I think the descriptions get lost in translation. The word ribbon is being used to describe a thin piece of fabric, but in the minds of readers brings images of neatly wrapped birthday gifts. The "ribbon" is a drogue acting as a parachute which helps to orient the bomblet so the munition hits the target head on.

I am not taking sides. Cluster bombs are nasty things, anything with the word bomb attached is bad. Kids pick up all manner of random objects and play with them, it is in their programming. In the US, we were lectured to be careful of civil war ordinance that we might find walking in the woods. WWII munitions are always being found through out Europe and Asia, sadly at times by kids.

To children virtually anything is a toy. I don't think the IDF was dropping booby-trapped toys. I am starting to wonder is the Soviets did in Afghanistan after thinking on this harder.

It is easy to see how a kid might see these as something to play with- aside from the ribbons, they may be brightly colored. I recall a while back that food packages dropped in Afghanistan by US planes for civilians were in brightly colored packages... unfortunately, cluster bomblets were also brightly colored, leading to unfortunate results.

[url=
http://sidohzen.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/img_7915.jpg]
Bomblets with ribbons[/url]

But I continued reading the article and everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING seems wrong with this particular bombardment....not only the usage of cluster ammunitions, but the aftermath (reactions and non-cooperation/help)
It's almost as if Israel didn't really care about the future outcome of the operation on civilian...

About the tanks that came to beirut, my mother told me she has seen in real life during the civil war, tanks crushing runaway defensless civilians some of wich she knew.
I'm inclined to believe her, as she had many jewish childhood friends (back before the war there were many jews in lebanon), and she never really talks ill of israel.

It goes to show that not everything is reported but people never forget the gratuitous atrocities military men can commit.

I'm not saying the Israeliens were the only wrong doers during the war, heck, we had pro-syrian snipers all over the place from what I've gathered... and my aunt ran to France because a university student was shot in front of her (She used to teach as the Jesuit University.), but they've been Known to have no-mercy toward Arab/Phenicien Civilians.

Wars are nasty. Civil wars are especially nasty. Any military operation in a densely populated area is from the getgo a bad idea. (That is also why the Hamas and the Hizzbollah love to draw Israel into exactly those kind of conflicts. Same goes for just about any insurgence against superior military force, be it Russia, Iraq or Northern Ireland).

Now, I can't comment on what your mother saw, but I highly doubt that the tank commanders or drivers were deliberately targeting those civilians. More likely was that they either simply didn't see them or didn't care, as they had other problems. (probably incoming fire). You don't really see that much in a tank.

There was a time when the IDF (or rather there predecessors) where using an "eye for an eye" tactic in retaliation. But those were the days of the War of Independence. The Lebanese Civil War was really, really nasty. But singling out the IDF as a band of "civilian murdering bastards is propaganda.

I'll guess we'll have to wait for another war to see :/...

They did however sink that turkish boat, killed that activist american(?) woman with a bulldozer, targeted children during war (Might be miss-fire), and many other stories.
The way I see it, it's either too many "errors" made during conflicts... or they're simply never playing by the rules.

I'll be sure to film the tank crushing civilians should they chose to enter beirut again.

Ever heard about the Hezbollah FPS Games that were distributed among children to encourage them in taking arms :p ?


[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Force_2:_Tale_of_the_Truthful_Pledge]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Force_2:_Tale_of_the_Truthful_Pledge[/url]

I've tried playing it a bit out of curiosity... was really boring & crap.
But its existence is interesting nonless ^^

As long as terrorists hide among the general civilian population there will be civilian casualties - that is a fact that will never cease to exist. Be mad at your leaders who support such idiocy or the terrorists themselves. Step up to the plate and put the blame where it so firmly belongs. Kick the terrorists out of your country and stop blaming those who the terrorists in you country attack.

Except that these groups aren't stupid...they know that they're doomed unless they keep the populace on board.

How do you think the PLO became so entrenched? Sure, they played off the anger of the populace, but that isn't going to remain enough to keep them supporting you for long. So they were also spending a LOT of money. They were the ones building schools and clinics, keeping ambulance services running and rebuilding communities. Yes, their actions were largely responsible for that destruction in the first place, but they were then the ones very visibly rebuilding afterwards.

And when they stopped doing so, Hamas stepped up and replaced them.

lol i bet call of duty is doing the same thing very well and considering its ground breaking sell every year, i wonder if kids will come out of wombs with guns blazing

I'm pretty sure Hezbollah programmers stole the Quake Engine or the likes^^.
So kids not only learn that it's good to use weapons, but also, it's great to steal some programmer's Engine :p.

Oh, look, Israel is attacking the Canaanites again. I wonder who will win: the actual semites or the jews?

Agreed.

It truly is. Israel has not been kind to your country for the last 40 years or so.

I understand what you are saying but really do not get the point. Let me illustrate:

If Bonnie and Clyde were living in your neighborhood, taking care of folks, giving you money for food... Then the feds came in and there was a huge gunfight and many "innocent" people were killed. Is it the Feds fault? Should we blame them? Of course not. If you harbor criminals that is the chance you are taking, even if you just turn your back on it.

The terrorists are not at all interested in the populace in which they hide. They will do what needs to be done to further their own agenda. In this case the agenda is and always has been the complete removal of Israel from the middle east. There is nothing else that will bring peace to the region than: 1) The removal of Israel from the region, or 2) The removal of the terrorist groups seeking to do so from the region. It is really that simple and Israel is going nowhere. So hence there will be no peace. Therefore Israel has every right to defend itself unilaterally.

A better example would be if Bonnie shot an italian and Italy decided to burn all the domestic houses, destroy schools and kill the american children, because the police could not catch bonnie.

Lebanon Is NOT a neighborhood of Israel, please avoid such comparaisons, Israel has no rights whatsoever on my country.
Furthermore, the Hezbollah is different from Hamas; it's not internationnaly recognized as a terrorist organisation, and it isn't in its actual agenda (contrary to regular belief) to destroy Israel but to protect the borders from the frequent Israeli inflitrations and potential threat.
It has also as an objective to retake the chebaa farms that has been confiscated since the Lebanese Civil war (Although it is problematic wether it is Syrian or Lebanese property) and other territories that do not have ANYTHING to do with Palestine.

The last purpose of the Hezbollah wich by the way has only existed since the civil war (divided from the Amal groupe) is to protect the interests of the Chiite population in lebanon.
Basically it's a whole big mess, and Hezbollah isn't always sending rockets from abroad like the Hamas is.

As I stated before - If the terrorists are hiding among the populace of your country (lebanon) and attack another country (Israel) - Then Israel has every right to defend itself, especially if the country harboring the terrorists (Lebanon) does not stop the terrorist groups attacks. I am sorry that innocent folks get killed but that is the main reason for the mass exodus of civilians from Lebanon is the past. I have a few friends who were part of this exodus.

I think you are a bit off here. As Stated in the Hezbollah Manifesto (2009) itself:

"We categorically reject any compromise with Israel or recognizing its legitimacy, this position is definitive, even if everyone recognizes “Israel”.

Our stance on the negotiations and compromises made by the Madrid Conference, the “Araba Valley Retrospect” the “Oslo Accords”, the “Camp David Accord” is a total refusal to any kind of compromise with the Zionist entity, which is based on admitting its legitimate presence, and giving in what it occupied from the Palestinian Arab and Islamic land. This stance is predetermined and permanent and isn’t set for any compromise, even if the whole world admits to “Israel”.

If you read the whole document you will get a better understanding that "Occupation" has nothing at all to do with Lebanon and everything to do with Israel existing in the middle east.

Yep, I agree. But I also think it's easier sometimes to see the truth of a situation from a distance, especially when you consider that the supposed government in the Gaza Strip and West Bank has done an absolutely horrendous job of providing for these people at all (despite not exactly hurting financially).