Israeli Forces Push Through Lebanon Border

Posted on July 22, 2006

Hundreds of Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon on Saturday, taking control of a village and engaging Hezbollah militants by land, sea and air as part of the country’s limited ground campaign.

The soldiers — backed by artillery and tank fire — moved into the large Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras in several rounds and took control, military officials said on condition of anonymity.

That included a group of Israeli tanks, bulldozers and personnel carriers that knocked down a border fence and entered the area at about 3 p.m (1200 GMT). The equipment and about 25 soldiers raced past a U.N. outpost and headed into the village where other Israeli soldiers already had control. But gunfire could be heard from the village, and artillery based inside Israel also was firing into the area.

In all, up to 2,000 Israeli troops entered the area Saturday, but some returned to Israel during the day. No Israeli or Hezbollah casualties were immediately reported.

Lebanese security sources, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the Israeli military had made incursions of only a few hundred meters into the Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun villages. But an AP reporter on the Israeli side of the border saw the Israeli troops head into Maroun al-Ras and said they were fighting with Hezbollah militants.

At one point, a half-ton bomb was dropped on a Hezbollah outpost, about yards from the border and near the village. Other positions were bombarded by Israeli gunboats operating off the coast.

Soldiers told The Associated Press that Israeli forces were just 600 feet from Hezbollah militants on Saturday morning who fired back.

The raid was part of Israel’s wider strategy of running a “limited” ground operation aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s tunnels, hideouts and weapons stashes in south Lebanon. The offensive began on July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a raid on Israel’s northern border, opening a second front in Israel’s battle against Islamic militants.

There is a lot of talk that this is World War III. It is definitely getting serious over there. The NY Times is blabbing that the U.S. is speeding up supply for Israel in the weapons area. Michelle Malkin wonders how their headline would be any different than a headline during WWII that we were speeding up atomic bomb delivery for use on the Japenese. I think we all know by now who the NY Times are rooting for.

I hope that we continue to support Israel even more. I still stand by my initial convictions that a ceasefire is in the best interest of no one. Israel has my support of destroying the evil of these terrorists at the root. As more information comes out we are discovering just how widespread and connected this evil has spread. With Iran playing the puppet master supplying weapons to arm these organizations, and information tying countries like North Korea and China into the mix the importance to deal with the problem now only increases. Appeasement is not the answer here. This must be dealt with now. Appeasement will only postpone the inevitable and provide the opportunity for the ties to grow stronger between all of these countries and terror networks.

Appeasement throughout history has always failed. It is not a solution to anything. I don’t understand why so many in the world community find it so attractive. It is an illusion that never solves the problem and actually increases and adds to the problem.

The world should heed the wise words of Albert Einstein: