That’s the gist of the message sent by Israel to citizens of Lebanon. They should take it seriously.
Israel gave warning that it would not hesitate to launch a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon if it thought it needed to do so to achieve its military objectives against the Hezbollah militia.
With radio broadcasts, leaflets and text messages, Israel has warned all Lebanese civilians within 20 miles of the Israeli border to quit their homes to evade the bombing raids.
Meanwhile, the military is staging for what appears to be an imminent ground invasion.
Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. An Israeli envoy said it will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the country.
As told yesterday, Condi Rice will be travelling to the Middle East next week. It’s hard to know what she intends to do. (update: now we know) Just now I hear that Rice and Bush will engage in a conversation on the subject with the Saudis this weekend.
Last night a wide variety of Clinton-ites hit the cable TV news shows with talking points focusing on a diplomatic strategy. Unfortunately for them, their liberal ‘talk template’ didn’t contain a scripted answer to the question, ‘How can one negotiate with someone who doesn’t want to negotiate?’ How ironic that this is finally being asked by the MSM now, nearly 5 years after 9/11.