All Hank, all the time.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Interesting article in the liberal British paper the Guardian onthe 15 most influential websites to date.

I see Wikipedia and Drudgereport. No Kos, no Quiggan.com, no DU nor any lefty blogospherics. Interesting..............

Shhhh.... Don't tell Slave. He thinks DU is a major voice in American politics.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
She's a slut. You see those shoulders? Whore.

She is not yet a slut/whore. Her parents are attempting to whore her out.

[Penske_Account]

She's a slut. You see those shoulders? Whore.

You should have posted that in Vietnamese, just in her case her parents read this blog.


etft -- t.s.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
It's not an issue of justification for Israel - Hezbollah gave them ample rationale to take military action.

It's a question of the wisdom of their choice of action - they did themselves and the US absolutely no service with this one; they strengthened Hezbollah, weakened the Lebanese government, showed themselves to be vulnerable, and left us playing the role of toadies while France got to play a decisive role coming up with the cease fire at the UN. What happened to Israel? They make Rumsfeld look vaguely competent.

They had no idea that Hezbollah was that well armed, trained, and dug in.

And they did not want to go in with overwhelming force. When Israel invaded Lebanon in the 80s, something like 10,000 people died in the first few days.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
I suppose you would engage Jamie Gorelick to erect information walls between this new group and each of the CIA and FBI, yes?

If the CIA develops information through sources we don't want to reveal, how do you propose to try someone in court using that information?

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If the CIA develops information through sources we don't want to reveal, how do you propose to try someone in court using that information?

Closed tribunals.

[SlaveNoMore]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
They had no idea that Hezbollah was that well armed, trained, and dug in.

Nor did we, apparently:

From the Telegraph

Israel humbled by arms from Iran
By Adrian Blomfield in Ghandouriyeh

Abandoned Hizbollah positions in Lebanon yesterday revealed conclusive evidence that Syria - and almost certainly Iran - provided the anti-tank missiles that have blunted the power of Israel's once invincible armour.

After one of the fiercest confrontations of the war, Israeli forces took the small town of Ghandouriyeh, east of the southern city of Tyre, on Sunday evening, hours before a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations took effect.

Israeli soldiers hold a Israeli flag after returning from Lebanon
At least 24 Israeli soldiers were killed in the advance on the strategic hilltop town as Hizbollah fighters were pushed back to its outskirts, abandoning many weapons.

The discovery helped to explain the slow progress made by Israeli ground forces in nearly five weeks of a war which Hizbollah last night claimed as "a historic victory." Israeli political and military leaders are facing mounting criticism over the conduct of the offensive, which was intended to smash the Iranian-backed Shia militia.

Outside one of the town's two mosques a van was found filled with green casings about 6ft long. The serial numbers identified them as AT-5 Spandrel anti-tank missiles. The wire-guided weapon was developed in Russia but Iran began making a copy in 2000.

Beyond no-man's land, in the east of the village, was evidence of Syrian-supplied hardware. In a garden next to a junction used as an outpost by Hizbollah lay eight Kornet anti-tank rockets, described by Brig Mickey Edelstein, the commander of the Nahal troops who took Ghandouriyeh, as "some of the best in the world".

Written underneath a contract number on each casing were the words: "Customer: Ministry of Defence of Syria. Supplier: KBP, Tula, Russia." Brig Edelstein said: "If they tell you that Syria knew nothing about this, just look. This is the evidence. Proof, not just talk."

The discovery of the origin of the weapons proved to the Israelis that their enemy was not a ragged and lightly armed militia but a semi-professional army equipped by Syria and Iran to take on Israel. The weapons require serious training to operate and could be beyond the capabilities of some supposedly regular armies in the Middle East. The Kornet was unveiled by Russia in 1994. It is laser-guided, has a range of three miles and carries a double warhead capable of penetrating the reactive armour on Israeli Merkava tanks. Russia started supplying them to Syria in 1998.

Israeli forces were taken by surprise by the sophistication of the anti-tank weapons they faced. They are believed to have accounted for many of the 116 deaths the army suffered. Dozens of tanks were hit and an unknown number destroyed.

The missiles were also used against infantry, in one case bringing down a house and killing nine soldiers. They played an important part in Hizbollah's tactics of using a network of concealed positions to set up ambushes for the Israelis as they inched in. Last night, Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah leader, said his men had achieved "a strategic, historic victory" over "a confused, cowardly and defea-ted" enemy. He said the militia would not disarm, as Israel and the UN Security Council were demanding. It would be "immoral, incorrect and inappropriate," he said. "It is the wrong timing on a pyschological and moral level."

As the militia leader was claiming victory, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, defended his handling of the crisis and said that the massive air, ground and sea attack had changed the face of the Middle East. But he admitted that the military and political leadership was guilty of "shortcomings", not least in underestimating the threat from anti-tank weapons.

Critics say that he placed too much faith in the ability of the air force to break the back of Hizbollah and delayed launching a major ground offensive until it was too late.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud Party leader and a rival, said: "There were many failures - failures on identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front."

Last night, President George W. Bush blamed Iran and Syria for fomenting the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah. "We can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks," he said.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Closed tribunals.

Presumably a closed tribunal where the defendant doesn't get to see the evidence against him, right?

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Presumably a closed tribunal where the defendant doesn't get to see the evidence against him, right?

Whatever it takes, after all the ends justify the means, no?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Nor did we, apparently:

• Israeli forces were taken by surprise by the sophistication of the anti-tank weapons they faced.

Like 1973 all over again.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Nor did we, apparently:

From the Telegraph

Israel humbled by arms from Iran
By Adrian Blomfield in Ghandouriyeh

When's the next Israeli election? Isn't Natanyahu running? God help the Arabs if that lunatic wins.

I blame all of this on Sharon's reckless diet. This is why we have to win the war aginst Big Fat.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I know this is a bit hard to grasp, but we're in agreement on that point. If we disagree about anything, it's that we aren't on enough ground.

So you are now in favor of the Iraq war?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Whatever it takes, after all the ends justify the means, no?

Why do you hate the American way? If this was 1775, you would be an apologist for King George III.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

I guess I find it odd that people can be so libertarian when it comes to economic policy and cultural matters and so statist when it comes to the police power.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
They had no idea that Hezbollah was that well armed, trained, and dug in.

And they did not want to go in with overwhelming force. When Israel invaded Lebanon in the 80s, something like 10,000 people died in the first few days.

Like I said, they make Rumsfeld look vaguely competent. And he is way better than they are at coming up with vaguely plausible inane excuses.