Lebanon, Israel clash near border; at least 4 dead

[thewiseguy]

ADEISSEH, Lebanon – Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire on the border Tuesday in the most serious clashes since a fierce war four years ago, killing four people including two Lebanese soldiers and an Israeli army officer.

The violence apparently erupted over a move by Israeli soldiers to cut down a tree along the fence dividing the two countries, a sign of the level of tensions at the border where Israel fought a war in 2006 with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The U.N. urged "maximum restraint" and said it was working with both sides to restore calm. After an initial clash of about five minutes, intermittent shelling and gunfire went on for several hours until the fighting stopped by mid-afternoon, witnesses said.

A Lebanese army officer said the clash started when Israeli troops tried to remove a tree from the Lebanese side of the border.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100803/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_israel

All this because of a freaking tree? :wtf:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. I'd trade a war(s) for a clash.

:cry:


Upgrade your conflict!

[Ozymanithrax]

2. The battle of the tree...

Did the tree survive?

[Uncle_Gunnysack]

5. The tree survived, but has asked for refugee status from the UN.

[damntexdem]

3. The IDF is just practicing for Iran.

Picking on the little guy before trying to bully the bigger guy.

[proteus_lives]

4. Yeah, Iran's a poor defenseless victim of Israel.

:eyes:

[Uncle_Gunnysack]

6. And ya can't Irrefutiate that.

[Ozymanithrax]

7. Israel doesn't have the military capable of projecting power across...

Syria and Iraq to invade Iran.

They didn't use bunker buster bombs on the tree. The just tried to cut the sucker down and ended up in a firefight.

And the Lebanese were the ones that began shooting.

An Associated Press photo shows an Israeli standing on a crane reaching over the fence that Israel erected to separate the two countries. The fence, however, does not match the Blue Line in all places, and the Israeli military said in a statement that the tree was in Israeli territory.

"It was over the fence but still within Israeli territory," the military spokesman's office said. He said the tree cutting was coordinated with the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL.

The Lebanese military said the Israelis crossed onto Lebanese soil despite calls from the U.N. and Lebanon to stop. When the Israelis persisted, Lebanese troops opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, it said in a statement.

[lumpy]

8. Like we are to believe anything IDF has to say about borders?

Guess that disavows the old saying that fences make good neighbors. The IDF believes in provocation by cutting down other people's trees but especially those containing olives.

[Ozymanithrax]

9. Didn't ask you to believe the IDF...

According to the News story the Lebanese began shooting. They also told Hezbollah to stay out of the fighting, according to the story, a request that I feel shows enormous restraint on the side of the professional Lebanese military.

And a border skirmish over a tree is not a practice run for Iran.

[Uncle_Gunnysack]

11. Yo've got to hand it to the IDF. They're always looking for ways to expand.

[immune]

10. The Skes of Lebanon Are Burning ..... again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ZmSZ8yOW8&NR=1