Israel and Hezbollah

October 2024 Forums General discussion Israel and Hezbollah

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 23 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #254007
    robbo203
    Participant

    It looks like the conflict might soon escalate

    “Right now is the closest Israel has been to a full war with Hezbollah since October 7.

    This is true even in comparison to the period between July 30 and August 25, probably the second most dangerous period between both sides.

    How do we know that the coming days, weeks, and month or two before winter are potentially explosive?”

    https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-820399

    It could be pretty devastating for both sides

    https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/1835768720540512257

    #254013
    robbo203
    Participant

    Those exploding pagers…

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/british-educated-entrepreneur-denies-manufacturing-explosive-pagers/ar-AA1qM4nx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=3fba4c17bf904b6b8f764b75c7d1a07e&ei=14

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/9/18/israels-war-on-gaza-live-thousands-injured-in-lebanon-pager-explosions

    Unnamed US and Israeli officials told Axios that the explosions were initially planned as the opening move in an “all-out” offensive against Hezbollah. But in recent days Israel became concerned Hezbollah had become aware of the plan – so they were detonated early.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz04m913m49o

    and the possible repercussions…

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/repercussions-are-inevitable-israeli-media-reacts-to-the-pager-attack

    • This reply was modified 3 weeks, 5 days ago by robbo203.
    #254120
    robbo203
    Participant

    Lying politicians—-

    Blinken Lied To Congress About Israeli War Crimes Because He Knows He’ll Get Away With It

    The above has a quotable quote, incidentally. In 1902, the renowned attorney Clarence Darrow said the following in a speech to inmates at the Cook County Jail in Chicago:

    “Those men who own the earth make the laws to protect what they have. They fix up a sort of fence or pen around what they have, and they fix the law so the fellow on the outside cannot get in. The laws are really organized for the protection of the men who rule the world. They were never organized or enforced to do justice. We have no system for doing justice, not the slightest in the world.”

    #254203
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Everybody can now see that, under its present government led by Benjamin NuttyYahoo, Israel is a rogue state on the rampage even from the point of view of the capitalist world order. Established as a state to protect the members of a particular ethnic minority in and supposedly from the region, it now seeks to defend its existence through waging a ruthless war against its enemies — those displaced as a result of its establishment and extension and their supporters — regardless of how many ordinary members of the other inhabitants of the region it kills. Their lives don’t because they are not members of the same ethnic group.

    Let this be a warning of where nationalism and its mindset leads — “my” nation uber alles. It is the opposite of everything socialists stand for: one world, one people.

    #254209
    Ozymandias
    Participant

    What is glaringly obvious throughout all of this sorry trajectory is the complete impotence of the world’s working class. Never mind all the useless demo’s & marches begging our leaders to change. Much of the youth are immersed in Tiktok, Instagram, Video Games & Porn. Their parents are just trying to survive. I have no faith that any spark of enlightenment anywhere will surface even as climate destruction & a possible World War stare us in the face. The fact is the workers were more savvy a century ago. Even Zeitgeist which gave me hope in 2011 has petered into nothing. All is completely lost as far as I’m concerned. The only thing Lenin said which I agree with is that it would take the workers about 500 years to achieve Class Consciousness. Because they can barely achieve Trade Union consciousness now.

    #254231
    robbo203
    Participant

    Another Jonathan Cook article

    “But what comes next, as with what came before, will be entirely predictable. Violence doesn’t beget calm, it begets more violence. Israel knows that. Our leaders know that. But they opened the gates of hell anyway.”

    https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/in-killing-nasrallah-israel-chose

    #254232
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Don’t tell TM but here’s something that will really scare him. The crazies currently in control of the Israeli killing machine also have the bomb.

    According to this article, it is US policy to ensure that “Israel has a qualitative military edge over rivals in the region”. Obviously of course since otherwise it wouldn’t be much use as their proxy in the region.

    There seems to be some sort of deal between the US and Israel that if Israel doesn’t use the bomb as a deterrent then the US will supply it with the most deadly non-nuclear weapons of mass destruction. This will also be why the US is so opposed to Iran developing nuclear weapons. But, capitalism being capitalism, the only logical response from Iran will be to itself acquire the bomb.

    The stake of course is oil and the trade routes to get it out.

    https://www.pressreader.com/uk/inews-weekend/20240928/281852943980789?srsltid=AfmBOopiRV9Gd2q-hUuz_l4wd14MPC_SnvvlxbhWIOhNgvt2Xpq148RY

    #254243
    robbo203
    Participant
    #254245
    ALB
    Keymaster

    As that article from the weekend i paper is behind a paywall, below is the key part. Together with the Carter Doctrine (that the US will go to war if any state in the region threatens its domination of the Middle East oilfields and the trade routes out), it explains US policy in the region –Israel is its guard dog there and they are committed to it being militaruily superior to any other state or combination of states in the area.

    Anyway, here’s the key passage:

    “Washington did oppose Israel’s nuclear weapons activities in the 1950s and 1960s. After the June 1967 war, however, a quid pro quo with Israel was established. In return for Israel maintaining a policy of nuclear weapons ambiguity, Washington would guarantee what was termed Israel’s “qualitative military edge”, or QME.
    That is, Washington will ensure that as long as Israel keeps its “bombs in the basement” -undeclared, unacknowledged,
    and unused – Washington will guarantee Israel the conventional weapons arsenal necessary to defeat any combination of regional enemies.
    In the decades since, every change in US political or defence policy, eveiy diplomatic or military engagement with Israel, has featured a ritualistic reaffirmation of Washington’s commitment to maintain Israel’s QME.
    The State Department recently reaffirmed that “the US is by statute mandated… to guarantee that… Israel has a qualitative military edge over rivals in the region. It’s not a discretionary question. It is a statutory requirement… There is also an important deterrent effect to the US continuing to send a message to Israel’s adversaries that if they attack Israel, we will defend it.”

    That’s why the US supports and arms Israel with the most up to date and dealiest “conventional” weapons. Without that support Israel would be nothing or rather just another small and weak state like Lebanon.

    #254246
    Lew
    Participant

    The State Department recently reaffirmed that “the US is by statute mandated… to guarantee that… Israel has a qualitative military edge over rivals in the region. It’s not a discretionary question. It is a statutory requirement…

    I’m not aware of any statutory law mandating this. Is there one?

    #254251
    ALB
    Keymaster

    The author of that article seems to have been quoting what Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US Department of State, said at a press conference on 19 September. The official account of the press conference has him saying:

    “By the way, we are mandated – we are required by statute to guarantee that Congress has a – I’m sorry – that Israel has a qualitative military edge over rivals in the region. It’s not a discretionary question. It is a statutory requirement, and it is one that we are committed to. So there is also an important deterrent effect to the United States continuing to send a message to Israel’s adversaries that if they attack Israel, we will defend it. And that’s a message that we will continue to send loud and clear.”

    See: https://www.state.gov/?post_type=state_briefing&%3Bp=92333

    You’re right. It would be interesting to track down what particular law he was referring to.

    #254252
    ALB
    Keymaster
    #254255
    ALB
    Keymaster

    A comrade in the US has dug out this;

    https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1992

    Here is the Carter Doctrine:

    “Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.”

    And here is the Qualitative Military Edge for Israel Doctrine:

    “We are required by statute to guarantee that Israel has a qualitative military edge over rivals in the region. It’s not a discretionary question. It is a statutory requirement, and it is one that we are committed to. So there is also an important deterrent effect to the United States continuing to send a message to Israel’s adversaries that if they attack Israel, we will defend it.”

    Taken together they explain US policy in the Middle East and Israel’s role in it. As can be seen, the US is just as much a “malign influence” in the area as Iran. But this sort of thing is par for the course under capitalism when a source of a key raw material and the trade routes to get it out are at stake.

    #254273
    paula.mcewan
    Moderator

    The situation in the Middle East is too much to bear. I can’t stand the propaganda. I listen to Joan Baez to help me cope https://youtu.be/nM39QUiAsoM?si=5K8GcB74q8i00haO

    #254286
    james19
    Participant

    Iranian leader has given a speech about the Israelis and the West.

    A brief summation it’s a long speech link below:

    The West wants Israel to secure the regions oil and gas for the West.

    The West offers in return to produce goods to be sold in the region, for a profit. This last bit, is scarcasm.

    Khamenei: “Their policy is to turn the [Zionist] regime into a gateway for exporting energy from the region to the Western world while facilitating the import of goods and technology from the West to the region

    https://x.com/AdameMedia/status/1842170092840227316?t=uh3AHz-ak1w2TAaDnj4f7g&s=19

    • This reply was modified 1 week, 3 days ago by james19.
    • This reply was modified 1 week, 3 days ago by james19.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 23 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.