coun·ter·pro·duc·tive adj. – Tending to hinder rather than serve one’s purpose (link)

(11:18:26 AM) doinkicarus: well, the argument is that “If Lebanon cannot control the radicals within its own borders, and those radicals are attacking a sovereign, said sovereign has the legitimate right to defend itself against the radicals.” But Lebanon either cannot, or will not restrain Hezbollah – doinkicarus: and that’s a problem.
(11:19:12 AM) fatneck68: because they are re building country that essentially just gained autonomy and independence in 2000; that’s when the israeli occupation ended, and Lebanon was able to start to rebuild government, military, [civilian] infrastructure. [How is a] 6 year old nation (for all practical purposes) … supposed to rein in a group like hezbollah

The United States is looking at a double edged sword here, on the one hand we work for Israel, lets not be foolish and think its the other way around. We claim to want to establish a cease fire but we want to give Israel at least another week to bombard the Lebanese people. In another week there wont be any chance at saving Lebanon. The country is in shambles now, the airport is closed, ports are being attacked and major highways and bridges are destroyed. This will be no short term turnaround, this will take years and years to fix all because Israel was targeting a terrorist group by blowing up everything but terrorists. Let us not forget this isnt a conflict between two nations, but a nation and a militia

(11:20:06 AM) fatneck68: and why do they have to be [called] radicals, that’s a media spin… i dont know that they are any more radical than Israel…
(11:20:18 AM) doinkicarus: But Israel’s stance is, basically, “If this is what you’re going to do with your freedom, then fuck yourselves.”

Here is the picture of destroyed… well, somethings that look an awful lot like bombed out apartment buildings, if you ask me. (picture via WaPo):

I understand and accept that Israel wants Hezbollah under control. But her actions and her rhetoric on this issue are not congruent. Israel wants Lebanon to control the militant Hezbollah, and towards this end, she attacks Lebanon’s military? And the US apparently supports these tactics, because although our government urges the sides to move towards a cease-fire, we are apparently content enough with the situation to let Israel complete whatever objectives it has in mind. Ostensibly, this means neutralizing the Hezbollah threat. There is no shortage of evidence suggesting Israel’s actions are doing nothing of the sort.

[Lebanese Prime Minister] Siniora has privately warned the Bush administration that by bombing so many targets in Lebanon, Israel is undermining its own strategic goals. Lebanese are angry with Hezbollah for starting the war by kidnapping Israeli soldiers, and most want to see the militia under government control. But Siniora has asked why the Israelis are hitting Lebanese airports, ports, roads, villages and other targets that primarily affect civilians. And he has criticized attacks on the Lebanese army, which even the Israelis say is the key to long-run stability and security.

Counterproductive actions will rarely, if ever, yield productive results. Destroying the civilian infrastructure, and treating their apparent plight as some sort of far-removed collateral damage does nothing to aid in the peace-process, and many would argue that it only provokes the militant groups, and provides significant impetus for the swelling of the radical fronts. Moderate arabs may much more easily be moved to radicalism when confronted with the murder of their friends, families and compatriots by indiscriminate fire-bombing of civilian targets. When one openly and publicly declares that the actions are being undertaken because of Lebanon’s acquiescence, or inability to deal with the radicals – but at all times Israel would prefer that Lebanon deal with them internally, I think it goes without saying that destroying the very military that you’ve charged with “reining in” the Hezbollah forces, is the definition of counterproductive.