ISRAEL OFFERS VIDEO, DOCUMENTS TO REBUFF WAR CRITICS

Offering Video, Israel Answers Critics on War - Greg Myre (NYT)
Israel's military has declassified photographs, video images, and prisoner interrogations from the war against Hizballah this summer to buttress its accusation that Hizballah systematically fired from civilian neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, itself a war crime, which made those areas legitimate targets. A detailed report on the war was produced by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies, headed by Reuven Erlich, a retired colonel in military intelligence. The report says Hizballah stored weapons in mosques, battled Israelis from inside empty schools, flew white flags while transporting missiles, and launched rockets near UN monitoring posts.

The report includes Israeli Air Force video of Hizballah firing rockets next to residential buildings and notes: "The construction of a broad military infrastructure, positioned and hidden in populated areas, was intended to minimize Hizballah's vulnerability. Hizballah would also gain a propaganda advantage if it could represent Israel as attacking innocent civilians."

OF COURSE A RETIRED LEBANESE GENERAL ADMITS IT ALL:

Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese Army general, said of the Israeli allegations, “Of course there are hidden invisible tunnels, bunkers of missile launchers, bunkers of explosive charges amongst civilians.”

He added: “You cannot separate the southern society from Hezbollah, because Hezbollah is the society and the society is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is holding this society together through its political, military and economic services. It is providing the welfare for the south.”

Asked whether Hezbollah should be seen as responsible for the deaths of Lebanese civilians in the war, he replied: “Of course Hezbollah is responsible. But these people are ready to sacrifice their lives for Hezbollah. If you tell them, ‘Your relative died,’ they will tell you ‘No, he was a martyr.’ The party’s military preparations from 2000 till 2006 took place in their areas. They were of course done with complete secrecy, but in accordance with the civilians.”

Read the Report, View the Videos (American Jewish Congress)