International reactions to the 2006 Lebanon War 39% disapproved, and 16% were not sure. When asked to think about the events of the past week in the Middle East, 54% of Americans answered that their sympathies are more with Israel, 11% answered more with Arab nations, 11% both, 11% neither, and 13% not sure. In August 2006, University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer accused Israel of using the kidnapping of its soldiers by Hezbollah as an excuse to attack Lebanon and start the 2006 Lebanon War. Mearsheimer stated that "Israel had been planning to strike at Hezbollah for months. Key Israelis had briefed the administration about
Kidnapping of Swiss tourists in Balochistan Kidnapping of Swiss tourists in Balochistan On 2 July 2011, a Swiss couple was kidnapped in the Balochistan province of southwestern Pakistan. The couple were said to be tourists who were travelling by car to neighboring Iran when they were seized by unidentified gunmen in the Loralai District, which is some 150 km north of the provincial capital Quetta. It is the first time that Swiss nationals have been involved in such an incident in Pakistan, according to the Swiss foreign ministry. Later, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Pakistani officials notified Swiss diplomats stationed in the country