G.e.M.z said:
Hezbollah are not protecting Lebanon- they are trying to take over it and make it an Islamic State
You say this even though in the most recent Lebanese unity government, after Hezbollah's victory over the U.S backed element in Lebanon, Suleiman was appointed President. Suleiman is infact a Christian, who is well supported by the majority of Lebanese Christians. They have done nothing to change the status of Lebanese Christians, and infact have made it very clear that they do not want to make Lebanon an Islamic state.
They are stopping Lebanon from flourishing and all their communication lines are illegal and should be destroyed
That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard. Their communication lines are vital for Lebanon's security. Even those with an opposing view accept that. But just out of interest, what makes you think it's illegal?
Having said that- they aren't the only forces stopping Lebanon from achieving its full potential
Syria is and always has been jealous of Lebanon and the beautiful country that it is
Okay, it's official. You, are, a moron. If it wasn't for Syria, Lebanon could quite well still be under civil war. You do know that if anything, Syria is a neutal factor in Lebanon. They're not jealous, and they're not hindering Lebanon's security. It's people like you however, that for some unexplainable reason think it's in the interest of Lebanon to support a country on the other side of the world, rather than Lebanon's own neighbour, Syria.
I don't know why this topic title is called 'Hezbollah's Victory'?
I'll explain this one to you, since you don't seem to understand what constitutes a victory.
In 2006, Hezbollah sought out to have Lebanese prisoners which were being held in Israel released. As usual, Israel just ignored Hezbollah's request for the release of prisoners. So in response, Hezbollah attacked an armoured vehicle, and captured two Israeli soldiers, these Israeli soldiers were injured during the skirmish, and died shortly after. Hezbollah offered Israel a prisoner exchange, but they denied it. At that point Israel had begun it's bombing campaign, which tore down many buildings in Lebanon. They were not willing to release the Lebanese prisoners. Instead they demanded Hezbollah disarm, they demanded the release of the captured prisoners, they demanded Nasrallah's head (ofcourse that was the understanding) and they demanded a 'buffer zone', which really just is a de facto land grab.
On August 14, 2006 (which is today, my birthday) the pressure from the international community, along with Israel's failure to achieve any of their goals after a month of intense fighting, foreced Israel to accept a cease fire. Israel failed to disarm Hezbollah, Israel failed to install a 'buffer zone', Israel failed to assassinate or do harm to Nasrallah.
Then in July, 2008,
Hezbollah's victory was finalised, Israel agreed to a prisoner exchange. In turn not only recognising their defeat, but also recognising Hezbollah.
The ability, for a country the size of Lebanon, to do one hell of a job defending their sovereignty. For a country the size of Lebanon, Hezbollah does one kick ass job of defending Lebanon. They were capable of destroying a modern Israeli war ship, and many modern Israeli tanks. Considering Israel is undoubtedly a military power, Hezbollah has by anybodies standards proven their capability. What they've achieved, is the potential for Lebanon to defend itself. And that is with Hezbollah alone. If you combine Hezbollah with Lebanon's standing army, Lebanon can protect itself from occupation, and also can protect it's interests. For a small country, that is quite the achievement. If you've read my past posts, I fully support Hezbollah merging into the government, and their military wing training and then merging into the army of Lebanon.
It is such a beautiful country - even with all the war and fighting
You're right. Many times people like you make fantastic claims of Lebanon being the Paris of the middle east. Well the funny thing is France has one of the world's best defence systems, something crucial to any countries security.
One random note: Many Lebanese in Australia think that they are acting like Lebs being 'fully sick' and what not
If only they could actually GO to Lebanon and just see how their behaviour in no way correlates to the Lebanese living in Lebanon
Okay, this just confirms everything I thought about you based on your ludicrous assumptions. You don't know enough. Very often poor people in our rich society, will reject authority figures, mainly due to the large class difference between them and authority figures. Many times they're patronised by these authority figures, and learn to accept the inherent discrimination in the middle-classed mass of authority figures. I'm not talking about "racial" discrimination, not that there isn't enough of that. But mainly, "class" discrimination.
But you see this problem is much worse among Lebanese for a reason, which is really irrelevant to this topic, but I thought I might take the time to educate you on it. You see in the 80s and early 90s, there was a major influx of Lebanese refugees from the Lebanese civil war after the (second?) intifada of the Palestinian resistance. Many of these Lebanese (including my parents) fled the country to escape the war and came to Australia. Most of them could barely speak a word of english, but the industry of Australia was kind to them, they put them on decent salaries and gave them jobs.
Some of the time they worked in Steel Plantations as Boiler Makers, or in the Ford Company, or in the vast booming Australian Industry. They worked to the bone, and earned money to bring their familes to Australia, or sometimes moved up to the middle class. Ofcourse this period of success was short-lived. These companies soon sacked scores of Lebanese, making them redundant. At the same time Australia was rapidly changing, these people which were warmly welcomed by industrial Australia, were rejected by the service based nature of the country.
That's probably where the "Kebab shop" jokes started. These skilled (in their fields) immigrant workers who were made redundant, had very little options in what they could do. Many times the people you see operating these establishments have been doing so since much of the manufacturing industry was changed. Ofcourse a hard thing for me to accept (but is absolutely true) Keating did not enough to stop it.
'Industrial graveyard'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKN4qWo7x1Y
You see, don't say I'm not kind. You get a top class education right here. (Also it's my b-day, say Happy b-day!)