CINA

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Following article was published 8.18 in the German(bourgeois) magazine Der Spiegel:

Hezbollah's Leader
 
War Turns Nasrallah Into a Cult Figure

The military conflict in Lebanon has ended with a cease-fire. No proper peace treaty has been signed. Still, Hezbollah is celebrating the ceasefire as a victory over Israel. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has achieved cult status among the Middle East's Islamic radicals -- and he's become more dangerous than ever.

One of Hezbollah's public relations teams has attached a poster saluting non-Arab speakers by the highway leading to Beirut airport. It's not one of the usual improvised yellow-and-green posters or banners, the ones that show Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah smiling mildly. It's a perfectly normal ad -- large and properly paid for. The message is clear: The poster celebrates "the divine victory."

Nasrallah and Hezbollah's Katyushas(in a Christian school in Beirut)

Similar images have been shown on Hezbollah's TV channel Al-Manar for the last two days. Computer-animated hands reach up from the rubble of southern Lebanon to make victory symbols. Then a band begins to play. Men dance among the devastated houses of southern Beirut. The lyrics are flowery and don't make much sense -- but the word "victory" is mentioned over and over.

Nasrallah -- the militia leader, the spiritual authority, the face of resistance -- is omnipresent. Freshly printed posters featuring his likeness and images of Katyusha rockets have been plastered up all over the country. As Lebanese soldiers preparing to patrol southern Lebanon assemble by the banks of the Litani River, entire caravans of buses draped with Hezbollah flags rush by. The windshields display pictures of Nasrallah, and loud battle songs -- Hezbollah's new victory hymns -- can be heard from inside.

Everything's prepared for the Hezbollah militants when they return to their hometowns -- the militia's PR teams have done an amazing job. Almost every bombed-out building sports a Hezbollah flag, and large banners hang across the streets to help villagers form an opinion of what happened during the last few weeks. The banners say the massive destruction isn't Hezbollah's fault, and that Hezbollah has won the war by giving its all to battle Lebanon's enemy.

"Made in the USA"

Others are to blame for the devastation, the Hezbollah propaganda insists. "Made in the USA" is an especially popular motto along the approaches to some heavily bombed villages. Posters hanging above mountains of rubble ask a rhetorical question: Is this what comes with the democracy everyone talks about in Israel? Other slogans celebrate "victory over the murderers" or simply "the Sheikh's victory." This is Hassan Nasrallah's sweet revenge.

It's tempting to see the post-ceasefire victory celebrations as propaganda. But Islamic radicals in the Middle East agree that this cease-fire marks a cesura in their history, even if it's temporary. Nasrallah ordered rockets to continue to be fired at Israel until the very end, and he still controls southern Lebanon. Israel didn't achieve its goal of destroying his militia. Even an internationally renowned magazine like The Economist featured the headline: "Nasrallah Wins The War."

Nasrallah in the bus(Tehran)..

..and in the stadium(during a qualifacation game for the Asia Cup, Iran)

The Israelis never got near Nasrallah himself, either. He managed to make public statements several times on TV, and observers expect him to make a staged appearance before throngs in a Lebanese street during the coming days. The Israelis can't kill him now that the cease-fire has started. So no matter what direction the peace process takes, Nasrallah is alive and will lead his militia. His place in history books -- somewhere between the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and Syrian President Bashar Assad -- is secure.

Avenging the Palestinians?

Respect for Nasrallah was also evident in speeches given by the presidents of Syria and Iran. Both praised his "struggle." The critics of Hezbollah's assaults on Israel, such as Jordan's King Abdullah, were silent. Abdullah as all too familiar with the mood in his country, where Nasrallah is suddenly being celebrated as the avenger of the Palestinians. It's not wise to criticize a new cult figure like Nasrallah -- who knows what might become of him?

Nasrallah's rise to glory is the climax of an unusual career. He was born in the slums of Beirut in 1960. His parents saved the little money they had so he could attend a private school, where he was known as a devout Muslim. When civil war broke out in 1975, Nasrallah was 15. He was quick to escape to Iraq, where he attended an Islamic seminary in Najaf. Not much later, he moved to Qom in Iran. He was considered charismatic there and attracted considerable attention.

Nasrallah, who is addressed as "Prime Minister Nasrallah" by his followers, is not a religious fanatic. He never moved far up in the clerical hierarchies of Islam because he wasn't all that interested in the Koran. His former schoolmates describe him as hard-working but not particularly talented. Nasrallah is, however, an experienced politician: He regularly visited Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri for tea before the latter was assassinated. It was always possible to reach an agreement with the Shiite leader, Hariri once said.

Nasrallah has been an important political factor in Lebanon for years now. He's even met United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, once, as the leader of Hezbollah. Timur Gocksel, who was for many years the leader of the UN forces stationed in southern Lebanon, describes Nasrallah as a pure pragmatist. "He was hungry for knowledge," Gocksel recalls. "He had always read the paper. Of course he was interested in Israel and military matters, but he read about many other things too."

A policy based on hatred for Israel

The struggle against Israel became Nasrallah's life work. He adopted the religious and ideological positions of the Iranian elite under Ayatollah Khomeini and the present Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, and he's long been seen as someone who represents Iran in Lebanon. Just after he took control of Hezbollah, the first Katyusha rockets began flying into Israel.

He likes to provoke: None of his speeches would be complete without a rant against Israel. His 18-year-old son died fighting the Israeli army in 1997. Nasrallah spent days negotiating the return of the corpse. But he also created a propaganda legend: Hadi hadn't been dead for 24 hours when his father turned up at a Hezbollah celebration. "We win honor for ourselves when we send our sons into battle," he cried out. "And we stand upright when they die."
 
At the peak of his power, the leader of the Shiite militia isn't likely to go soft anytime soon. He'll probably become more dangerous than ever, both in Lebanon and beyond. Whatever he says will be taken up by Islamic radicals. Whatever he writes will be read by hundreds of thousands of people. Without meaning to, Israel has created an enemy that may be larger than Hezbollah.

Israeli intelligence agents are already concerned that radical groups such as Hamas might learn the keys to success from Hezbollah. The very structure of the group -- half militia and half social movement -- worries Mossad members. Most of all, other groups could learn from Hezbollah how to avoid infiltration by intelligence agents and develop strict discipline.

The flowery speeches from politicians in Lebanon during the last few days give an idea of Nasrallah's importance. No matter which political party the speakers belong to, they all make an effort to please him, directly or indirectly. They're out to win his support -- or at least prevent him and Hezbollah from doing anything extreme for the time being. This means that his power is already greater than the two Hezbollah ministers in the Lebanese cabinet suggest. Nasrallah will be sure to use this influence.

Given this situation, the international community will have to consider how it deals with the sheikh. So far he hasn't shown any inclination to give up the weapons held by his troops or allow them to be disarmed. If such a measure were forced on him, he would no doubt start a new confrontation in southern Lebanon -- which means the man from the slums of Beirut has the leverage, even in a United Nations-sponsored peace.

Hezbollah/Nasrallah propaganda in Europe("anti-war" rally in London)

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STATE RACISM IN THE EU

When the European Union(EU) isn't able to repel potential immigrants from the so-called "Third World" to reach its soil (every year THOUSANDS of potential immigrants are dying in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic on their way to flee poverty, civil war, any kind of discrimination.., just for to reach the coasts of the EU - the "empire of freedom and prosperity") the rulers in the EU search for other ways to "solve the problem of migration by the poor". For example to lock up immigrants in Ghettos..

Here is one of the latest examples for the inhumanity of EU's "immigration" policy:

Ring of steel locks in immigrants (Times, 8.11)

A city famed for its beauty has turned to an ugly answer to drugs and violence
 
 
PADUA in Italy is renowned for its ancient university and medieval frescoes by Giotto. Yesterday, however, it acquired a less attractive claim to fame: a steel wall, 84m long and 3m high, blocking off a run-down housing estate with a high immigrant population and a reputation for drugs, violence and prostitution.

The wall was erected overnight by the local council around a cluster of run-down apartment blocks housing 1,500 people that is known as the Padua Bronx. A police checkpoint has been set up to control access to and from the estate. The council said that the wall had cost €80,000.

Some reports said, however, that the operation — including the installation of CCTV — costs as much as €270,000. Italian newspapers said that “a new Berlin Wall has gone up — this time in the heart of Italy”.

Il Giornale compared the Padua wall to the fence dividing Israel from the West Bank. La Repubblica ran the headline: “Padua is divided in two.”

Police said that the flats — on what is officially the Serenissima (Most Serene) estate — had once been occupied by students, but over the past decade had been taken over by immigrants from Africa, including the Maghreb, Asia and Eastern Europe. “Many of them are illegal immigrants,” a police spokesman said. “There is a serious drugs problem .”

Police raided several flats at dawn yesterday, arresting ten clandestini (illegal immigrants) and seizing hundreds of grammes of cocaine. Last month police used teargas to quell street fighting between nearly 200 Nigerians and Moroccans, and confiscated weapons including machetes and meat cleavers.

The wall was condemned by Giancarlo Galan, the centre-right President of the Veneto Region, as a “policy of despair”. He said that it amounted to an admission of failure by Padua’s centre-left council.

Signor Zanonato said that he preferred “enclosure” to wall. “People are comparing us to Berlin, or even Beirut,” he said. “But there are 20,000 immigrants in Padua. My task is to do what is possible to integrate them. But this enclosure was requested by residents near the estate, to stop drug dealing.”

An Italian voice about this case you can read here:

PADUA: A 3M "WALL" AROUND VIA ANELL

(Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 8.09)

Four millimetre thick steel panels are being used to construct a 80m long "wall" three metres high to fence off the entire Serenissima complex on Via Anelli in order to deny people wishing to buy or sell drugs access to the "Paduan Bronx". Even though the aim is different, a "wall" is being built in Padua just like post-war Berlin. This time, however, it is the locals who are supporting the project, hoping for greater peace. Access to the complex will be restricted to its residents and a police checkpoint will be installed at the entrance. In the last few weeks, fighting was taking place at the complex for the control of the drug racket, but was thwarted by the Police and the Carabinieri. The wall will have new security video cameras installed for surveillance and should stop the easy escape of the criminals that are putting life in the entire neighbourhood at risk. In the meantime, police operations continue. At dawn, some houses were searched and over 40 people were registered, about ten of whom are being subject to expatriation procedures by the Police. The operation has also confiscated hundreds of grammes of cocaine.

Residents there, according to a report of the German state broadcasting station ZDF, called it "the Guantanamo of Italy... a prison for immigrants".

****

But actually this kind of state policy isn't so new in Europe, not really.

Of course everyone knows about the ghettos for Jews in the (by the Germans) occupied territories during WWII!?

After the collapse of the East Block in cities of the Czech Republic, for example, like in Usti nad Laben(in the north, near the German border) the municipalities ordered to build walls around residential quarters of local Roma communities(a.k.a. Gypsies, a national minority in the most of the east European countries).

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BTW.. it's very interesting that only a few bourgeois European media were reporting about the case of the Padua Wall.  

German f.. disgusting report about the Padua Wall (ZDF, 8.16)

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Hezbollah's Reconstruction Role - From Combat Troops to Charity Battalions
 
Armed Militants Helping Lebanon Rebuild

From rockets to reconstruction: the Islamic militant group Hezbollah has quickly switched its priorities from fighting Israeli troops to helping with reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon. Hardworking, well organized and not about to disarm or retreat, they are impressing local residents.

The orders from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah were very clear, but militia commander Suliman couldn't carry them out this time. The head of the Shiite extremist group told his fighters by radio on Saturday that as part of the cease-fire agreement starting this week they were to switch from military camouflage to civilian clothing. Suliman would have gladly obeyed, but there was just one problem.

"Unfortunately I only have one pair of trousers," says the Hezbollah veteran while grinning embarrassedly. "What can I do?"

So even though the guns have fallen silent, Suliman still thoroughly looks the part of militant fighter. He has a pistol stuck into his camouflage pants, a crackling radio peeks out of his pocket and he says he's rarely managed to take off his combat boots in recent days. The gray-bearded man is surrounded by his younger fighters, all of whom are still heavily armed. Normally forbidden to talk to journalists, they appear uncertain. But the 46-year-old commander has given his approval.

Suliman eagerly tells of how his troop fought Israeli forces until the last moments before the cease-fire. "I gave the order before we brought down the helicopter on Saturday," he says pointing to a spot somewhere in the mountainous region near the border. "It was an uplifting feeling." The Hezbollah commander even claims there are still plenty of dead Israeli soldiers in the hills. "They're afraid to recover them."

Of course, it's far from certain whether Suliman's 40-man unit actually shot down an Israeli chopper. However, all of Israel's heavy ordinance couldn't dislodge them from the village of Beit Lif, only three kilometers from the border. If Suliman is to be believed, he didn't lose a single man to the bombardment. "Up till the end we fired dozens of rockets in Israel's direction," he says. "We still have a few in the depots."

But today Suliman has different orders. Together with ten of his fighters he is gathering dead cows scattered around the 2,500-person village with a backhoe. Another four men are using a bulldozer to remove rubble from the streets. "We still have a lot to do," he says while looking at his watch. "We want to start with the rebuilding soon."

Beit Lif suffered considerable damage in the month-long conflict and Hassan is happy to show a destroyed farm as part of a tour of the village. The 34-year-old is a teacher from Beirut, but he's also part of what could be considered Hezbollah's militia reserves. Bragging about his fighting skills and how many Israelis he killed in a rocket attack on a Kibbutz in the nearby hills, he says he will now help with the reconstruction efforts before returning to the Lebanese capital to teach children English.

Hezbollah's reconstruction helpers are everywhere in southern Lebanon right now. Those men fighting in the port town of Tyre only days ago are now the ones clearing the streets, raising electricity masts and offering aid to local residents. The quick reorganization from combat to relief help made it possible for many refugees to return to their homes. Nasrallah even claims Hezbollah will rebuild the country on its own.

More than a fighting force

The militant group has always supplemented its fighting and terrorist operations with humanitarian efforts including supporting clinics and schools -- partly explaining its broad appeal with many in Lebanon. But now Hezbollah is hoping to gain popularity by rebuilding after a conflict that many blame the militants for starting in the first place. But in the bombed out town Qana, it's clear who's to blame. "We Will Rebuild What the Murdering Jews Have Destroyed," reads one banner.

The group certainly won't have a problem coming up with money for aiding reconstruction. Since the latest conflict broke out, Hezbollah's charitable foundations have been swamped with donations from throughout the Arab world. The images of destruction caused by Israeli air strikes have made heroes out of Nasrallah's outgunned men. And now they will show they care about the Lebanese people's plight as much as they hate Israel.

Along with money, Hezbollah seems to have everything else it needs for large-scale relief efforts: heavy construction equipment, building supplies and plenty of manpower. Until international aid arrives, Hezbollah will have finished much of the most pressing work. The extremists' own TV station, Al-Manar reported that hundreds of pre-fabricated houses were already being delivered around Tyre.

Even those unsympathetic to the Islamists are willing to accept their help right now. Fatma, a 34-year-old woman who is six months pregnant, has returned to the almost completely leveled town of Siddik to stand before her destroyed home. Two bombs turned the house her husband built for $150,000 into a large crater. She is angry at Hezbollah for sparking the fighting by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.
 
"They've destroyed our lives with their nonsense," Fatma says while looking around to make sure there aren't any bearded militia members driving bulldozers nearby. "Everyone knew that Israel would attack."

But when asked who will help Lebanon pick up the pieces now that the fighting was over she falls silent at first. "The first help will come from Hezbollah," she says. "Then hopefully Europe will help." But her opinions are not widely shared in a region laid to waste buy hundreds of bombs. And Hezbollah's speedy response is likely to only strengthen the group's roots in the local population.

And that could make the mission of the Lebanese army and a United Nations peacekeeping mission to southern Lebanon more difficult. Suliman and his fighters certainly have no intention of laying down their weapons and demobilizing. "If Hezbollah left, the region would be completely empty," says Suliman grinning. "That can hardly be the goal of the UN, right?"

(Der Spiegel, Germany, 8.16)

Hizbullah set to rebuild Lebanon (Guardian, UK, 8.17)
 

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JEWS AGAINST THE STATE OF ISRAEL

..haehae~ it's not a joke!!!

When I was living in Palestine - in Silwan/East Jerusalem - daily I met/saw hundreds of orthodox Jews. Many of them were dressed in clothes which were used in the 17th and 18th century by Jews in east Europe(Poland, Russia..). The males wear long beards, temple curls and fur caps.

Later, from my Palestinian comrades I learned that many of them are members of the Jewish sect Neturei Karta (N.K. www.nkusa.org). I was learning that they are, because of their religious believe complete enemies of the State of Israel.

They were/are calling themselves "Jewish Palestinians". As I know they're living in the region(especially in Jerusalem and Safed) since the 17th century. They don't speak Hebrew(only in the synagoge or for praying, in the public and privat they speak Jiddish), they don't join the IDF and they usually refuse to use the Israeli ID card. Since the 70th of the last century they are supporting - some of them actively were/are joining - the PLO. They have their own department in this organisation.

Actually I complete reject any religion but in this case I said that its ok, if they use this only for their privat life and don't try to make trouble for their non-jewish(Arab) neighbours. (Of course their kind of Jewish religion is very strange, or better said reactionary, but if they use this just for their privacy... it's their own problem..).

Beside N.K.'s opposition against any kind occupation of Gaza, West Bank and the Golan Hights they were strong opponents of the war in Lebanon.

But now I doubt about their "mental health"(well, to much praying, definetely, makes SICK!!, aeh, it's just MY opinion..)..

Please, just check out following article by Yedioth Ahronoth:

Neturei Karta rabbi to Iran newspaper: Israel will cease to exist

Rabbi David Weiss says: Israel was established in the name of Judaism but is impure and Godless 
 
In an interview with official Iranian newspaper, IRNA, Rabbi David Weiss, of the Neturei Karta movement, said "Israel was established in the name of Judaism but is impure and Godless. We are sure that it will cease to exist."

Neturei Karta is a small group of Ultra-Orthodox Jews who reject all forms of Zionism and oppose the existence of that state of Israel. This stems from their belief that Israel can only truly be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah and, subsequently, that any state of Israel prior to this exists in violation of divine will.

Anti-Zionist Rabbis 
 

In an interview with an IRNA journalist, in New York, Rabbi Weiss stated that "We don't know how much blood will be shed until the state of Israel will cease to exist, but we pray to the Creator that it will happen with the minimum amount of loss and bloodshed."

According to Weiss, "The creation of the state of Israel does not conform to Jewish law and, actually, is contrary to it. Jewish rabbis around the world fear to express their opinions because of the intimidating atmosphere creating by the Zionists."

Weiss addressed UN Security Council resolution 1701 and said: "I oppose this decision because it does not touch upon the demands of the Lebanese or Palestinian people."

"We believe that the day is close at hand when Israel will lose its strength. The Torah says that whatever exists in opposition to divine will cannot continue. As I understand it, things are changing every day and we are sure that Israel will cease to exist."

'Problem today is Zionism'

Weiss discussed Israel's weakening hand in the war on terror and said: "In 1967, if you would have said anything about giving away part of the Gaza Strip to Palestinians, people would have killed you. Now we see that, after more than fifty years, Israel is trying to defeat Palestinian resistance, but is not succeeding."

Regarding the demographic problem, he said that "The Muslim population in Israel is growing rapidly and, in the upcoming years, most of the state will be Muslim."

"As long as Olmert and his government are weakening, so much the better, but we would prefer a general revolution in Israel. Olmert expected a miracle but Lebanon showed him the opposite. In the Torah it says that an illegal government of Jews is considered a revolt against God and, therefore, God will not help them," he continued.

Weiss was asked what solution he suggests to Muslims, Christians and Jews in order to live in peace and security, side by side. In response, he answered: "We and the Muslims lived side by side for hundreds of years with no problem. At that time, there was no UN and no human rights. The problem today is not religion, but rather Zionism. Zionism takes advantage of religion and sees all of its opponents as anti-Semitic."

"The solution is for Muslims to invest primarily in global PR. Muslims must show the world that, in the past, Muslims and Jews lived side by side with no problem."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3291956,00.html

BTW.. even N.K. strongly supports a Palestinian state in the entire territory of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank Palestinian "resistance fighters" had no problems to commit - at least one - suicide attack in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim residential quarter, where the majority of the N.K. people are living.(harrharr..)

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Israeli activist shot in Bil'in(West Bank/Palestine)

Last Friday an Israeli activist got shot in the head by a rubber bullet during a non-violent protest against the Israeli occupation and the wall around the West Bank territories. He will suffer serious lasting brain injury from his wounds. At this moment he's in an hospital in Tel Aviv for brainsurgery. Here follows a report on the demonstration. 

The Israeli "left-liberal" daily Haaretz wrote following report:

Activist shot in head with rubber bullet at Bil'in 
  
A Border Police soldier shot a rubber-tipped bullet at an Israeli demonstrator Friday at a protest in Bil'in against the separation fence. In violation of military regulations, the gun was fired at close range, from between ten and 20 meters, wounding attorney Lymor Goldstein in the head. The Israel Defense Forces prevented Goldstein's evacuation for more than an hour. He later underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his brain.

The shooting occurred during the weekly Friday afternoon anti-fence protest at Bil'in. On Friday the IDF Spokesman's Office said that Border Police forces threw stun grenades and fired rubber bullets after protesters threw rocks at them, but video footage of the incident clearly shows the Border Police commander instructing his soldiers to shoot rubber bullets with no warning and before any rocks were thrown at his forces.
 
The footage shows soldiers aiming their weapons at shoulder height and firing at the protesters. At one point a soldier can be seen pointing his gun at two protesters searching for cover and then firing at the head of one of them. IDF regulations permit the firing of rubber-tipped bullets only at a distance of at least 40 meters, and only at the legs of the target. What are called "rubber bullets" are actually plastic-coated lead bullets, and they can be deadly when fired at certain areas of the body.

"After they started shooting we tried to find cover," related the demonstrator who was next to Goldstein when he was hit. "I was standing with my back to them and then I saw Lymor fall. I'm trained as a medic so I tried to stop the bleeding from his head. I shouted at the soldiers that someone had a head wound but they kept going and paid no attention. One of them cursed us."

The video shows the soldiers walking past Goldstein without stopping. When demonstrators asked the commander to evacuate Goldstein, he responded, "I don't have an ambulance." One soldier said the injury was "unimportant." It took 15 minutes for a medic to arrive.

The demonstrator, who asked not to be identified, said that even after the medic arrived Goldstein's care was delayed and it took a long time before he was evacuated by an army truck. "Another medic, who went with him, told me she had to hold Lymor's head with her hands because of the rough ride. The IDF medic hadn't stabilized his head. The driver went really fast even though she begged him to slow down."

Goldstein was eventually evacuated to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. According to hospital officials he arrived at 3:30 P.M., almost two hours after he was shot. He was operated on Friday night. Yesterday Goldstein was awake and alert, but he may have sustained permanent damage to his vision or other faculties.

Jonathan Pollak of Anarchists Against the Wall says he is convinced that the decision to use rubber bullets Friday was aimed at taking advantage of the situation in Lebanon to silence the West Bank protests using force.

PS.:

When I was the last time in Palestine, 1988 during the Intifada(some are calling this the "1st Intifada") I visited also hospitals where many palestinans were treated for injuries they got during demonstrations against the occupation. There I was able to see not few children with the so-called rubber bullets in their heads/brains. I saw also x-ray pictures/radiographs from some of this children with partially three or more of this bullets in their brains.

This so-called rubber bullets are metal bullets - with a diameter from around 1 centimeter - with a very thin rubber skin. Actually this so-called rubber bullets are metal bullets and especially for children and younger people potentially deadly projectiles.

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DAY 31

Yesterday after exactly 30 days of the new war in the Middle East(M.E.,Lebanon/Israel/Palestine) the issue nearly complete disappeared from the headlines of the news agencies, tv stations and daily papers. It seems - even in the M.E. still many people are dying(until yesterday alone in Lebanon about 1,000 people were killed by IDF attacks) - that the "UK Terror Plot"(BBC World) is better to sell. For example yesterday's CNN news program at 1 pm(CET) not even one word were spoken about the M.E. war. Usually at least 20 Minutes or so are occupied with the issue. In today's German daily Berliner Zeitung the issue disappeared from the front page(yesterday) to page number 6.

Here the latest from the battle field:

According to BBC World "at least 11 civilians were killed in Lebanon on Friday".

Russia suggested a 72-hour truce for humanitarian actions in Lebanon, but Israel rejected it. At the same time IDF is massing about more than 20,000 troops on the border to Lebanon in preparing for a broader ground operation/invasion in the coming days. It meens Israel is preparing for a all-out war now, if there will be no diplomatic solution until tomorrow or so.

Meanwhile Hizbullah since today morning(CET) is again attacking northern towns and villages in Israel with massive rocket and missile barrage.

Before yesterday Nasrallah called all Arab residents of the northern Israeli city of Haifa to leave immediately the city(perhaps Hizbullah is planning a massacre there under the non-Arab residents?!). But, according to Israeli news papers, they refused to leave, because, so a Arab resident: "Never someone can devide us again from our Jewish neighbours".

(Haifa's Arabs: We won't leave city )

And "of course" IDF's activities in Gaza are still continuing. Until now at least 120 Palestinians were killed there.
 

Here the latest by M.E. and int'l news papers/agencies:

Israel pounds Beirut as truce rejected (Al Jazeera, 8.11)

Israel Delays Northern Push in Lebanon (AP/Guardian)
Rockets fall on north  (ynet)

Truce draft doesn't call for disarming of Hezbollah Military chiefs strongly oppose cease-fire terms (Haaretz)

IDF wants to 'move, fight and attack'  (Yedioth Ahronoth)

Here the very latest news:

IDF ordered to move up to Litani (ynet, 11.08, 6 pm/CET)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz give green light to army to capture southern Lebanon territory stretching up to Litani River as US-French truce deal said 'very, very close'

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Friday gave the Israel Defense Forces the green light to widen operations in southern Lebanon and capture the territory situated south of the Litani River.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3289808,00.html

Following report, from the same battle field in Lebanon, but from a "complete other world", was published three days ago in the German magazine Der Spiegel:

Drowning out the Bombs
 
Nightlife and Rattled Nerves in Beirut

By Ulrike Putz in Beirut

Beirut is famous for its cosmopolitan inhabitants and roaring nightlife. But even the city's modern youth can't escape the current conflict. Whereas they used to go out to amuse themselves, they now spend their nights in clubs and bars where the loud music drowns out bombs exploding nearby.

The war for Fanny and Ernesto disappears each day for four hours. Late each morning, the power company cuts electricity in their building and the television, with its constant broadcast of images of destruction, goes dark. It's then that Ernesto gets up to make brunch consisting of an omelet, grapefruit juice and bread.

For four hours the couple from Beirut will be shielded from the fighting that has come to Lebanon. But eventually the power will come back and they won't be able to escape the scenes of chaos and violence that they can't keep themselves from watching.

Until war struck, Fanny and Ernesto were the kind of people who represented the new face of their country to the world. They belong to the segment of Lebanese society -- young, modern and cosmopolitan -- that helped lead the so-called "Cedar Revolution" after the assassination of Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Both Fanny and Ernesto were there every Monday as thousands of Lebanese demonstrated against Syrian influence in their country. Like countless others, they thought that the summer of 2006 would go down as one of the best in the history of Lebanon. The Syrians pulled out their troops amid international pressure and an unprecedented number of visiting, cash-rich Gulf Arabs were coming to fill hotels and holiday villas. But then came July 12 -- the day the Islamic extremist group Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and the bubble of well-being popped.

"The war is the ransom for democracy," says Ernesto. "Lebanon was becoming more open and more liberal. Syria and Iran could no longer stand by and watch that."

Such views are becoming more widespread among Lebanese youth these days. The fighting has less to do with Hezbollah and Israel and more with totalitarian Islamic regimes hoping to see a tolerant and cosmopolitan Lebanon go down in flames.

As the fighting began, Fanny and Ernesto reacted the only way they knew how. Ernesto stocked up on a month's worth of Cuban cigars -- a natural response for a man whose devout communist parents named him after Fidel Castro's companion in arms, Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Fanny stocked up on spaghetti at the supermarket and painted her fingernails red to brighten things up a bit as the days became dark.

War and unpaid holiday

Fanny is a 29-year-old architect in a small and exclusive Beirut office. Her mother is French and her father a doctor. She makes around $1,200 a month. Ernesto is a 25-year-old cineaste and philosophy student, who before the current conflict used to make $1,000 a month with DJ sets in the city's hippest clubs and bars. Both are from Christian Lebanese families, but religion doesn't play a dominant role in their lives. Ernesto's last ex-girlfriend was a Shiite.

They might be an exceptional pair, but they represent what many in Lebanon are now going through. They are experiencing war from the second row: fortunately none of their friends or family have been killed and they've been able to stay in their apartment. Fanny also has the luxury of holding a European Union passport, which means she can still get out of the country if worse comes to worst. For Lebanese living in the capital, the biggest problem right now is money. How long will their savings last and what comes next?

Both Fanny and Ernesto know that the few thousands they have in the bank won't last forever. Like the majority of Lebanese, they have been forced to take unpaid holiday. As the bombing started they worked a few days as interpreters for international news organizations for $150 a day. But now the TV teams have moved south and they are left to while away their time at home and in cafes. As more time passes they lose hope of a quick resolution to the crisis and their faith in the West.

"What frustrates me the most is our complete failure of ethics and morals," says Fanny. With "our" she means Europe, to which many of Beirut's young elite feel strong ties. "We Europeans always hold up human rights so high, the Geneva Convention, the laws and rules of what is allowed in war and not. But this war shows clearly that we're prepared to forget all that when it's in our interest to do so. It's all bullshit." She's angry that no one will hold Israel responsible for what its military has done after the conflict is over. Not for the dead Lebanese civilians, nor for the fact that the country has been bombed back 20 years. "That can be done to Slobodan Milosevic, but not with Israel. It's untouchable."

Ernesto gets agitated when asked how things will continue after the fighting stops: "Why do you think that this is the end?" Lebanon has dealt with war for 30 years almost on a daily basis and the country will continue to limp along in the future. "My concern is university. I just need one more course, but if the refugees continue to live in the campus buildings I won't be able to finish my studies," he says. But his self-serving optimism isn't totally convincing. Fanny and Ernesto continue to discuss if they should go to France, Germany or Canada. But they'd have to marry since only Fanny has a European passport. So far Ernesto says he isn't interested in tying the knot.

"I wonder whether I really want to live in this country," says Fanny. She studied in Paris and consciously chose to come back to Beirut. "I love this city, but it's impossible to plan a life here." Like much of the younger generation that missed much of the worst of Lebanon's vicious civil war, they didn't believe their elders when they warned that peace wouldn't last. "I only realize now that they were right. This land is made for war," Fanny sighs and lights another cigarette. "So I can't live here; I want a future."

Life in Limbo

Their lives now are in a bizarre limbo. When the pair step into an elevator so they can take a walk outside, Fanny suddenly remembers the danger of a power outage. "If the power goes out, we're going to be stuck here for four hours," she says. "Well, that's plenty of time to try out a few Kama Sutra positions," Ernesto comments, dryly. Grinning, Fanny says the only good thing about the war is that it has enabled the couple to move in together. In Lebanon live-in relationships out of wedlock are strictly frowned upon. "But hey, this is war, and our neighbors have better things to do than to get upset about that."
 
Even in a town where it's easy to drop $300 or $400 a night in chic clubs and bars, the youth of Beirut refuse to save money at the expense of going out. Last night Fanny and Ernesto were in their favorite bar Torino until 4:30 a.m. -- it's the only place that hasn't closed its doors for a single day since the fighting began. "Why should we sit alone at home and moan," asks Fanny? "Everything is easier after a few drinks, even war." The fact that they stayed out so late is no coincidence. The really loud Israeli bombardments usually hit southern Beirut around 4 a.m. "So we sit in Torino and the music drowns out the detonations."

Then comes morning. During the day, people living in the parts of the city that have been spared the worst of the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah try to maintain their gentile façade -- some are even showing a sense of humor. Souvernir shops once stocked with hand carvings and the country's national symbol, cedar wood, now carry t-shirts with slogans like "Don't Shoot, Press" or "Hot Vacation in Beirut 2006." But the cracks are showing. As the sun sets on the Beirut's famous beachside promenade, people jog and families gather near the seaside. However, as the first explosions are heard in the distance, those remaining in the city race to their cars and speed away -- even to places that aren't any safer than where they were. People's nerves are raw.

"The war is inside us," says Fanny, back in Torino to drink a cappuccino. She and Ernesto are planning to head out of the capital to a resort along the coast. "Come along, a few cocktails poolside make the whole world look a lot friendlier!" But in the following night, Israeli jets bombard the coastal road leading northward out of Beirut. With the last major route out of Lebanon cut the way to Syria is blocked. And so to is the way to Fanny's poolside resort.

"Now we're trapped in Beirut," she writes in a text message. "What will come next?"

  

Drawings by Mazen Kerbaj, Beirut, Lebanon

http://mazenkerblog.blogspot.com

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VICTORY!! ...but for whom??

8.08 in the morning(CET) the Israeli online news magazine ynet reported, related to the Lebanese cease fire proposal, following: "At the press conference... Olmert stated that there were some 'interesting points' in the Lebanese prime minister's proposal for a ceasefire, and added he knew full well Hizbullah was interested in a cessation of the fighting, mainly because the group was no longer able to continue its resistance to the Israeli army.

And only few hours the Israeli news agencies were forced to report that again IDF soldiers were killed and injured in "fierce clashes with Hizbullah units" in south Lebanon.

Since noon Israel's northern villages and towns were/are once again under massive attacks by Hizbullah's Katyusha rockets.

And a short while ago(pm 7:30, CET) this was written by Israeli media:

Minister Ezra: Hizbullah is breaking down (^^)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3288371,00.html

Also yesterday the Israeli rightwing daily Jerusalem Post published following:

Analysis: Hizbullah still strong

Operation Change of Direction was launched last month with the declared goal of weakening Hizbullah to the point where it would be possible to create a new political reality in south Lebanon. On Monday, almost four weeks into the fighting, a high-ranking Military Intelligence officer said the IDF was still far from reaching its goal.

While Israel waited for a United Nations Security Council resolution on a cease-fire, not now expected to come up for a vote until at least Thursday, the next stage will be a second resolution - one that calls for the deployment of a multinational force to replace the IDF in southern Lebanon and to prevent Hizbullah from reestablishing itself there.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, have spoken with enthusiasm about a multinational force, but the high-ranking officer said Monday that Hizbullah had not been damaged enough and still retained enough "diplomatic power" to thwart the deployment of such a force.

"Hizbullah has not been sufficiently weakened," the officer said. "And there may be no choice but to expand the ground operation in the direction of the Litani River to achieve that goal."

According to intelligence information, the Hizbullah command-and-control array is still functioning even after nearly four weeks of fighting. So are the logistical command centers - still operating and succeeding in directing the smuggling of weapons into Lebanon from Syria.

The officer said that Hizbullah still had the ability to fire short-range rockets, of which the guerrilla group has already fired 2,500 since the beginning of the war.

The only way to stop the short-range rockets, he said, was for the IDF to deepen its incursion north to the Litani and to sweep through cities like Tyre, estimated to be the hiding place for most of the short-range 122mm Katyusha rockets.

But despite the concern that the Hizbullah could succeed in thwarting a diplomatic effort to deploy an international force in Lebanon, the IDF can still pat itself on the back. Over 400 guerrillas have been killed in IDF operations, most of the long-range rocket arrays have been destroyed and the organization's stronghold in Beirut - Dahiya - has been almost completely demolished in IAF air strikes.

Senior IDF officers said Monday that they needed more time to continue striking at the guerrilla group to really weaken Hizbullah. The big question now is whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will give the green light for an IDF incursion up to the Litani, a move that could save Israel face and provide it with the the victory it has been seeking since the outset of a conflict that has proven to be far more difficult than initially expected.

At the moment, the IDF is holding onto positions in a security zone eight kilometers deep into Lebanon and is waiting to see if it will be ordered to push northwards to the Litani. Senior officials in the Northern Command said Monday that the chances the the IDF would reach that far in the coming days were slim, since with fighting still going on in villages like Bint Jbail - where three soldiers were killed Monday - within the IDF-created security zone, the military could not move on.

"We need to first finish clearing out the security zone and only then can we move north," a high-ranking officer in the Northern Command explained.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525826349&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

*****

The German daily die tageszeitung wrote yesterday(8.08) that, according to the Near East Consulting Institute, the predominant majority of the Palestinians in Gaza and the W. Bank are supporting the "struggle of Hizbullah against Israel" - 97 percent of the entire population. And even 95 percent of the Christian minority are supporting Hizbullah, so the German daily.

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Nepal peace talks close to collapse, rebel chief warns (Guardian, 8.08)

 
The peace process in the Himalayan state of Nepal between Maoist guerrillas and Nepalese politicians is on the verge of collapse over the future of the monarchy and disarmament, a senior communist leader said yesterday.

The comments, by deputy rebel chief Baburam Bhattarai, were the first signs of a split in the alliance between the seven political parties and the Maoists that effectively removed the king from power in April. "The talks are very close to collapse," Mr Bhattarai told business leaders in Kathmandu. "The dialogue process is stuck at a very sensitive stage. The government is trying to force us to war again."

More than 13,000 have been killed during a decade of Maoist revolt, but the rebel leader ruled out an immediate return to battle, saying that if the talks failed the Maoists would "launch a new peaceful, popular movement in the cities, and not go back to the jungles".
Despite previous Maoist statements that they would accept a ceremonial monarchy if the people wanted one, Mr Bhattarai criticised the interim prime minister's recent statement in favour of a ceremonial monarchy. "We caution and warn the prime minister that we may have to leave him if he continues to protect the monarchy - and that protest will not only finish the king, it will also finish all those who are siding with the monarchy," Mr Bhattarai said.

The Maoists and the government agreed a ceasefire in May after Nepal's King Gyanendra was forced from power by weeks of street protests. He ceded power to a multi-party administration that does not include any rebel members. Since then, the two sides have been inching towards an agreement for a future elected constituent assembly that could write a new constitution for the country.

The negotiations appear to have stalled because the Maoists are unwilling to give up their guns unless the Nepalese army is disarmed. The UN had proposed that armouries could be built in barracks for the rebels where weapons could be kept under two sets of locks. One set of keys would be held by the Maoists, the other by the UN. However, the Maoists would not accept the plan unless the country's military was similarly constrained.

"What was being proposed was dissolving the [Maoist] People's Liberation army. It is not acceptable to us," Maoist chief negotiator, Krishna Bahadur Mahara told the Guardian. "We are not for the status quo. How can we accept demilitarisation only for us, and not for them?"

Analysts say that the Maoists were attempting to strengthen their hand in the negotiations by talking tough. "The international community has been quite firm. India, the US, the EU have all told the Maoists they cannot join the interim government with guns in hand," said Kanak Mani Dixit of Himal magazine.

"What they need is a face-saving measure (for the Maoists), because Nepal does not want to return to war."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1839248,00.html

Dr Bhattarai warns of another struggle if peace talks breached (eKantipur, 8.06)

Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai said on Monday that Prime Minister Girija P Koirala's comments a day earlier on giving space to the king would hamper the ongoing peace talks.

 
Dr Bhattarai made the comments at a programme organised by Nepal's commerce and industrial fraternity in the capital on the occasion of the 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Prime Minister Koirala had, on Sunday, made his opinion public regarding the monarch saying that even he should be given some room in a democracy.

Warning of a third people's movement in the country, Dr Bhattarai said that if the government and the parties kept on “humming the same monotonous tune” calling for the Maoists to lay down their weapons without even trying to enter the preliminary stages of peace talks, then it would be inevitable for the peace process to take a backseat.

"All of you present here (industrialists and businessmen) have wished for a lasting peace in the country. My statements don't mean that if the peace talks don't succeed, the country would again head towards war. You don't need to have any confusion about that," he explained adding, "Our chairman Prachanda too has pledged time and again that we would not go back to the jungle again. Even if we have to carry on our struggle, we will do that here in the capital and cities. We will struggle peacefully."

Maoist supremo Prachanda was earlier scheduled to address the second and concluding day of the FNCCI's AGM but instead the number two in the Maoists' chain-of-command, Dr Baburam Bhattarai addressed the meeting.

Dr Bhattarai said, "If they (government and the parties) breach the peace talks, if they stick to the old notion of preserving the "royal army" and the king, we will detach ourselves from the peace talks and continue our struggle right here in the city but peacefully."

Warning of another “big” movement if things didn’t go as per the agreements, Dr Bhattarai said, "We will form another "front" -- "republican front" -- comprising the people of Nepal that would bring another enormous change which would not only sweep monarchy but also all forces who support monarchy."

Reiterating that there would not be another conflict again, he also made clear that it should not spread the message that the Maoists have lost their will and power. "We are not tired, we have not lost," said Bhattarai adding, "The people of Nepal (from rural areas) have already made sacrifices for the betterment of the country. Now it's your turn (people from urban and city areas, including the capital) to show the same spirit to bring a massive and positive change in the country."

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=82036

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VICTORY!! ...but for whom??

Well, before I'll publish here my own "opinion" I'll collect and upload several different voices(Israeli, Arab..) about this issue. I'll TRY to continue this daily until I'm ready to write my own stuff(..its a little difficult for me to find the right words without to confuse you/my readers completely^^).

Here, at first, some Israeli voices but from different point of fews. And these are just opinions - without to be the "only, real truth"...(and in some points this voices are failing to explain the - likely - "real" reason of Israel's defeat ..in my opinion).

Israel is losing World War III (Haaretz, 8.07)
 

There has never before been a war like this.

That is why we are losing it.

We don't know how to fight it. Not yet, at least.

From the start, the whole world has been watching this war, and for good reason:

This is the next great battle of World War III. And, as in Iraq, the war is not going well for the West.

There are parallels to the last world war, of course, beyond the newspaper cartoonists' and worldwide Israel-haters' first reflex of calling the Jews Nazis.

There is the danger that we are seeing a tipping point, in Iraq as well as in Lebanon, which will embolden radical Islam, and Iran in particular, to extend the battlefield of jihad indefinitely.

At its outset, the Second World War went staggeringly well for the Axis. German and Japanese tacticians were legions ahead of their Allied adversaries. Smarter, more creative, more innovative, more motivated, much more deadly.

The blitzkrieg caught all of Europe unawares and, within weeks, reeling. Pearl Harbor, the Twin Towers of its era, struck at an isolationist United States that was profoundly unprepared for war.

Allied military defeats followed in series for years, until endurance, faith, and appropriate fighting methods turned the tide.

Certainly there are those in Israel and the Jewish world who are perversely pleased by the way things have gone wrong for us. There is the Told You So brigade on the far right, which misses no chance to declare that withdrawal is the cause of this war, and is a mortal error that must never be repeated, no matter what, ever.

There is the supremely self-satisfied Not In My Name battalion on the far left, which suggests in its knee-jerk protests and pride at being called traitors, that Israel may have a right to defend itself, but should never really exercise it.

Why are we losing? It is because, in our haste to confront Hezbollah before Iran went nuclear, we went to war before we had the ways and means to win.

Give us the tools, the British said at the outset of WW II, and we'll finish the job. We now know that we went to this war without the tools.

After years of Military Intelligence warnings of Hezbollah's missile arsenal and vaguely comforting news items about the mystery-shrouded Nautilus Katyusha-killer, we now know that we knew next to nothing.

We are losing it because our prime minister, defense minister, and army chief, who are new at their jobs and have proven it at every opportunity, made outlandish, grandiose, and boastful claims at the outset of the campaign, speaking of disarming Hezbollah, creating a new order in Lebanon, creating a reality in which the Lebanese people themselves would turn on the terrorists and diminish their influence.

Even before we ran aground in the north, the words had a perversely familiar ring. They are the sound track of debacle. They are as dated and as current as a 16 mm version of Apocalypse Now screened in IDF forts in Lebanon in the '80s.

We've gone after infrastructure, and in so doing, caused immeasurable suffering to as many as a million Lebanese, a thousand of them dead, thousands of them maimed, hundreds of thousands of them displaced.

And there are still those, and they are many, who argue for More of the Same. Much more. For a start, "Erasing villages where Hezbollah operates."

But more of them same is likely to yield only more of the same failure.

With thousands of thousands of soldiers already in Lebanon, seven brigades and counting, after 4,600 IAF bombing runs , 150 of them Sunday night alone, 80 to 90 percent of Hezbolah's 2,500 fighters are alive and shooting. They are still capable of firing 200 rockets a day into Israel.

We are losing the war, in part, because our actions have only gained sympathy for Hezbollah.

Polls are now showing that nearly 90 percent of Lebanese ? including many who had serious doubts about Hezbollah in the past, now support the organization's war with Israel.

The war has so elevated Hezbollah in the eyes of the world, that terrorism authority Prof. Robert A. Pape, writing in The New York Times, could without flinching compare the group to "the multidimensional American civil-rights movement of the 1960s."

Oddly, one of the lessons of the war is that the government, fearing a backlash over the deaths of soldiers, has directed an offensive which has relied on remote control warfare, effectively causing the needless deaths of hundreds of civilians in Lebanon, and, in the process, putting a million Israelis in range of Katyushas and Fajrs.

It's true, this is World War III. And we are losing.

Cabinet minister Avi Dichter, head of the Shin Bet for much of the Intifada, suggested Monday that the government is heading for a change in direction in Lebanon, and not a moment too soon.

"Curtailing to the point of halting the rockets is the quintessential mission of the IDF. The IDF will need to find the formula to carry out this mission, whether from the air or by other means.

"The fact that this hasn't happened as yet, doesn't mean that this will not happen."

We have to fight smarter. We have to use diplomacy with more skill. But we don't have the option of rolling over and playing righteous. In a world war, you have to choose a side.

Our job now is to survive.

If the Second World War taught the Jews anything, it is this: History is not, fundamentally, written by its victors. History is written, and made, by its survivors. Hezbollah knows this. All they have to do to declare victory, is to survive.

The survival of the Jews is our victory as well. But we're going to have be a whole lot smarter than we have been, to come out of this.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747340.html

When Moshe Dayan flew to Vietnam… (Yedioth Ahronoth, 8.06)

Perhaps solution to Middle East crises lies in creating a single American address that would exert international pressure on Lebanese government. Perhaps, then, this bruised and battered government would bring salvation

In the middle of the 60's Moshe Dayan, the man and the legend, flew to Vietnam to cover the war. On ending his visit to the war trenches, the former chief-of-staff was summoned for a talk with the commanding officer of the American forces, General William Westmoreland. "Nu," his host urged him, "what were your impressions from there?" "You have already lost this war," Dayan said, "but you don't know it yet…"

"Over what and why?" responded General Westmoreland. His guest fixed his one eye on him and said: "The Vietcong has gone underground, and you are flying at an altitude of 37,000 feet. From such an altitude you can't see the trenches, tunnels and sewers where they are hiding out." The Americans, as we know, lost the war.

Similar assumptions shouldn't be applied to our situation at this stage of the war against the Hizbullah. This story relayed to me by Gad Yaacobi, however, should be told at the beginning of the military inquest the day after the war.

What's next?

The fourth week of the war is likely to be critical for the future of Israel in the coming years. So much so, that the efforts to reach a ceasefire are accelerating, and the sand in the military hourglass is running out. Another two or three days, then what? A victory campaign? An endless trauma? Will Iran set its borders (God forbid, its military as well) next to Rosh Hanikra, at the gates of Metullah? Will Hizbullah cease to exist?

While these words were being written Saturday night, visions of the end of the war were still fuzzy. Some people, such as Major General Giora Eilland, believe that the army is fighting in the wrong place: that the infantry is carrying out its offensive 8-7 kilometers from the border, that the air force is spitting fire far into Lebanese territory and into Beirut, and that the Katyusha rockets are being fired from exactly this range, where no offensive is taking place.

Two scenarios

Katyusha rockets are being fired into Israel 10 kilometer from the border. We are, therefore, likely to face two difficult and perhaps unbearable scenarios:

On the one hand, in the event that there is no ceasefire and the IDF reaches the waters of the Litani River, but the Katyusha rockets continue to be fired at the Galil and Haifa from a point beyond the Litani, the army will not go that far, sparking off a war of attrition: Here a Katyusha, there a Katyusha, the situation will be frozen, time will freeze, and the world will become apathetic. Let them kill each other over there. After all, it's only Jews killing Arabs and vise versa.

On the other hand, if there is a ceasefire, it will take a long time until an effective multi-national force with a clear mandate is assembled. The Hizbullah will most likely demand that the IDF first redeploy to its borders. The IDF, and rightfully so, will not accede to redeploy its forces before the multi-national force takes control of the south of Lebanon.

In this situation, the IDF will remain put. Where? In the security zone it left six years ago. And now as then, every two or three days a roadside bomb will go off, Hizbulla ambushes will be set up and soldiers will fall. We shall do everything in our power to prevent violating the ceasefire, and if a decision is made to respond after all, the Katyushas will be back.

The situation, to say the least, is highly complex. Perhaps, the solution lies in creating a single American address that would exert international pressure on the Lebanese government. Perhaps, then this bruised and battered government will bring the salvation.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3287009,00.html 

Defeat and victory (ynet, 8.05)

We lost because of euphoria and bragging, but we shall ultimately win because we have learned Israeli society is stronger, smarter than its political, military leadership 

We lost because on the first day of the war the prime minister said that "we shall win."

We lost because on that same day the defense minister said, "Nasrallah will not forget the name Amir Peretz."

We lost because of the euphoria and the bragging, the aggressiveness and the vindictiveness.

We lost because instead of launching an immediate offensive against Hizbullah posts, we destroyed half of Beirut.

We lost because the IDF has become accustomed to operating in modes of policing, oppression, arrest and conquest.

We lost because we praised the home front's resilience without really assisting it. We lost because we didn't win. How simple...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286706,00.html
 

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A residential area in the southern part of Beirut. Left: 7.12, the day when the new Lebanon war started. Right: only twenty days later(8.01) after several heavy bomb attacks by IAF.