54 civilians, including 34 children, were wiped out on Sunday by an Israeli strike on a residential building in the city of Qana. The war in its 20th day has already claimed more than 700 Lebanese life, most amongst them are reported to be civilians. Israel, on the other hand, has suffered much lesser amount of casualities, but innocent civilians in both the countries have paid a heavy toll, neverthless.
When Israel leaped into the war, there were many who defended their actions. Notably, US which is backed by a strong jewish lobby and which has always favored Israel over its struggle against the arabs, agreed with the Israeli military action. It didn't matter if the Israelis destroyed the International airport, or the highways, or the ports - it was all a matter of "self defense". Lebanon has, literally, been set back by atleast 20 years due to the destruction and war has only started on the ground.
Its true that Hezbollah is a gruesome terrorist organisation and such outfits must be disarmed and routed. But is war the only solution or can war ever be a solution ? Its easy to claim that you cannot eliminate civilian casualities in a war, but try telling that to the widowed lady who lost the sole bread winner of the family or the kids who became orphan for no fault of theirs or their parents. The 34 kids who lost lives in Qana would never know why their lives were so short lived ? In a war, both the warring factions are loser. There is never a winner. When the war ends, hopefully at the earliest, Israel might look back smugly at the fact that they have dismembered a radical organisation that has inflicted a heavy civilian casualities in northern Israel. But I think that feeling would be fleeting, cause such belligerent actions would only end up converting the moderate arabs into hardliners and give rise to many such fundamentalist groups. As it stands, I see no solution in the middle east. War is certainly not the solution, but at the same time I think diplomacy and gumption have failed miserably too.
The UN, as always, is toothless. I expected sterner action from UN, after the Israel attack on a UN surveillance unit where 4 UN observers were killed, but the UN continued with its innocuous diplomacy. I guess the UN can only be as strong as the 5 powerful nations want it to be, and with one of the them not totally against the war, the UN is powerless as usual. The UN might ultimately help rebuild the middle east, but it could probably have saved itself the task by not allowing the mayhem to happen in the first place. Israel has set a brilliant example for all nations in the world, to go wage a war against any country which houses a terrorist organisation that threatens them. A perfect recipe for future chaos, an example for all to use reckless abandon in dealing with your neighbour and show complete disregard for international opinion.
Finally, I wonder what the two abducted Israeli soldiers might be thinking, if they are still alive . Approximately 1000 innocent lives have been lost, for their two lives. I know, lives cannot be explained with mathematical equations, but I still wonder what is the thought process they are undergoing as they lay down to sleep?
4 comments:
The terrorist, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Contrary to what you think, Hezbollah is not widely regarded as a terrorist organization. Its a political party which contests elections. Much like Hamas in Palestine. The terrorist designation is what suits US and other western powers interests. It enjoys wide support from the people it represents. This does not mean that I support their violent tactics, but if you think a little bit about the circumstances under which it came about, dismissing it as a terrorist organization is a little simplistic.
Mudit has a good point. The escalating fights aren't a good sign. And, US has lost its whatisthatthingcalled..ah..yeah whip...what is it called in hindi, btw?
Regarding the terrorist designation, I agree that it is very much dependent on who is doing this designation. In Iraq, today there was a support rally of more than 250,000, the largest so far in support of Hezb, and against Israel. Most of the Arabs regard these Hezb fighters as martyrs and freedom fighter, fighting against the Israeli oppression, and then there is the western world calling them militants. But then same is the case with just about all these terrorist organization, be it Marxists rebels in India and Nepal, bodo, LTTE, Kashmiri militants, or even in Chechnya..... these groups always have some supporters and more often then not, they claim to have some ideological difference with the ruling powers, and that’s what they claim to be fighting for, their ideological freedom, freedom of land, of people etc etc. But in my own opinion, when any of these organizations start using terror and killing of people as a way to put their point forward, they start crossing this line of terrorism. One day if they end up succeeding, then history might acknowledge them as great freedom fighters and martyrs, but till then, I think they need to be labeled as terrorist. Peaceful negotiations is the only way forward and thus I consider Israel every bit as terrorist an organization as there is any, at least in this war on the whole of Lebanon
@Anarkist...well said, terrorism has definetly fed off the hatred of the west.
On a different note, what is the difference between Israel killing civilians and expressing remorse, and Hezbollah killing innoncent Israelis and not expressing regret ? Does that make one moral and the other not....
@Totti..pattha..danda...lathi...I donno what word u r looking for
@Chillar..hey chillar how r u doing?
I still feel terror is always whipped by a chosen few who exploit the religious sentiments of masses. Having said that, the wars are not waged on religious ground, but rather on territorial requirements..Religion only seems like an inflaming tool in this process
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