Nasrallah: "If I Had Known ..."

(AP)  Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview aired Sunday that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.

Hezbollah guerrillas killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two more in a cross-border raid July 12, which sparked 34 days of fighting that ended Aug. 14.

"We did not think, even one percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not," he said in an interview with Lebanon's New TV station.

Nasrallah also said "contacts" for negotiations on a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas had already begun.

"The Israelis have acknowledged that this (issue) is headed for negotiations and a (prisoners) exchange," he said. "Contacts recently began for negotiations."

He said Italy and the United Nations had made contacts to help mediate a prisoner swap with Israel, but did not specify whether they had contacted Hezbollah directly.

"The Italians seem to be getting close and are trying to get into the subject. The United Nations is interested," Nasrallah said.

The guerrilla leader did not specify in which capacity Italy had expressed interest — on its own or on Israel's behalf.

Nasrallah said Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was in charge of the negotiations.

He added that the subject would be discussed during U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's visit to Beirut on Monday. He said there had been "some contacts" to arrange a meeting between him and Annan, but that it was unlikely for security reasons. Nasrallah went into hiding on the first day of the war and his whereabouts are unknown.

He said in the interview Sunday that the Israelis "would not hesitate" to kill him if they knew where he was hiding.

Nasrallah also said he did not believe there would be a second bout of fighting with Israel. "The current Israeli situation, and the available givens tell us that we are not heading to another round," he said.

[aliyaaali]

Terrorism is the murder of civillians and the destruction of their infrstructure. With that in mind, please compare the death toll ratios.Far more Israeli soldiers died than civillians.The criminals are Israel. They are being accused of war crimes. So what if Hizbollah are not guerillas, i'm glad you picked up on that, they are freedom fighters. Why have you looked at my post, picked 2 words you didn't like, and failed to address the issues mentioned. That is not a response. Explain to me please, why the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan were not branded terrorist by the media,they fought for freedom.They kicked the Russians out of their country. They used the same tactics.

Let me address your second gripe. Does the term 'disproportionate use of force' mean anything to you? Israel spend $9 billion on weapons annualy. They have a wide range of weaponery. The sort that can destroy a top floor flat that harbours a rocket, they decide to use the kind of weaponry that in fact levels the building. Israel uses sledgehammers to crack wallnuts. Now they are facing allegations of war crimes from Amnesty International. They use unecessary force. So this Human sheild argument is pointless. Don't say you dislike the tactics of Hizbollah, when there have GLOBAL protests over Israeli tactics.

And this time I would appreciate it if you would please address the issues I have raised rather than shy away from them in your rebuttle.

[d1hawk]

Hizbollah is a terrorist group, not a guerilla group. Guerillas are warriors that fight other warriors (ie the French Resistance during WWII).

And you don't have to be a national army to use human shields, any common criminal can do that, just like hizbollah.

[aliyaaali]

It is humourous to bemoan the tactics of Hizbullah. Amnesty International is alleging that Israel is responsible for war crimes on numerous counts. Which means..guess what the Israeli army was once again overly barbaric. So its humourus to then use the term Human Shields. Hizbollah is not a national army. Why choose to fight them if you are that concerned with the possibility of civillian casualties? Surely it would have been better to have a prisoner exchange like in 2000, and implement 1559 through the UN.

Hizbollah are a guerilla group, the same sort of group that kicked the Russians out of Afghanistan, only we supported that group, because we had a common political agenda. The press at that time called theat group..Mujaahedeen..arabic for freedom fighters. Nobody at that time criticised the tactics of the Mujahedeen or argued that they too were hiding behind human shields.

What was required, was very simple, a prisoner exchange. The editor of Haaretz asserted in an interview that it was possible, if not likely, that Israel had planned the war before the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers. Political planning of this sort is commonplace. It is therefore possible if not likely that Mossad agents were first instructed to assasinate Hariri so the Syrians could go back into Syria, and then it was just a matter of time, and hey presto, Israel was given the green light to cause carnage.

[d1hawk]

cont.

#4 Many civilians died because hizbollah was their next door neighbor. (Human Shields in the classic sense) Many died because they chose to take the risk of traveling when they had been told that to do so would bring on an attack. Many I suspect weren't civilians at all, hizbollah often claimed that it's fighters were "just civilians" when they were killed.

And as to your "brave fighter" taking on an enemy "face to face".. very romantic but how do you reconcile that with the rain of rockets on Haifa? I think that a man or woman that sits down in front of a tank without a weapon, willing to be a true martyr, is much braver than the man pushing a button to send send a rocket at a town, not knowing or caring if he hits a school, or a fishing boat. That person just wants to terrorize people and ends up making them mad. In other words, that brave warrior is nothing but a fool.

[d1hawk]

kawthar:
#1 Yes I believe they are criminals, juvenile delinquents, whatever.... maybe they are being held to prevent them from hurting themselves, it really doesn't matter. Violate a countries laws and you go to jail if that country gets hold of you. It's the same as going to Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, China wherever, you are subject to local law.

#2 As has been pointed out it started LONG before 1982 or even 1800. Same old attacks, same old responses. Both sides acting like children with uncaring parents, carrying generational grudges and refusing to make changes that need to be made.

#3 Many of the non-muslim sects are really unhappy with Hizbollah, many of the rest are afraid to publicly say anything for fear of appearing pro-isreal. Many I suspect just don't care anymore...

cont.

[ronniehm]

kawthar, I believe I already addressed what you just said in my previous comment, but I'll shorten it to one question. With the UN forces in place, is it likely that Hezbollah rockets will hit Israel?

I know d1hawk can respond for himself, but I sure don't buy what you're dishing out in #2 and #4. This started long before 1982 (maybe 1400 years before), and this was hardly the first time Hezbollah launched rockets at civilian targets. Personally, I think it started when a few guys in Mecca decided to "spread" their religion throughout what became the Ottoman Empire (more or less). Kill the infidels. You know, that whole thing. So it seems to me that if it's not Israel's land, it's probably not the Palestinian's land either ... by the same logic.

[kawthar-2009]

RONNIEHM
As I remember on the first day of the war Olmert said that the goal of Isreal from this war is to ruin the rockets of hizbollah so hizbollah won't be able to hit israeli cities. but isreal had failed in achieving any of it's goals and hizbollah today is as powerful as the first day of the war

[kawthar-2009]

d1hawk;
1-Do you really think that more than 10000 palestinians are criminals?why they don't take them to the court?do you know that there is more than 1000 children in isreali jails??Are they criminals too?And after all why they don't treat them in a humanitarian way as prisinors?
2- If we think logicaly we'll know that it didn't start on july12th ,it started in 1982 when israeli troops reached Beirut which led to the establishment of hizbullah later and after isreali withdrawal in 2000 Isreal kept the lebanese captives which made hizbollah's reaction in capturing the 2 soldiers in july
3-If hizbollah was usins people as humanshields,as u said would they have supported him?
4-isreal started killing the civilians from the first day of the war while hizbollah's rockets hit Hayfa many days later.
At last I think that the guy who is holding his gun ready to fight his enemy face to face is much more brave than the soldier in his plane destroying the houses of innocent people killing women and children

[ronniehm]

Reuben, I would agree but for the fact that Israel only wanted to finish the job because no one else was doing anything about neutralizing Hezbollah. When Europe finally said they'd send troops, Israel agreed to the cease fire. So, although the short-term objective changed (from Israel neutralizing Hezbollah to the UN neutralizing Hezbollah), I think the outcome (security) is the same.

[reuben110-2009]

Ronnie, he didn't want a ceasefire, Israel wanted to finish the job. A lasting peace was brought together by the international community, Israel had to bow to that pressure. Ask Dan Gillerman, he looked extremely bemused at the outcome.