mmastrac 2 days ago

Wrong on all three:

1) The victims of yesterday's attack were overwhelmingly terrorist soldiers and mid-level management which fits the definition of surgical. If the results of this operation are as good as suggested by all the early reports, they just carved a major hole in the upper ranks of the organization (not even including the major damage they've caused over the last six months with surgical strikes on leaders).

2) We don't have confirmation that's it's them (but it likely is), and we know far more than that: we know that it incapacitated thousands of members of a designated terrorist organization with minimal impact outside of them.

3) Well, that's just your opinion, man.

  • astroid 2 days ago

    1) The victims of yesterday's attack were overwhelmingly terrorist soldiers and mid-level management which fits the definition of surgical. If the results of this operation are as good as suggested by all the early reports, they just carved a major hole in the upper ranks of the organization (not even including the major damage they've caused over the last six months with surgical strikes on leaders).*

    2) We don't have confirmation that's it's them (but it likely is), and we know far more than that: we know that it incapacitated thousands of members of a designated terrorist organization with minimal impact outside of them.*

    "We know for sure this was super-surgical and ONLY killed the 'bad guy club', and since they are in the 'bad guy club' it was done by good guys clearly. Also we don't actually know if it was the 'good guy club', but we know without a doubt they are surgical." -- as if the Hannibal Directive, ethnic cleansing, and colonization are all so super-surgical and precise. Preposterous.

    *3) Well, that's just your opinion, man.*

    Well it sure seems like the International Criminal Court, UN, and other world bodies are starting to open their eyes.

    This isn't the 50's anymore -- media is not controllable in the same way. israels crimes against all of humanity are coming to light.

    That's like, a matter of historical record man. With 'allies' like these, who needs enemies?

    There is absolutely no way you can argue 'anti-bds' laws are not in violation of the first amendment and be serious. Especially given that for many government jobs you MUST sign them to get hired.

    A foreign government that flatly refuses to registrer it's influence organization under FARA has taken away one of the most important rights of all Americans, whether they realize it or not.

aftbit 2 days ago

Well I don't agree on (1) or (2). I think they are at least attempting to degrade the capabilities of Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and others. I don't really want to get into the depths of Arab/Israel conflicts as I don't think anyone really has a good solution to that, certainly not me.

However, I do find anti-BDS laws very hard to justify. It seems that many conflate antizionism with antisemitism, probably because some of the most vocal people are actually just dogwhistling against Jews in general. However, there is a large contingent of people, especially in the West, who are opposed to Israel's battlefield tactics and the current conflict, while simultaneously believing that Israel has a right to exist and defend themselves. Those people might reasonably decide that they want to boycott Israel or Israeli products to make their views heard (hit them in the pocketbook), but are prohibited from expressing themselves by these laws.

Are they unconstitutional in the US? One would imagine that if the Citizens United case says that money is speech, that would equally apply to people who want to boycott Israel. After all, we already tolerate much worse forms of antisemtic speech here. Why would we not also tolerate people voting with their money?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws

berdario 2 days ago

For sure, yesterday's was a terrorist attack, since it indiscriminately hit civilians (multiple children, healthcare workers, etc.)

That said, before more people jump on the rethoric of declaring a specific entity terrorist:

The decision is usually made by your state's authorities, and depending on where you live, Hezbollah might not be considered a terrorist organization, or its military wing might be considered terrorist, but not Hezbollah as a whole (like in the EU).

Since we've seen medics among the victims, it's pretty clear that this was not surgically targeting a the military wing, and thus few people would dare claim that this was targeted against terrorists.

vorpalhex 2 days ago

8 senior Hezbollah officers are dead. So far the only clear indication of a non-Hezbollah injury is from a Hezbollah officers daughter.

Sounds successful and well targeted.

If you don't want your electronics to explode randomly, don't attack Jews.

  • Zironic 2 days ago

    Now that the pandoras box of mass booby trapping electronic devices has been opened, who is to say we won't see tit for tat retaliations with other supply chain attacks?

    Will every teddy bear now need to be scanned for explosives before entering the country?

    • vorpalhex 2 days ago

      They already are.

      We aggressively scan packages for drugs, explosives, certain precursors, etc.

      And forms of this attack have already happened in the past, including intentional food tainting and anthrax.

      Yes, you should scan your mail, physical or digital.