Israel Into Lebanon: 2 More Soldiers Kidnapped
Well, this is certainly an ugly state of affairs:
Hezbollah guerrillas said they had captured two Israeli soldiers in cross-border attacks from Lebanon on Wednesday in which six Israelis and two Lebanese were also killed, sharply raising Middle East tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the guerrilla attack “an act of war” and warned Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for its actions.
Israeli ground forces crossed into Lebanon to search for the captured soldiers, Israeli Army Radio said. It said many troops and aircraft were taking part in searches across the border.
And Hezbollah was supposed to be the ‘moderate’ terrorist organization that Hamas should seek to emulate…
[...] Decision08 has details on Hezbollah’s kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and Israel’s response which includes an incursion into lebanon. [...]
Capturing for ransom is one of the oldest provocations to war in the books. No nation can allow its every citizen to be ransomed for extravagent sums or other, more dastardly considerations (here, the prisoner release, of course). Once you pay the danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane. Israel would be well within her rights to declare and wage total war on all parties involved, that includes conspicuously Syria, natch, and Iran in addition to the Powers that Be (today) in Palestine. Whether this would be wise is another matter, however the Arabs generally must understand that with endless escalation they make conciliation impossible. Israel can not pay and never benefit, which has been their strategy since Arafat. I just hope even the Bushies are up to supporting Israel in what she is going to have to do and really, should have done many years ago.