Ground war

While we were on our trip, I had access to cable TV. When the kids weren't around, I watched a lot of CNN, while Israel was attacking Lebanon. As you might expect, they endlessly repeated what little they knew while endlessly repeating a list of things that were unknown.

I kept wondering: Why knock out roads and bridges for an air campaign? I know as well as any student of contemporary warfare that you use air to knock out the transportation system that would help the enemy ground forces meet and counter your ground invasion. But I kept thinking it was an air-only campaign. The best I could come up with is that Israel wanted to prevent antiaircraft vehicles from coming south. Then I heard that there were 'limited' ground incursions into Lebanon and then I knew: A full ground invasion was planned.

I am one quarter Lebanese, which explains my dark hair and eyes and Semitic good looks. I love and adore my conception of Jewish culture and history and support the right of Israel to live in peace and security. That's possible even in an historic tangle of culpability on all sides, especially on the part of my Arab brothers, whose food is better and whom you fools who issue the racist claim that nothing good has come out of Moslem culture can thank for algebra, except that you don't use algebra, being ignorant slugs that you are. I recognize that history as it plays out is a meat grinder. I just want my Lebanese and Israeli brothers to stop the killing. Or at least to pause and drink the blood.

Another interesting CNN moment was when they stroked themselves for not revealing exactly where the Hez rockets hit, not wanting to be spotters for one side. And then that same day a CNN reporter did a stand-up, explained exactly where he was in Beirut, and described the direction, estimated distance, and probable location of several loud explosions of Israeli bombs, going into quite a lot of detail about how loud the bombs were, and whether they made a thud and then a boom, or what. No doubt CNN would explain spotting for the Israelis and not the Hez on the grounds that Israel uses precision weapons, and hence does not need spotting. Yeah, right. Hypocrisy.