Re: Lebanon news from Juan Cole

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:
> > "Their [the Israelis'] attitude seems to be that everyone must obey
Israel, that one (non-Arab) Israeli life is worth 20 or so Arab ones."
<<

David B. Shemano  wrote:
> Hezbollah previously traded one Israeli businessman and three dead soldiers for 400 Arab prisoners.  I suppose one could characterize that as the Israelis valuing 400 Arabs as worth one Israeli, but the valuation appears mutual.<

In practice it seems you're right about the mutuality. That reflects
the imbalance of military power, of course.

Given the fact that they're the beneficiaries of the imbalance, the
Israeli extremely violent and totally disproportionate response to the
Hezbollah kidnappings (and the irrationality of deciding to punish and
destabilize Lebanon) seems a sign of deep _psychological_ or
_sociological_ or _economic_ insecurity. It's not like they need to
worry about purely military matters.
--
Jim Devine / "You need a busload of faith to get by." -- Lou Reed.