Republican foreign policy

we'd appoint a special envoy who knows how hard diplomacy works (oops, nobody like that in THIS administration) and broker some assistance in there for the Lebanese government to DISPLACE Hezbollah and the essential services they provide for the people in southern Lebanon.

And Israel would have to back off and the United States would stop egging them on. They have a right to self-defense, but I'm concerned about the effectiveness of their targeting apparatus.

Of course, since Bush doesn't have any nicknamed cronies who can do the job, I guess we'll have to just sit back and watch the killing continue.

the cease fire is being resisted only by the US and Israel - because they have this ridiculous notion they can wipe out hezbollah in 3 weeks. Utter nonsense.

In the meantime while perusing this policy thousands of innocents will die and more young arabs will be radicalized towards terror groups.

A Precondition to any lasting settlement has to be a ceasefire. Should any group subsequently break the ceasefire they would be politically harmed by their own actions and have their bargaining position weakened in the eyes of the entire world. If Hezbollah doesn't honor a ceasefire it gives greater legitimacy to Israel to carryout its massive military operations.

right now both sides look like assholes. Hezbollah for starting all this and Israel for it's disproportionate response and targeting of lebanese people and infrastructure.

This problem isn't going to be solved until the Lebanese government is able to secure it's own southern border and exert sovereignty over it, instead of Hezbollah - that is the solution we should be working towards.

Bombin the crap out of Lebanon is only weakening the Lebonese government and moving us further away from that result.

Like I said - it's a ridiculous foreign policy that has zero common sense to it.

I have compassion for them all.

It seems to me that terrorism is subjective. Israel in the last 2 weeks has killed more lebanese civilians than Hezbollah had Israeli's.

Sometimes you just don't have a good and a bad, just bad all around.

1. A complete cease fire by all parties
2. A withdrawal by all parties military and militia from the borders to be replaced by international peace keepers - most likely NATO
3. Reconstruction aid to Lebanon to repair the bomb damage, provide relief to victims
4. UN government types to help the Lebanese government organize effectively
5. Economic sanctions against any nation supplying arms to Hezbollah during a cease fire
6. then negotiate a permanent settlement all parties can agree to.

It aint easy, but it's a hell of a lot better than destabilizing the entire region and escalating the war

#4 is at #4 because the other things simply have to come first.

You have to build political will and trust, both with the government and the people - you dont do that by selling bombers while aggression is being carried out.

Sanctions on Iran are unilateral right now - most of the rest of the world is not sanctioning Iran - again our go it alone policy in action

We get others to step up by listening and taking on board some of their advice instead of going it alone, our way or the highway - by not simply rubber stamping EVERYTHING Israel does defacto. Those other countries could provide peace keepers or economic aid, or liberalized trade deals

Much of this so called global jihad isnt in fact- it's regional, and predicated on crappy conditions in those countries - where the people then blame outside influence on the US and Israel, sometimes rightly, sometimes not.

My point is there are a whole lot of things we could and should be doing - but it seems we are content to sit bak and watch the bombs drop for now.

jihad is indeed real.

We are just the first wave of Islamic warriors from Iran," said Amir Jalilinejad, chairman of the Student Justice Movement, a nongovernment group that helped recruit the fighters. "More will come from here and other Muslim nations around the world. Hezbollah needs our help."

Military service is mandatory in Iran, and nearly every man has at least some basic training. Some hard-liners have more extensive drills as members of the Basiji corps, a paramilitary network linked to the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Other volunteers, such as 72-year-old Hasan Honavi, have combat experience from the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

"God made this decision for me," said Honavi, a grandfather and one of the oldest volunteers. "I still have fight left in me for a holy war."

The group, chanting and marching in military-style formation, assembled Wednesday in a part of Tehran's main cemetery that is reserved for war dead and other "martyrs."

They prayed on Persian carpets and linked hands, with their shoes and bags piled alongside. Few had any battle-type gear and some arrived in dress shoes or plastic sandals.

Some bowed before a memorial to Hezbollah-linked suicide bombers who carried out the 1983 blast at Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. servicemen. An almost simultaneous bombing killed 56 French peacekeepers.

Speakers praised Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and laid scorn on Muslim leaders -- including their own government -- for not sending battlefield assistance to Hezbollah since the battles erupted two weeks ago.

Even if the volunteers fail to reach Lebanon, their mobilization is an example of how Iranians are rallying to Hezbollah through organizations outside official circles.

Iran insists it is not directly involved in the conflict on the military side, but it remains the group's key pipeline for money. Iran has dismissed Israel's claims that Hezbollah has been supplied with upgraded Iranian missiles that have reached Haifa and other points across northern Israel.

"We cannot stand by and watch out Hezbollah brothers fight alone," said Komeil Baradaran, a 21-year-old Basiji member. "If we are to die in Lebanon, then we will go to heaven. It is our duty as Muslims to fight."

Hezbollah has been a proxy for Iran dating back to the 70's. I don't think that is a secret. But the fact that they are not iranians means they can be peeled away just as they were attracted to Iran in the first place. I dont think bombing the crap out of them is the way to do it.

You also have to bare in mind that Iranians are not arabs - the fundamental tie that binds is shism. Relieving the region of the strongest Sunni check on their power (ie Saddam) helps precipitate their rise again.

if that's how it sounded i didnt express myself well.

What I think happens is this, basically.

Leaders of movements use religion in their message to fire up the base - even if they know what they are saying is BS - they use it to further their own agenda.

The grubs on the ground may very well lap it all up and believe every word and then act.

So, given this what we need to do is change the people and hence the rhetoric ofthe leaders - so the grubs on the gruond act on and believe a more benign message.

That make sense ?

Therefore to that article, Zawahiri (sp?) is using fiery rhetoric to stir emotions of the masses into violent action.

Religion does play a huge role in the mess. However I do believe that much of that is just the vehicle used by the leaders to convey their goals - just as Republicans use Christianity in this country to further their goals (though obviously with a lot less death and destruction).

It's crucial to reform that we promote those who put forward a civilized religious message over those that don't so that radicalism begins to be turned back and marginalized. If you improve conditions people live in they have less time and less reason to be radicalized - Israelis cutting off revenue to Palestine recently was a stupendously stupid move for example.

Iraq isnt a mess because of ideology - unless you mean the Bush administrations.

Ultimately in any society you have to square the circle of leaders wanting more power and the people wanting security and decent lives without too much hardship. It's the leaders in these countries that simply won't give up their power and devolve some of it to the people.

In Iraq we tried to simply take it from them by force.

That someone regards as the way in which life should be lived and by which others should live.

Can you be more specific about who comprises the holy consensus and if you mean it in regard to Lebanon (i.e., the "North")?

I studied Just and Limited War in college and under no circumstances would I consider the current military actions by Israel to be proportionate, but by the same token, what Hezbollah did was unprovoked and wouldn't have occured without the okay of Iran. Just and Limited War theory rarely accepts pre-emptive strikes and the Bush administration made pre-emptive strikes in the face of imminent threats (real or not, obviously) de riguer after 9/11. Do you believe that that's what Hezbollah was doing?

Frankly, I've not heard Israel call them proportionate - I don't think Israel answers the question directly - it cites other issues related to the military savvy and stamina of Hezbollah, thanks to its supporters outside of Lebanon.

"As for what I want in that part of the world?