Bill, you are a retard:
“I can recall hearing similar talk about percentages during Gulf War I, when Uncle Sam’s air force was “plinking” Iraqi Scud launching sites in Western Iraq. Periodically Centcom would release a statement claiming that XX% of Saddam’s missile capabilities had been destroyed, which sounded great but didn’t stop the missiles from falling on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Later it turned out the fly boys had missed most of what Saddam had stashed away.)”
No scuds fell on Jerusalem.
“What are the odds that an evacuee ship will be hit by Israeli or Hizbullah missiles?”
Slim to none. Israel’s not gonna bomb them and Hizbullah can’t: the radar installations have all been knocked out.

Posted by: shira | Jul 19 2006 1:31 utc | 4

At this point, Israel does not allow the evacuation ships that the swedish government has rented to pick up the swedish evacuees.
I do not get it. I would think Israel wanted western turists, diplomats and televisions crews gone from the area. Every newscast in Sweden right now as an intervue with stranded swedish-lebanese turists explaining the horrors in swedish. From a psychological standpoint this means far more then any numbers on civilian casualties. I imagine that most European nations has the same situation.
What does Israel hope to win by keeping western hostages in Lebanon?

Posted by: a swedish kind of death | Jul 19 2006 2:34 utc | 6

I dunno Swede, could it be that they are dumb as a box of rocks? Hard to imagine that a government that has moved as deftly as Israels, that has been embroiled in scandal since formation, that is made up of the dregs of a system as productive of brilliant and principled leaders as the American or French system, could be taking a counter-productive action because they are just too dumb to think right?
Oh I forgot – Israel is run by brilliant masterminds of conspiracy.

Posted by: citizen k | Jul 19 2006 2:44 utc | 8

& yes i think the current israeli leadership are as dumb as box of rocks

Posted by: r’giap | Jul 19 2006 2:49 utc | 10

What does Israel hope to win by keeping western hostages in Lebanon?
An excuse to back off. ‘for fear of harming them.’ Hizbollah has really surprised Israel with its ability to endure and fight back. So far, according to the numbers released, Israel has only killed five Hezbollah militants out of the approx 235 Lebanese killed. Nine more were Lebanese soldiers. The rest were all civilians. It is not going well if you focus on militant body counts. Israel has a long way to go to make a dent in Hizbollah, and is left mostly with the option of destroying Lebanese cities, bridges, roads, airports — none of which are associated with Hizbollah — and thereby winning the world’s scorn one day at a time. This choice of targets also violates American law.
Israel Violates US Law With Attack on Lebanon

Posted by: Ensley | Jul 19 2006 2:56 utc | 12

Hizbollah has really surprised Israel with its ability to endure and fight back.
this is a bullshit thesis, and I’m happy billmon backpedeled from it. the means of violence owned by israel & the u.s. can smash any 4th gen opposition. all that is required is the will to do so. at 3.01$ per gallon, the public will is inured to spasms of ethical probity.

Posted by: slothrop | Jul 19 2006 3:12 utc | 14

@Ensley
Re: Israel Violates US Law With Attack on Lebanon
Law? there is no Law to this gang of War Criminals…
As I have sd, before, “When the Law breaks the Law, there is no Law“, only a pack of Jackels in search of prey to blatantly feed on, purposely out in the open to show off their power and further as a dare to anyone who would challenge their righteousness, and calvanistic might.
United States to Israel: you have one more week to blast Hizbullah
Bush ‘gave green light’ for limited attack, say Israeli and UK sources
The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 19 2006 3:29 utc | 16

could it be that they are dumb as a box of rocks?
That might be the case, but notwithstanding the level dumbness generally people has some (no matter how stupid) reason. And Ensleys suggestion was quite good.

Posted by: a swedish kind of death | Jul 19 2006 3:31 utc | 18

most importantly, there is catastrophic disarray of responses from the region’s oppressed. you could see kissinger tonight on NewsHour suppressing giggling delight over the insupperably imbeilic schism between shia and sunni. the idiotic religiosity of opposition condemns them to failure. it’s doomed.
may as well find the boys from brazil to clone a million tammy fae bakers to fight the hegemon with the book of revelations.

Posted by: slothrop | Jul 19 2006 3:48 utc | 20

I realise how paranoic this appears and decided not to post it t’other day because of that.
Still in light Diogene’s post of netvocates post, here t’is. . .
apropos of nothin in particular I dropped by an old and familiar site to check some mates and found this:
“This is the end my friends 13/07/06
Pink Floyd said it best.
It is the end, my friend, not for the hacker, but for .*.*. .com. You won.
I refuse to understand, fix, or retaliate by giving an IP address. I refuse to keep fighting for something when someone is always out there to destroy it.
Like the wars going on right now in Lebanon, there will always be people who are willing to destroy, with reasons only related to their personnal egos and search for useless power.
In 10 000 Years from now, all of this will be forgotten, hacker, IP addresses, internet and hacking, so let’s stop right now.
Thanks to all the people who believed in this project, for all these years. You sure made it worthwhile !
Life is so short as it is, might as well not waste it on something other than family and friends.
See you ! Enjoy your lives while it lasts.
* * *
Since 1995
some a those blokes were fairly handy at skimming code for the interesting bits. I haven’t been by for many months since a few had to drop out following a bit of a scare last year. The whole thing may be nothing just coincidence, on the other hand if thinks really are ‘hotting up’ then such sites are likely to be in for a tough time.

Posted by: Anonymous | Jul 19 2006 4:01 utc | 22

Israel has bombed convoys of evacuees already. It is also bombing tunnels, bridges, etc. to stop their ability to flee. Not to mention fishing boats… why not a ship?

Posted by: 2nd anonymous poster | Jul 19 2006 4:52 utc | 24

As usual, MOA regulars (and an interloper) have provided an interesting thread. Producing paranoia is one of the classic goals on Conintel-Pro type operations. The high quality and well-linked commentary to be found at this site seem to have made it both a point of reference for (a few) “renegade journalists” from the MSM and a source of pain to the more stalwart defenders of right thinking and the eternal justice of Israeli-American polity. Hence, I agree that there seems to be sufficient grounds to suspect (with all due humility) that we may well have been assigned one or more trolls. It is particularly apt that such
circumstances be discussed in a declaredly Orwellian thread. As appropriate therapy for the troll-induced anguish, I suggest a bit of mood music (picked up from Mike Rivero’s WRH site).

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Jul 19 2006 6:48 utc | 26

Diogenes, I echo Monlycus when I say that the dreaded hand of Rove isn’t necessary to produce paid shills like advocate or whatever that one was.
I reluctantly watched and wrung my hands when a company I was in whored itself out to promote a young pop band, enlisting several young college women on summer break to visit chatrooms (early version of blogs I understand) catering to the demographic the band appealed to, and promote how cool was this group.
So they were trying to gin up support amongst their recent peers for this nice group of boys.
It didn’t work very well, at least I didn’t see a breakthrough.
As a tactic it makes little sense other than nuisance. By using the methods of Judo (use the opponent’s momentum against him) one can learn to to ignore the unimportant and focus on the actual; or even to engage and find out more from the interloper’s point of view.
If we go back to the bar metaphor, it’s like a misguided stranger — why not try to help him out, listen a bit. Then if they persist, one or two regulars can ask politely that they back out of the conversation. Last step, 86 ’em — which Bernhard certainly can do.
That assumes that we know who the regulars are and respect their lead.
As for paranoia, it does exist. But the technology to discover conversations here, while being worked on, seems far-fetched at best.

Posted by: jonku | Jul 19 2006 9:17 utc | 28

@jonku
“misspelling your name was a typo.”
I figured. No worries.

Posted by: Monolycus | Jul 19 2006 17:18 utc | 30