Syria have already pledged their resources to Lebanon. Escalation begins ...
What could they do instead? How could Israel effectively dispense justice to its attackers without causing civilian casualties?
Justice?! Are you kidding me? Someone should "dispense justice" against Israel. You do not kill that many innocents in the name of "justice". They could go for a controlled troop action. They could figure out where the soldiers are being held and specifically target only that location with controlled actions. As has been pointed out, Israel are
not restraining their attacks to Hezbullah targets. They are using terrorist tactics to beat the Lebanese into submission, similar to their tactics against the Palestinians. The kidnapped soldiers are just a good excuse going at the time.
Again, I have to ask why they would be causing civilian casualties if it were avoidable. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Israel has
never cared about civillian casualties. When they get hit by a suicide bomber they bulldoze Palestinian buildings, they commandeer Palestinian homes and places of work, they set up curfews on Palestinian land where they have no jurisdiction. They habitually shoot
children who are breaking curfew, for whatever reason, they've been known to kill a child
while in class surrounded by work mates with a sniper shot for sitting too close to an illegal Israeli settlement. If there's a rocket attack they'll take to the streets and start shooting bullets left right and centre, regardless of who is there. They've been known to kill journalists, they've taken Palestinians aside from checkpoints and used rocks to break their arms. Caring about civillian casualties isn't something that Israel tends to do.
That Hezbollah insists on hiding behind civilians is despicable, but Israel can't allow that to stay its hand.
Striking against Hezbollah? You think that even matter considering what Israel is doing in the process? They are using the lives of two soldiers to justify the killing of hundreds.
... there's just no way to get to the enemy without going through the child, and the enemy has made clear, from past and present behavior as well as in threats for the future, that it's necessary to stop him.
At what cost? You're saying that it is worth innocent lives, let alone hundreds of innocent lives, to stop Hezbullah? Do Israel even know where they need to be hitting to stop Hezbullah, or is the shooting and bombing of fleeing refugees because they thought the Hezbullah operatives might be with them? Do you think the bombs will get the soldiers back?
To bomb Hezbullah, you need to know where they are. If they know that, why do they choose terror tactics over controlled operations? During Iraq the British airforce tested concrete bombs - non explosive, accurate slabs of concrete dropped from the sky which could kill or severely unnerve a sniper. This was done as opposed to cluster bombing a civillian location. You could also employ the use of troop operations which would cut down on "collateral damage". Israel hasn't bothered to negotiate, they haven't bothered to think about anything but the easy option.