It is so obvious that Lebanon and Hez are one and the same. That is why next time Israel should turn Beirut into a parking lot.

Its ok Hiz... they stopped the decoy.

in cyprus, so I guess they will never learn.

No, no nuclear armed missile. Not because Iran wouldn't do it, but rather because they don't yet have nuclear weapons (they won't ever, actually) and even if they did, having one and having delivery capacity are two very different things. The nuclear club with delivery capacity is a much, much smaller group of nations than the mere nuclear club. For someone who doesn't know much about anything, you surely do mouth off a great deal.

Outsourcing allows you to easily distance and absolve yourself of legal responsibility. Franco can make a 'plausible deniable' argument via it's 'contractual agreements' which prevents them from examining the 'cargo' on it's carriers.

the captain has the final say on what's on board his vessel, similar to a pilot on a plane. He has complete authority & can look at whatever he wants.

If the weapons were to be delivered to Lebanon or Syria gov. first, would they be legal then until handed over to terror group. The ship and cargo may have to be turned over to Cyprus since ship was in their water when boarded and it was the closes port. The US can't board ships outside its waters, can only force it to closes port for inspection, so how was Israel legally able to board it?

If the weapons were to be delivered to Lebanon or Syria gov. first, would they be legal then until handed over to terror group. The ship and cargo may have to be turned over to Cyprus since ship was in their water when boarded and it was the closes port. The US can't board ships outside its waters, can only force it to closes port for inspection, so how was Israel legally able to board it?

Everyone knows that Iran is a peace-seeking country who is just trying to establish its peaceful right of nuclear power, and Hizbollah is more a "social support and welfare group" then an "armed resistance" for a rightful cause. Anyone can purely see that this is just a staged ploy by Israel to discredit Iran and Hezbollah, as well as the Palestinians. No one is falling for it. The West will be adding a few more million to its donations just to ensure that they think this.

1 caught ,and god knows how many reached their destination .. its like loosing pennys...

and Sarah B: Spare us your BS

And the weapons they used on Lebanese citizens last year was their "care packages"? I assume Iran's "quest for peace" is just misunderstood and the weapons they provide to many splinter terrorist groups throughout the world is just a venue to pass on notes of love. You Muslims have a funny way of expressing yourselves. Perhaps Communication 101 is instore before you interact with the rest of the human race.

For most illicit arms dealers, that IS the case.

Your concern is not weapons heading to terrorist groups for use on civilians, but the legality of uncovering those shipments for the world to see. Ah, so in comparison, you're not concerned with the criminals that join Mexican illegals to stream into Texas over night, but how border guards are finding them. Let's hope your brethren there feel differently than you do. By the way - if arms were to be given to the govt of Lebanon, it would have been through public channels since it's not illegal to do so.

"so how was Israel legally able to board it?" Because out lives depend on it, you twit. Worry about the Mexicans over running your country and don't concern yourself in the Middle East. It's beyond you.

Good job Israel!

Spare us yours! Look up what constitutes piracy, and look up how piracy is defined in the face of shipment of contraband items to embargoed nations (I remind you that the embargoes in place against Syria, Lebanon, Hizbollah and Hamas (among others) are quite clear that arms shipments to terrorist organizations and state sponsors of terror constitute illegal shipments of banned items.) In the immediately prior instance of attempted gun-running by Iran to Syria, Lebanon and Hizbollah, it was the United States Navy that performed the interdiction. The time prior to that, it was the Cypriot Coast Guard that seized the arms-laden vessel headed for Syria. Were those acts of "piracy" as well? Or is your definition of "piracy" limited to measures taken by Israel to ensure the safety and security of its population? I suspect this to be the case, which would mean that you are a hypocrite in addition to being woefully ignorant on the subject of admiralty law.

I'm afraid that's not true, Barry. The master of the vessel is responsible solely for the safe carriage of the cargo which the vessel is carrying. His responsibility most certainly does not extend to giving him the right to open a sealed container. He is free to address with port officials any concerns he might have, but that is as far as his responsibility with respect to the contents of the container might conceivably extend, and even that is a stretch. For the record, depending on whether the vessel was under bareboat charter or time charter, the responsibility for the contents of the cargo would rest with the vessel charterer or the vessel owner, respectively. In actual practice, however, the assumption is that the cargo carried is as specified on the bills of lading. Container vessels are tricky, because you cannot tell what the containers contain unless you break the seal -- that is why they are of such concern to Homeland Security. It's easy to check the cargo on other vessel types; not so containers. But inspecting each and every container that is discharged into a United States port would bring commercial cargo carriage to a grinding halt. But it is a legitimate concern, because the easiest way to smuggle contraband -- people or goods -- into the United States is via a container. The master is being entirely truthful; it is not the job of the crew to ascertain that the bills of lading match the contents of the containers. That would be the job of the officials at the port of loading …. which was somewhere in Iran, so you can see the problem. Trust this clarifies.

However, it's most likely they just didn't care and looked the other way. Cargo vessels have crews that are very underpaid, considering the piracy risks today. Generally, the owner makes most of the money and the captain gets ok pay. I doubt any member of a crew would be hired again if they got too nosy. They'd probably be killed for asking too many questions.

What shipping line company that would not know what they were carrying anytime anywhere is absolutely ludicrous. I guess they live under rocks over there.

It would make sense for the cargo shippers not to know; the weapons smugglers would treat them as a security risk (if one fo the sailors leak the news to Israeli security, the whole shipment would be compromised). Legally, a shipping company can't open containers at sea. So yes, the shipping company is probably innocent.