apparently Hezbollah is hitting the Israeli army pretty hard. I think Israel is in trouble. and of course we're going to go down with them.

Quote :

" By BENJAMIN HARVEY ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER JERUSALEM -- Hezbollah's sophisticated anti-tank missiles are perhaps the guerrilla group's deadliest weapon in Lebanon fighting, with their ability to pierce Israel's most advanced tanks. Experts say this is further evidence that Israel is facing a well-equipped army in this war, not a ragtag militia. Hezbollah has fired Russian-made Metis-M anti-tank missiles and owns European-made Milan missiles, the army confirmed on Friday. In the last two days alone, these missiles have killed seven soldiers and damaged three Israeli-made Merkava tanks - mountains of steel that are vaunted as symbols of Israel's military might, the army said. Israeli media say most of the 44 soldiers killed in four weeks of fighting were hit by anti-tank missiles. "They (Hezbollah guerrillas) have some of the most advanced anti-tank missiles in the world," said Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior military intelligence officer who retired earlier this summer. "This is not a militia, it's an infantry brigade with all the support units," Kuperwasser said. Israel contends that Hezbollah gets almost all of its weaponry from Syria and by extension Iran, including its anti-tank missiles. That's why cutting off the supply chain is essential - and why fighting Hezbollah after it has spent six years building up its arsenal is proving so painful to Israel, officials say. advertising Israel's Merkava tanks boast massive amounts of armor and lumber and resemble fortresses on tracks. They are built for crew survival, according to Globalsecurity.org, a Washington-based military think tank. Hezbollah celebrates when it destroys one. "A Zionist armored force tried to advance toward the village of Chihine. The holy warriors confronted it and destroyed two Merkava tanks," the group proclaimed on television Thursday. The Israeli army confirmed two attacks on Merkava tanks that day - one that killed three soldiers and the other killing one. The three soldiers who were killed on Friday were also killed by anti-tank missiles, the army said. It would not say whether the missiles disabled the tanks. "To the best of my understanding, they (Hezbollah) are as well-equipped as any standing unit in the Syrian or Iranian armies," said Eran Lerman, a retired army colonel and now director of the Israel/Middle East office of the American Jewish Committee. "This is not a rat-pack guerrilla, this is an organized militia." Besides the anti-tank missiles, Hezbollah is also known to have a powerful rocket-propelled grenade known as the RPG29. These weapons are also smuggled through Syria, an Israeli security official said, and were previously used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to damage tanks. On Friday, Jane's Defense Weekly, a defense industry magazine, reported that Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons" to support its operations against Israel. The report cited Western diplomatic sources as saying that Iranian authorities promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons "for the next stage of the confrontation." Top Israeli intelligence officials say they have seen Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers on the ground with Hezbollah troops. They say that permission to fire Hezbollah's longer-range missiles, such as those could reach Tel Aviv, would likely require Iranian go-ahead. "

8/5/2006 3:21:16 AM

they cannot defeat Hezbollah. They are just destroying Lebanon so it never advances and they hope they can get the palestinians into it reliefing the jews from the palestinians.

[Edited on August 5, 2006 at 3:32 AM. Reason : .]

8/5/2006 3:32:07 AM

Sounds great.

At least someone is hitting what they are supposed to be hitting.

8/5/2006 8:49:50 AM

Quote :

"At least someone is hitting what they are supposed to be hitting."

8/5/2006 8:32:05 PM

Step (1)






Step (2)






Step (3)

...Profit

8/7/2006 1:02:37 AM

Hezbollah and the rest of these "insurgents" only appear to be doing ok because of our longsuffering attempts to minimize collateral damage.

If the U.S. were ever in any real danger, the militants over there would awaken to a day of reckoning that they can't even imagine at this point.

8/7/2006 8:38:08 AM

^thats a fact

israel is fighting with both hands tied behind its back. The day these terrorists start to hit jerusalem...all of the middle east will wish they had just left israel alone.

8/7/2006 8:41:30 AM

^^

i'm sorry, is the US fighting hezbollah?

where the fuck did that come from?

8/7/2006 10:10:53 AM

^We face a similar situation with militants in Iraq...

God, do we always have to do the math for you guys?

8/7/2006 10:29:29 AM

yeah, but we're NOT fighting hezbollah

stop lumping every middle eastern group together

it's not the US vs. them

8/7/2006 10:34:50 AM

Quote :

"Experts say this is further evidence that Israel is facing a well-equipped army in this war, not a ragtag militia."

No...they're fighting a well-equipped ragtag militia. I don't know why everyone is always trying to make Hezbollah out to be this legitimate military.

8/7/2006 11:32:05 AM

Apparently Excro and Trikk think the US military is having a field day in Iraq.

Off course they're probably thinking about firebombing the entire region until its a smoldering tar pit.

8/7/2006 11:32:18 AM

hmm.. not sure how you would get the impression that I think our military is having a field day in Iraq, but whatever.

Also, I "lumped" things together in response to joe_schmoe's first post:

Quote :

"I think Israel is in trouble. and of course we're going to go down with them."

8/7/2006 11:46:33 AM

when i said "going down with them", i dont mean militarily.

i mean politically. as in, "staying the course" with them to the bitter end, regardless of the damage it does to our international moral credibility. whats left of it, that is.






[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 1:00 PM. Reason : ]

8/7/2006 12:57:22 PM

Quote :

"Apparently Excro and Trikk think the US military is having a field day in Iraq. "

apparently not...all i did was agree with Excoriator when he said that the US and Israel in Iraq and Lebanon are showing tremendous restraint. If it became necessary, either the US or Israel could completely flatten those places.

Some say "but the terrorists are too well equiped!!" or "but israeli's were unprepared for such a well-armed hezbollah"...and that is true. the terrorists are well equiped and Israel was unprepared for hezbollah to be so well armed. However, if it became necesary, Israel could and would blow Beruit off the planet. I'm not saying they should. All im saying is they could and they probobly would.

8/7/2006 3:37:55 PM

yea, you guys think a few hundred civilian casualties is outrageous - these figures are a luxury afforded only to the enemies of extremely secure-feeling nations.

Were we to ever feel seriously threatened, (LOL @ middle east)

8/7/2006 3:40:58 PM

Quote :

"Were we to ever feel seriously threatened, (LOL @ middle east)"

Let's ask the Viet Cong if the big, bad US avoided collateral damage on its way to victory in Vietnam. Oh wait, we lost that war, against a rag-tag militia, kind of like the insurgency in Iraq. Food for thought?

8/7/2006 4:12:49 PM

Were we seriously threatened?

8/7/2006 4:21:16 PM

Quote :

"Food for thought?"

no you bloody moron - if anything, the US felt even LESS threatened during the vietnam war than it does now.

and also, we didn't have precision weapons back then so wtf are you even talking about? do you even know?

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 4:36 PM. Reason : s]

8/7/2006 4:35:27 PM

^^^

i think what these people are implying is that we have nukes

America and Israel have nuclear weapons and we could use them if we needed to

so... one wonders WHY iran wants them

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 4:36 PM. Reason : .]

8/7/2006 4:35:39 PM

I'm not talking about nuclearizing the middle east. Far from it.

I'm talking about a real declaration of war with the full might and force of our conventional military and a resolve to win at all costs. This can only happen if we really and truly feel threatened, which isn't likely, but if it did, (LOL @ middle east)

8/7/2006 4:38:07 PM

then you are absolutely wrong

we DO NOT have the resources to, as you put so well, "LOL @ middle east"

hell, we're not even doing well in iraq or afganistan

8/7/2006 4:40:29 PM

We're not doing well because we're trying to minimize collateral damage (believe it or not)

Quote :

"these "insurgents" only appear to be doing ok because of our longsuffering attempts to minimize collateral damage. This is a luxury afforded only to the enemies of extremely secure-feeling nations."

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 4:42 PM. Reason : s]

8/7/2006 4:42:22 PM

yeah, you're right, we should totally start carpet bombing cities

it would totally help us achieve our objectives

[Edited on August 7, 2006 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/7/2006 4:43:47 PM

My only point was in response to what sounded like joe_schmoe saying that the US was gonna go down with Israel.

I pointed out that there was no chance of that occuring, because we would unleash the wrath of god before we ever fell.

Since then he's pointed out that he only meant politically, not militarily so its a non-issue between him and I.

However, you guys seem to think that we're giving our all in Iraq and Afghanistan - that's pretty freakin funny, you know.

8/7/2006 4:46:40 PM

and what is the wrath of god?

8/7/2006 4:46:58 PM

lots of troops, hardcore martial law, indiscriminate conventional bombing and shelling of enemy strongholds (civilians would learn to flee after the first city fell - thats how war used to be back when superpowers were actually afraid of losing), etc.

Now, I'm not advocating this style of warfare - I'm just saying that the US has a lot more to give, if it was pushed to it and that anyone who thinks the US is gonna be defeated is sorely mistaken. As I said, joe_schmoe clarified his point and I understand he isn't of that persuasion, but you guys seem to think that we're fighting the hardest we can - and we're not.

8/7/2006 4:51:32 PM

you're like a child

8/7/2006 4:52:21 PM

while you type that are you making your hand into a gun and going "pew pew"

8/7/2006 4:53:08 PM

nope. when you type, are you holding up your left hand in a peace sign for all the world to see and waving a little white flag LOLZ OMG

8/7/2006 5:00:41 PM

Quote :

"yeah, you're right, we should totally start carpet bombing cities "

eeeexactly.....what would you go screaming if Israel started carpet bombing cities?? You would be screaming about the poor poor civilians. But what would actually happen if israel carpet bombed southern lebanon or even all of beruit??? Everyone would be dead or enough people would die that those who remained would say "enough...we surrender" ....

welcome to unconditional war. Thats how it went in WWI and WWII...and thats how it would go today.

8/7/2006 5:16:29 PM

yep, it would, if any of us actually really felt truly threatened.

up until now, and for the foreseeable future, these militias have only been annoyances. They have the luxury of our sense of security in that we care to minimize their collateral damage.

8/7/2006 5:18:28 PM

actually, there would be international outcry and all the other arab nations would join the fight at the least.

then some possible un action or i could see some jerks like france and russia joining too if israel just started carpet bombing the whole middle east.

8/7/2006 5:26:33 PM

there wouldn't be much of an outry against Israel if there were a full-scale invasion of Tel Aviv

People today have just become so used to little scrappy conflicts that they think that is what war really is.

8/7/2006 5:32:10 PM

^ding ding ding

8/7/2006 5:40:46 PM

what do you mean a full invasion of tel aviv? im not being a smartass or anything i just have no idea what your talking about.

8/7/2006 5:47:57 PM

Its like when a bunch of fighters....invade....Tel Aviv...

amirite?

8/7/2006 5:48:42 PM

youarerite

8/7/2006 5:50:00 PM

thats not even possible. tel aviv is like the inner most city in israel.

all i'm saying is that if israel or anybody for that matter just started carpet bombing places they would probobly be disarmed. thats why they want to stay on the moral high ground.

8/7/2006 5:56:40 PM

if they started carpet bombing places in the current context, you're right, but if their existence was truly threatened by invading armies (which its not, and wont for the foreseeable future), then you're incorrect.

8/7/2006 5:58:09 PM

Quote :

"nope. when you type, are you holding up your left hand in a peace sign for all the world to see and waving a little white flag LOLZ OMG"

i'm very fucking far from a pacifist

i just think you're juvenile

8/7/2006 6:51:09 PM

Quote :

"israel is fighting with both hands tied behind its back. "

This one made me LOL

8/7/2006 6:58:51 PM

well, it is.

8/7/2006 7:41:23 PM