Quote from a_person:
What's so fucking hard to understand? Both reports talk about the total number of casualties, just like all other links (wikipedia etc) we discussed before. They all say absolutely the same unambiguous thing. What's so fucking hard to understand? Did you freeze your fucking brain or something in Oslo?
Calm down a little. I see your points, but I'm still having problems working out how some people can estimate as much as 750 of the 1191 dead was Hezbollah while others are estimating 400 of those same 1191 are children under the age of 13.
It was also widely reported that the majority of victims were indeed civilians and not combatants. Which certainly makes sense, considering the fact that Israel bombed civilian buildings to an extreme extent. 30 000 homes destroyed, they can't have had intel saying all these homes held terrorists.
Quote from a_person:
If it is true that the number 1191 is the entire number of total casualties and that all Hezbollah fighters are included in this number, I have no problem admitting that I did misunderstand the article.
You have misunderstood the number and so far you have not admitted that.
Because the wikipedia article still lists civilian casualties and Hezbollah fighters separately, and they add them separately in the summaries. Yes, the numbers are complemented with the claim that these figures doesn't differentiate between civilians and Hezbollah, but it still seems like a separate count. That would also make more sense - that the number 1191 is the total number of random victims, mostly by airstrikes. Obviously some of these victims would probably be Hezbollah fighters, but certainly not more than half.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_civilian_areas_in_the_2006_Israel-Lebanon_conflict
I'll take a closer look into this, and if it turns out the number 1191 is the total number of casualties, of which 400-750 were Hezbollah fighters, I'll admit I made a mistake. However, you have still left to either provide evidence for the claim that most of Israels victims were Hezbollah fighters (something that is widely disputed), or admit that you lied (or made a mistake).
Again,
The Lebanese Higher Relief Council (HRC),[1] UNICEF,[1] and various press agencies and news organizations have stated that most of those killed were Lebanese civilians,[2][3][4][5][6],
2 ^ Washington Post (September 15, 2006). "Rights Group Accuses Hezbollah of 'Indiscriminate' Killing"Retrieved Augsut 4, 2007.
3 ^ International Herald Tribune (August 7, 2006). "Lebanese PM admits death toll was incorrect". Retrieved August 4, 2007.
4 ^ BBC News (January 17, 2007). "Israeli PM faces calls to resign". Retrieved August 4, 2007.
5 ^ BBC News (July 18, 2007). "Timeline: Lebanon". Retrieved August 4, 2007.
6 ^ Reuters (July 9, 2007). "Factbox - Costs of war and recovery in Lebanon and Israel". Retrieved August 4, 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_2006_Lebanon_War
Intended targeting aside, approximately one-quarter of the Israelis killed by Hezbollah and the vast majority of the Lebanese killed by Israeli forces were widely reported to be civilians.[1][2][3] The Boston-based Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, a media watchdog group focused on monitoring any coverage it considers unfair to Israel, suggested that nearly half, or even most, of Lebanese casualties were combatants.[4]
2 ^ "Timeline of the July War 2006", The Daily Star, Lebanon.
4 ^ "Questioning the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon", Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeting_of_civilian_areas_in_the_2006_Israel-Lebanon_conflict
Even the ultra-pro-Israeli media watchdog is in disagreement with you. By stretching and pulling their imagination to the very limit, they manage to say that maybe as many as half of the killed ones are Hezbollah. That's the estimate of our most biased source.
Quote from a_person:
Or even more likely, is it possible that this is what's confusing you? They are children for UNICEF, they are militants and martyrs for Hezbollah.
Trying to play a picture of a school play or something for a real picture of Hezbollah warriors is just cheap.
Quote from a_person:
First of all, this too is what Palestinian terrorists are saying. They're saying that it's not their fault that Israeli children die, they say it's their parents fault
And just because two sides say similar things does not mean what they say is equally applicable in completely different situations. The "fault" of the Israeli parents is that they and their families live in their country, the fault of the arab parents is that they let rogue militants like Hezbollah (as you called them) run around in their neighborhoods, help them, support them (as you admitted) and let them use their children as human shields. When the children get killed their parents have no one to blame but themselves and if you don't understand this you're hopeless (which I am sure is the case).
Israelis let IDF run around in their neighborhoods, help them, support them, even work for them. And they chose a country for their children that was already settled by hundreds of thousands - a population which they removed by force, and are still keeping out by force. It's not just "similar things", it's the exact same logic.
Seriously, answer this question. Forget about nationality, forget about patriotism, etc. Imagine a people coming from abroad to settle in America, and imagine they decide to live in your state and turn it into their exclusive homeland. Are you telling me that you would just pack your bag and leave?
Quote from a_person:
And second, I never said the IDF targeted children. The IDF simply don't give a rats ass about non-Israeli human lives.
Cut this fucking crap - there were on average 15-18 civilian casualties during each day of extremely heavy fighting. This is more than reasonable for any war. If the Israelis did not give a rats ass about non-Israeli lives as you claim the number of civilian casualties would be in hundreds or more likely in thousands (and the number of Israeli casualties civilian and military would be zero). So please cut the crap and stick to skiing, not politics, wars and the Middle East - things that you have absolutely no idea about on your fucking North Pole.
The Israeli leaders are not stupid at all, and I would never suggest that they would consider nuking Lebanon back to the stone age. This is because the international community is watching, and Israel has got very much to lose by alienating their friends. The US has a hard time as it is backing up Israel in everything they do.
Just take a look at Israels record. Forget about Amnesty International, forget about Human Right Watch, just listen to what B'Tselem says.
http://www.btselem.org
Here's a tiny tiny sample:
The IDF is allowed to assassinate Palestinians suspected of having committed attacks against Israelis.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Firearms/
They're actually allowed to take your life if you're a) a Palestinian and b) suspected of having committed attacks against Israelis. In other words, they're allowed to murder you if they feel like it, and by stating they actually did suspect you of being a terrorist in the report, they go clean. This is what happened with the Reuters photographer, and it has happened with thousands of innocent Palestinians.
If the Israelis regarded all human life as invaluable, they would have conducted their operations amongst Palestinians as they would amongst Israelis. In return, the Palestinians would not have been as eager to support attacks against Israel and join militias, and the job of the PA of restraining terrorists would have been far easier.
But no, they choose to harm the civilian population. It sometimes seems like they not only regard none-Israeli lives as expendable, they actually consciously decide to harm them in order to maintain a certain level of hostility which they in turn can use to justify expansion of settlements, etc. It's also worth noting that if the Palestinians tried to claim justice peacefully, it would be a mayor problem for Israel, with the demographic problems and all.
There's not much snow here in the summers, so skiing might be a little hard right now. Winter is coming up though, so I'm looking forward to take you up on that!