The American message is designed to get the Lebanese-based Shiite militia to back down and de-escalate the brewing crisis along the Israeli-Lebanese border, a person familiar with the discussions said.
I'm not quite sure that's the right approach. It discourages brinkmanship, but also encourages them and Iran to go all-in since broader Israeli action is coming either way. Y'know, the way Iran didn't with that rocket exchange, because the US seemed present and reasonable enough to negotiate with.
If we're talking about just arms vs. arms, Hezbollah is far weaker. They probably have the ability to draw Israel into a lengthy guerilla war a la Afghanistan, which will eventually make Israel admit the whole thing is pointless, but that also would mean that Iran doesn't decide to join in the fight. I still think Israel would have the stronger military in that case, but the bigger issue there would be that out of those three groups, only Israel has nukes and they aren't concerned about the spread of fallout if they lob one at Tehran like they would be in Gaza.
Hezbollah attacked Israel on the 8th of October and supported Hamas attacking and kidnapping civilians on the 7th October.
Iran is actively supporting conflicts in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
So either we start talking about the religious fanatics or we just accept the USA as the world police and we should just do as they tell us to do.
I'm m ok with you rewriting it as long as you agree that Israel was attacked by Hezbollah on the 8th and that Hezbollah supports, not condemning, the war crimes of Hamas on the 7th.
Thank you for this comprehensive account of all the events that have led to the current situation and for presenting us with the only two options available.
I could write my comment since I live in a democracy with freedom of speech.... something I would not be able to do if I lived in Gaza because of Hamas.
Just because Hezbollah are not atheists does not make them religious fanatics. Sure, they talk about God every sentence but that's just traits from being Muslims. There are Muslims who pray for safety before going into a bathroom. Muslims generally call on God for everything; even where it wouldn't make sense to a Jew, Christian, atheist, etc.
If they were less religious, would you be OK for them defending their land more? You are failing into a trap that the Muslims defending themselves are doing it through religious fanaticism. You are falling into pro-Zionism propaganda. They just happen to be Muslims who are defending themselves while trying to process their actions internally in a way that fits their identity. It's not a religious war; it's Levantine people vs non-Levantine people.
What you fail to understand is that Israel is a foreign colonial force and therefore has no right to self defense or to even exist. The only religious fanatics are the Zionist invaders who are trying to fulfill Iron Age mythologies about a Promised Land.