Knowing no background whatsoever, it is my knee-jerk reaction that Texas should be able to kill whomever it wants.

Congress, oil, the world court, privacy, Spain, bombing and Indonesia = TTT

BEDBUGS at Cadwalader! Lat, get on this.

No link to the Israel/Hezbollah prisoner swap? It's an interesting article, and, unfortunately, a sad day for Goldwasser's widow.

9:57, That's an infuriating story. The whole thing is driven by religion fundamentalism, to which Israel is beholden in a way that America can only have nightmares about...

10:22: I thought that Hezbollah was a secular movement, though I believe that some Muslims think that the liberation of Jerusalem -- and, by extension, Israel -- is a crucial goal of their faith.

10:25(2),

I'm referring to Israel's own religious fundamentalism - the ultra-orthodox Jews (Haredim) who basically inflict their bullshit on the rest of the country. The reason Israel trades live murderers away for dead soldiers is that the Haredim believe that Jews must be buried in Jewish cemeteries, no matter at what cost.

And you are correct - Hezbollah indeed has its roots in Arab nationalism, not Wahhabi extremism.

I should add that I'm aware that "Hizb-Allah" means party of God. Tool though it was of the Ayatollah, it was formed primarily to bolster Lebanese nationalism.

(OK, I will stop digressing now)

10:25: I like how you evaded the gray areas that make up the legal system and Horn case in order to make a sarcastic remark. Luckily, we have a system that's supposed to extricate us from moving toward vastly opposing positions and into interpretative moderation CBC.

10:32: to be fair, the prisoner-related caucus belli was, by and large, a pretense for rooting out Hezbollah. That wasn't the first time that the IDF engaged them in Southern Lebanon, as evidenced by the 1996 Grapes of Wrath operation.

That is, I don't think that the Haredim are as relevant as you think to the operation and motivations at stake here.

More importantly, it's very sad for everyone.

10:40 - Agreed, that's a fair point. And yeah, very sad.

10:32

What most saddens me is the rhetoric of martyrdom from the other side. Although both sides have sustained great losses, the inability of the Hezbollah world to acknowledge their losses as such, preferring to publicly cloak these deaths in heroic rhetoric, suggests an ideological chasm between Western culture and theirs. How can reconciliation ever be achieved when one side refuses to frankly acknowledge the facts of the matter?

just a couple of things. first hezbullah is 100% a religious and fanatical organization. Wahhabism is not the only way to be a religous muslim.

second the haredim in israel do not dictate what happens. they got these soldiers back because every country owes a duty to theur soldiers to get them off the battlefield. this may be hard for you to understand as being a soldier probably has no meaning because you were never one. in israel there is a draft and soldiers are seen all over and you understand the mentality alittle even if you youself are not in the corps.

and yes it is a sad day for everyone involved. what makes it worse is that many arabs were dancing etc when they saw the israelis getting back there dead. but that is another discussion but does not shoch anyone who knows how things work over there.

those that sit here and comment how things should be etc are just simply ignorant and have no understanding of how the world really runs. (libs)

11:01: you're right on the money. IDF policy is that, if a soldier is captured, the army will make every conceivable effort to return them home. It's very much along the lines of "Saving Private Ryan," which successfully dramatizes the often cumbersome circumstances of doing so. In this case, a war was fought for the ostensible return of these men.

"this may be hard for you to understand as being a soldier probably has no meaning because you were never one."

Three years in 1-87 Infantry, Bosnia veteran, but thanks for playing.

It would be my preference, if I was killed in battle, that my country not bargain for my body in a way that swells the ranks and boosts the morale of the enemy.

11:04: I would be more critical of the swap's motivations, which may be the beginning of a larger program and policy shift. I hope this opens the door to a return of Gilad Shalit.

"those that sit here and comment how things should be etc are just simply ignorant and have no understanding of how the world really runs."

Agreed. The Achilles heel of liberalism is the notion that everyone thinks as reasonably as you do. This is not how the world works.

"It's very much along the lines of "Saving Private Ryan."

The difference being that the eponymous subject of that movie's rescue mission was ALIVE, not dead. There is also a big difference between risking your own soldiers and consciously giving freedom to someone like Samir Kuntar. In fact, let's make sure we are aware of exactly what he did:

"After drowning Danny [the father] in the sea in front of Einat (as Ahmed Al-Brass, Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed, and Abdel Majeed Asslan served as look outs and backup cover for Kuntar), Kuntar turned his attention towards the 4 year-old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. Kuntar then dragged the toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find and laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her arms, Kuntar struggled with the toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar repeatedly beat her on the head with the butt of his rifle and stomping on her body, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued beating her over the head until her skull was crushed and she was dead."

11:14 - i know exactly what he did and i understand what it means to give him up. that being said, however, these are always hard decisions to make but israels policy has been to get their soldiers back. this could have to do with them understanding that they are a small nation and cannot afford to have soldiers and their families know that if they are captured they will not returned or even their bodies. this cannnot be afforded because a nation surrounded by others that only want them destroyed, needs their soldiers to have a burning desire for their country and if they know that israel gives up on its soldiers then there is no way the desire is present. by respecting their soldiers they strengthen the country.

11:04 - i do not believe that you really want your family to let you rot. and they surely would do eveything possible to avoid that from happening.

there is another element here as well. that is that these soldiers are captured now and there exists a way to get them back and you do whatever you can to make that happen. though this raises terrorists interests in kidnapping but there is no guarantee that it will happen, while the captured soldiersd are a fact.

let us all hope that gilad shalit gets home safe and fast

11:04 is right.

I'd only let my body be traded for another body.

11:31,

I'm not saying I want to rot in some Lebanese desert - I very much don't. I'm saying that given the choice between (a) a proper burial at the cost returning someone like Kuntar; and (b) rotting in a desert while Kuntar rots in a prison, I would without a doubt choose the latter, as I believe would many others.

You are probably correct that my family would have a different view on this, but it is what it is - they and I would disagree.

I hear you re Gilad Shalit, of course...

11:41 well i guess we disagree as well. though its not like i am 100% with my position as i too have no soldier experience, but this is how i feel at least today.
well anyway thanks for the 3 years, all the best and yes lets hear some good news regarding gilad shalit

Thanks, take it easy...

boring digressions into minutae of the middle east/isarel = jewish TTT