Yes, this is what is called assymmetric warfare. It is what we are forced to do against a terrorist enemy that is so spread out among a civilian population and doesn't have a great military organization. You want to know why that is? Because Hezbollah is not a state--it is at its core a guerrilla and terrorist group. The provision of so called "humanitarian aid" by them is nothing more than propaganda, as is the crap being spewed by this reporter. Israel is not stupid. Let's be logical, do you really think that Israel would risk blowing up that many civilians just for the heck of it? They are obviously aiming at specific targets. There is much proof of that town where those children died and that area being used for rocket attacks. Rockets are literally being launched off of the driveways in front of houses and other civilian compounds. And where? Hezbollah launches at the cities of Israel--at civilians. At least Israel is aiming for "soldiers" and trying to kill the opposing army. Hezbollah is aiming for citizens. The difference here is in intent, and that's where Israel can always claim a moral high ground in its attacks. Honestly, Israel has no qualms with Lebanon, they see it as the rest of the world does: as a country with a government with no legitimate power, hijacked by the terrorist group Hezbollah. Israel's enemy is Hezbollah, and Lebanon wants them gone as much as Israel does. Israel has no reason to purposely attack civilians, but sometimes there are civilian casualties when it comes to a war. Especially when the opposing army is hiding behind kids. If they had bases, I'm sure Israel would be aiming there.

"Rockets are literally being launched off of the driveways in front of houses and other civilian compounds" In looking at a map it appears that Qana is some 40 miles from the border of Israel I doubt they would be launching missiles into Israel from there.

Jan Egeland (UN humanitarian chief), who is critical of both parties, said: "Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending... among women and children. I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this."

he also called Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and "a violation of international humanitarian law." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060724/aponremiea/mideastfightingaid4;ylt=Alv7OTk3Cm.IEikUqLZehCAUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

it's really lose-lose for israel. if they refrain from attacking because of the proximity of civilians, hezbollah's terror infrastructure remains. if they do attack, no matter how carefully, there will be collateral damage. and, the ensuing condemnation in the media will reinforce hezbollah to operate from civilian areas.

well put, 3cheers4. i've been waiting for someone to be so balanced. i for one was on israel's side when this whole thing began, but the longer it goes, the more damage israel does for its own image amongst the world community; the more terrrorists are born out of fear and hate. still, i can't help but feel anything but disgust for hizbolla's tactics, regardless of the assymetry, hizbolla's only goal is in spilling the blood of israeli's, many of whom are arabs or coexist peacefully with arabs in israel.

You'd think that something of the British experience in Northern Ireland - fighting the IRA while negotiating with Sinn Fein, the political wing - would turn up in the press releases from the Oceanian alliance. But while Israel bombs indiscriminately, while a "terrorist" is anyone who is killed or jailed by Israel or the US, there can be no political solution, because political allies of the "terrorists" are terrorists themselves, and should therefore be killed or jailed.

While this pretzel logic prevails, we will continue down the path of escalating conflict.

Dude, this is such cockery and bullshit. You have long passed any point of possible reason or discussion. Now you're trusting unverified reports about where terrorists fire rockets from? You're actually saying that terrorists have greater respect for civilian life than the Israelis? You claim not to condone the actions of Hezbollah, then in the next breath say that they're only doing what they can against an unfairly superior opponent?

Please. If they are scared about getting their asses kicked they shouldn't be fighting, not running amongst civilians, firing rockets into Israel, then running away. You love to defend these actions with the "What would you do if you were the underdog" logic. So I ask you: what would you do if you were the target of this poor, picked-on underdog? What would you do if you lived in New York and some assholes in New Jersey kept firing rockets from random locations into your front yard, and the New Jersey government kept issuing calls for the destruction of your state?

Putting yourself in the other person's shoes only works if you are willing to do it with everyone. Hezbollah are the block bully in this case. They picked this fight, and then want to whine and cry about how it's unfair? Fuck them. If any cease fire were ever respected by Hezbollah this fight wouldn't be happening. They started the war and don't like how it's going. Tough. Don't start the war.

I think Israel has done a fantastically terrible job in the propaganda wars. This is mainly what this is about. That cold-blooded terrorists and radical fascist Islamists who want to wipe out Jews in Israel and wherever they can find them have ended up on the moral highground in the eyes of the world is unbelievable.... but they have.

I believe Israel is in its right to respond to Hezbollah's initial attack against Israel. But doing it this way has made it damn difficult to defend Israel's actions. In a world where people don't remember what happened 2 days ago let alone 20 years ago, Israel is losing the PR war here -- badly. What they should be doing is pulling out of Lebanon and Gaza and the West Bank and launching vociferous media wars, especially at the UN, every time these terrorists attack them. Lets see the crying families in Haifa and Netanya and Afula. Let's see the pieces of Israelis blown up by Arab homicide bombers. Until this returns to little Israel of 6 million surrounded by 1 billion Muslims, which is closer to the truth than the current perception, Israel is going to have a tough go here.

"In looking at a map it appears that Qana is some 40 miles from the border of Israel I doubt they would be launching missiles into Israel from there."

Yeah I guess Hizballah has never heard of rear support garrisons, logistics or supply lines. They must keep all their weapons and support equipment up near the front lines making everything easier for Israel to target.

Good for you, Average Joe. 100%.

In looking at a map it appears that Qana is some 40 miles from the border of Israel I doubt they would be launching missiles into Israel from there.

The range of Hezbollahs aresenal varies greatly between different weapon types. While it may be correct to say that certain weapons may not be able to reach Israel from Qana, you should agree that other weapons could easily hit Israel from this region.

It has been proven that Hezbollah does conduct missile launching operations from inside civilian areas. I don't understand why anyone would try to argue this fact, as its been documented many times over the past few years.

The latest Israeli talking point is that Hezbollah 'fighters' are hiding among civilians. Israeli supporters are calling them chicken, and calling for them to come out and 'fight fair".

Of course they're saying that - they are just continuing to set up their excuse for killing innocent civilians. It's on par with their statements about having given the civilian population plenty of warning, as if that's all it takes, conveniently forgetting that many if not most would have no way to evacuate their homes and get to somewhere it might be safe.

There's a major flaw in your argument in that you equate the military of a sovereign nation to a militia. Israel's army and that of most nations exists to protect the nation from foreign hostility. You can debate all you want about the tactics of the Israeli military and I'm not condoning any attack that takes one civilian life, but the military exists for Israel's protection and to keep the peace. Hizballah exists to destroy Israel. They are a hostile organization with a hateful ideology. I'm tired of the moral relativism used to criticize Israel even if Israel's response has been way over the top, cruel and possibly pyrrhic in the long term. Hiballah wants to wipe a democracy of peaceful people off the planet. Israel just wants to exist.

Be sad for the Lebanese caught in the middle, yes, demand an end to war, yes, but do not judge Israel and Hizballah by the same standards.

"In order to prevent casualties among Israeli soldiers battling Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, villages should be flattened by the Israeli air force before ground troops move in...all those in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah." -- Haim Ramon, Israel's justice minister, speaking on 27 July 2006, three days prior to the IAF's leveling of yet another apartment complex, this time in Qana

One can only wonder how horrified the millions of jews who died in the concentration camps of the third reich would be at this comment and the actions of Israel today. It's all so depressingly familiar - demonize indiscriminately then destroy.

Average Joe should do his homework. Hezbollah did not pick this fight - this round of the fight started when Israel broke an agreement and refused to return three prisoners they had kidnapped earlier and who were supposed to be released with the others. When they refused to release them Hezbollah raided an Israeli security post and took their own hostages.

The actions of both Israel and Hezbollah are completely repugnant but Israel's response has beren entirely out of proportion to the threat from Hezbollah. It is however obvious that the response has been part of the Bushies desire to draw Iran and Syria into a position where they can "justify" an attack against them, or at least to distract the electorate from Iraq while the midterms get ramped up.

I'm certainly not excusing Hezbollah, their motives or their tactics. One definitely doesn't need to compare Israel to anyone to make the case for their reckless disregard for human life. Nor is it necessary to compare the damage caused in Israel with the damage in Lebanon. The damage in Lebanon both to the population and infrastructure also stands on its own with no reference to any atrocity committed anywhere. The shites are I believe approximately 50% of the population of Lebanon. Probably 90% of them are sympathetic to Hezbelloh. Does that justify killing them all?

If 90% of Lebanese Shiites are sympathetic to an organization that openly calls for the destruction of an entire country, it doesnt justify killing them all but it certainly justifies treating 90% of them like the enemy. Sorry, Norm. Hezbollah makes no secret of its aims. And it is the party that began this mess, that is undisputed by anyone. If after all that, Shiites still morally and financially support Hezbollah, then they are as culpable as the guy launching the Katushka rocket, sorry. If I gave a weapon to someone who I knew was going to go out and murder someone, then I'm an accessory in the crime. Maybe these Shiites should have used their brains instead of the Koran for once before they needlessly picked a fight.

Why doesn't anyone ask this f'cking question: What the hell was Hezbollah doing kidnapping Israeli soldiers in Israel for when Israel had left Southern Lebanon 6 years ago? This a deliberate attempt to broaden the conflict with the Palestinians. Unfortunately, Israel got suckered into it.

well this is a big mess for both sides when you look at it. the problem is is that as long as isreal continues to bomb innocent civilains in lebanon people in that area that fear for thier lives will turn to the nearest ally they can who can protect them and thier families. which unfortunatly happens to be the Hezbelloh. this mean that isreal has to fight a potentaly growing number of enemies in a single region. though by attacking these people isreal is not helping the fact that most middle eastern states are not feeling friendly towards isreal now. the main problem here is that if a serious couterattack was mounted angainst isreal by another middle eastern country to protect the shites in lebanon the united states would get dragged in quickly since they have a long history of backing isreal in every way shape and form.

the truth here is that we have the potental start of WW3 going on right now.

not a very plesant thought huh since so many countries have nukes and long range misslies now.....

though hopefully the isrealis will come around and stop this wide spred bombings and switch to democacy....

who am i kidding? that never happens in real life.

well i'm off to dig a nuclear bunker now see you guys after the fallout settles on the ruins of the human race.

I really hope that one day people will realize that advancing these empty terms, (e.g., terrorists, evil,) and reinforcing assumed distinctions (e.g., Hezbollah obviously aren't civilians and obviously don't have families) contributes nothing to the debate or help resolve the conflicts between isreal and the arab nations. Knowledge and understanding is not your brain as a xerox machine, folks.

What is the point in issuing moral pronouncements, or regurgitating the news? Does it help anybody understand the social and political ramifications? Does any of this condemnation help us identify who actually committed the crimes? And I'm talking about actual living entities, not "Isreal," or "Hezbollah." Are the individuals who tabled a cease-fire going to be held accountable?

Does it help you swallow the deaths of hundreds of isreali and lebanese men, women, and children, none of whom had to die? NONE. Will you people get a clue?

Oh yes. It all "started" with the two isreali soldiers who were kidnapped in isreali territory; or was it lebanese territory? I guess it depends on where you get your news from. The kidnapping is not new for either side. Isreal had previously negotiated prisoner exchanges, and given that plenty of palestinians are still locked up, (legally/illegally, depending on whether or not you even care about being informed), exchanging isreali soldiers for those detained seemed like a good idea.

Sorry. Sarcasm level is out of control today.

Does anyone have a source for the number of attacks and number of Israelis killed by Hezbollah rocket attacks prior to July 12th?

heheh good point dude.

Norm, I know this isn't what you were looking for, but it's noteworthy nonetheless.

Isreali Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Archive/Israel+Line/2004/Israel+Line+26-Apr-2004.htm

"Since 1860, 21,782 died defending the country. Since November 1947, 20,196 servicemen and women have fallen in defense of the state. Israel has fought wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, l969-70, 1973 and 1982, in addition to skirmishes with infiltrators and conflicts with Palestinians from 1987-93 and 2000 to the present."

Note: Robert Fisk estimates that between June and September [1982] 18,000-20,000 Palestinians and Lebanese were killed (overwelmingly civilians)

http://www.moiz.ca/coffin.htm

~ since the recent escalation [data via BBC]

Here is what Israel has destroyed to date.

Beirut International Airport Qaleiat domestic Airport Rayak military Airport

Beirut port Tripoli port Jounieh port

Beirut Lighthouse

62 Bridges 22 Fuel stations 72 Overpasses 3 Dams 600km Roads

4 Radar installations 1 Army barracks

5,000+ Private homes

Tissue paper factory, Bekaa Bottle factory, Bekaa 150 Other businesses

Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station Haret Hreik, Beirut MTC mobile phone antenna, Dahr al-Baidar

Jiyeh power plant Sibline power station Sewage plant, Dair al-Zahrani

Does this sound like rocket attacks from each of these locations? And whatever you think of Hizbollah the majortity of these targets where hit in the first days and the rockets do not have the range to hit Israel from the majority of those locations.

IDF are being pretty indiscriminate about it. They had US Nationals (a woman and her kids) who are in Tiyre (sp?). She was told by the IDF to get out of the town but as soon as they went for thier car they were fired apon. Thier neighbour was killed when their car was hit by a shell. They were trapped in the city until the UN showed up and they couldn't even evac to the US as Israel where refusing to allow the US refugee ships to dock at that time.

You cannot blame a military force for killing civilians when they are fighting an enemy made up of civilians. It is an oxymoron.

It is also an oxymoron to call civilians "innocent" when their communities, their organizations or their individual political views are enabling a military force.

I think this modern world needs a new definition of "innocent civilian" and "military support" because these days the terms are interchangeable and it can be misleading.

Just wanted to add to my previous post I left out. Israel also hit an oil depot at one of the ports and that oil spill is currently all over the seas beside Lebanon.

No one can go into solve that either.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=37278180-a261-421d-84a9-7f94d5fc6d50

"Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield' Canadian wrote of militia's presence, 'necessity' of bombing"

Worth a read...

This 'disproportionate' bullshit is getting on my nerves. Since when is war supposed to be 'proportionate' ? When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, the US didn't bomb one of their military ports, they bombed the crap out of Japan, and threw in a couple of nuclear weapons to boot. Was it disproportionate? Of course. But I dont hear anyone calling the US war criminals for it today. When the US bombed the crap out of Serbia in the 90s to basically get one man, no one called it disproportionate, they called it a "humanitarian mission." And when the 3 planes slammed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, the US didn't knock down a few Taliban airports and buildings. They invaded the entire country and killed thousand, including civilians. When the PLO tried to overthrow King Hussein in the 1970s in Jordan, Hussein didnt try to overthrow Arafat, he went into Palestinian homes and killed 5000 men, women and children. No one asked for proportionality then and no one cried for the lost Japanese or Afghan or Palestinian civilians who died in these disproportionate attacks. It was war.

There's a war out there. The Arabs' tactics include kidnapping people and blowing themselves up on commuter buses. The Jews' tactics include airbombs and ground troops. You use the tactics available to you and you try to wipe out the other guy. That's war.

If you want to sit down and use diplomacy, by all means do so. But when one side has called for peace partners for 60 years and the other side only recently even acknowledged the other's existence, well, it's hard to make peace. The Arabs have dragged this on needlessly for 60 years. Now they're seeing the fruits of their stupidity.

Juan Cole reports that Ayatollah Ali as-Sistani has threatened the US over Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. If Condi Rice is unable to secure a ceasefire soon and as-Sistani follows through on the threat, he could very well end up with 100,000+ American hostages sometime soon.

Way to go on the oversimplification zakdegrassi.

Prehaps read up on the history of the region a bit, for example how Hizbollah appeared.

Read the geneva convention while your at it.

Oh and remember the winners or those in power are rarely the terrorists. Instead they are the "liberators", "bringing democracy to the region".

Its very easy to agree with bombing civilians when its not you being bombed.

Per, There is little doubt that Hezbollah uses the area near the U.N. posts to launch attacks. Israel as far as I know didn't tell the U.N. to remove the observers. The fact that Hezbollah was using the situation to advantage is not a reason to destroy the U.N. post, particularly since they were in contact with Israel.

"It is also an oxymoron to call civilians "innocent" when their communities, their organizations or their individual political views are enabling a military force."

So I guess that means attacks against Israeli civilians are justified, since they support the Israeli military (through taxes if nothing else)?

I hope not

There is little doubt that Hezbollah uses the area near the U.N. posts to launch attacks

If anyone else has read the article on canada.com, it seems to indicate that Hezbollah were not just operating around the UN observation post, but that in some instances they were operating inside the perimeter of the observation post.

..."What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

On another note,

Israel as far as I know didn't tell the U.N. to remove the observers.

The way I see it, the second Israel asked the UN to pull its people out of Lebanon, the international community would have condemned Israel for not being cooperative.

After reading the article that was posted above, I'm kind of shocked that Kofi Annan would not have pulled out the observers on his own.

I dont disagree with the principle behind the UN mission in Lebanon, but it seems to me that they were never really able to actively prevent Hezbollah from conducting its operations in the area.

Now we see just how Hezbollah has managed to use the UN mission against Israel.

For the last few weeks we've heard Israel saying that Hezbollah has been using the neutrality of others in order to shield themselves. During this same time people here have called these claims rubbish, and labeled them as 'myths'.

It's a shame that so many of Israels critics in the region will probably never see this article.

Even if all you say is true and I have no reason to doubt any of it. Israel knew the post was there, if they didn't ask them to leave whatever the reason they had a responsibility to avoid firing on them. They didn't, that was reckless disregard for their lives, and they need to take responsibility for their actions. It seems necessary here to repeat the refrain that I in no way condone Hezbollah using the U.N. post.

Here is what Israel has destroyed to date. Beirut International Airport.....>>

has israel destroyed their entire aiport beyond repair?

according to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, the runways at beirut airport have been bombed to halt reinforcements to Hezbollah. however, the control towers and the newly built terminal have been spared, conceivably because israel knows lebanon will need those. http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.24709,filter.all/pub_detail.asp

also, that article reports that essential services in beirut have been spared. electricity and water still work, unless someone has heard otherwise in the last 48 hours.

of course, the carnage of war is more salient to us than these instances of restraint. as the smoke rises from the last few weeks, it's clear that more than 200 hezbollah troops have been killed, and their supply of rocket launchers has dwindled. i hope this chapter ends soon so that investigations can commence.

"'It is also an oxymoron to call civilians "innocent" when their communities, their organizations or their individual political views are enabling a military force.'"

"So I guess that means attacks against Israeli civilians are justified, since they support the Israeli military (through taxes if nothing else)?

I hope not"

Civilians are only accountable in war if they do not make a distinction between their military and their innocents. If the civilians are enabling a military that wears street clothes and engages people under the cover of populated urban areas how can anyone possibly claim that they are "innocent" when they are in the crossfire?

It's fine to state that guerrillas are the underdogs and this is the only way they can fight a superior force but that doesn't give them a pass when their tactics get people killed.

The elephant in the room in all discussions about urban guerrilla warfare is that the tactics are only effective because innocent people are dying in the place of the "freedom fighters".

Nobody can "innocently" march in the street and yell "death to so and so" while their back yard is being used as guerrilla staging area to KILL SO AND SO!.

I agree with you norm, but its kind of a sticky situation for Israel.

If Hezbollah is going to use UN sites as positions for launching attacks, what is Israel to do?

I agree that they shouldn't really be bombing these sites, but if the UN staff aren't able to push Hezbollah out, and Israel is unable to strike at them, what is the solution?

Maybe the UN sites should be rebuilt and more heavily fortified, so that Hezbollah cant simply cut a hole in the fenceline or knock over some gate to gain entry.

Maybe the UN sites should have their garrison increased and their defensive armaments upgraded.

I dont really know what the answer is here, but I dont think that asking Israel to hold off attacking these sites, and to simply sit tight while they're being hit by Katyusha rockets, is any sort of solution.

Its a tragedy that the UN staff died, but it really underscores the problem with their mission in Lebanon.

If UN mission staff in Lebanon cannot defend themselves, or act to thwart the efforts of Hezbollah in their areas of responsibility, then their mission really needs to be reviewed.

And Norm, just to clarify, I checked the UNIFIL map of its positions in Lebanon, and it looks like Qana is about 10km from the border with Israel, which actually makes it an excellent site for launching rockets into Israel, as some of the weapons in Hezbollahs aresenal have a range of about 45 km, or 25-30 miles.

Simon, what did I oversimplify? Please clarify. As far as reading up on the history of the middle east, I've been doing it for 25 years.

I don't agree with bombing civilians. But if an army wants to hide out in the middle of a civilian area, sorry, but all bets are off. Wondering where your righteous indignation was when Hezbollah was launching rockets at Israeli cities.

Valkesh, you're right about the distance on Qana and that the area around it is suitable for attacks. I meant to go in and correct my earlier comment, but hadn't gotten to it. Thanks for the correction. Now on to Israel and the U.N. I think Israel just needs to bite the bullet. If they are going to try and engage Hezbollah near U.N. posts they just need to say hey U.N. you aren't going to be safe. We make no guarantees about not targeting your area if we think there are Hezbollah fighters. We strongly suggest that you get the hell out of there. I know there would be a political cost, but it's not right that they don't and then behave recklessly in the area. I understand two more U.N. personnel were wounded later on.

Zakdegrassi wrote:

the US didn't bomb one of their military ports, they bombed the crap out of Japan, and threw in a couple of nuclear weapons to boot. Was it disproportionate? Of course. But I dont hear anyone calling the US war criminals for it today.

Actually a LOT of people have called the US war criminals for various actions in WW2 (not only the nukes, but the fire bombing of Tokyo that caused so many horrific deaths .. ). There were, of course, atrocities committed by many countries in WW2. You probably don't hear as much about the US side because: (a) they won [which tends to lend weight in revisionist history] - and (b) because you probably live in the US (or Britain).

the US didn't knock down a few Taliban airports and buildings. They invaded the entire country and killed thousand, including civilians.

Probably tens of thousands of civilians. As you say - the US has done many atrocious things in its history and believe it or not there has always been a plenty of outrage (there is, after all, a reason why the US refuse to submit to the World Court).

You may have noticed that Americans are not the most popular nation across the globe. The Bush administration has made it abundantly clear that it does not hold Muslim life in high regard.

Unfortunately, being outraged against atrocity and taking effective action against atrocity are two very different things.

You're right, war is often not proportionate or fair .. but that doesn't excuse a disproportionate response. Similarly, in war atrocities are often committed. That fact doesn't make it moral.

War is horrific. That fact doesn't excuse all actions within a war.

You're right Matrix. It certainly doesnt excuse kidnapping soldiers to start with.

Photographic proof has been produced of Hezbollah squads setting up arms and rockets in civilian neighborhoods.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,19960056-5006301,00.html

Was there a 48-hour ceasefire? Or does ceasefire stands for BS in Israel?

Believing bombing over, Lebanese paid high price

By Tom Perry Wed Aug 2, 12:01 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060802/wlnm/mideastlebanondangerdc_1

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Ali Bajouk set off to deliver supplies to elderly relatives in the village of Aita al-Shaab thinking Israel had suspended its aerial bombardment of southern Lebanon.

He was wrong. Bajouk now lies in a hospital bed in Beirut, his body, head and face wrapped in bandages to cover the burns caused by an air strike which scorched half his skin.

"We went up to Aita on the grounds there was a ceasefire," said Bajouk, 39, his mouth and eyes all that were visible beyond thick layers of bandages. "They are liars," he said.

Israel had said on Sunday it would suspend air strikes on southern Lebanon for 48 hours to investigate an air strike on the village of Qana which killed 54 civilians, mainly children.

There were fewer air strikes than normal on Monday and Tuesday, but warplanes still struck.

===

Israel Pushes On Despite Agreeing to Airstrike Lull

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/world/middleeast/01mideast.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

METULLA, Israel, July 31 — As Israel poured soldiers and artillery shells into southern Lebanon, it vowed Monday to press ahead with its war on Hezbollah and made a number of airstrikes after promising a 48-hour pause in its air campaign.

“The fighting continues,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. “There is no cease-fire, and there will not be any cease-fire in the coming days.”

Israel promised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday that it would halt air operations for two days, except to respond to “imminent threats,” like rocket-launching teams, and to support ground forces.

Ms. Rice said she had accepted Israel’s explanation for resuming airstrikes barely 12 hours after the suspension was announced.

Any attempts to justify the killings of the innocents of Qana is utter hypocrisy on the part of Israeli supporters here.

What was the Israeli justification for bombing it?

"In a statement summarizing the inquiry findings, the military said Israel did not know there were civilians in the building."

"Israel said guerrillas had fired rockets from near the building into northern Israel."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060730/aponremiea/lebanonisrael597

As Israel is the one who brough war into all of Lebanon, it is clearly regarding that all of Lebanon is a war zone that it can target with impunity with no proof, justification for its senseless attacks.

Funny, the Isarlei apologists here ignores that Israel went to war against Lebanon because of a kidnapping case in South Lebanon.

Israeli bombings invited the sustained rocket attack from the Hezbollahs in retaliation.

After bombing civilains and public installations all over the world, the Israeli forces have the cheek to blame the Hezbollahs for firing back from civilain areas.

What human shields? Has such civilain shields stop Israeli from bombing and destroying the lives of innocents.

Based on the 8 million Arab refugees created by Israeli terrorism and military aggression in the Middle East, along with the thousands of Arab lives killed and hundreds of Arab steetlements destroyed, it's hard to believe that Israel care aboyut the lives of innocents with its dispropostional kill rate of 750 Lebanese killed by its air strikes for every 24 Israeli civilains killed by Hezbollah answering fire.

Israel admits mistakes in deadly raid. 3 Aug 06

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military's inquiry on the bombing of a building in the south Lebanese village of Qana that killed 56 civilians admits a mistake but charges that Hezbollah guerrillas used civilians as human shields for their rocket attacks, a statement early Thursday said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060802/aponremiea/mideastfightingqana

Notice that the Israels can't give any justifications for the bombing of the building in Quana, which was not used for firing rockets at Israel?

It seems clear the Israeli propaganda is aimed at making Hezbollah the scapegoat of all of Israel's military atrocities against the enteire state of Lebanon for a kidnapping case in South Lebanon.

The rocket attacks by the Hezbollah are Lebanon's only military response against Israel's air abombing and it will not stpop until the Israeli bombing stops because only Israel and its supporters can believe that any nation will allow itself to be bombed to kingdom come without fighting back.

The depths of Israeli delusion is revealed quite clearly by its claims of 'green light' for campaign.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HNUQZAA42LK2VQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/07/27/uramon.xml

"Israel has interpreted the international community's refusal to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East as an indication of worldwide support for its assault on Hizbollah..."

US has votoed a UN resolution fopr a ceasefire 2 weeks back and US and Israel is the only country against an immediate ceasifre for most opf Israeli's unlawful bombing of Lebanon.

I see people like Zak trying to distort history again to support Israeli military atrocities, rogue state behaviour and terrorist tactics.

He has even now attacked the US role in WW2 to protect Israel, although US is the only supporter Israel has in the world right now.

US was not considered an aggressor in the Pacific war during WW2 because of the following reasons:

1] Japan was considered an aggressor by its sneak attack on Pear Harbour without a formal declaration of war. It is US right to reply in kind in self-defence.

Much like Israel's sneak attacks on Arabs in Palestine, Gaza Strip, West Banak and South Lebanon which cause the Arabs there to fight back.

Read your history before you post any comments to disagree please. Even in 1948, while the Jews occupied lands designated for the Arabs by the UNited Nations, the Arabs did not occupy any lands designated for the Jews in Palestine. This is a Historical Fact.

2] Japan was considered a threat to world stability, beginning with its attempts to colonise all of East Asia. It occupied the whole of Southeast Asia and almost half of China and had engaged in numerous atrocities against the Chinese such as gassing, sending them to concentration camps and ethnic cleansing to the tune of almost 20 million Chinese killed from the 1930s to 1940s.

3] Many historians have debated on the need for the atomic bomb to destroy Nagasaki and Hiroshima and many disagreed on the need of atomic bombing while others condemned US strategic bombing of Japan, as well as Germany.

US has destroyed much of Japan with its relentless air bombings with high explosives, much like what Israel is doing to Lebanon.

Such bombings were condemned but the governments pressed ahead as their opponents attacked them first and was engaged in a total war against the rest of the world.

However, this universal condemning of using air bombings to rain down hell on civilains gained expression in modern international agreements after WW2 that it is illegal to target civilains to achieve political objectives via military means.

So Israel has no legal basis for its sustained air bombings of Lebanon and its civilains. It is considered rogue state activity.

By the way, it's a myth that Israel has any universally recognised right to "defend" itself by invading another country to eliminate a resistance group operating on the fringe of that country.

Here's the proof.

"... Several thousand members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, are believed to be hiding in the mountains of mainly Kurdish northern Iraq, from where they slip across the border to attack Turkish police, troops and other targets.

Turkey blames the PKK for more than 30,000 deaths since the start of its campaign for a Kurdish homeland in 1984....

...Diplomats say Turkey is frustrated that the United States accepts Israel's right to launch attacks against its enemies over the border in Lebanon while remaining opposed to Ankara taking unilateral action against the PKK in Iraq.

The United States, like Turkey and the European Union, views the PKK as a terrorist organization but says broader security problems in Iraq prevent the kind of full-scale military crackdown on the group that Ankara demands..."

U.S. wants to deal "aggressively" with Kurdish PKK 26 July 06 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060725/wlnm/turkeyusa_dc

By the way, it's a myth that Israel has any universally recognised right to "defend" itself by invading another country to eliminate a resistance group operating on the fringe of that country.

Here's the proof.

"... Several thousand members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, are believed to be hiding in the mountains of mainly Kurdish northern Iraq, from where they slip across the border to attack Turkish police, troops and other targets.

Turkey blames the PKK for more than 30,000 deaths since the start of its campaign for a Kurdish homeland in 1984....

...Diplomats say Turkey is frustrated that the United States accepts Israel's right to launch attacks against its enemies over the border in Lebanon while remaining opposed to Ankara taking unilateral action against the PKK in Iraq.

The United States, like Turkey and the European Union, views the PKK as a terrorist organization but says broader security problems in Iraq prevent the kind of full-scale military crackdown on the group that Ankara demands..."

U.S. wants to deal "aggressively" with Kurdish PKK 26 July 06 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060725/wlnm/turkeyusa_dc

It's a shame that Valkesh, Zak and other Israeli apologists grasp at straws and crumbs to JUSTIFY Israel's bombings of a UN position and killing of 4 innocent UN observers that was clearly not seen as a mistake by Israel.

They even misused a Canadian article, which ironically condemned the Israeli's direct hit on the United Nations outpost on the second page:

Same article:

"At the time, there had been no Hezbollah activity reported in the area," he said. "So it was quite clear they were not going after other targets; that, for whatever reason, our position was being fired upon.

"Whether or not they thought they were going after something else, we don't know. The fact was we told them where we were. They knew where we were. The position was clearly marked, and they pounded the hell out of us."

Even if Hezbollah was not firing rockets at the time of the bombing, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener's e-mail indicates they were using a terrorist tactic of purposely drawing out enemy forces near a neutral site, said retired Capt. Peter Forsberg, who did two UN tours between 1993 and 1995 during the Bosnian war...

If indeed Israel was attempting to hit Hezbollah fighters in the area, it hasn't yet used the excuse to explain its actions because it wouldn't make it any less guilty in the world's eyes, Capt. Forsberg said."

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=37278180-a261-421d-84a9-7f94d5fc6d50&p=2

=== Here's a recap ===

4 killed when Israel bombs U.N. post 26 July 06 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060725/aponremiea/mideastfightingunobservers5;ylt=AknAfopzbDvK4isvcp1wStEUvioA;ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A U.N. observer post was hit by an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon Tuesday, killing four peacekeepers, U.N. officials said.

A bomb directly hit the building and shelter of an Indian patrol base from the observer force in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL...Struger also said there were 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon. "The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.

===

There is no proof that the Hezbollah had operated within the United Nations position.

Even Israeli spokesman stated that the Hezbollah fighters were observed operating NEAR the position.

This does not justify a direct bombing on the UN building and the killing of 4 innocent UN observers, of which the bombing by Israelis continued even during the rescue operations.

It's not odd why Israeli BS is more than getting on my nerves. Israel wants the world to condemn all Arabs that dispute its right to exist on stolenand military occupied lands, while it goes all lout to destroy the homes of thousands of Arabs for the last 60 years, creating the world largest refugee problem of 8 million Arabs living in refugee camps.

I find it ludicrous that Israeli supporters condemn Arab countries for not taking in these refugees and not taking care of them while Arabs in Israeli occupied lands are in worse shape.

I find it odd that these people can condemn Arabs for fighting back against a universally condemned Israel-instigated war against all of Lebanon while asserting Israel's right to self defense.

Is it just me?