Greetings from the French Hill: Great Articles Roundup: Part 2

-Walid Phares writes how Washington dealt with Hezbollah showed a naivete that was absolutely stunning.

WASHINGTON -- For anyone who still thinks the Israeli-Lebanon war is just a border scuffle, one Middle East expert shouts a dire warning:

"As soon as a cease fire occurs, the ‘Hezbollah Blitzkrieg' will crumble the ‘Lebanese Republic of Weimar' and install its own ‘Khumeinist Republic' on the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The consequences of such a development are far beyond imagination for the region and the world. Hezbollah would have paved the way for Iran to create the mother of all world threats since Hitler."

-Ian Duncan Smith, an MP in British Parliament may be the only sane man left in Britain as he explains his reasons for supporting Israel.

Recent surveys have shown little public support within Britain for Israel’s actions against the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Israel’s leaders protest that they have a right to self-defence but these protests win little sympathy. Most observers, including some leading members of my own party, believe that Israel has acted “disproportionately”. The nature of the media coverage has encouraged this belief. BBC and other reporters broadcast the horrific scenes of civilian areas flattened by Israeli bombs. Hardly any attention is given to the fact that Hezbollah launch their missiles from residential areas. Hezbollah think nothing of using family homes and flats as human shields. When Saddam Hussain did that we were appalled. But not now.

I have always supported Israel because I admire its democracy and the constitutional freedoms enjoyed by its citizens. Many of the nations in the region fund terrorists and repress their own people. All of the world’s democracies should have a natural solidarity with Israel but there has been little sign of such solidarity in recent days or in recent years.

READ THE REST...

-Victor Davis Hanson has 2 amazing articles, as he analyzes the hypocracy of the term used in the Israeli-Hezbollah Conflict, and how the UN can't solve the Hezbollah problem.

The Vocabulary of Untruth
Words take on new meanings as Israel struggles to survive.
A “ceasefire” would occur should Hezbollah give back kidnapped Israelis and stop launching missiles; it would never follow a unilateral cessation of Israeli bombing. In fact, we will hear international calls for one only when Hezbollah’s rockets are about exhausted.

“Civilians” in Lebanon have munitions in their basements and deliberately wish to draw fire; in Israel they are in bunkers to avoid it. Israel uses precision weapons to avoid hitting them; Hezbollah sends random missiles into Israel to ensure they are struck.

“Collateral damage” refers mostly to casualties among Hezbollah’s human shields; it can never be used to describe civilian deaths inside Israel , because everything there is by intent a target.

“Cycle of Violence” is used to denigrate those who are attacked, but are not supposed to win.

“Deliberate” reflects the accuracy of Israeli bombs hitting their targets; it never refers to Hezbollah rockets that are meant to destroy anything they can.
...

No Resolution At All
Why the U.N. can’t solve the problem of Hezbollah.
The U.N. resolution that supposedly will solve the problem of Hezbollah is a perfect example of the delusions inhibiting the West in its fight against jihadist terror. According to the resolution, the current impotent U.N. force — the same one that blithely sat by for years as Hezbollah prepared its attack on Israel — will be beefed up and given permission actually to stop Hezbollah with force. But don’t worry: the U.N. will be supported by the fearsome Lebanese army, which up to now has shown no ability or inclination to prevent an armed gang from high jacking Lebanon ’s foreign policy and unilaterally plunging the country into ruin.

Delusional is too weak a word to describe this resolution. Does anyone really believe that U.N. troops, no matter where the soldiers come from, are going to use force against Hezbollah? I won’t even bother asking that question about the Lebanese army because the answer is too obvious, given the high level of support for Hezbollah among the Shia rank and file. But don’t bet on troops from France or any European country killing jihadists who are admired and supported by European Muslims. The French couldn’t even stand up to punk teenagers protesting a perfectly reasonable law intended to loosen up a sclerotic economy. I can’t see the same government standing up to Muslim rioters angry over the government’s participation in a Zionist-Crusader plot to kill the warriors of Allah.
....

Israel Today gives the proof that has shown that Hezbollah has used churches and mosques as shields against Israel.

Reports arriving at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, say that Hizballah had built rooms for sheltering rockets and Katyushas underneath mosques in southern Lebanon, and that churches and Christians were used by Hizballah as human shields while firing rockets at Israel.

One of the reports is based on a document written by Christian Solidarity International (CSI) based in Washington. The organization, headed by Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick, has disseminated the document to church leaders and other factors, outlining examples of how Hizballah is using Christians as human shields.

The document brings examples of Christian residents in the Ein Ibal village, about 1.5 kilometers from Bent Jbeil, who said how the Hizballah fired rockets from between houses of Christians and how after the firing they took shelter in nearby churches. Other testimonies in the document explain how Hizballah had forcefully prevented Christian residents from leaving the village of Ramish.
....