I don't know if they are all in prison for legitimate reasons.  It seems perfectly reasonable to assume so as there is no shortage of people willing to fight against Israel.  It doesn't change the fact that those 199 bodies are from 30 years of conflict - not from last week or anything else.  But your point is taken - Israel does have a lot more prisoners and inflicts far more casualties.


So you see no problem with Israel releasing a murderer who says he will fight again for the bodies of two soldiers?  Israel got absolutely nothing out of this from a tactical perspective, where Hezbollah just got back 5 terrorists that will almost certainly fight again.  Not only this, but Israel is not even given the benefit of the doubt here.  As you've said, Hezbollah made out no better than Israel and many others will share that opinion.  So even when Israel gets the short end of the bargain, she can't even take solice in the fact that she was generous - nobody will see it that way.  Likewise, Hezbollah has a party and uses it as a massive propaganda victory. 

Israel has NOTHING to show for it, absolutely nothing.  In fact, they have less than nothing as they have strenghtened their enemies.  At least Hezbollah got 5 more terrorists back (one of them a convicted murderer).

Had the exchange been just bodies, then I think your position would be solid.  But I see no way to agree when Hezbollah is strengthened both tactically and politically from the deal.


But we aren't talking about respect, we're talking about value.  Israel was willing to send back 5 terrorists to get the bodies of two of their soldiers.  From an economic standpoint, it seems that the two dead Israeli's held a higher value than 5 living members of Hezbollah.  When you factor in how eager Hezbollah seems to be to send young men to commit suicide, I think we're seeing proof that one side values life over the other.  What would it have taken to get a live Israeli released?

So you’re saying that it is legitimate to kill anyone who kills a child? Then you are wrong in criticizing Hizbullah because you think just like them. Israelis have killed so many Lebanese children and we still have to see one stand trial and serve time.

As for Kuntar’s execution, it is not their high morals that prevented them from killing him. Actually they had every intention of executing him. The political gain of keeping him alive was greater and they couldn’t let it pass, not even to avenge a child. Why would they when they can gain more from keeping him alive?





If this makes you feel better, you can keep telling yourself that even though it is not true. But at some point, you are going to get over that war and its results. I swear I only hear about it on this forum. Time hasn't stopped in WWII, nor in 1979, nor in July 2006.


Is it refusal to understand or incapacity to, I wonder?

 

No you won't hear it, because Israel was NOT generous.

In July 2006, Israel did not want the exchange:

This is an extract from an anti-Hizbullah side in Lebanon:


The cost was also 160 Israelis (soldiers 121 I think, and the rest civilians)

When they failed, they did what they HAD to do, they were not generous, they were incapable of doing anythig else.

For every Israeli soldier, the cost was 700 dead Lebanese (100 from the exchange and 600 from the last war), and 80 Israelis.

Of course, generosity is relative 

 

In counterpart, 2 Israeli soldiers in the same period. That's roughly 1 every....what....15 years!

Nice comment BTW crypto!

 
I see no wisdom in ANY Israeli decision 


Where Are The Suicide Bombers? - Article written during the July war


You really need to update your data

Arabella , you misspelled 'We' with 'They'.
don't be so selfish with Quana accident, you had your time during 'Sabra and Chatila massacre' let others to enjoy as well.

How about we stop talking about the past and try to move on. Forget about who won what, who started what, who has the moral high ground, etc.


Both sides are only going to experience more pain if Hezbollah continues to refuse Israel's right to exist.

It's utter insanity to think there will ever be peace until Hezbollah agrees to let Israel exist in peace. So for those Lebanese who are bitter at Israel for inflicting so much pain, you all need to be just as bitter at Hezbollah and furthermore start demanding they accept Israel's existence.

Otherwise Lebanon will be utterly destroyed again and we'll be having the same exact conversation all over.

I wasn't crying or whining . I did admit the fact my country got raped by my own ppl. Unlike Arabs like you are.

 

Don't confuse body counts with kindness - they are mutually exclusive.  Israel is a better fighting force, has better technology, combined arms tactics, and is capable of inflicting far more damage.  The fact is that Hezbollah is able to use civilians as a "shield" by mingling with the general population during conflict.  Israel has no choice but to fight to defend itself, and the consequence is going to be civilian casualties.  If you don't want them, convince Hezbollah to meet Israel on the battlefield or in a place where no civilians are present.  Israel would erradicate Hezbollah in such a situation, hence the reason Hezbollah mingles with civilians in order to make every Israeli counterstrike as deadly to civilians as possible.  This again proves that they have no respect for the lives of their "people".  It is a tactic used in order to play on sympathy for dead civilians - civilians that Israel would rather spare if they could.  Israel LOSES every time a civilian dies.  When Hezbollah kills an Israeli civilian, they declare it as a victory.  The two are not morally equal and as much as it pains you to believe it, Israel has the high ground.

 

I'm not responsible for Israel's superior military prowess.  The implication of the OP was that Israel racked up a huge body count and the point was that these 199 bodies were not part of last weeks culling of Muslims.  These bodies had been piled up over 30 years - likely all of them combatants against the Israelis.

 

That doesn't surprise me.



Hezbollah practically invented the suicide bomber - this is established fact.  The fact that they were not using them in the defensive conflict against Israel in 2006 doesn't change the fact that Hezbollah has employed this tactic for decades and will continue to do so.  Your own quote makes my point perfectly - I thank you:

"The focus for Hamas and Hezbollah is fighting Israeli forces, so they haven't been putting as much energy into sending a suicide bomber into Israel,"

Makes perfect sense to anyone who has ever studied conflict.  Suicide bombings are most effective against (you guessed it) soft, defenseless, civilian targets that are not expecting it.  It is predecated on the use of subterfuge and plays on Israel's propensity NOT to kill every Muslim it sees.  In a battlefield scenario, this is unworkable as Israel will shoot anyone approaching a tank, APC, or group of soldiers.  In the civilian environment, suicide bombings work because bus drivers don't kill Muslims as they board.

Your links don't prove anything other than the obvious.  Tactically speaking, nobody is surprised that suicide bombings were not used in the military campaign of 2006.  The element of surprise is crucial to suicide bombers and unless it is a pre-emptive initialization of hostilities, the suicide bomber loses his tactical advantage in open conflict because the ROE are much less stringent.   


Also note that this thread is titled "prisoner exchange" which is also a misnomer.  Prisoners were NOT exchanged as that implies both sides received prisoners.  Israel received BODIES.  Hezbollah got back terrorists who vow to fight again.

Good to see you back again Cedar. 

Hope everything is going well for you. I look forward to hearing about the current issues in jplebanon.