Reply #6: They tasted the blood of their countrymen for twenty years...

[shaayecanaan]

and we (by which I mean the Maronite Christians) did the same.

Technically, we "started it" I suppose. We also invited the Israelis to participate with us. Probably not the best move. According to legend, when Moshe Dayan first met up with commanders of the Maronite militia, they greeted him with a bag of human ears.

I suppose that's one way of making your intentions clear. The fact that we murdered more Palestinians in a single afternoon than the IDF did in a whole intifada is another (albeit that we did so with Israel's blessing and assistance). The fact is, Israel has been sponsoring terrorists in Lebanon for a lot longer than the Iranians have.

The latest war was started by the government, not because it had any hope of winning, but because it feared that Hezbollah's popularity means it is in danger of becoming a national movement, rather than purely Shia Muslim organisation.

Whether they succeeded in splitting off the growing band of Christian support for Hezbollah is too soon to tell.