Iran calls for a cease-fire; heavy fighting in Bint Jbeil

Looks like Gorilla Boy is concerned about his proxy army.

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan Jul 26, 2006 (AP)— Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a cease-fire in Lebanon and criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East on Wednesday, saying Washington wants to “recarve the map” of the region with Israel’s help.

Ahmadinejad’s nation is a major backer of Hezbollah and a sworn enemy of Israel, but he denied that Tehran provides military support to the militant group.

However, more than 60 Iranian volunteers set off from Iran on Wednesday in what they called a holy war against Israeli forces in Lebanon.

In addition to a cease-fire, Ahmadinejad called for talks on the Lebanon crisis without conditions and demanded Israel compensate the country and apologize for its actions.

You would think he’d be crowing about the “victory” of the IDF taking heavy casualties today.

At 5 a.m., Hizbullah operatives attacked IDF soldiers. They originally used light arms, later adding short-range rockets and mortars. A number of soldiers were injured in the initial attack, but the fight was far from over. Hizbullah forces fired on soldiers from a number of different vantage points, forcing soldiers to sustain fire from several directions.

[…] IDF sources approximate that there were a hundred Hizbullah members in the area on Tuesday who, during the night, were possibly joined by additional forces. A senior officer in the Northern Command revealed that, on Tuesday, forces avoided a similar attack when trying to rescue a tank struck in Lebanese territory.

IDF sources estimate that the IDF’s point force was fired upon for about an hour. Fire continued even as backup forces came in to evacuate the casualties. Commander of the Golani battalion, Colonel Tamir Yedai, coordinated the rescue operation from the command operations room, which is located in one of the nearby communities.

Cars containing Hizbullah members pulled up near the tank, in an effort to inflict further damage to IDF forces, but thanks to the alertness of the commander of an engineer battalion, who opened massive fire in their direction, the terrorists were killed.

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith just finished a breathless report on how difficult the fighting was today, and how awful it was for Israel’s forces. Shep, STFU. Yes, it was heavy fighting. Yes, the IDF took heavy losses. But so did Hezbullah, and it’s only one battle, not the war.

Israel is engaged in another battle for her very existence. That’s why the support for these actions has been so strong. This isn’t Iraq. The IDF can’t simply withdraw from Lebanon and that will be the end of the problem with Hezbullah. If the IDF withdraws now, Hezbullah wins. If the IDF withdraws without severely damaging Hezbullah, Hezbullah wins. If the IDF withdraws and Hezbullah simply retakes its positions along the border, Hezbullah wins. And a win for Hezbullah is a loss that affects Israel’s very existence.

Where can Israelis go? There is nowhere. There is only Israel, or the end of Israel. And Israelis know this. Listen to a soldier who was wounded in Bint Jbeil:

When asked whether morale plunged after casualties were incurred, the sergeant answered: “You’d be surprised, but even after a day like today, morale was soaring. We must not be discouraged. I want to leave here and go back there. Just let me out of here so I can go back to my friends. We’re going to win big.”

It’s not a spectator sport, this battle. It is a fight for Israel’s existence. Hezbullah must lose.