Ben Caspit, an Israeli journalist wrote this proposed speech for Prime Minister Olmert:

July 31, 2006
Ladies and gentlemen, leaders of the world. I, the Prime Minister of Israel, am speaking to you from Jerusalem in the face of the terrible pictures from Kfar Kana. Any human heart, wherever it is, must sicken and recoil at the sight of such pictures. There are no words of comfort that can mitigate the enormity of this tragedy. Still, I am looking you straight in the eye and telling you that the State of Israel will continue its military campaign in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces will continue to attack targets from which missiles and Katyusha rockets are fired at hospitals, old age homes and kindergartens in Israel. I have instructed the security forces and the IDF to continue to hunt for the Katyusha stockpiles and launch sites from which these savages are bombarding the State of Israel.

We will not hesitate, we will not apologize and we will not back off. If they continue to launch missiles into Israel from Kfar Kana, we will continue to bomb Kfar Kana. Today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Here, there and everywhere. The children of Kfar Kana could now be sleeping peacefully in their homes, unmolested, had the agents of the devil not taken over their land and turned the lives of our children into hell.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time you understood: the Jewish state will no longer be trampled upon. We will no longer allow anyone to exploit population centers in order to bomb our citizens. No one will be able to hide anymore behind women and children in order to kill our women and children. This anarchy is over. You can condemn us, you can boycott us, you can stop visiting us and, if necessary, we will stop visiting you.

Today I am serving as the voice of six million bombarded Israeli citizens who serve as the voice of six million murdered Jews who were melted down to dust and ashes by savages in Europe. In both cases, those responsible for these evil acts were, and are, barbarians devoid of all humanity, who set themselves one simple goal: to wipe the Jewish race off the face of the earth, as Adolph Hitler said, or to wipe the State of Israel off the map, as Mahmoud Ahmedinjad proclaims.

And you - just as you did not take those words seriously then, you are ignoring them again now. And that, ladies and gentlemen, leaders of the world, will not happen again. Never again will we wait for bombs that never came to hit the gas chambers. Never again will we wait for salvation that never arrives. Now we have our own air force. The Jewish people are now capable of standing up to those who seek their destruction - those people will no longer be able to hide behind women and children. They will no longer be able to evade their responsibility.

Every place from which a Katyusha is fired into the State of Israel will be a legitimate target for us to attack. This must be stated clearly and publicly, once and for all. You are welcome to judge us, to ostracize us, to boycott us and to vilify us. But to kill us? Absolutely not.

Four months ago I was elected by hundreds of thousands of citizens to the office of Prime Minister of the government of Israel, on the basis of my plan for unilaterally withdrawing from 90 percent of the areas of Judea and Samaria, the birth place and cradle of the Jewish people; to end most of the occupation and to enable the Palestinian people to turn over a new leaf and to calm things down until conditions are ripe for attaining a permanent settlement between us.

The Prime Minister who preceded me, Ariel Sharon, made a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip back to the international border, and gave the Palestinians there a chance to build a new reality for themselves. The Prime Minister who preceded him, Ehud Barak, ended the lengthy Israeli presence in Lebanon and pulled the IDF back to the international border, leaving the land of the cedars to flourish, develop and establish its democracy and its economy.

What did the State of Israel get in exchange for all of this? Did we win even one minute of quiet? Was our hand, outstretched in peace, met with a handshake of encouragement? Ehud Barak's peace initiative at Camp David let loose on us a wave of suicide bombers who smashed and blew to pieces over 1,000 citizens, men, women and children. I don't remember you being so enraged then. Maybe that happened because we did not allow TV close-ups of the dismembered body parts of the Israeli youngsters at the Dolphinarium? Or of the shattered lives of the people butchered while celebrating the Passover seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya? What can you do - that's the way we are. We don't wave body parts at the camera. We grieve quietly.

We do not dance on the roofs at the sight of the bodies of our enemy's children - we express genuine sorrow and regret. That is the monstrous behavior of our enemies. Now they have risen up against us. Tomorrow they will rise up against you. You are already familiar with the murderous taste of this terror. And you will taste more.

And Ariel Sharon's withdrawal from Gaza. What did it get us? A barrage of Kassem missiles fired at peaceful settlements and the kidnapping of soldiers. Then too, I don't recall you reacting with such alarm. And for six years, the withdrawal from Lebanon has drawn the vituperation and crimes of a dangerous, extremist Iranian agent, who took over an entire country in the name of religious fanaticism and is trying to take Israel hostage on his way to Jerusalem - and from there to Paris and London.

An enormous terrorist infrastructure has been established by Iran on our border, threatening our citizens, growing stronger before our very eyes, awaiting the moment when the land of the Ayatollahs becomes a nuclear power in order to bring us to our knees. And make no mistake - we won't go down alone. You, the leaders of the free and enlightened world, will go down along with us.

So today, here and now, I am putting an end to this parade of hypocrisy. I don't recall such a wave of reaction in the face of the 100 citizens killed every single day in Iraq. Sunnis kill Shiites who kill Sunnis, and all of them kill Americans - and the world remains silent. And I am hard pressed to recall a similar reaction when the Russians destroyed entire villages and burned down large cities in order to repress the revolt in Chechnya. And when NATO bombed Kosovo for almost three months and crushed the civilian population - then you also kept silent. What is it about us, the Jews, the minority, the persecuted, that arouses this cosmic sense of justice in you? What do we have that all the others don't?

In a loud clear voice, looking you straight in the eye, I stand before you openly and I will not apologize. I will not capitulate. I will not whine. This is a battle for our freedom. For our humanity. For the right to lead normal lives within our recognized, legitimate borders. It is also your battle. I pray and I believe that now you will understand that. Because if you don't, you may regret it later, when it's too late."

The righteousness of this war which is for self-defence and the survival of Israel and all civilized, democratic, christian and non-secular countries, is very true. We should all wake up to the pan-Islamic ambition/agenda of the muslim extremist groups/countries, like Hezbollah and Iran. We should help Israel , instead of condemning them, for they are not only fighting for their own survival, but they are also fighting for us. Remember, that Hezbollah, Iran, Hamas and others of the same kind, are out to destroy Israel or annihilate or kick the Jewish people out their land. They will not be satisfied until all the Jews give up all the land to them - this is their real agenda. They always initiate the killings/violence by terrorist acts and when Israel hits back, they resort to complaining about the damage to their homes and deaths to their civilians to all TV stations, newspapers of the world and whine/complain of 'Israeli aggression/violence/genocide". They justify and cover up their hidden agenda to destroy/kill Israel/Israelites to make them leave and give all the land together to them, by calling their own terrorist acts as "acts of resistance" against Israeli occupation. In short , they want the Israelites to give up all the land to them and leave, move to Europe, as Iran's president had declared to the world

I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the GREATEST purveyor of VIOLENCE in the world today -- my own government. --->MLK, JR

The Axis?

The two most visible terrorist states operating in the world today, in my view, are Israel and the United States.
I know that Mr. Bush has accused Iran, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iraq before and now Syria of being either a part of the Axis or terrorist states, but so far I have seen no evidence to support the President' conjectures. All that I have is his word about it, and based upon his former lies and misrepresentations, anything that he says has to be proven.

If Iran and Syria are guilty of anything as the President would have us to believe, they are guilty of doing exactly the same that the U.S.A. and Israel are currently doing. What makes one side evil and the other side noble? If the other states are terrorist states for doing exactly what the U.S.A. is doing then the U.S.A. is also a terrorist state. America has never fully accepted that it was a 'racist state', so I know that the average American will never be able to let the words American and 'terrorist state', purse their lips.

However, the world knows and much of the world has witnessed two sovereign states being viciously attacked by the U.S.A. and Israel, and the latter is still occupying a once sovereign state by force. The latter can be traced to a plan, as I understand it, that was hatched in the beginning of the Bush years in office, a plan hatched in part by Perle, Wolfowitz, Liddy and others; these men were a significant part of The President's Axis of evil which also included Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfool and others.

So and again, if Iran is a part of an Axis, I would also have to say that the U.S.A. and Israel are also a part of there own Axis. These two nations are spending more money combined, in order to fight, kill and displace human beings in an effort to force their ideas of Extreme Democracy on other once sovereign nations and people of the world!

Shame on America, the 3000 pound Gorilla in the fight, is it any wonder that the U.S.A. cannot get its traditional allies to buy in or to join the Axis? And I suspect that the rest of the world knows better too!

The Axis?

The two most visible terrorist states operating in the world today, in my view, are Israel and the United States.

I know that Mr. Bush has accused Iran, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iraq before and now Syria of being either a part of the Axis or terrorist states, but so far I have seen no evidence to support the President' conjectures. All that I have is his word about it, and based upon his former lies and misrepresentations, anything that he says has to be proven.

If Iran and Syria are guilty of anything as the President would have us to believe, they are guilty of doing exactly the same that the U.S.A. and Israel are currently doing. What makes one side evil and the other side noble? If the other states are terrorist states for doing exactly what the U.S.A. is doing then the U.S.A. is also a terrorist state. America has never fully accepted that it was a 'racist state', so I know that the average American will never be able to let the words American and racist state, purse their lips.

However, the world knows and much of the world has witnessed two sovereign states being viciously attacked by the U.S.A. and Israel, and the latter is still occupying a once sovereign state by force. The latter can be traced to a plan, as I understand it, that was hatched in the beginning of the Bush years in office, a plan hatched in part by Perle, Wolfowitz, Liddy and others; these men were a significant part of The President's Axis of evil which also included Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfool and others.

So and again, if Iran is a part of an Axis, I would also have to say that the U.S.A. and Israel are also a part of there own Axis. These two nations are spending more money combined, in order to fight, kill and displace human beings in an effort to force their ideas of Extreme Democracy on other once sovereign nations and people of the world!

Shame on America, the 3000 pound Gorilla in the fight, is it any wonder that the U.S.A. cannot get its traditional allies to buy in or to join the Axis?

I am agree with u that usa and israel feeding to terrorism and that would be from the commondos of israel who would be the next terrorist in the new world.

In response to Rev,

I agree with your stance on wanting to attain peace through diplomacy, but how can you be taken seroulsy when you promote destruction yourself "If I had all the power, I would rid the world of all the eye for eye folks

Well, if the Christian Bible is correct, in the apokalupsis, all of the bad people will be cast into a lake of fire and burned for ever and ever.

I thought my idea would be more palpable!

And of course, you are right, I was simply expressing my own frustrations. I really do believe in peace.

Someone used the phrase last week, "a conundrum wrapped up in an enigma". And this is what we have here!

Nash is parroting Palestinian Arab propaganda lock, stock, and barrel. Palestinian Arabs didn't even identify themselves as a separate "Palestinian" people until the 1960's with the advent of Yaser Arafat's PLO - they are the same as other Arabs. They changed their name to "Palestinians" to confuse people into thinking that they had been there since time immemorial. The Palestinian Post and the Palestinian Philharmonic were not Arab newspapers and orchestras but actually Jewish ones. Truth is there has never been a Palestinian Arab homeland run by Palestinian Arabs.

Here is the history lesson that Palestinian Arabs are so fearful that people know: In 1921, 78% of Historic Palestine was already given to the Arabs of the region and named Trans-Jordan. In 1947, a UN resolution divided the last 22% between the Jews and the remaining Arabs. The Jews reluctantly accepted (they felt that they were promised all of it and more). The Arabs, on the other hand, said no - they wanted it all - and with five neighboring Arab countries attacked the nascent Jewish state and lost -forfeiting their claim. This is the genesis of the Palestinian Arab refugee problem - inflicted by their own greed. And until this day, with Arabs making up 99.9% of the Middle East, the major driver that motivates their existence, is to capture the remaining .1% - that of the land of Israel, a people who have a had a presence in the land for thousands of years backed up by historical references and extensive archaeology findings.

Lastly, Jews are called Jews because they are from Judea (now the known as the West Bank). Arabs are called Arabs because they are from the Arabian Peninsula.

nash, when you say the "U.N. took someone elses land" , what do you mean ? Palestine was part of the ottoman empire before the Brits took it.Prior to this, it belonged to Mamluks who were from egypt, pre Mamaluks, Saladin took it from the european crusaders. If we go back to 63 BC the Romans took it from the last Jewish kingdom during the Macabean revolt, before this the Greeks had it under Alexander the great (we are now at 333BC), The greeks took it from the Persians who took it from the Babylonians in 586 bc. Arabs areant even native to Palestine. I think the only indigenious groups of people on this planet are in Iceland or China. But I do agree, with there will be no peace

The root cause of the current problem in the middle east goes to that fateful day in 1947 when UN mendated someelses land to some one else and asked the palestinions to pay for it. This decission was unjust, wrong and illegal. Can you take some one elses land and trade it awy to others at your whim. In simplistic terms that is what hapened on that day in 1948. I believe where there is no truth and justice there can not be peace. For 60 long years at the expance of millions of dollers when very intelligent and influncial people like Mr Clinton have tried to make peace. It has not worked. What makes us think that it will now work. What the UN mendate did was to carve out the best coastline and a larger part of the land of Palestine and gave to the then Jewish residants of Palestine who were only 33% of the population of the land. The smaller and land without water was given to poor palestinions. Whatever little water Palestinions initially got eventually diverted to feed Israely farms.This was another injustice perpitrated on Palestinions. Israel inspite of the fact that the majority of inhabitants of Palestinion did not agree with the UN decission, a person in the name of Ben Gurian forcefully with the help and the might of West went about setting up of the state of Isreal. This was another injustice to the Palestinions because there was no democratic process. Where is democracy in this that is so loudly being touted by the administration of the United States of America? History will record that Isreal with assistance of US aid in terms of 2 Billons of dollers cash every year since the creation of Israel, toped up with F 16s, tanks, precission guided missils, combate hellicopters., Israel has forcefully taken land form Egipt, from Syria and even from from the land that was apportioned to the palestions by setting up more settlements.Once again there was theft of land. Where there is no justice there can be no PEACE. To find a solution if our leaders keep on floging the same 60 year old idea of two states living side by side. America can absorb 10 million hispanic refugies and shoud not have difficulty by carving out a piece of land in the Nevada deserts and set up a State of Israel. Arabs have no love for Israelies and Americans do. This will Triple benefit for US. First Israelies will make the desert flurish and they will feel secure. Second: Arabs will good friends of America. Third Alqueda will evaporate and we will all live in peace and harmony. If thinking outside the BOX to find solution for Jewish peoplw does not happen then I am afraid that, that fateful day in 1947 has the prospects of being the most fatal and bloody day in the history of mankind.

Sadly every war kills women and children. There is no such thing as a war where only soldiers and those who send them into battle are killed. Hez is guilty of civilian deaths so is Israel. But to say one side kills more women and children is ridiculous. Bothsides would no doubt love to kill the guys with guns on each side. This constant "women and children are being killed therefore one side is more evil" concept takes away from the real issue. Both sides need to stop the destruction and make some agreements. But if I were Israel I would be very careful, hez wasgiven a number of years of relative calm and they built up an arsenal ofmissles and bunkers, next time around given time , hez will have more deadly longer range missles, and with a patron like Iran who wants to "eliminate israel" , who knows what else they will get. Unfortunatley I think Israel will eventualy lose. Israel can win conventional wars but there opponents seem to welcome death and will soon have nuclear weapons and a short time latter will no doubt be able to deliver short range nuclear death.
Extremist islamic religion is very dangerous , its the only one that welcomes death and justifies the killing of others. Ive never heard leaders of any other belief preach death as a sermon, but islamists have quite a few that do. Yet we dont see the danger. Very sad indeed.

Why do you insist on being a mouthpiece for the Israeli Military?

Rev,

I agree with your stance on wanting to attain peace through diplomacy, but how can you be taken seroulsy when you promote destruction yourself "If I had all the power, I would rid the world of all the eye for eye folks"... Who is anyone to determine who all these eye for eye folks are. Clearly, everyone seems to think that they are right. The only way to achieve piece is to stop the attacks of who is right and who is wrong on either side and promote non-aggresive tactics to be used by both teams. We do nothing by saying one has the right to destroy the other, or say that one group causes all the problems (muslims cause all the violence/jews cause all the wars etc, etc..) but pick sides and inflate the war and conflicts going on ourselves. That is doing just the opposite of what I think you are trying to achieve...some peace and quiet in this world.

The reason there is no peace in this part of the world is that Israel believes that if it needs something then it?s hers.
The reason the Palestinians rejected Israeli peace settlements is because of unbelievable conditions such as:
Palestinians are not allowed to dig wells, even on their own land. Israel needs water therefore the natural water aquifers under the west bank belong to it.
These demands are not much different from the demands made at the time Israel was created. Zionists need security therefore they took some body else`s land.Nearly 3.5 million Palestinians are living as refugees. Homes and livelihoods lost and not a single penny in compensation.
They use stupid justifications such as Arabs have lots of land we only have a bit. Is it justifiable to rob from the rich? The truth is Israelis are much more wealthy than Arabs.They suggest the Palestinians should get on with rebuilding their lives and economy. How can they when their water has been diverted from them and their farms snatched?

The Rev,

I suspect that all of us will have to decide how we want our freedoms to be protected? Should we protect ourselves from terrorism by becoming terrorists ourselves, you know, 'an eye for an eye'?

If so, we become no better than those that we criticize!

If I had the power to do so, I would rid the world of all of the eye for an eye folks, and the warmonger and terrorist classes of humanoids.

I couldn't engage in the practices that they typically believe in and egage in, so I suppose that I would simply supply all of these classes with a one-way ticket to Mars, then the rest of us could enjoy a modicum of peace, and use peaceful methods to resolve our differences!

Americans have long since taken on the attitudes, beliefs and methods of the so-called terrorists, themselves!

Of course there is a reference in scripture that reads, 'when they say Peace, look for sudden destruction'. There may be something to that!

A war crime can only occur if an army targets civilians on purpose. That seems far fetched when Israel informs the civilians to flee, not just by leaflets, but by loud speakers as well. The war crime should be committed against Hezbollah for burying themseleves among women and children. For not carrying out their operations away from apartments and inhabited areas. This war would have been long over with if Israel would have just droped missles into all of southern lebannon -- which is by definition inhabited by Hezbollah supporters. But they didn't, because they were trying to avoid these civilians, and the war is taking longer as a result.

David,

This arguement that "they made me do it" is RIDICULOUS. You can use the same argument for Israel, since it has been attacked ever since it was created and say "they made me strike back". Taking quotes out of context and throw it up to say -- of course they should target innocent civilians and teach their children to hate. What kind of future will that bring. There is NO OTHER country in the middle east where a jew is part of the government as arabs are part of the Kenneset. The fact that Israeli's were ready to give 99% of their land back, not 80 - not 90, but NINETY-NINE percent and the palestinians still sent suicide bombers and still teach martyrdm is no proof on behalf of the palesinian side that they are interested in laying down their weapons. Unless they start teaching peace and stop using violence to attain their point, I doubt Israel will think that it has a chance of "brokering" a peace deal -- particularly with a group that calls for its destruction.

the muslims from being a threat?

treat them fairly and educate them, show the world that you are benevolent, thoughtful people surrounded by fanatic stupid primitives, that would commit genocide at the drop of a hat....

unless you can't, because you're the same thing with a European accent....and close minded and trying to get_even with Hitler by acting out your persecution against others...like most psychotics.

and with the Hezbollah,

it's same old same old. Primitives fighting primitives, and bush is usin it to cover his a ss in the Iraq scam....it's called start a fire over here to distract from the one that you can't handle...

that aside, it's obvious that hatred exists in the middle east because two mighty Military big boyz are doing what they want to to the little boyz and it doesn't look fair...

it isn't.

WE ARE IN IRAQ and the MIDDLE EAST BECAUSE WE HAVE BIG OIL MEN INTERESTED IN CONSOLIDATING THEIR INTERESTS

and using the United States Military as their personal rent-a-cops, using Project For a New American Century (PNAC) by Paul Wolfowitz, a jewish american academic as their premise for intervening in foreign countries.....Jeb Bush, your next president signed it in 1997.

Remember, people said bush was going into Iraq before WTC. And in a recent poll WSJ said that 50% thought they had found WMD recently in Iraq? even though they had only found some old chemical warheads sold to Saddam by Rumsfeld....not nuclear WMD, which is what a _real_ WMD is....

and 65% of the Americans polled still think that the terrorists that attacked the WTC were Iraqis'

That isn't ignorance that is what the president and his people have been saying publically in speeches over the last five years....

Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Cheyney and others _routinely_ lie as a way of keeping their story running........

who were the WTC pilots? saudis

look it up on wikipedia

and I wrote this to a WashingtonPost writer regarding this article, a portion of it shown below for identities sake:

"
Federal Court Posts Online Nearly All Evidence From Moussaoui Trial

By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 1, 2006; Page A07

Officials at the federal court in Alexandria posted on the Web yesterday nearly all the evidence presented during the sentencing trial of Sept. 11, 2001, conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, marking the first time a federal court has provided such extensive online access in a criminal case.
"

where is he? Zacarias Moussaoui, have you verified that he is where they said he is, or are you a stooge for this administration? Suppose you're this administration,

If you're trying to make a case for external sources attacking you, and how crazy and fanatical they are....you need a live and kicking witness to tell the story and a credulous public and reporters to verify it.

Do you think about that? Do you know that we are in the middle east for oil. Do you know that Argentina had a deal to run a pipleline from the Caspian Sea to the ocean through Afghanistan until we, the United States intervened and took the deal away from them by attacking Afghanistan?

Do you ever wonder why Bush doesn't want oversight? Does it occur to you that the NSA banking transactions programs could just as easily be used to analyze the market conditions and bet stock through dummy organizations with information that is only available to the Military, and with computers that exceed anything available outside of the security or military by mandate? That it is against the law to have computers that can exceed what WE, in NSA/CIA/MILTARY can compute or store? Who in the world has terrabytes of data from satellite data imagery that is updated and examined daily? Would bush use it to play the stock market and claim to be using it for United States needs....could he be working things to take advantage of the system.

Again, where is Zacarias Moussaoui and why does the Federal Government need to do what it has never done before.....it seems like they are trying to make a case for themselves, and alabi. Sort of like FBI/CIA complicity testimonies in congress, claiming to somehow have slipped up and needing a coverup to explain how some agents not in on the scam "heard about it," and put together a false story about how they "missed it." Well I think you missed it.

See yah.

Eddie wrote "If you even take a look at official policy from hamas, hez , Iran, You would notice they are committed to Israels destruction."

David writes Re Hamas - what would you do if your whole life is restricted to living in abject poverty in the world's largest detention camp, Gaza ? Imprisoned by a country that has forced for family off the land it has farmed for over a thousand years.

What would you do?

Re Hizbullah. Controls Southern Lebanon where there are STILL quarter of a million Palestinian refugees, forced off their land as above. Additionally, Israel currently hold a big lump of land that EVERY other country in the world recognizes as Syria. Not surprizing that Syria backs Hizbullah.

What would you do in their situation?

Eddie wrote "There children are taught from grade school to be martyrs. They celebrate death as a means to heaven. There is a fundamental functional problem with any group of people who think like this."

David writes... I agree. The fundamental problem is a legitimate grievance, combined with a hopelessness to find any solution.

If my innocent daughter and wife were blown to bits by Israel, I would probably feel like doing something to Israel, and not care it killed me.

You might forget that Israel spent two decades in Lebanon, and commited numerous atrocities and massacres against civilians. You might forget that. The people who lost their children don't

Eddie wrote "Israel may have issues, but they dont raise kids to carry bombs or have parades with mock suicide bombers."

David writes - but instead, they teach them how to fly jet fighters, and how to completely destroy ten city apartment blocks, because three out of the thousand homes belong to Hizbullah.

Then they brainwash them into thinking that these atrocities and massacres against civilians are totally justified.

It seems that they have brainwashed you as well.

Eddie wrote "You mention how Israel treats there nieghbors, do you have any idea how many times since Israels inception they have come under attack ?, any normal nation would have nuked its neighbors by now."

If you apply the same statement to Lebanon, or Palestine, you will find attacks on them are much worse.

No force in the world - not Hama, Hizbullah, or any conventional force anywhere, comes close to the IDF when it comes to killing children.

But that is no surprise when Israel has the policy of communnual punnishment, even of innocent people, even though this is a well established war crime.

As Ariel Sharon always said, "Arab women and children are far more dangerous to Israel than a youth with an AK47".

That's why he has always targeted them, and infamously been involved in massacres of refugees.

Dave,

If you even take a look at official policy from hamas, hez , Iran, You would notice they are committed to Israels destruction. There children are taught from grade school to be martyrs. They celebrate death as a means to heaven. There is a fundamental functional problem with any group of people who think like this. Israel may have issues, but they dont raise kids to carry bombs or have parades with mock suicide bombers. You mention how Israel treats there nieghbors, do you have any idea how many times since Israels inception they have come under attack ?, any normal nation would have nuked its neighbors by now.

Anon wrote "I think America would rather support people who don't teach their children to become suicide bombers, or supply textbooks that promote hatred instead of how to coexist side by side with each other."

David - I think blowing up hundreds of innocent people, like Israel has done every year, is what feeds suicide bombers.

Also throwing a million people of their ancestral lands might make people more than a little annoyed.

What about keeping a million people eternally in teh Gaza detention camp - unable to leave, water and power rationed - forever. People might feel a little hopeless and angry there.

Anon "Israel offered Arafat 99% percent of what he wanted but yet rejects peace and launches infatida."

David - If you actually have a look at what Israel was going to hand back, which you clearly haven't, it looked like a map of a brain, with all the Palestinian land cut off from neighbouring villages and families.

It was a totally unacceptable solution, but made good propaganda for those who want to deliberately and falsely make it sound like a really good deal - that is dishonest.

Anon :... and Hamas as elected government, which will not even say Israel has the right to EXIST."

David - I've always supported Israels right to exist, but looking at the way they treat their neighbours, perhaps the time has come to discuss the issue.

I don't beleive ANY country that causes massacre followed by massacre followed by massacre against innocent civilains has a right to exist.

Anon "Israel looks to disengage from Westbank and again its looked at as sign of weakness from Hamas. Hamas kidnaps Soldier in an act of war, Hezbollah follows suit."

David - the 16 month truce with Hama was broken when Israel blew up a family having a picnic on the beach.

Israel bombed Lebanon starting May 26 with a car bomb, artillery barrage, and air stikes.

If Israel is trying to get the world to hate them, then they are doing a far better job than Hizbullah could ever do.

Nina,

I think America would rather support people who don't teach their children to become suicide bombers, or supply textbooks that promote hatred instead of how to coexist side by side with each other. Perhaps if the palestinians where ready to have peace they would stop firing rockets into Israel...over 600 of them before these attack even began within the last year. Israel offered Arafat 99% percent of what he wanted but yet rejects peace and launches infatida. Israel leaves southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbolloh becomes better armed and claims victory. Takes withdrawl as sign of weakness and occassionaly rain rockets down in Northern Israel from 2000 to 2006. Israel unilaterally leaves Gaza, receives rocket attacks in return and Hamas as elected government, which will not even say Israel has the right to EXIST. Israel looks to disengage from Westbank and again its looked at as sign of weakness from Hamas. Hamas kidnaps Soldier in an act of war, Hezbollah follows suit.

Blaming the jewish lobby is no way to gain peace in a region that must disengage in fighting all together and that includes name calling.

true globalization includes the concept

of mutual impact....and the implication s of that

One poster noted

on:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/2006/07/29/is_doha_important/comments.html

that if everyone consumed at the Rate Of Consumption that the Americans did that we would be livingon a desert world within a few years.

How about America managing it's resources as a sustainable thing, rather than viewing Americans as a consumer class only. Who needs more fat Americans driving hummers?

Having someone besides greedy children running the corporations and government would go a long way to wards making the world a better place to live in. Exhibiting moral restraint, keeping osmotic trade barriers up between participants that were trying to mandate third world conditions as "fair" environments and requiring civilized nations to start trading their citizens rights away and leveling the playing field by reestablishg the peasant class in their home countries, in order to stay competitive doesn't make the world a safer place to live....it makes it a hungry, deeply dissatisfying place to live...

and given a choice I would like to let the aristocracy taste the peasant life immediately....for their selfish gift of understanding hell that they wish to foist on the rest of us....

Iraq and democracy.....right, and I'm the friggin tooth fairy.

I would start arresting people that sell arms to stupid people in Africa...

Globalization could be beautiful or ugly, with the current administration and congress in power it'll be darned ugly....

lying theives of perfidy....opportunists of gluttonous aspect...the 600 pound man in the wheel chair demanding 6 steaks and a dozen eggs for breakfast.

On the other hand, actually finding alternatives to oil would evaporate the danger of having oil in the hands of "the wrong people," it would cease to be an issue and we could use our resources to make the world a better place...

IF we were in a "war," instead of an "occupation" we would have mandated changes at home that would keep our country out of risk and would make for easy changes if the middle east went up in flames. We would pass laws that made it a crime punishable by paying more money for extravagance in gasoline usage.....payable at the pump. We would mandate telecommuting as a way of doing business, we would require that people that work over the telephone for United States Companies actually be United States Citizens.....there are a boatload of OUT_OF_WORK_EX_FACTORY_WORKERS that have been a burden on the rest of us since their companies moved to China, Indonesia, India and other places....that could use the work, and could stay in the rural areas and not bother the rest of us with their commuting needs. You could also mandate urban travel rules at a federal level....this is ?wartime? right ha ha ha......war against stupidity _WOULD_ be nice.

You take oil out of the equation, the Middle East becomes SUPERFLUOUS to planning, and they either fall in line with social skills or stay isolated.........

YOU KEEP OIL IN THE EQUATION, then we _have_ to control the region....

you bunch of stupid people.....OIL IS A NON RENEWABLE RESOURCE, IT IS GOING AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

start living without it NOW! and make the world a safer placeto be living in immediately.

.

The US and Isreal are very much against any Arab nation, and hide behind the pretext of fighting undemocratic states. I am sure there is many more around the globe that are too: China, most of Africa but then Africa has no oil, who cares then?
Isreal is exploiting events that took place in the US for its own advantage, spending billions of american tax-payers to support its military actions, knowing that 8 million muslim tax-payers are having their own money spent to kill their brothers and sisters with no recourse.
The American policy is truly shaped by the Jewish lobby....can American and its Congress start having a mind of their own and stand up to the Israel? after all, what can Israel do without US support, sue us or bomb us? is america turning itself into Isreal'slave just because they know how to argue and point the fingers and mainly cry like madonas???
Grow up America, Grow up and face the truth...Israel is abuse your goodness and Bush is not even someone to spend words on at this point.

Thank you David,

And let me add more, that coincides with this topic, 'Do the U.S.A. and Israel Feed a World of Terror'.

1. One of the best examples of how the U.S.A. fed terrorism, includes those antecedents that led up to 911, and the U.S.A.'s direct involvement and support of the so-called terrorists prior to 911.

2. I wonder would 911 have been avoided, if we had not been engaging in nefarious activities ourselves and undermining the efforts of the Soviets when they went into Afghanistan to among other things, fight terrorism. What if we had allowed the Soviets to have completed what they started, the same that we are in Afghanistan attempting to do now?

3. Instead, the United States, meddling again, joined in with the Afghani's and the Taliban to resist the Soviet's fight against terrorism, and as a result became enablers terrorism; the same terrorism which came back later came to bite us in the booty. Preachers cannot say the other word, i.e., unless they are talking about a donkey(-:

4. The United States supplied the terrorist resistance in Afghanistan with weapons and provided intelligence information to the terrorists against the Soviets, whereby weakening the Soviet war on terrorism, and in turn strengthening terrorism.

5. The United States continued to support the Taliban, even financially, up until 6-months before 911. Get it, just 6 months before; the U.S.A. was in bed with and giving financial support to people that suddenly became terrorists when they attacked this country. What were they before, freedom fighters?

6. And what have we learned? Right now the U.S. has befriended the once evil warlords in Somalia, or at least that is what we used to call them, purportedly to fight against the Ql Queda. And the U.S. is also warning other nations, to stay out of it. When the balance of power shifts the other way in time, will we switch sides and join in with the now hated Al Queda and fight against the warlords?

Can somebody tell me, when will America stop prostituting itself? When will we admit that America's short-sighted and misguided foreign policy, has gone awry? How many more so-called terrorists will our meretricious leaders hop into bed with and support, and years later have the same people come to bite the USA in the booty?

It is up to the American people to help to prevent the next 911, by calling for a serious review of our own foreign policy and our foreign policy apparatus, and we should remind our leaders what it is that the American people want, and to stop having neophytes tell us what we want.

The US and Isreal are very much against any Arab nation, and hide behind the pretext of fighting undemocratic states. I am sure there is many more around the globe that are too: China, most of Africa but then Africa has no oil, who cares then?
Isreal is exploiting events that took place in the US for its own advantage, spending billions of american tax-payers to support its military actions, knowing that 8 million muslim tax-payers are having their own money spent to kill their brothers and sisters with no recourse.
The American policy is truly shaped by the Jewish lobby....can American and its Congress start having a mind of their own and stand up to the Israel? after all, what can Israel do without US support, sue us or bomb us? is america turning itself into Isreal'slave just because they know how to argue and point the fingers and mainly cry like madonas???
Grow up America, Grow up and face the truth...Israel is abuse your goodness and Bush is not even someone to spend words on at this point.

The US and Isreal are very much against any Arab nation, and hide behind the pretext of fighting undemocratic states. I am sure there is many more around the globe that are too: China, most of Africa but then Africa has no oil, who cares then?
Isreal is exploiting events that took place in the US for its own advantage, spending billions of american tax-payers to support its military actions, knowing that 8 million muslim tax-payers are having their own money spent to kill their brothers and sisters with no recourse.
The American policy is truly shaped by the Jewish lobby....can American and its Congress start having a mind of their own and stand up to the Israel? after all, what can Israel do without US support, sue us or bomb us? is america turning itself into Isreal'slave just because they know how to argue and point the fingers and mainly cry like madonas???
Grow up America, Grow up and face the truth...Israel is abuse your goodness and Bush is not even someone to spend words on at this point.

What a succinct and accurate summation by The Rev.

In the Iraq invasion Rumsfeld had to give permission for attacks that were likely to cause more than 50 civilians.

He gave permission THIRTY times.

America had 95% of the world supporting them after 9-11.

Now they are bombing innocent Lebanese children by proxy. It fills me with disgust.

And George Bush calls it self defence.

Is he deliberately trying to make the world hate America????

If so. Congratulations to him. He's succeeding.

The problem for Americans is this - the longer this goes on, the less distinction the world will see between the American administration, and the American people.

The USA and Israeli Conundrum,

1. Both countries were attacked

2. Both countries initially received the support of the majority of the world, even some of their ongoing enemies

3. Both countries respond, with the backing of the majority of the world

4. Both countries go too far, and emulate the behavior of their former attackers, by killing innocent and terrorizing innocent people.

5. Both countries invade and occupy sovereign nations

5. World opinion shifts, and two countries that were once supported are now condemned.

As my Democratic nemesis would probably say, 'that is your spin on the matter'.

In both scenarios, respectively, which terrorists killed the most innocnet people?

Was it Al Queda or Hamas and Hezbollah?
Or on the other hand was it the
United States' or Israel's terrorists?

Ans. The USA and Israel.

Folks, its all terrorism! We cannot stop terrorism until we stop being terrorists ourselves!

The Rev

President Bush and his advisors could benefit by consulting with the British as a result of their vast knowledge and experiences in Empire Building and Empire Failings. The Lessons Learned by the Former British Empire, particularly the reasons that they abandoned that enterprise, could be beneficial to Mr. Bush, America and the world!

It seems to me that Mr. Bush and his Administration could learn a lot from the lessons learned by the former British Empire, the same Brit's, who were by and large responsible for the creation of Israel and that portion of the Middle-East as we know it now, in 1948. Does anyone remember that it was the British Empire, who at one time practically controlled the whole world, including what came to be known as the United States of America? The British have already done what the U.S.A. is trying to do now; run the world. Does anyone else think that we should be consulting, no listening and trying to learn given their vast knowledge and experience which included making a lot of the same mistakes that America has been making in recent times?

Perhaps the Brits can point out the pitfalls and the reason for the failures of America's current failings ventures around the world. Bush for certain, should be consulting with Great Britain, the folks that have the experience, in order to learn, instead it is the other way around. Mr. Bush continues to try to inveigle the Brits, not to mention America's traditional allies, into buying into his ill-be-gone foreign policy initiatives around the world. Bush and America should consider why Great Britain gave up its stranglehold on the world, including nations like India, Pakistan, Israel, Iraq..., groups like the Arabs, Persians and Chinese...., people who Slave and Free...., groups who were secular and non-secular!

If we would be honest with ourselves, what foreign policy knowledge could a man have who could not name several Heads-of-State several years ago, who were household names in the average American household? Why couldn't this former Governor, baseball team owner, and oil man name any of these Heads-of-states? Why, because he did not have any interest in the issues that were affecting the world at the time, which should have been a perquisite and requirement for anyone who was aspiring the position of President of the United States of America? Are you going to tell me that in 6 or 7 short years, this man who is sitting in the most pivotal seat in the whole world is suddenly qualified to tell the whole world what it should and should not be doing? The Angry Republicans and the closet Republicans in the Democratic Party (8 million cross-over's) and a lot of Christians should be ashamed, not of Bush, but of themselves. For ultimately, they are responsible for this travesty!

[It was always curious to me that people who purportedly did not believe in same-sex relations and marriages, or homosexuality, along with an inexperienced neophyte for President voted for a ticket with a man who was a heart-beat away from the Presidency, a man who believed in all of the above, instead of grooming up candidates who shared their beliefs. Curious?]

And what happens when you take a man who has had zero interest in foreign policy or world affairs, and put him in one of the most influential positions in the world, we have what we have now, a world in chaos? And there is a saying that, 'if you keep doing what you've been doing, you will keep getting what you've been getting'. And folks we are getting the same old stuff, wars and killing and a lack of mature leadership; this man is not a statesman. This man does not know what to do. his was not an OJT position. This was not a position for a neophyte!

America has placed a loaded gun into the hand of an infant who is still learning how to walk himself; how can someone who is still trying to learn how to walk himself, lead the world?

Why won't Mr. Bush listen to the British Parliament? Why won't he listen to America's allies? Why won't he listen and learn from those who have the maturity, experience and know how? Rather than have Tony Blair come here, Mr. Bush and the young aspiring Dr. Rice, should go overseas and lbe taught by those who have the knowledge and experience, the same group that once made the same mistakes that America is currently making under the guidance of George Bush!

P.S. Semites are not exclusively Jews. Some who accuse others of being anti-Semitic for speaking out, are anti-Semitic themselves it would appear.

Bush On Steroids?

President Bush and his advisors would benefit by consulting with the British as a result of their vast knowledge and experiences in Empire Building and Empire Failings. The Lessons Learned by the Former British Empire, particularly the reasons that they abandoned that enterprise, could be beneficial to Mr. Bush, America and the world!

It seems to me that Mr. Bush and his Administration could learn a lot from the lessons learned by the former British Empire, the same Brit's, who were by and large responsible for the creation of Israel and that portion of the Middle-East as we know it now, in 1948. Does anyone remember that it was the British Empire, who at one time practically controlled the whole world, including what came to be known as the United States of America? The British have already done what the U.S.A. is trying to do now; run the world. Does anyone else think that we should be consulting, no listening and trying to learn given their vast knowledge and experience which included making a lot of the same mistakes that America has been making in recent times?

Perhaps the Brits can point out the pitfalls and the reason for the failures of America's current ventures around the world. Bush for certain, should be consulting with Great Britain, the folks that have the experience, in order to learn, instead of the other way around. Instead he keeps trying to inveigle the Brits, not to mention America's traditional allies, into buying into his ill-be-gone foreign policy initiatives around the world. Bush and America should consider why Great Britain gave up its stranglehold on the world, including nations like India, Pakistan, Israel, Iraq..., groups like the Arabs, Persians and Chinese...., people who Slave and Free...., groups who were secular and non-secular!

If we would be honest with ourselves, what foreign policy knowledge could a man have who could not name several Heads-of-State, who were household names in the average American household? Why couldn't this former Governor, baseball team owner, and oil man name any of these Heads-of-states? Why, because he did not have any interest in the issues that were affecting the world at the time, which should have been a perquisite and requirement for anyone who was aspiring the position of President of the United States of America? Are you going to tell me that in 6 or 7 short years, this man who is sitting in the most pivotal seat in the whole world is suddenly qualified to tell the whole world what it should be doing? The Angry Republicans and the closet Republicans in the Democratic Party (8 million cross-over's) and a lot of Christians should be ashamed, not of Bush, but of themselves. For ultimately, they are responsible for this travesty!

[It was always curious to me that people who purportedly did not believe in same-sex relations and marriages, or homosexuality, along with an inexperienced neophyte for President, voted for a ticket with a man who was a heart-beat away from the Presidency, a man who believed in all of the above, instead of grooming up candidates who shared their beliefs. Curious?]

And happens when you take a man who has had zero interest in foreign policy or world affairs, and put him in one of the most influential positions in the world, we have what we have now, a world in chaos? And there is a saying that, 'if you keep doing what you've been doing, you will keep getting what you've been getting'. And folks we are getting the same old stuff, wars and killing and a lack of mature leadership. This man does not know what to do? This was not an OJT position. This was not a position for a neophyte!

America has placed a loaded gun into the hand of an infant who is still learning how to walk himself; how can someone who is still trying to learn how to walk himself, lead the world?

Why won't Mr. Bush listen to the British Parliament? Why won't he listen to America's allies? Why won't he listen and learn from those who have the maturity, experience and know how? Rather than have Tony Blair come here, Mr. Bush and the young aspiring Dr. Rice, go overseas and learn from those who have knowledge and experience and who once made the same mistakes that you are making now!

P.S. Semites are not exclusively Jews. Some who accuse others of being anti-Semitic for speaking out and anti-Semitic themselves it would appear.

It's not reporting and it's not commentary. It's special pleading when Arkin writes: "the number of civilians killed by the United States and Israel is extremely low by historic standards. In Lebanon, 430-plus civilians have now lost their lives, and the Lebanese health minister estimates there could be 150 to 200 more dead in the rubble.

"What is more, if Israel were trying to kill civilians, or if it were really indifferent to civilian deaths, surely one can see that that number could be much higher."

Note the "430-plus". With that kind of maths, the number of US service personnel who have died in Iraq could also be written as "430-plus." Nobody knows how many civilians have died in Lebanon recently. Any sensible person knows that the 430 figure is not necessarily correct -- or close to it. In Lebanon, people are dying of hunger, or sickness from polluted watyer and from bein g buried beneath shattered buildings that sensible people are too scared to look beneath. They're dying in shattered vehicles on remote country roads, and their unnumbered rcorpses are decaying beneath a fierce summer sun. 430-plus, pah.

Israel and the US have long lost their moral compass. Just when one thinks that they should have tired of the bloodshed that their plainly stupid foreign policies bring about, we have Lebanon. Can the images of dead children bodies among the rubbles change this? Can they at least move their hearts?. I doubt it, but part me hopes of moral that this new horror brings about the moral outrage that seems present everywhere but in the US media and public opinion. Compassion and decency and humanity, or the ability to try to see things from a perspective that is different from their narrow own seem not to be attributions of either the US media or its average citizen.

Just turn on the TV: Stupid pro-Jewish lobbyist making a point that this is not their fault but Hezbollah's who started it. So childish, so blind, so unwilling to take responsibility for their actions. They are Murderers. Nothing but that, despite their suits and their very studied words. I wonder how can they sleep at night. Do they have children themselves? Can they look at them without feeling a pang of pain for those they have hurt? I cannot look at my own children these days, without thinking of those mothers who have been handed their children's small, broken bodies to bury. Fragile treasures, filled with innocence and life and promise one moment. Imagine their fear, their pain, their parents impotence. I think how, every single time my children are hurt --even lightly-- I wish I could make their pain mine. I imagine that all these murders will cause a legacy of pain that cannot be even described among those that survive. I imagine that all these murders will just breed more hatred. How can they not?

For God's sake, stop the killing. This is a war crime, a war against humanity, an attack against innocents who cannot defend themselves. It is a war of the mighty and arrogant on the helpless. This country's double moral standards make me regret that my children carry an American passport. Today, all I see, is two terrorists states, Israel and the US, trying to impose a right by their might --and that blindly, without getting anything but bloodshed and more hatred back--. Maybe one day, the US will wake up to realize that by aiding Israel its made a pact with the devil. Maybe one day the average citizen will care and will pressure its government into decency, into a regard for humanity and justice.

terrorism's tool of
this United States administration and many before it...

we ruled Central America and South America with our terrorist activities....

And George H.W. Bush is enjoying the fruits of that by being friend to the current leaders of Chile, by helping them to become _that_ by allowing the former president of Chile to be assassinated on the Streets of Washington DC...now he can enjoy the destruction of Chilean indigenous farmers by having their water supply destroyed as his company destroys the glacier that feeds them, so he can make a few more bucks and the Chilean government can depend upon US Miltary intervention and money....because George H.W. Bush is _all_ about favors....

that's why we _favor_ ISRAEL....money

is a terrorist cell different than what Special Ops group is? Tell me it's not.

It is disingenuous of the United States to call people that are not helping the current crop of rogues running the United States terrorists because it suits them, as_if

the bushco people are not the terrorists, when they are...George H.W. Bush and his son have been involved in shucking you_all ever since the early 50's....where'd the coke that little george was addicted to come from Panama/Noriega/Ollie North/Fawn Hall? probably...you paid for it, did you get any?

terrorists? what terrorists? you mean the United States trained CIA/Al Queerda?

you mean militias and groups that act against the United States interests, and for their own interests? Like Apache Indians in the late 1800's, my Grandmother saw Geronimo shackeled to a pony being returned to the reservation in Oklahoma circa 1905.....terrorists? shure they are...

muslims are backwards untrustable fanatics, that believe in fatwahs and jihads........so educate them, quit killing them and stealing their land and oil....

in fact why not find an oil alternative, mandate telecommuting, require that all customer service jobs that have gone overseas come back in house and give them to out_of_work_factory_workers that can't find work without driving or moving miles, hows about requiring that we have an energy policy in_place

how about requiring that all congress people must be able to attain a clearance...

oversight? what oversight? CAN YOU SAY LOOTING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS THE PEASANT CLASS REACHES RECORD LEVELS?

blue collar middle class? what's that?

Do I think that the United States and Israel are creating terrorists, and doing it purposely? YES.

I think that the United States provoked the indigenous populations of the United States, other wise known as North American Indians...to attack them, as they stole their land and their resources....and made movies about the horrible North American Indigenous population as a way of rewriting history........

Are the muslims the good guys? Hardly. How's about the decapitation of three teenage girls in Java? What's that about, sex crime disguised as some kind of HOLY WAR....probably.

Two primitives, ISRAEL/MUSLIM_FUNDAMENTALISTS and with this current neo_conartists' administration in power, it's rather disturbing the lowbrow, rather transparent skullduggery that is being passed off as foreign policy....

like snatching the Trans Afghanistan Pipleline from Argentina and calling it "liberating the Afghanis from the Taliban" as we teach the Afghanis to grow opium to civilize them...bring them into that food chain at a level that we can use them....

How often does the United States Ops corp consistently get involved in drugs?

after Panama, Noriega, Columbia, Negroponte/Honduras, Mafia,BaYofPigs/Nixon/LBJ CIA/FBI

come on boyz, connect the dots....take out the trash....
.
.

Ali, I couldn't agree with you more. As an American citizen who wants nothing more than peace to occur, I feel that it is important for there to be a cease fire in order to prevent further civilan losses. But at the same time, there must be just as loud a voice by ALL people interested in peace to acknowledge that Hezbollah is forgoing peace for the sake of instabliity. HEZBOLLAH, not the lebanese people who are miserably taking the greatest loss. Israel has repeatedly stated that it is targetting Hezbollah and NOT civilians. There is NO denying that Hezbollah uses its own as targets. There is substantial proof for this and is recognized by the UN. But unless people in the world acknowlede it and protest it, not just against attacks in Lebanon, but equally against these Hezbollah tactics, we ourselves enable Hezbollah to become more powerful. The UN posed a security resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed in 2004. But that didn't happen, and the result is that they bacame a part of society. Every person who does not stand up against this is just as much a part of the problem as the continued attacks in Lebonan that result in loss of civilian life. Hezbollah must be disarmed, and while the labenese government may have been in a situation where they could not, the UN did nothing to stop it. We are finding out that this is a new type of war in which public reaction is a major aspect of the outcome -- everytime people become enraged about civlian loss without at the SAMETIME condeming Hezbollah -- we become a pawn for Hezbollah, helping them to achieve their goal. The result, is that Israel will continue to feel isolated in its campaign to remove the regime that calls for it to be "wiped off the map" and will continue its attacks because it feels it is the only country looking out to prevent its own destruction by these radical groups.
In order for peace in the form of diplomacy to occur, we must stop the name calling and the blame everywhere and by everyone. Both sides must stop the attacks, especailly since no country is without death as a result of this. Diplomacy will not win unless we ourselves encourage a culture that allows for new perspectives, hope and peace in living side by side. This cannot be done while we allow ourselves to feed into the name calling game, and allow Hezbollah to become more powerful.

This article is just part of the cynical game the terrorists are playing. They shoot at civilians, then hide behind civilians and you ask who is feeding the terrorists? You are!!! Why not suggest a better way to fight this kind of enemy! Because nobody has figured out one and appeasement will not work.

Dont give the old BS about meeting their demands or pretext of occupation because both dont apply in the current conflict.
You cant 'feed' fascist islamicists terrorists. They are not defending anything. They are on the attack and their goal is domination.

By patronizing them in so many ways, such as suggesting the scurge of islamic fanaticsim requires outside feeding, you play right into their hands.

They started this fight and then claim to be defenders.This is the test of modern warfare. If they attack and you do nothing you will invite more attacks. If they attack and you retailiate then they hide amongst the population that supports them and wait for the reporters and the UN to come and blame you. You come in and spout unproven notions of protecting civilians during wartime. The terrorists get to play underdog and the media plays right into their hands. Black is white,white is black.

But you dont think they have plans and goals that are offensive. You dont blame them or suggest anything better to fight them. Typical.

Anonymous wrote
"The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated."

So Israel will blow up a whole apartment block where 100 families live, because they see one katusha, or because one apartment is owned by a Hezbullah official (who obviously won't be there).

Israel has broadcast images showing they can take out a single apartment, put a rocket through a small window, (or hit a Red Cross ambulance in the exact dead centre centre of the cross - twice).

Yet rather than hitting their targets like this, they take out not just one city apartment block, but destroy them ten at a time (1000 family homes).

Anonymous continues
"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

This claim sounds highly suspect, because if they are launching katushas from East Beiruit, they are only going to get halfway to the border.

It's quite simple actually. Hezbollah behave like maniacs; the Israelis behave like Nazis. And the U.S. pretends it has no blood on its hands. How can America's role in this ghastly situation do anything else but add fuel to the fires of terrorism???

"Here is my latest thumbnail sketch of the fight in the Lebanon war, based on Israeli sources and some U.S. intelligence and operations observers following the fighting: ..."

Talking about unbiased sources. Sir could you please give other at lesat non-affiliated entities a chance? Or is this another sort of "embedded war reporting"?

I completely agree that further destruction of civilian lives AND !!!!
biased western coverage of the events will only create MUCH BIGGER problems in the future, for both the US and Israel.

Being a part of muslim society which is actively trying to overcome hatred created by "so-called" extremist and terrorist leaders of muslim society. I would surly like to say that such actions (wars) are overturning all efforts by muslim majority who have tried to educate young ones that its not clash of civilisations nor crusades. Even such activities have strongly undermine the actions of muslim liberal leaders in Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia (e.g. Pervez Musharraf).

Extremist elements in muslims are cashing up these crises to fullest.

The war on terror can be only won by winning the hearts -- NOT by WARS.

Any party who will be providing food, shelter and basic services to poor labenese will win their hearts. Its still time to win this war strategically by providing better social and economical services to poor and average labenese citizens.

There is also strict need to stop terrorists, their sponsored states and states which actively participate in terrorism acts (inc. Iran and Israel).

Lets say NO to terrorism and live in peace side by side.

==the world must admit and speak out about the offensive tactics that Hezbollah uses with its citizens to incrase its own causulties.==

To complaign about unfair tactics from a non-state actor in a fourth generation war is to admit lack of understanding of the conflict you are in.

Of course they will do whatever they can to win in a fight which is for them existential, including hiding behind civilians. It's the nature of asymmetric warfare. Israel (and other governments), will generally hit civilians with numbing regularity, explaining it away as a justified response to these tactics.

It is interesting to note that military/civilan ration of casualties on both sides are probably similar, with Hezbolah actually having a more favorable ratio. Israel has declared a few hundred fighters killed (~300), with civilian Lebanese death over 500. Israeli losses are 33 soldiers and 18 civilians.

An Australian journalist reports...

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.
----
The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.

Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".

Mr Egeland blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.

"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.

While I agree that senseless killing is not the solution, and that compromise must take place on both sides, the world must admit and speak out about the offensive tactics that Hezbollah uses with its citizens to incrase its own causulties. Diplomacy may only come if the Arab world and the media are not so biased towards Israel's actions, when they repeatedly have stated they are not targetting civilians. I only wish for peace in the region.

"Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi," Ahmadinejad said in the speech to Friday Prayers leaders from across the country."

It is said that, as mayor of Tehran, he [Ahmadinejad] had city plans drawn up for the return of the 12th Imam. At his address to the United Nations General Assembly in October, 2005, he indeed ended his speech with a prayer imploring God to hasten the return of the 12th Imam for the good of humanity.

"From the beginning of time, humanity has longed for the day when justice, peace, equality and compassion envelop the world. All of us can contribute to the establishment of such a world. When that day comes, the ultimate promise of all Divine religions will be fulfilled with the emergence of a perfect human being [12th Imam] who is heir to all prophets and pious men. He will lead the world to justice and absolute peace. O mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace."

This is what Israel is fighting.

How do Americans feel that they are paying for and supplying the weapons used to carry out repeatred atrocities and massacres agains Lebanese civilians?

I am with "fed up" who was once a supporter of Israel but now finds he can no longer do that.
The Israeli destruciotn of Lebanon,the death of so many Lebanese has angered me to the point where I see the no difference between Islamic or Jewish fascism or between Islamic or Jewish religious fanaticism.
You are a bad as each other.

As a Christian, I believe we are all born equal, we are equal in the sight of God and guess what? we all die.
Why are so many of you so damn eager to die sooner rather than later? Why is it so hard for you to "respect" one another.
God, how I wish we had some real leaders in the world than the hotpotch lot we have now.

this administration and many before it.

that is what Special Ops is. Tell me it's not.

It is disingenuous of the United States to call people that are not helping the current crop of rogues running the United States terrorists because it suits them, as_if

the bushco people are not the terrorists.

terrorists? what terrorists? you mean the United States trained CIA?

you mean militias and groups that act against the United States interests, and for their own interests?

Do I think that the United States and Israel are creating terrorists, and doing it purposely? YES.

I think that the United States provoked the indigenous populations of the United States, other wise known as North American Indians...to attack them, as they stole their land and their resources....and made movies about the horrible North American Indigenous population as a way of rewriting history........

Are the muslims the good guys? Hardly. How's about the decapitation of three teenage girls in Java? What's that about, sex crime disguised as some kind of HOLY WAR....I think not.

Two primitives, and with this current neoconartists' administration in power, it's rather disturbing at the lowbrow, rather transparent skullduggery that is being passed off as foreign policy....

like snatching the Trans Afghanistan Pipleline from Argentina and calling it liberating the Afghanis from the Taliban as we teach the Afghanis to grow opium for ?

How does the United States Secret Ops corp consistently get involved in drugs?

Panama, Noriega, Columbia, Negroponte, Mafia, CIA/FBI

come on boyz, connect the dots....put them away.

.

==You refer to Israel hitting electric infrastructure in Lebanon, but so far it hasn't been the case. Beirut's lights burn bright.==

It is true that the main power station seems not to have been hit. However, pretty large areas of South Beirut has been fairly well rubbelized. The issue in large areas of Beirut is not one of lack of electricity, rather one of lack of non-death-bearing accomodations. Death seems kind of worse than darkness.

==Lebanese hospitals are not on generators.==

Maybe the main hospitals in the north are not, but I am not sure. Again, in large areas of the south, the problem isn't lack of electricity in hospitals but rather near complete lack of medical services entirely, to a point where even Doctors without borders, a notoriously daredevil group of medics seems taken aback by the medical devastation. Since hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are on the move fleeing the bombing along bombed out roads (per Israeli government instructions), hospital electricity is not a main issue. There is simply no functioning medical system at all in the south of the country.

==On the other hand, several Israeli hospitals have been hit==

Yes, another war crime by Hezbolah. I saw Israeli patients moved into a pre-prepared basement hospital, complete with all required facilities. They appeared distraught but very well attended, a testimony to the preparedness and professionalism of the Israeli medical establishment.

However, to try to portray Israeli medical condition as that of a "victim" in this conflict would simply be ludicrous.

The actions of Israel and America are seriously weakening thier onw positions across the globe.

And it's not just Arab countries that are angry at Israel and US. Any pro-west governtments are sudenly much weaker than they were last month, but this is the same for all countries, right across the spectrum to America's closest ally, Britain.

Blair is being mocked and ridiculed for his backing to the US stand in the Lebanon crisis, not only by the public and media, but by his own political party and even his own government ministers.

Atrocities against civilains must be stopped.

They are not acceptable. Defence of these atrocities fill me with disgust, whether they come from Bin Laden, Blair or Bush - they ALL use the excuse that they are justified because they serve a greater purpose.

Did The Treaty of Versailles feed WWII?

Yes.

But the Nazis did not have to go on a rampage of Europe to end their servitude manadated by the terms of the treaty.

Similarly, the terrorists do not have to act like terrorists in order to achieve their political aims - UNLESS the aim is to wipe out people they do not like.... Which, IMO, is what they wish to do.

Iran can end this tomorrow. They choose not to.

Civil Disobedience brought an end to the Vietnam War, and only Civil Disobedience could bring a quick end to the insane bloodshed in Iraq, and possibly the greater Middle East, as well.

Unfortunately, until such time as a Univeral Draft is reinstated, Civil Disobedience will NOT happen. College Students, a true catalyst, have no real incentive to protest the war, since it has no real impact on them...they don't have to worry about Military Service. The last thing the Pentagon and the White House would want to see is the reinstatement of a Draft System. It's probably bad enough Cindy Sheehan just bought some property adjacent to President Bush's Ranch.

Short of a Draft and Civil Disobedience, the next best solution is a wholesale change in our elected officials in Congress and especially the Executive Branch. The Rev is Right On The Mark when he says "We Must Hold Our Elected Officials Accountable"...Which also means as citizens and voters, we need to get off our Duffs and Vote in 2006 and 2008. The Sleazy/Criminal Majority in Congress needs to go. We truly need a groundswell of protest and voter action!!

For those folks who think this is just another bleeding heart liberal posting on this blog....Think Twice!...I am a Registered Republican and have voted a Straight Republican Ticket for the past twenty or more years.

The continued senseless killing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, and other parts of the world must stop...It is Senseless!!! President Bush was partially correct when he said a certain individual could End This S_H_I_T...What He didn"t realize is that he was that individual...Not Kofi Anon!

Point of order!
You refer to Israel hitting electric infrastructure in Lebanon, but so far it hasn't been the case. Beirut's lights burn bright. Lebanese hospitals are not on generators. There's no doubt that Iran/Syria are trying to resupply Hizballah so roads are fair game. The airport which was hit early on recently landed Jordanian planes bearing aid.
On the other hand, several Israeli hospitals have been hit. If Hizballah hit military targets here and there it was probably because they missed their civilian targets.
If Israel's casualties have been so low, it hasn't been because of Hizballah's lack of trying.
If Hizballah's longer range rockets hit Tel Aviv, then Beirut will probably go dark.

Mr Arkin,
You are asking 'Do the US and Israel feed a world of terror?'
This is a loaded question indulging into the presumptions of their official propaganda. Let's see into it...One could answer either 'yes' or 'no'to your question.
A) If one answers 'yes', this would then mean that what you designate as 'a world of terror' refers to the world of those that are not with us (i.e. the US and Israel), to use the presidential infantile and naive dichotomy (either with us or against us) in which the alternative conduct to our's will always and necessarily be terrorist. Thus no matter what we do: torture, jail without trial, kill chirurgically in thousands or hundreeds civilians, the terrorists will always be the other one (against us.) Right?
B)If one answers 'no', this would then mean that those that are against us are somehow and naturally 'terrorists', since we didn't do anything that might have cause them to behave the way they do. They are just being irrationally violent.Right?
The loaded question is serving a wishful thinking in which the complexity of historical reality disappears. That is, a reality where not only our desire, our aspirations and hopes, but also the hopes, aspirations and desires of others are accounted for.

Democracies Don't Fight Democracies?

Well it would appear as if that axiom has been put to bed. According to Mr. Bush, Lebanon is a fledgling Democracy, and according to Mr. Bush, Iraq is a Democracy.

So why is one Democracy attacking the other? What this says to the rest of the world, along with the fact that Hamas was Democratically elected, is that once again you can get not believe the hyperbole of the West or Mr. bush's hyperbolic promises.

Yes, the respondents (Bush and some of you call them terrorists), are fighting back, and new respondents are being created each day. The fact is both America and Israel are guilty of terroist practices themselves.

Americans please stop it. We are illegaly occupying a country ourselves in deference to the U.N. and world opinion. We are defending our partner-in-crime for doing much the same.

We can only expect that the rest of the world is going to stand up and take notice. Not even America's allies agree with the behavior of Israel or the United States lately.

The problems can only resolved when both sides, not just the Arabs and Persians, admit their contributions to the problem, that is if we want the problems resolved.

Otherwise, it is our posterity who will continue to suffer in the future, because of all of our recalcitrance. I won't want my kids and grandkids to die, or to live under the fear of constant war because a group of radical neanderthals on both sides refuses to grow up!!

The Rev

I can't see what this argument stands on; Israel has killed 430+ civilians, and Hezbollah's attacks have killed 33 soldiers and 19 civilians (52 total), and you say that Israel hasn't been targetting civilians because the death toll would have been much higher?

You mean, Hezbollah was targetting civilians and killed 19 civilians, whereas Israelis weren't targetting civilians and killed 400+ civilians? How simple of you!

"Fifty-two Israelis have been killed by Hezbollah to date, including 19 civilians. As of yesterday, Israeli authorities reported 1,262 wounded, including 46 who are still hospitalized."

"In Lebanon, 430-plus civilians have now lost their lives, and the Lebanese health minister estimates there could be 150 to 200 more dead in the rubble.
What is more, if Israel were trying to kill civilians, or if it were really indifferent to civilian deaths, surely one can see that that number could be much higher."

Dear Mr. William M. Arkin
I do not know why other journalists are refraining from writing on the same subjects you are writing about, daily?
But, I think you know why; it is the Israeli lobbies. (free USA first before Iraq)
Nevertheless, I thought there are no Americans who dare write about the subject frankly yet, but I was wrong.
Now, let's study the trends; Nasrallah, sys and dose. He does not lie. The Israeli population believes him more than their media. He promised them surprises and delivered. He promised them Haifa, and delivered. He promised them "next to Haifa" and he delivered. He promised them heavy cost if the ground forces try to get into Lebanon, and he delivered. Therefore, if his "next to the next of Haifa" would be said, by Nassrallah, to attack the Israeli nuclear plant at Demona in a week time, what would the Israeli population do?
The Israeli population will believe the threat, will leave Israel in 24 hours and no more Israeli problem will exist.
I think the US government was convinced of Blair scenario and agreed to stop the war.

Israel is the only country's who existence is questioned. No one ever questions the right of any other country no matter what is does.

I don't see that Israel has any good choices. It is surrounded by hatred and by groups that want to destroy it. Israel left Gaza, but Hamas continues to attack Israel, because its real goal it to destroy Israel, not just to end the occupation.

I keep reading about how America controls the world economically, I guess they do by purchasing huge amounts of the world's gross production and exporting a tiny amount of their own.
Want to have an effect on the USA's economy? Well stop investing in it (and reaping the profits too,) and stop selling to the USA (and suffer the consequences of not having customers for your products!
Come on guys, stop blaming the USA for everything that goes wrong in the world. Bush is perhaps the most damaging thing that has happened to the USA and its credibility in the war, but how about the res of the world sepping up to the plate and bearing some responsibility for what is goin on too!

Darell wrote
"The golan hieghts were captured by israel in the 67 and 73 wars. In 67, a blockade of israel started the war, in 73 Israel was
the victim of a surprise attack by egypt and syria."Good neighborly" relations means you dont attack yr neighbors.Is that such a hard concept ? Syria wants Golan back ? well, they should stop supporting groups trying to destroy Israel. Sounds fair ? Its more then fair."

You are completely right. That's totally fair.

And it's exactly what Syria offerd Israel in 2003 - full recognition of Israel and a halt to all actions against Israel in exchange for return of it's occupied territory.

Israel refused.

David
The golan hieghts were captured by israel in the 67 and 73 wars. In 67, a blockade of israel started the war, in 73 Israel was
the victim of a surprise attack by egypt and syria."Good neighborly" relations means you dont attack yr neighbors.Is that such a hard concept ? Syria wants Golan back ? well, they should stop supporting groups trying to destroy Israel. Sounds fair ? Its more then fair.

Is your article suggesting, then, that Lebanon and other countries surrounding Israel would be answering the requirements of fair play if they were to build up comparitive conventional regular military forces - tank regiments and a crack modern air force, which would then be based in distinctive extra-urban areas where there would be separation between military and civilian? Do you think Israel would allow that? I'm sure you don't.

Lebanon has the only military force it's permitted to have. The Lebanese Army will never be allowed to threaten Israel's regional domination, besides being awarded the responsibility of disarming Hezbollah - a task Israel couldn't accomplish in 18 years.

Israel maintains a conscript military, for both men and women. Therefore, everybody in Israel who isn't too young or too old to serve is a viable active-service member of the IDF. How is that not blending with the civilian population? Hello, pot, meet kettle.

Fed Up wrote "While I've been sympathetic to the people of Israel in the past, I now am not only unsympathetic to Israel, but I now feel that Israel has no "right to exist"."

I feel exactly the same. I've always supported Israels right to exist, but I believe the time has come for this issue to be debated.

They can't continue to run Gaza as the world's largest detention camp.

They can't continue to push Palestinains out of their own ancestral land, and build new settlements in the West Bank.

They must give back Golan Heights to Syria - no country in the world recognises Israels annexation of Golan Heights.

If good neighborly relations is a prerequisite for peace, then Israel clearly isn't interested.

The existence of rogue nations needs to be questioned.

This is a no-brainer---treat people badly, as the U.S. has done for decades and you make enemies. While I've been sympathetic to the people of Israel in the past, I now am not only unsympathetic to Israel, but I now feel that Israel has no "right to exist". Like the U.S., they stole their land fair and square, through military tactics and _terrorism_---whatever it took and whatever it takes. Peace in the Middle East can only come about through the elimination of Israel ( as a start). The U.S. can give the people of Israel, say Nevada, in which case, Nevada/New Israel will continually be attempting to appropriate lands from neighboring states. I think the U.S. would far l