Terrorists or Guerillas or Freedom Fighters?

We are talking about Hezbollah here. They seem to get the title "terrorist" by most posters here. An independant search online set their numbers at around 6000. I've heard some say that there are 20,000 fighters. Another thread came up with 4-6 fighters in certain cells, in certain areas. I did the math and it came close to 6000.

Now, it's also been thrown around that Hez hides behind civilians while firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets. I've heard, "Let them come out and fight, they're cowards." This gives me pause. How can a military of 6000 under-armed soldiers fight the strongest military in the area? It can't. If they are to achieve their objective they would have to fight in a drastically different manner. The same as the US militia had to do against England in the Revolutionary War. If the US had played by the existing rules, they would have lost. When facing a much superior force, you have to adapt. It seems to me that Hez has done just that.

Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT support Hez at all. That being said, I DO NOT support Israel and their tactics either. In fact Israel has no one else to blame for Hez's existance than themselves. A marraige made in Hell imo.

So, Terrorists, Guerillas or Freedom Fighters?

a cross between Guerillas and Freedom Fighters,
they dont strap bombs to themselves they only strike miliatary targets,
they only started attacking Israeli buildings when Israel decided to bomb and kill hundreds of cuvilians 10 lebonease for 1 israeli cuvilian.

and yes i support hazbullah in their fight against israel

The safest thing to probably say would be Guerillas. If you classify them as terrorists then you would have to do the same for Israel. They both fight Guerilla style if you ask me. Declaring cease-fires only to break them the next day, attacking civilians,destruction of property not directly involved with the conflict, kidnapping, assasination. Sounds about right.


Pie

All of the above?

Terrorism is a tactic, not an ideology itself.

Clearly they see themselves as "freedom fighters", though I shudder at the kind of "freedom" they espouse - a militant Islamism. Let's not forget that fact.

Guerillas probably descibes their military wing best, and very good ones - one of the reasons for their rising stock on the Arab street is the fact that they are the only Arab military force to have consistently defeated the IDF in combat. Which they're still doing apparently, the Israelis have quietly withdrawn from Bint Jbail to lick their wounds.

Terrorist certainly describes some of their actions however - firing rockets at Israeli population centers, bombing US peacekeepers back in 1983, etc... No, they're not generally known for suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, but they have targeted noncombatants and still do so.

A very appropriate thread topic Intrepid

They are most definately guerillas and not terrorists. The attacks on Haifa are aimed at shutting down an Israeli ecnomic hub. They are not targeting civilians much like Israel says it is not targeting civilians in its bombing runs.

But it makes it easier to dismiss Hezbollah and their goals if they get labelled "terrorists". So that is why Israel uses that term when talking of Hezbollah. To call them guerillas would legitimize them in Israel's eyes.

The United States also terms them as terrorists because they bombed the Marine barracks in Beirut.

To me, any group that targets other military targets are not terrorists.

Terrorists?

Guerrillas?

Freedom Fighters?

Or,

Very Pissed Bunch of PEOPLE?

Bob Marley - War

Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.

That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.

That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war...

Originally posted by Souljah
Terrorists?

Guerrillas?

Freedom Fighters?

Or,

Very Pissed Bunch of PEOPLE?

Well, I didn't see me typing "Very Pissed Bunch of People" into my topic.

Can we have the topic continue without the propaganda? Reggae at that. Has nothing to do with the topic.

Israel already pulled out of Lebanon 6 years ago. What freedom are they fighting for? they are clearly terrorists.

It' really hard to tell, because guerrillas, freedom fighters and terrorist use mostly similiar tactics. Hezbollah is most often called terrorists organization, because they're targeting civillian targets. But so does Israel.
If I had to make decision how to dub H, I'd say they are guerillas. Emotions aside, I belive that this is most objective description for them

SORRY FOR DOUBLE POST

[edit on 29-7-2006 by Duby78]

Another interesting fact about Hezbollah is the strict separation that exists between the military wing and the political/social services wing, which is something unique to the organization. The bulk of Hezbollah has almost nothing to do with the military wing, for security reasons. I just read a very interesting article on this: The "hiding among civilians" myth.

It's quite an eye-opener.

"You can be a member of Hezbollah your entire life and never see a military wing fighter with a weapon," a Lebanese military intelligence official, now retired, once told me. "They do not come out with their masks off and never operate around people if they can avoid it. They're completely afraid of collaborators. They know this is what breaks the Palestinians -- no discipline and too much showing off."

Perhaps once a year, Hezbollah will hold a military parade in the south, in which its weapons and fighters appear. Media access to these parades is tightly limited and controlled. Unlike the fighters in the half dozen other countries where I have covered insurgencies, Hezbollah fighters do not like to show off for the cameras. In Iraq, with some risk taking, you can meet with and even watch the resistance guys in action. (At least you could during my last time there.) In Afghanistan, you can lunch with Taliban fighters if you're willing to walk a day or so in the mountains. In Gaza and the West Bank, the Fatah or Hamas fighter is almost ubiquitous with his mask, gun and sloganeering to convince the Western journalist of the justice of his cause.

The Hezbollah guys, on the other hand, know that letting their fighters near outsiders of any kind -- journalists or Lebanese, even Hezbollah supporters -- is stupid. In three trips over the last week to the south, where I came near enough to the fighting to hear Israeli artillery, and not just airstrikes, I saw exactly no fighters. Guys with radios with the look of Hezbollah always found me. But no fighters on corners, no invitations to watch them shoot rockets at the Zionist enemy, nothing that can be used to track them.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by Souljah
Terrorists?

Guerrillas?

Freedom Fighters?

Or,

Very Pissed Bunch of PEOPLE?

Well, I didn't see me typing "Very Pissed Bunch of People" into my topic.

Can we have the topic continue without the propaganda? Reggae at that. Has nothing to do with the topic.

Hahaha im with you on that, what does Bob Marley have to do with this? Just because he has some inspiring lyrics, doesnt make it relevant.

I think you are 100% correct in your statement about how people say "come out and fight us in the open you cowards" they dont understand guerilla tactics, if they went out in the open all of hezbollah would of been destroyed the first day. Im sure that sounds fantastic to the pro-Israeli lobby, but in truth not everyone agree's with Israel, and this is the way war is fought.

I would call hezbollah guerilla's who believe they are freedom fighters, while the west thinks they are terroists. (which is debatable)

Id have to say either guerillas or freedom fighters.

i find it odd that fighters in south american country's that are bankrolled by the US govt are referred to as guerillas / freedom fighters yet arabs / muslims fighting in their countries and financed by other govts are referred to as terrorists. how does that work? talk about hypocrisy.

Definitely not Freedom fighters..
It's not Freedom they are fighitng for.

Guerillas, That would be their tactical style..So they are that, no matter
Whatever else they are.

Terrorist..I think thats the closest to reality. Mainly because their actions are so often PURPOSEFULLY against civilians..

So, Terrorist Guerillas is my answer.

Good reason to do whatever is needed to minimize their activities.

How are they purposely targeting civilians? Their rockets are not accurate and they're launching them at places where Israeli Defence Forces are located. When they launch them at Haifa they are aiming at an Israeli economic hub to shut it down and hurt the Israeli economy.

Despite the thousands of rockets they've fired they have killed under 20 civilians. Now compare that to the 400 or so Lebanese civilians the Israelis have killed. How can you say Hezbollah are terrorists when the actions of Israeli forces are not labelled terrorism?

Hezbollah even denounced the attacks of 9/11 and said America is not their enemy on CNN for crying out loud. Hezbollah even apologized for the deaths of the Israeli children hit by their rocket. Thats more than can be said for Israel and the dozens of children they have killed.

Let's face it, death is death. Murder is murder. If some one wants to label Hezbollah terrorists but also labels IDF actions terrorism too, fine that is a comendable stance. But to label Hezbollah terrorists whilst Israel is just defending itself and completely legitimate is an afront to common sense.

Hezbollah is firing missiles randomly into populated areas. They can't be aimed accurately anough to distinguish between military and civilian targets. Pretending they're not "targeting" civilians is as silly when we're talking about Hezbollah as when we're talking about Israel.

Both sides are clearly perfectly happy to dump lots of explosives on civilians they consider hostile. The Israelis just have a lot more explosives to drop, and better ways of dropping them.

Originally posted by xmotex
Hezbollah is firing missiles randomly into populated areas. They can't be aimed accurately anough to distinguish between military and civilian targets. Pretending they're not "targeting" civilians is as silly when we're talking about Hezbollah as when we're talking about Israel.

Both sides are clearly perfectly happy to dump lots of explosives on civilians they consider hostile. The Israelis just have a lot more explosives to drop, and better ways of dropping them.

Well for a bunch of bananas with low-tech hardware it seems to me they did a lot less civilian damage then the bunch of bananas with the high-tech stuff and their "pin-point" targetting crapola.

Israel might have harmed Lebanons economy but Israels economy was just as hurt while Israelis stayed in their bombshelters with less civilian damage. 20 civilians in Israel -vs- the 400+ dead and 1/2 a million displaced/homeless

Pie

Why are liberals always trying to make excuses for terrorists? Of course Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. They target civillians. They even try to bomb a zoo in Haifa! Thankfully we have a president that agrees that Hezbollah are terrorists and Israel has a right to hunt them down.

Exactly man...and the fact that they would fire rockets into a zoo is just over the top. I mean let them think what they do about the Israeli's (and it isnt good) but to extend that hatred to the animals in Israel? Come on. Thats definitely a terrorist organization if ive ever seen one.

Yeah, far better to target UN posts eh! NOT. I love this princeofpiece - spamamatic graffitti and runs away... can't be really that interested in discussion. Oh well. He'll be back on every "like" thread in series at least 4 times in the next 24 hours... fun to watch if nothin' else.