I can hardly wait until some one blames Premier Campbell for our problems in Lebanon. Some people are like that.

Oh he is not that far up the ladder......yet!
But I am sure he will be ducking his endearing fans while he is here..... There must be something big in it for him or I can't see why he would lower himself to come this far north.
No I have no use for him but that is another story.....Now I have vented I feel better.

Simple are saying you support the war crimes being committed on the Lebonese civilians and their infrastructure, and if so I for one would be very happy to hear a reasoned argument in support of that so I can better understand what the logic is behind this crime.

Fell free to respond.

Some people will support war crimes and indiscriminate murder if it involves the us against them type of politics.

Obviously the situation in Lebanon is complicated and war should never be advocated. Because of the complex nature of the environment in that region sometimes drastic action has to be taken.

If a group of people were bombing my country and the government of that country was not willing to stop it, I would definately advocate going in there and at least attempt to stop it. It is obvious that Hezbollah "the known terrorist group backed by Iran" is at fault and need to be stopped. I personally feel that Israel is in its full right to stop them and perhaps the world community can help them disarm this group who do not represent Lebanon.

This war isn't between Israel and Lebannon, it is between Israel and Hezbollah and frankly, if anyone is to blame in this, it is Lebannon for not stopping the mindless attacts of Hezbolla against Israel.

It saddens me that there are people in this country who support a terrorist group that hates us and want to end our lives and way of life, over a freindly democratic state that causes us no harm. It saddens me greatly.

I read the article over and over and over again. I could not even find a word in it which rhymes with Lebanon.

But hey, if the author does not write about Lebanon and there are people here who want to voice an opinion on world affairs why not just hijack a topic. ;-)

So, here we go with Lebanon.

1. I read somewhere that non-Islamics are expecting the Lebanese to control a faction which is a legitimate interest in the country, yet a minority, when the USA cannot control terrorists within country made of several factions using 150,000 or so troops after being there for more than 3 years.

2. Rather than the Israelis bombing the capital of Lebanon, I do not understand why they did not go directly after the "terrorists" in the south of Lebanon which are lobbing the rockets over the border. I am sure their armed forces are much better trained to remove them than the Lebanise armed service is. In addition, I believe they have a considerable number of soldiers of Islamic faith.

3. Other than the Hezb'Allah, Lebanon is considered to be one of the "stabilizing" forces in that part of the world. Whatever progress has been made to date to maintain that status or improve it, is potentially going to be undone. Perhaps that is Israel's intent. After all, Israel left the south only some 6 years ago after the South Lebanon Army fell apart. Israel had occupied it for 18 years. Hezb'Allah considered that a victory. Perhaps that is why Israel is hesitant to try to control the "terrorists" at their doorsteps. They were not able to do it in the past, and they may not be able to do it now. Partisans are very difficult to defeat on their onw territory. They may stand down for a while, but they will return to rise again.

The simplistic approach of blaming one side in this dispute, and finding the other blameless really does no good. Surely the purpose of any focus on the middle east should be to bring about a resolution to the conflict, and I do not believe that laying blame on one side and one side only does much good, nor is it historically accurate.

The conflict has its origins in the 1940s, post second world war, when the UK encouraged immigration into what was then Palestine, then left suddenly when it became apparent that Jewish Patriots were going to sieze control of the country, which they did and renamed it Israel. The Palestinian arabs then left in droves, and have been trying to get the country back ever since.

Limiting the blame to the events of the last few weeks distorts the historical basis of the conflict, and demeans the valid aspirations of all the parties involved. The fact is that this conflict is not going to be resolved by military means, as the emotions run far too deep.

Rather than laying blame, surely an even handed approach with pressure from world leaders for the parties to get together and negotiate a settlement based on compromises would be more responsible.

At the least, military actions have to stop before any progress can be made, and I do mean by both sides. No more kidnapping of soldiers, but no more kidnapping of Palestinian politicians or missiles fired at people in wheelchairs either.

Unfortunately, the situation is compounded by the religious component that lurks in the background all the time. There are many Christians who believe that Israel must be completely restored as a nation to fulfill Bible prophecy, so that the end of the world can take place and paradise restored. It is nonsense, I know, but firmly believed by many fundamentalist and evangelical churches.

Word association..Premier Campbell and Lebanon. Too far a stretch. Me? Support war crimes? Nah! I never realize 40, 000 Canadians live there. Astounding, eh? When Harper brings 'em all home, where are they gonna go? Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Naturally. War crimes, eh? Interesting phrase. Anyone you don't side with is a war criminal? If I was the U.N. I'd "condemn" you fer saying that. I wouldn't do anything, but I'd "condemn" you. In writing, on a piece of paper too. That oughta learn ya!! That's what the U.N. does. Paper tiger that it is. Gee, I feel better already.

ammonra says "negotiate a settlement." Ha ha, it is to laugh. Who speaks for Hammas, Hezzbolah? Lebanon is involved cause it is there. Victim of geography. Negotiate? They have the U.N. to do that. "Terrorists" don't negotiate. Resolving it by military means? I think they are doing that right now. Why not write to the Hammas guys and Hezzbolah with your noble suggestions? Maybe they will listen. Oh yes, don't forget to write to Israel too. They probably don't have a clue that this can be resolved by yakkin'. You get three points for being sincere, positive and earnest for thinking nice thoughts on how to obtain peace in the mddle east. Hold those thoughts.

ammonra says "negotiate a settlement." Ha ha, it is to laugh. Who speaks for Hammas, Hezzbolah? Lebanon is involved cause it is there. Victim of geography. Negotiate? They have the U.N. to do that. "Terrorists" don't negotiate. Resolving it by military means? I think they are doing that right now. Why not write to the Hammas guys and Hezzbolah with your noble suggestions? Maybe they will listen. Oh yes, don't forget to write to Israel too. They probably don't have a clue that this can be resolved by yakkin'. You get three points for being sincere, positive and earnest for thinking nice thoughts on how to obtain peace in the mddle east. Hold those thoughts.

Simon, are you so simple and full of yourself that you have to post your messages twice? I'm glad to see that this board is staying on topic. No Simple, Gordo is not responsible for Lebanon but he is responsible for taking money out of this pensioner's pocket. Spin it any way you want but I will never vote for him or his bunch of yes people. My opinion and I'm sticking to it. I imagine he will sneak into town, keep a low profile so people can't protest against his policies and then go back to Lotusland saying how much we all love him and his policies. I wonder if he is going to wear his plaid shirt again in honour of us northern hicks.

Boy can't sneak one past that camoose. I don't read the paper, watch TV or listen to the radio, so I had no idea Campbell was sneaking into town!
It's a good thing guys like camoose can find out the true situation. I'm going to have to change my opinion of camoose's information after this revelation that Cambell snuck into town, and not alone either (Campbell had people with him!).

I should have voted for camoose, no one wears a plaid like camoose.

Are we back on topic now?

The bombing of civilians and infrastructure such as airports, apartment blocks, bridges, power stations, fuel depots etc falls clearly into the category of war crimes as defined by international law.

Rather than armies facing off against each other an attempt is made to subdue the other side by this kind of blatant terrorism against unarmed and defenceless women, children and men.

Canada must speak out and condemn these tactics no matter who is employing them.

So far, that has not happened. Other than that, let us just evacuate all those Canadians who wish to leave...the bigger problems are basically beyond solving unless history can be unravelled going back to the time when Great Britain saw fit to divide the Middle East into "countries" by drawing straight lines in the desert without much regard to ethnic and tribal realities.

diplomat...If hezzboleh did not HID their Rockets, Big guns ,Training Camps behind Schools and Houses Then these civs would not be killed the Hezzboleh are lowlife cowards that use women and children as shields. Any one that supports or talks good about these lowlifes should be deported to the mideast,and have all their CDN assests taken from them. KILLING TERRIOSTS AND PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT THEM IS NOT A CRIME!!!!!!!!

Don, the rocket launchers of the terrorists are NOT at the Beirut Airport, under highway bridges, beside electrical generating stations or at the local gas stations.

The rocket launchers are in an area close to Israel's border and they are being annihilated everytime they are spotted - when they are launching missiles.

They are as close as possible to the border because that increases their range into Israel.

Israel knows that and is going after them, as it should.

Israel has the latest "Smart" bombs (ALL bombs are dumb, in my opinion) and can hit targets with amazing accuracy, as we can see.

Bombing civilian targets such as infrastructure (civilian airports, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, water works, etc.) is a war crime.

This is my last posting about this subject, a fact you will undoubtedly applaud.

Cheers!

The only solution to the problem is to buy everyone a hat. Those people have been out in the sun to long and baked their brains.
Both sides should put on a hat, have a drink of water and relax.

Posted twice? Nah! Faulty keyboard. As a matter of fact I am full of myself. Just like you cause we write stuff here. So there. Both our opinions count for a lot. Right?

RIGHT!
One question?
Is the federal government going to provide support to all these thousands of displaced Canadian Lebonese?
More important-are we, the taxpayers-going to support them?
Just wondering!