most effecient method of supplying the arms.

If you want to quibble about the 100% figure, fine, a guy might have brought back a pistol from a road trip to Syria, but I don't consider a gun here or there "arms". I'm talking Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, etc.

We know Hezbollah doesn't have any weapons factories in Lebanon. How do we know? If Hezbollah had weapons facilities in Lebanon, Israel would be blowing them up right now. :)

I can't believe the 6 year olds we have here. :)

"According to Israeli military sources, Iran recently began airlifting arms shipments to Hezbollah directly through Beirut International Airport."
http://www.meib.org/articles/9910_l5.htm

"The Israeli military confirmed it had struck Beirut airport, saying the facility is “a central hub for the transfer of weapons and supplies to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”" - http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10295-2268204,00.html & http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1020642006


So let me save myself the trouble of responding to the first person who says "well that's just what the Israeli military believes", blah blah blah.

Well of COURSE Israel's military is going to act on what it believes. That's their job. If they believe the weapons are coming through that airport, weapons that are killing their people, they will act.

Sorry I could not provide a link to air frieght manifest. :(

Your first link is the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, run by the Middle East Forum.

The Middle East Forum (http://www.meforum.org/) is a right-wing Zionist think tank founded by Daniel Pipes's in 1990.

"The Forum holds that the United States has vital interests in the region; in particular, it believes in strong ties with Israel, Turkey, and other democracies as they emerge; works for human rights throughout the region; seeks a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promotes the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes."<1> (http://www.meforum.org)

Its committee and boards mostly include such right-wing Zionists as David Steinmann and Dalck Feith (father of Douglas Feith). MEF is closely linked to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where Pipes was an adjunct scholar.

www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum

The source for the other two stories appears to be the same Israeli Military Spokesman. He's speaking after the fact. The fact of the bombing, that is.

I fully admitted this is what ISRAEL THINKS.

(Besides, if you read the link, you'd see that the mieb page was just quoting other sources such as Israeli newspapers.)

Israel has been saying the weapons have been coming through that airport since the 90's. This is not something new they're coming up with.

The Katyusha rockets that are hitting Israel right now are made in Iran. (All precious link: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/mrl-iran.htm )

How is Iran getting them into the hands of Hezbollah? They're not driving them through Iraq!

bomb the hell out of the Palestinians with. So what is your point exactly?

Or to your claim that "Hezbollah receives virtually 100% of their weapons" through Beirut airport.

Self-serving, post-facto statements from the IDF prove nothing. Of course they're going to say that everything they blew up was a legitimate Hezbollah-related target.

Statements made from the mouths of the people who are taking action prove nothing?

Even if somehow Hezbollah was magically making Iranian-made Katyusha rockets appear out of their bums, if Israel BELIEVES they are coming from the airport, they're going to bomb the airport!

However, I have to say again, that Hezbollah does not have domestic weapons factories in Lebanon. They aren't producing Iranian weapons there.

Maybe the IDF has it right, maybe it doesn't. But it's own self-serving assertions, without any other empirical evidence, are of scant probative value and shouldn't be given much weight, much less regarded as conclusive proof. That's all I'm saying.

Makes it entirely appropriate to bomb civilian infrastructure - based on belief.

Gotchya.

Now how about a source?

Do they magically pull them out of a hat? That Iran is Hezbollah's main benefactor is just common knowledge, this is something even Iran and Hezbollah don't deny.

Let Google be YOUR friend.

and I can't even sit at the curb next to "Arrivals" for five minutes without being chased by a glorified meter maid?

The world just isn't fair, man!

Or perhaps by sea shipments in deserted coast locations.

Wouldn't the airport be too risky?

Start of full-scale war? I hope not, but I'm not exactly holding my breath either.

Just the excuse they'll be looking for to press their offensive further.

Should the UN step in, or is this out of their boundaries?

Thanks for the links

pretty wild

and going downhill fast. Darfur, Somalia, Balkans...inept and corrupt. It is more than a little painful to see such a noble vision be squandered so.

Edit Spelling

It is not even clear the government can get the Israeli soldiers. This is an incredible attack on another country - this seems unbelievably out of proportion. Have other countries responded - I saw a UN security council meeting was called.

to draw Syria into the mess...

None of this seems to make any sense from a security standpoint...

"turn back the clock in Lebanon 20 years." Dan Halutz, Chief of Israel's Army

If this is not collective punishment against NOW the Lebanese people, then I don't know anymore what the definition of collective punishment...the incident being avenged was a straightforward military campaign against identifiable military targets in the self-declared 'safe zone' which is on the Lebanese side? Why then the international airport up in Beirut gets creamed when there was no evidence that any attacks were every launched from there...does strike me as Israel basically demanding allegience to the kool-aid it's fanatics are drinking.

It doesn't appear that the civillians are in control of Israel anymore

According to it, collective punishment is a-OK.

The Koran too, if I'm not mistaken, but I can be because I never read it.

Right where she wanted them. We pay for her wars in both US blood and money.

I mean, helping Al Qaeda.

As the saying goes, "If you f*&% with the bull, sometimes you're gonna get the horns".

Here's a nutty idea, release the hostages.....

towards the family of a person that was murdered because s/he owned money to somebody.

"Here's a nutty idea, pay your debts..."

Peachy.

Might be an even better comparison.

:thumbsup:

Here is my point. If someone picks a fight with another person who is bigger and stronger, don't go crying the blues when they smack back with a little more authority.

Of course there is no criticism here of the initial hostage taking. Just the response.

Israel should use restraint, thugs from Lebanon should be free to take hostages without reprisal.

swindling the psycho out of money (No big difference IMHO). And, like Bridget suggested, the psycho murdered someone from the family of the guy who punched him because he couldn't find the guy who punched him.

Better now?

if a group of Canadian thugs, not aligned with the Canadian government, kidnapped two U.S soldiers? That's precisely analogous to what's going on here.

I'm certainly not saying that Israel has to take anything laying down, but murdering dozens of civilians and destroying a country's economic infrastructure to avenge the kidnapping of two on-duty soldiers is morally disproportionate, and, I think, ultimately not in Israel's or the world's best interests.

Your analogy didn't get very far before going off the rails...

... of democracy in action. Take your your yearnings for collective punishment someplace else, pal. The abductions by terrorists were wrong, and the several hundred war-crime responses were wrong. When will you all grow up?

...don't blame me.


Unless your think that Hezbollah isn't aligned with Hezbollah.

My understanding is that Hezbollah is essential a private army / terrorist group that receives training and support from Iran and Syria and is able to use Lebanon as an operating base because the Lebanese government is too weak to kick them out. My understanding is also that the majority of the Lebanese people despise and detest Hezbollah and wishes they were gone. If I've flat-out got my facts wrong, let me know, but if there is a precise equivalency between Hezbollah and the Lebanese nation, it's news to me.

The civilian arm of Hezbollah holds 23 seats in the 128 seat (18%) Lebanese Parlaiment.

Read up, it's fairly complex:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

Can't let a Democratic Lebanon found itself, can they?

:eyes:

is he guiding the next world war from his bunker?

apparently, the German Foreign Secretary said on TV this afternoon that the airport was attacked because Israel had information that three kidnapped soldiers were to be flown out to Iran to move them out of the immediate reach of the Israeli forces. Hence the destruction of the runway to provoke the closure of the airport. Probably the second attack was carried out to cut off fuel supply after it became apparent that aircraft were allowed to take off from the taxiways.

Once again, my apologies that I don't have a link, so take it with a grain of salt.

Booshe never wanted peace in the Middle East, he's looking for the end-times. Trouble is, it won't come.

:rofl:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html

<snip>
Israeli forces struck Beirut's international airport for the second time Thursday, hitting fuel tanks that exploded into fireballs.

The attack came soon after two rockets struck the northern Israeli port of Haifa on a day of spiraling violence and deepening crisis.
</snip>

....:rofl: this spiraling madness. :applause: Thanks!!

You are funneeeee.

for blowing all that up and then fixing them: the American taxpayers.

I don't have a good feeling about this. Think we'll have family night tonight. Play a board game eat popcorn and watch a movie.

Yep. It's called for.

I'll be under the bed.

religious dogma, nationalism, a foreign threat as the pretexts! So what else is new!

:eyes:

and this thing will continue to escalate until it gets to the point where no one will be able to turn this war off.

Where is George?

I tend to think that the problem in the middle east right now has been built upon years of U.S backing of Isreal.

What do we get for our billions every year that we send to prop up the Isreali people?
we get a whole religious faction that hates us and wants us dead
we get high oil prices
we get pulled into wars that we have no need to be in.

I wonder, if as of tomorrow the U.S cut off all support of Isreal, would Isreal continue to act that way they do or would they actually try to reconcile a peace with their neighbors.
One thing is for sure, no more aid to isreal would lesson the hate for the U.S that the muslim countries have, and in turn would release much of the tension in the middle east.

So, no, this is not all the fault of the current administration, but instead a combined effort of the American People and their weak government administrations for the last 40 years.

we reap what we sow.

This is just to barbaric.

out president is such a total fuck up.

...or Hallal, either.

:argh:

When ever there's a crisis this guys goes on vacation/ parties.

the port at Haifa.

The 21st century sure does suck so far.

Lebanon's basic infrastructure, a move that will reduce the entire population to a horde of frantic survivors. That seems like a bit too much retaliation over the capture of two Israeli soldiers.

pretext! They know that the US will protect them in the Security Council.

due the actions of a small group of terrorists.. just like the Palestinians. Blows my mind how all powerful Israel is...

They are free to do what ever in the hell they want to do. But, what goes around comes around and when it does its going to be very ugly.

generally are more worried about food and water than carrying arms in a war...

so long as he and his buddies could be in charge up to that last moment of life. He is indeed a psycho. Only a sick society could allow such a madmen to assume the "helm".

So.. if a group of terrorists based in America attack another country, that country is free to bomb the shit out of OUR cities in response to something that is NOT government sponsored? Oh.. I see.. Israel subsribes the the Bush/PNAC brand of logical justice... terrorist attacks? Respond with your military and kill thousands of innocents who have nothing to do with it. Gosh.. and they're doing it with OUR military equipment and advisors. Lovely. Can we have a REAL fucking president now????

WOuld Bill Clinton be dining and funning around in Germany right now? Would Al Gore? John Kerry? NO.. they'd be back in the White House situation room and on the phone all night trying to diffuse this. Such bullshit.

was looking for provocations. They had this planned. They may have somehow been involved in the kidnappings. When this is over, that is when the Israeli forces finally withdraw, the Palestinians, Lebanese and perhaps Syrians will be left in a terrible state of chaos, requiring years just to build back up to where they were last month. That's exactly what Israel had in mind.

But, if Israel continues this cruelty, they WILL BE repaid in ways far worse than they are now imagining.

Iranian missiles at their OWN population centers too! :silly:

TomDispatch (http://www.tomdispatch.com/) recently laid out in an excellent way what I and many had been thinking for a long time about how Bush and his allies in Israel really work

...is, since Timothy McVeigh was a member of the Michigan Militia, the U.S. retaliating for the OKC bombing by nuking Detroit. :crazy:

It does seem that the Israeli government's knee-jerk reaction, during the second intifada as well as this crisis, is to deal with extemists by attacking the moderates who are unable to control said extremists -- thus further weakening the moderates and empowering the extremists.

I can't tell if it's a calculated strategy ("if there's no one left but the extermists, we'll always be justified in whatever actions we want to take because everything will be 'self-defense'") or whether it's driven by an automatic assumption that "all Ay-rabs are alike," and therefore it's fair to attack one group because of the actions of another, but it sure doesn't seem to be the policy I'd like to see any "mature" nation follow.

But I wonder if Cuba or Haiti or Nicaragua started bombing us all over, if all the Israel apologists would hold the same standard.

I'd say we were ALREADY in a world of hurt. It would be OUR RESPONSIBILITY to control the outlaws. Don't you think?

By the way, Bill would be funning around with Monica ... :evilgrin:

I fear you're our only hope.. and Superman is such a big movie this year.

got to get the voting process under better control or all bets are off.

middle east. This is really bad.

:scared:

during a press conference with merkel. a stomach-turning performance too, even merkel look appalled. when he wasn't joking about a pig bbq, he was ranting about TERRA and said 'israel has the right to defend itself'. and then his un puppet promptly vetoed the resolution to stop the slaughter.

<snip>
<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5950887,00.html

Two-Day Toll From Conflict Is at Least 57

By Anthony Shadid, Scott Wilson and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 14, 2006; 8:16 AM

BEIRUT, July 14 -- Israel pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and artillery for a second straight day on Friday, blasting airport runways, a power plant and the main road to Syria as well as seemingly symbolic targets, such as a highway named for a slain guerrilla fighter and a bridge in Ayatollah Khomeni Square.

The radical Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel, with reports of several people injured, while the Lebanese prime minister appealed to President George Bush for support.

Israel accused Iran and Syria of masterminding the Hezbollah raid that led to the killing of three soldiers and the abduction of two others from inside Israel on Wednesday, triggering the largest conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border in years. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said he would send a three-person team to the Middle East to urge all parties to exercise restraint.

Three civilians were killed in the Friday bombings, police said, bringing the death toll in Lebanon since Wednesday to 61 people, nearly all of them civilians. At least 165 people have been wounded. Hezbollah rocket attacks, which for the first time reached far enough into Israel to strike the port city of Haifa, killed two Israeli women Thursday in the northern towns of Safed and Nahariya. The eight Israeli soldiers killed in the Hezbollah raid and the fighting that followed constitute the military's highest death toll in four years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400385.html

:P

BTW, this is really my dog, and he's sleeping behind me on the couch as I type this.:loveya:

For more pix of him, here's his Dogster page...:hi:

http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=170168

I have a Westie (West Highland Terrier) sorry no links to pics though. He is a bundle of fun! :bounce: n' hyper too!

With quite the personalities...:D My previous dog was a Cairn, full of it and who lived to 18 1/2, and he had more personality than many people, LOL!:loveya:

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Israel pounded Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut and a highway linking the Lebanese capital to Damascus after the terrorist group fired rockets at Israel, escalating a three-day conflict.

Israeli jets attacked buildings in southern Beirut early this morning, a spokeswoman for the military, speaking on condition of anonymity, said by telephone. Later, jets struck Beirut's international airport for the third time in 24 hours, Sky News reported. The army couldn't confirm the report.

President George W. Bush yesterday defended Israel's right to defend itself while today U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair called for restraint and Russian President Vladimir Putin urged both sides to halt the bloodshed immediately. The conflict, sparked by the capture of Israeli soldiers, threatens to widen, and may dominate tomorrow's summit of the Group of Eight nations in St. Petersburg, Russia.

``We're now under aggressive war and we have plans for each phase of the war,'' Hussein Rahal, Hezbollah spokesman, said in an interview with al-Jazeera television.

Fifty-five people were killed and 160 wounded in the past two days across the country, said a Lebanese police spokesman, who asked not to be identified. Ten Israelis have also died. Hezbollah launched seven rockets at the northern Israeli town of Safed today, causing some damage but no injuries, the Israeli military spokeswoman said. Smaller numbers of rockets also hit army installations and communities in the north, she said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avuMwZhO1srY&refer=

CAIRO, July 14 (Reuters) - Egypt and Jordan condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories on Friday and called on all sides to show self-restraint.

A joint statement issued after a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan also said that attacks on Lebanese and Palestinian utilities and infrastructure were against international law.

King Abdullah visited Egypt for the day to consult Mubarak on the Middle East violence which escalated when the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on the Israeli-Lebanese border on Wednesday.

The statement said: "The two leaders condemned the widescale military operations by Israeli forces in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians and the targeting of vital Lebanese and Palestinian installations, utilities and infrastructure."

"This is in violation of the rules of international legitimacy and the principles of international humanitarian law," the statement added.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14846252.htm

(CNN) Israeli warplanes destroyed a building housing Hezbollah headquarters in south Beirut today, The Associated Press reported. The AP said the group's TV station reported the strike and said its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, and his family were safe. Israel's army chief said the military operation did not target Nasrallah, according to AP.

No link yet.

on edit:
MSNBC Breaking: Israel destroys Hezbollah headquarters
Offensive against infrastructure continues, Hezbollah leader unharmed

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 5 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon - An Israeli air strike destroyed a main Hezbollah office in Beirut’s southern suburb as Israel tightened its seal on Lebanon Friday.

The Israeli army blasted the Lebanon’s air and road links to the outside world and bringing its offensive to the capital to punish Hezbollah — and with it, the country — for the capture of two Israeli soldiers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13853565/

... cut the supply lines before the big attack. Go Israel!

look at these pics
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m24885&hd=0&size=1&l=e