Everyone is complaining about Iran and Syria support of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinians and no one mentions the total, unwavering material support being supplied by the United States Government. The support by my government supplied to Israel includes money, F-16s Fighter Jets, bombs, tanks, and other munitions. We have in fact created a Frankenstein Monster that can do no wrong in the eyes of the U. S. Government, yet we feel free to conplain about other countries doing the exact same thing that we are doing.

I am an Iranian who has lived in the West for the ast twenty years.I left Iran because the Ayatollahs. Since the invasion of Iraq my view has been changing. For years I was told that the Americans and Israilies are murderous and coward. I had always though differently but I have seen in front of my eyes (through mass media owned by US) the brutality and act of tyrany by US and the unlweful state of "Israel". I will soon go back to Iran and appologise to the Ayatollahs. By the way im not a Muslim i am a Jew, a proud Iranian one.

This will continue until one of two things happens: Either Israel destroys Iran, or Iran destroys Israel. Personally, I'm rooting for the former. I can't understand why the people of the middle east vote Hamas and Hezbollah into power when they know their reward will be nothing but misery and suffering. I suppose they need it. After all, what would they do with peace? Build a real economy? Too hard.

Hezbolla's attacks against Israel and kidnapping of its soldiers were deliberate acts of war, a war for which they have been preparing ever since Israel withdrew from Lebanon. Hezbollah is shelling northern Israel constantly, with no intention of stopping, regardless of the casualties caused or international repercussions. Apparently, neither the government of Lebanon nor any other country is willing to stop Hezbollah's relentless attacks on Israel. Therefore, Israel has no other choice but to do whatever it takes to stop Hezbolla's attacks.

Hezbolla's attacks against Israel and kidnapping of its soldiers were deliberate acts of war, a war for which they have been preparing ever since Israel withdrew from Lebanon. Hezbollah is shelling northern Israel constantly, with no intention of stopping, regardless of the casualties caused or international repercussions. Apparently, neither the government of Lebanon nor any other country is willing to stop Hezbollah's relentless attacks on Israel. Therefore, Israel has no other choice but to do whatever it takes to stop Hezbolla's attacks.

The comments here are a bit ludicrous. Equating support for a legitimate government that is only trying to protect its citizens, with a terrorist group that's sole purpose is to attack civilians, is preposterous. "Flowering Lebanon" allowed an armed terrorist group to sieze control of the entire northern section of it's country, bring in 30,000 offensive missles with which to attack it's neighboring country, allows them to build fortified bunker systems under civilian areas, let's the terrorist group set up their headquarters in swank hotels in their capital and allows them free reign to attack a neighboring country. When the neighboring country counter-attacks, they then complain that they are a victim! It reminds me of the man who is found guilty of murdering his parents and then begs for mercy as he is now an orphan. You do the deed, you pay the price!

Hezbolla's attacks against Israel and kidnapping of its soldiers were deliberate acts of war, a war for which they have been preparing ever since Israel withdrew from Lebanon. Hezbollah is shelling northern Israel constantly, with no intention of stopping, regardless of the casualties caused or international repercussions. Apparently, neither the government of Lebanon nor any other country is willing to stop Hezbollah's relentless attacks on Israel. Therefore, Israel has no other choice but to do whatever it takes to stop Hezbolla's attacks.

yea man. iran's gonna get it

Now, isn't this ironic, all that endless talk about "our grand vision" of democracy in Middle East and here we are fighting and demonising those few who actualy got elected and have mandates from their people (Hamas, Hesbollah, Ahamdinejad, Sadrists), while the currupt dictators, kings, sheiks, emirs and the like are our "moderate" best friends - men of vision, heralds of "new middle east".

How can anyone stop a war by sending more bombs and weapons to one side and promises to the other side?

Why do we keep beating this horse to death, "Iran instigator or bystander" There is irrefutable proof that Iran is directly involved in Lebanon. But the media and the powers that be are still scratching their chins,"Well Iran might be in involved, but we're not quite sure yet, this matter still needs to be further investigated."
It doesn't take a Rhodes scholar or Pulitzer prize winner to figure out that get Iran out of the picture, and Hezbollah/Hammas will dry up and blow away.

I find it either unbelievable or unconscionable that an Iranian Jew would side with Ahmedinejad and those other deluded persons who reject both the truth of the Holocaust, and the right for a nation of Israel to exist. What modern-day diplomacy fails mainly at doing is assigning blame fairly, and bypassing unrealistic assertions by mindwashed religious zealots. It seems we are doomed to repeat history ad mortem. This, from a proud German-American.

Thanks, Mr. Morley, for a timely and thorough report.

I agree with R. Sittema's statement that:
"This will continue until one of two things happens: Either Israel destroys Iran, or Iran destroys Israel." I think Israel is setting the stage for an attack, and that the US will be drawn in to help.

War is never desirable, but the Iranians in power are too dangerous.

Oh, i see, now the problem isn't a killing and kidnaping of IDF soldiers (please remind me, how many Lebanese and Arabs does Israel hold?) , it's those crude rockets, which happen to began raining on Israel after IDF flattened southeren Beirut.
Well, i guess the lesson U.S. is teaching the world is that self-defence or god forbid a deterrent will absolutely not be tolerated when you're weak.

Yes, spreading "democracy" has always been a foolish endeavor. In the US vulgar vernacular, "democracy" really means democratic elections, rule of law, a strong judicial branch, a civilian-controlled military, a relatively free press, and a constitutionally limited executive branch. However, our government doesn't understand that and instead tries to spread just democratic elections, without the other essential elements. It has been shown ad infinitum that citizens in an insecure culture, having a weak economy and constant threats of war, will elect extreme governments who spout aphorisms of strength. Even in the US, a mature and vibrant democracy, you see this pattern. In moments of weakness after 9/11, we felt vulnerable, and the economy dropped. Suddenly, a majority of the country stopped thinking and starting supporting Bush, a president who lost the popular vote. Why? Because Bush bluffed strong, "If you're not with us, you're against us." Anyhow, it may be ironic, but it's also completely predictable and very sad.

"Equating support for a legitimate government that is only trying to protect its citizens, with a terrorist group that's sole purpose is to attack civilians, is preposterous."
Yeah, preposterous if you ignore Israel's repeated violations of international law, of the rights of Palestinians, its repeated and ongoing land grabs by settlers, its violation of internationally recognized borders, and its history of killing far more Arab civilians than have been killed in Israel.
Remind me, please: which side of this conflict are the "terrorists" on?
Objectively, the answer would have to be Israel.

If Israel changed its name to something ethnically neutral, say "Harmonia", gave full citizenship to the Palestinians and renounced all racial, religious and ethnic discrimination then the whole conflict would be over. It is interesting that Bush talks about wanting democracy in the Middle East but then he also says people in the Middle East have to "acknowledge Israel's right to exist" which is nothing more than saying they have to agree to be subjected to segregation and discrimination. Talk about being a control freak, Bush doesn't just want to control whether people get what they want, he wants to control what they want - all in the name of "democracy".

"it's those crude rockets, which happen to began raining on Israel Before IDF flattened southeren Beirut.
"

Fixed for accuracy.

"god forbid a deterrent will absolutely not be tolerated when you're weak.
"

You know, deterence never work if you are to weak to back it up. A deterence is saying that you are stronger then your opponent.

Of course in the middle east deterence doesn't work to well. They don't seem to bother calculating balance of strength before they start wars over there.

"Oh, i see, now the problem isn't a killing and kidnaping of IDF soldiers (please remind me, how many Lebanese and Arabs does Israel hold?) , it's those crude rockets, which happen to began raining on Israel after IDF flattened southeren Beirut."

Please, look at the events on the ground. Hezbollah provoked this war. They have been fortifying southern Lebanon since Israel left, and they have been planning this war for just as long. Hezbollah is riding the recent wave of shiite power and is looking to claim the mantle of radical religious authority. Hezbollah is currently accomplishing what Hamas and al Qaeda (both Sunni organizations) have been unable to do: draw Israel into costly guerrilla warfare and rain down rockets upon populous Israeli cities.

Do not play stupid. Millions of Arabs and Muslims want to destroy Israel. Hezbollah is acting on those desires. Israel is defending itself...ruthlessly without mercy. How would you act if you lived in a neighborhood where everybody else wanted you dead? Yes, Israel's attacks worsen the situation, but do you honestly believe that the situation would improve if Israel never counter-attacked?

So, if Israel is never going to be loved by its neighbors, then maybe fear is the only option left to keep its citizens safe.

Simple advice to all the terrorists,
Stop attacking Israel, take your rockets and stick them up your ass and Israel will withdraw. All you people who feel that Israel and the US are wrong on this issue have been brain washed too. If it wasn't Israel the terrorists were upset about, it would be something else. Arabs have been fighting for 1000's of years. They are not going to stop today. As for the Iranian "Jew" who made that comment above, you are not a Jew, you are a liar.

Due to sheer ignorance or on purpose, most people just focus on hamas and hezbollah's capture of the israel's soldiers as the trigger that justify this holocoust punishment both to the palestinians and the lebanese people. Happenings prior to those incidence in which Israel killed innocent civilians on the beach in Gaza and then it's incursion into Gaza to kidnap Hamas members were evaporated unnoticed. In conclusion the Arab blood is cheap thus don't require worthy world's attention. As long as this injustice is not addressed any peace accords or truce or cease fire will never hold in the Middle East. Furthermore Israel is given a blank check by the USA to do whatever it wants in the Middle East even the UN can't do anything about it. So just brace ourselves for more violence to come ....

In response to Barabin:

I don't feel that democracy is at all being undermined. The people can support anybody they like and vote for anybody they like. However, if they vote for a militaristic regime that instigates a war, they must accept the war. It is the same in any country. If Canada elected a group to power that then shelled America repeatedly, it would have to accept American retaliation. Accepting the consequences of your vote is part of how it works. If America were to kidnap some Canadians and hide in a suburb of Washignton DC, it would have to accept that that suburb would be a target because the party it elected into power acted in a way that was careless and dangerous to civilians.

Personally I feel that Hezbollah deliberately set up in civilian centers to make any Israeli retaliation appear all the worse. I find that very irresponsible of them; they clearly do not care at all about the people they are supposedly defending. They are at least as bad as Israel for making targets of refugee centers and public areas.

Blaming Syria and Iran for all of it is foolish--Hezbollah would be much weaker wihtout their support, but it's obvious that this militia would be fighting regardless.

I also would like to state that if Arabs did not want Jews in the area, they should not have sold the land to them prior to WWI--it is a documented fact that nearly 1/3 of what is currently Israel and the West Bank were purchased by Jews from Arabs legitimately. Whatever wrongdoing Israel has perpetrated since may have been wrong or overly militant, but you cannot refute the claim of a person to land they purchased from your grandparents.

If people don't see through this thinly veiled - neo-con/zionist propaganda effort to drag the US into additional wars in Iran and then Syria then we will soon be seeing and hearing about American boots on the ground in Iran.

Just read dore gold's piece and see how the "message" is so similar to what netanyahu was saying on fox at the weekend ......

"Iran is seeking to dominate Iraq, particularly its southern Shia areas -- the provinces where British troops are deployed -- and hopes to encircle both Israel and the Sunni heartland of the Arab world.... There is no question that Iran's main aim is to dominate the oil-producing areas by agitating the Shia populations of Kuwait, Bahrain, and the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia."
....

this message is clearly a shift in israeli policy and is designed to forment a shia/sunni split...to serve its own ends...interestingly the brutal images coming out of Lebanon seem to have temporarily united the Arab voice when early on there was criticism of hezbollah..

Well if Israel wants to take on Iran thats their perogative but do it on your own and not with US Money and Equipment ...

America is losing so much money from two little wars that I fail to see how inviting a third one will help. And Iran, N Korea, and Syria are not Afganistan nor Iraq with the 10+ years of embargo and bad managment.
I think that it seems we are winning the war from sunny California, it doesn't look like that in other parts of the world.

"So, if Israel is never going to be loved by its neighbors, then maybe fear is the only option left to keep its citizens safe."

Of course it's never gonna be loved by neighbors, for god's sake, Israel is an artificial religious state (granted, a fairly liberal one) with first and second class citizens, militant society and expansionists policy. True, their unimaginable rough history and Arab stupidity and primitivism contributed, but in all fairness Israel isn't a lot more than apartheid colony.

As long as Bush administration supports terrorist state of Israel there will not be any peace in ME, How can you tell resistance and democratic elected parties
of palestinian and lebonesse to give up their resistence and surrender to Israel aggression and occupation. Us instead of being pupet of Israel should force Israel to stop its aggression and occupation of palestinian and leboneese land.

"...it is a documented fact that nearly 1/3 of what is currently Israel and the West Bank were purchased by Jews from Arabs legitimately."

So give back the more than 2/3 that wasn't purchased legitimately and call it even. :)

So the WOLFOWITZ PERLE FEITH LIBBY, ET.AL PLAN CONTINUES.
This is only the continuance, with a slight detour, that those jewish neocons began with the war in Iraq. To use American blood and treasure..starting with Invasion of Iraq, then Syria, then Iran. When the Iraq war failed and the American people got agut ful, Israel started killing Iran earlier than planned...then to Syria, Iran. Devastating Palestine was easy. So why all the discussion. Blood all over their hands, but that's mothers milk to them and theirs. And of course the whole thing had to be begun while the idiot Bush was still in the White House.
His terrible rambling appearance this morning shows he's not quite right.

Lets cut through the chase here, In every single conflict over the globe what is the one common denominator? Islam, Islam is the one common denominator in all the death and destruction that is currently engulfing the world.
The Iranian President has made no secret in wanting the destruction of Israel and Western culture. So why does Islamic posters refute this. At least he is being honest with the world in Iranian intentions. "Oh no, not Islam we only want peace and its those Zionist Bush pigs that are advocating war against poor defenseless Muslims." Camel Pucky, if the world believes this then the moon is really made out of Swiss Cheese.
Unfortunately many in the world do believe this hog wash spun by Islamic propagandists.
Muslims think they are so pious and pure, I'm sorry there is no purity or piousness in bashing in the head of a four year old Israeli girl with the butt of an AK-47.
If Islam truly wants peace then cease your hostilities and military operation all over the world, this won't happen because Islam wants to either convert, enslave, or murder the infidels all over the world. Peaceful religion my backside.

Regarding democracy in ME:

That's really a no-brainer.

What people in the region want and what West has been actively denying them for centuries are peace, prosperity and Islam.
Peace - obvious enough, prosperity - denying the fruits of their oli wealth to be shared by the people (remember the mossadegh coup), Islam - well, you know your history.
We should simply support people's aspirations instead of actively undermining them and holding entire region hostage to whoever our current favorite set of strongmen and autocrat clients are.

It's appparent that if Israel didnt have the supplies and weapons from the US that Israel wouldn't exist. If Hezbollah or Hamas didn't have weapons from Iran and Syria there would be peace. Go Israel! Defend yourself and ensure this doesn't happen again.

"Smile and be kind but always carry the biggest stick to ensure personal safety"

PROUD AMERICAN Given the number who pretend they AREN'T JEWISH on these posts, perhaps one who claims to be one should be applauded. And the question may not be moot in the future. Yes, even in America.
One hears frightening things around the water cooler that you'd not like.

From Melvin.....

"Muslims think they are so pious and pure, I'm sorry there is no purity or piousness in bashing in the head of a four year old Israeli girl with the butt of an AK-47."

You know what Melvin - personally I think the person who did this should have his balls cut off and then be hanged .....having said that the israeli govt. is no better....there are so many Palestinian children who have been shot, crushed, blown up & beaten to death etc etc etc by the army & settlers it would take years to chronicle them all.

Seems to me that piety and purity are completely lacking in your neck of the woods ....you guys are just as bad..one main difference is they don't have an army of supporters in the US trying to justify their crimes...

In iran the people who are against the goverment call the people who are with the goverment "Hezbollahi", Hezbollah belongs to Iran. Not to say that Israil actions are justified, but they should also know that iranians are not Arabs. Thay are of an IndoAryian breed. On a final not, the last know time in history that any country was able to invade persia was in the time of Alexandre the great. Good Luck, Israil

unfortunatlly U.S. is being deceived by israel and there is increasing possibility that the U.S. will be dragged into this war because israel has embarked on an adventure that can not finish under its own terms, and can not sustain for too long, therefore its only ally the United States (unfortunally) has to get physically involved to resolve it for her. the U.S resources is being wasted on israel. it is too costly for the U.S. to continue this relationship at this level. at some point the U.S. has to act as an honest broker to stop this nonsense that is also affecting her standing in the world.

All I know is in bush's math 40 is bigger than 400. This is why israil is innocent.

And congratulation my israili friends you are very successfull to made next generation of sucide bombers.

I'm an iranian studentt in US. I never liked the government in Iran, because it limited my social life and imposed strict rules on it. However, here I'm trying to be honest with numbers and facts:

1. The death toll of lebanese side in this conflict is 422 people up to now, 27 of them from hizbollah fighters. The other 395 people were civilians. Israel has killed 15 innocent people to kill a single hizbollah gighter.
2. The death toll in Israel is 42, 24 soldiers and 18 civilians. Apparetly Hizbollah is trying hard just to atack Israel military.
(Those numbers are reported by Reuters, July 25th)

3. Terrorism is defined by the US Department of Defense as "the unlawful use of -- or threatened use of -- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives."

Now please be honest. Who is doing an act of terrorism against innocent civilians here? Israel who has killed 15 innocent lives for each militant hit or Hizbollah?

4. Also as someone else already said, Hizbollah only started attacking Haifa after 2 days of Israeli air raids and bombardment of civilian infrastructurs and houses in different parts of Lebanon including Beirut. However, until yesterday that Israel's ground troops entered Lebanon and managed to kill some 25 Hizbollah fighters, they had solely killed civilians.

5. Israel has literally destructed all lebanese bridges and many industrial bases. Are they going to pay for the reconstruction later?

6. As my final note. let's see what sequence of actions brought us to the current situation:
6.1. prior to June 9th,2006, The situation had been almost calm. Hamas was elected in a democratic election, and there were political pressures on it to refrain from violence. But the situation was calm.
6.2. israel fired an artillary 155mm shell on a Gaza beach, in hope to hit some Hamas members, but killed some 7 civilians. Major-General Yoav Galant of IDF says "he was sorry for the loss of civilian life."
6.3. Hamas ends it's 16 month ceasefire with Israel as a consequence of this attack.
6.4. Hamas attacked an Israel guarding post and caught a soldier as hostage, and suggested a prisoner exchange.
6.5. Israel denied and started bombing Gaza. It used precision missiles to eliminate hamas heads of the elected government.
6.6. Hizbollah as an act of sympathy with Hamas attacks an IDF post in the disputed shebaa farms. Note that this territory does not belong to Israel, and the debate in UN is whether it belongs to Syria or Lebanon. However Israel has military presence in this occupied peice of land. Any way, Hizbollah kills 6 soldiers and takes another 2 soldiers as hostage, and suggests a priosoner echange.
6.3. Israel denies an exchange and starts bombing Beirut and other Lebanon cites. This continued until yesterday when IDF's ground troops entered Lebanon.

So as you can see, the Hizbollah attack on Israeli soldiers hasn't been totally a provocative act of war.

Reza Ur the man for putting some real afcts on the table. When are the people of this planet going to wake up

REGARDING MIDDLE EAST PEACE I FEEL THAT THE CITIZENS OF ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD,NEVER MIND JUST THE MID EAST ARE UNDER ATTACK BY GREED AND SELFISHNESS. IN THE SCRIPTURES JEWS AND MUSLIMS HOLD DEAR IT IS SAID BY JEHOVAH THE LAND IS NOT TO BE SOLD IT IS FOR THE PEOPLE. THEY ARE THOSE THAT WANT IT PRIVATIZED. UNFORTUNATELY THESE PEOPLE USE PROPOGANDA TO STRENGTHEN THIER CAUSE WHILE THE INNOCENT HARDWORKERS ARE THE VICTIMS. MY PROPOSAL IS TO BRING THE LAND TO ITS ORIGINAL NAME CANAAN W/TWO SEPERATE STATE/PROVINCES COMPRISING OF PALESTINE AND ISRAEL IT WAS CHANGED TO PALESTINE IN B.C. BUT TO BE FAIR WE WILL USE CANAAN
THIS WAR HAS NEVER ENDED AND WILL NEVER END TILL THE GREED ENDS AND IT IS DEEPLY IMBEDDED IN THE SOULS OF THE INDIVIDUALS IN CONTROL. ISRAEL STAYS WITH THE ORIGINAL LAND PURCHASED B4 WW1 AND THEY LIVE SIDE BY SIDE W/PALESTINE IN THE COUNTRY OF CANAAN. THE US BACKS ISRAEL THE SAME WAY IRAN/SYRIA BACKS HAMAS HEZBOLLAH SO THAT ARGUMENT HAS NO VALIDITY
EVERYONE HAS ALLIES AND NOT ONLY ONE SIDE SHOULD HAVE THE BENEFIT ONCE THE LAND IS NOT GRANTED AND DIVIDED BY THE ACTUAL PEOPLE THAT INHABITIT THEN THIS WILL NEVER END IT IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT BUT I BET THE CIVILIANS OF BOTH ISRAEL,PALESTINE AND LEBANON WILL HAVE NO ARGUEMENT WITH THAT IF IT MEANS PEACE
ALL THE WARS THAT HAVE BEEN OCCURRING OVER TIME ARE THE RESULT OF CLASSISM ONCE WE LEARN TO UNDERSTAND WE ARE ALL EQUAL AND HAVE SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO BRING TO THE TABLE THEN THIS WILL ALWAYS HAPPEN. IN THE GREAT USA WHERE I WAS BORN AND RAISED WE IGNORE THE PROBLEMS OF THE IMPOVERISHED AND PUT GREED B4 EDUCATION AMERICA WILL NEVER BE A REAL SUPERPOWER TILL THAT CYCLE STOPS A PUZZLE WOULD NOT BE A PUZZLE IF ALL THE PIECES WERE THE SAME

I think that anyone who believes they have a direct line to God and can therefore act on behalf of God should not be allowed to have a gun, or worse, control of a military. This would include: George Bush, Hezbollah, Hammas, zionists, Iran, and many others.

What worries me is that no one with any authority is standing up to mediate these conflicts, or campaign against the war criminals in any of our countries.

A question for all: what will you tell your children and grandchildren you did to resist and oppose the approach of World War III?

Blair is visiting Washington DC tommorrow. Where will the protestors be?

I think that anyone who believes they have a direct line to God and can therefore act on behalf of God should not be allowed to have a gun, or worse, control of a military. This would include: George Bush, Hezbollah, Hammas, zionists, Iran, and many others.

What worries me is that no one with any authority is standing up to mediate these conflicts, or campaign against the war criminals in any of our countries.

A question for all: what will you tell your children and grandchildren you did to resist and oppose the approach of World War III?

Blair is visiting Washington DC tommorrow. Where will the protestors be?

Policy makers in America and Israel are absolultely stupid.

If you really see Shia muslims are moderate. Iran may be theocratic state and it is very closer to democratic state than any muslim state can be.

The best way to deal with Muslim religion is keep Iran as a friend. Bombing iran may not help unless america wipe out all civilians like Israel is killing labenese in south lebanon.

As far Iraq , Idiot Bush messed it up. Saddham hussein would have been forced to accept anything as he was weaker by day. Now It is a mess. It will be continue to be mess as long as US military in IRAQ.

America is the source of motivation for downtrodeen hopeless muslim. They think atleast i die for allah instead living like slave. Simplistic minded.

The way to solve Iraq problem is very simple. Replace US/British troops with EUropean or UN peacekeepers. Iraq will be back as democracy. It is so simple. All Bush has to do is accept he made a blunder and remove US army and just keep US army base somewhere near syria/Iraq border and disappear completely from normal iraq population.

Will right winge jews in Bush administration accept the defeat ? Or will they keep sacrificing americans for their own idiotic ideological goals?

As long as americans can't think on their own they will keep dying for these fools.

Iraq is not the center of the problem. The epic center is SAUDI ARABIA. hello? Wake up!. Wahabism in Saudi arabia.

Shia muslims are always moderate simply because iran is the source of so much cultural heritage that they are tolerant of it.

Someone has to listen to the opposite side and what they are asking. Unfortunately BUSH and JEWS are deaf.

If you ask me i will eliminate all sunni muslim countries. To do that you have to attract Iran. The way to get Iran is by talking to them and integrate them with western world. That way Iraq will become democratic.

Sunnis will be isolated and they will come in line. At that time palestenians will accept a deal.

I don't think there is any hibollah problem. They attacked israel to help palestenians when the world abandoned them.
it is simple as that.

Prisioner swap was a easy one for israel. It would have been cost effective. Now Israel lost ist moral advantage and killing 400 innocent civilians. Foolish right wing jews. Only anger and revenge on their mind.

Israel should hold position now and call for ceasfire as they have the advantage and in lebanon land and stop killing more civilians.

But they can't. The goal is bring fear to lebanse shia masses. Never going to happen as long as koran and allh exist in their mind.

I think Israel should n't exist in my mind. But allow to exist as they do the proxy war for america in fighting muslims. But on one condition they should n't look like aggressor. They have to be victim.

Israels action shouldn't look like crusade!.

Seems to me that Israel may end up on the losing end of this little war. Yes, they can blow up things but they seem to be running into the same problem as the US army which is what happens next. Up to now the answer was go in and occupy the land for a long period. But this does not seem to be an option anymore because of the associated risks and recent lessons learned by Israel and US. This may leave them in a much weaker position afterwards since it may also remove this bombing option off the table for future conflicts if it proves to be ineffective. Somebody suggested that they should rename the area, give everyone a vote and take religion out of this. I think his name was Ahmadinejad but I might be wrong. At any rate let us get past this the Redskins preseason games will be starting soon and I've got a good feeling about this year.

I AGREE TOTALLY REEZA AND SS WE NEED TO LOOK AT BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY
2 SOLDIERS CAPTURE CAN NEVER BE AN EXCUSE FOR THE DEMOLITION OF A COUNTRY

Another important point.

Americas enemy is whoever jews enemy because jews taken over america.

Now america is fighting TRUE democratic institution HAMAS,HIZBOLLAH and IRAN. Calling them terrorists is absolutely laughable.

These are people. These are civilains elected. They fight for their rights. Israel is out of control in these scneario.

The terrorist countries are with dictators. PAKISTAN.SAUDI,EGYPT,ALLGULF STTAES and Jordan.

Where is the sense? Why fighting the wrong people?

It shows america is hypcrite. No one believes america. America is looks wounded 1000lbs gorilla swing blindly left and right.

Awful.

Reza did not put anything on the table but a bunch of out right lies. No one in their right mind believes that Hamas has honored any cease for 16 hours much less 16 months.

Israel has the absolute right to exist and not only that they need to have all of the rightful land. Which extend to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and parts of Saudi Arab?

We tend to make things to complicated. if I am out with my family and a person yells that he is going to kill all my family and then fires a shot in my direction but misses. I am going to unload on that individual with all the fury that I have.

I truly think that Arab community in the Middle East has underestimated the response that they are getting ready to have rain down on them. The world is getting tired and we are seeing them for who they are.

Both Syria and Lebanon have land issues with Israel, and Iran's permission is not required to settle these problems. Hizbulla is a Lebanese organization and supports Lebanese national interest. If possible, it would be helpful if Syria and Lebanon's land claims were handled together as a package. I believe that the return of these captured lands combined with a non-aggression pact would bring peace to that part of the Middle East. You wouldn't need any foreign troops along their respective borders. Syria has sought negotiations with Israel, but it has been turned down a number of times.
Until the present conflict, it was not uncommon for Israel to exchange prisioners for captured soldiers. They have even traded soldier's bodies for prisoners. I believe that Hizbullah mean't to capture some IDF soldiers for trade. It wasn't looking for a war, but was ready for one.
I don't believe that European troops would not be appropriate as a buffer force, but troops from Egypt might be accepable to both sides. A cease fire should be declared as soon as possible.

THIS WILL BE MY LAST POST BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE TO TRY TO HAVE A DISCUSSION OF VALUE WITH PEOPLE WHO LEARN HISTORY FROM THE MEDIA. FOR ALL THE RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS THE SCRIPTURES SAY THE LAND IS NOT TO BE SOLD IT IS FOR THE PEOPLE(JEW AND ARAB ALIKE) FOR ALL THE OTHER HYPOCRITES I WARNED PEOPLE OF THIS SCENARIO ABOUT 5YRS AGO WHEN BUSH NAMED THE AXIS OF EVIL THERE ARE 2 THINGS WORKING HERE US WANTS CONTROL OF THE ME OIL DUE TO DEPENDENCY AND TO UNDERMINE RUSSIA IN THE FUTURE WHEN THEY ONCE AGAIN BECOME STABLE AND ISRAEL OF COURSE WANTS THE LAND BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IT IS THIERS FROM THE SCRIPTURE(WHICH IS VERY DANGEROUS)
ALL THIS IS TIED TO AMERICA ALSO FEARING THE RISE OF CHINA AND THE HOPES THAT A UNIFIED KOREA W/JAPAN AS ALLY CAN UNDERMINE SO THAT WE WILL REMAIN LASTING SUPERPOWER ANYONE THAT READS HISTORY WILL LEARN THAT YOU WILL NEVER CONQUER ASIA OR THE MIDDLE EAST. WHY IS THAT?? THESE PEOPLE HAVE A VALUE SYSTEM AND CULTURE THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND THEY LIKE IT THAT WAY STOP OCCUPYING AND TRYING TO CHANGE PEOPLE I LEARNED THAT ON A SMALLER SCALE W/MY EX GIRLFRIEND YOU CANT CHANGE PEOPLE THEY CHANGE THEMSELVES IT ALL GOES BACK TO GREED NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT FOR A REASON DIFFERENT DOES NOT MEAN BAD OR EVIL MATH IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE AND THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO GET THE SAME ANSWER DONT CRITISIZE BECAUSE IT WAS A DIFFERENT STRATEGY USED
THAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PUT AN ANALOGY THAT EVERYONE CAN RELATE TO

I see postings crying for an Isreali child hit in the head with a gun, blame Islam, blame Muslims, why are Muslims so ready for war. 470 Muslim children have been killed by Isreali terrorist and the world says ok. The US gives them more bombs and wants to act like the moral authority. If this much injustice is being done to Muslims in Palestine, Lebanone, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechneya, does the world not expect one to fight back. The right wing Christian and Jews are murdering everyday but Muslims fight back after decades of being slaughtered and the great west calls them terrorists. Our eyes are so covered in blood we can no longer see the truth. Shame on us Americans.

I am not with muslim. I don't think islam should exist at all. That is a virus to humanity.

That being said , Israel is massacring Lebanese to make Greater Israel. Simple as that. All this hibollah firing rockets all an excuse.

Israelis mozzad create problems by hiding behind arabs and forment trouble constantly to keep occupying and killing palestenians.

As much as i say islam should n't exist. That can be said of Israel also. But they exist...they will fight to death.

Let me tell you something about future...

America has upperhand now with all nukes. So the balance tilted towards america. There will be a peace when few muslim countries get nukes. Then balance of the force will be equal and they will talk in even terms.

But the fear is though that Muslim countries will nuke israel for allah not for anything. They rather use it first than last.

Comparatively Iran is more sensible country than pakistan. Pakistan has lots of sunni extrem muslims in there. Sunni style is make more children and occupy the country.

Even in america if thengs let go , it will become muslim country.

Iran will never be defeated. It has been in existence for 2500 years and has ruled the known world. Israel is 50 years old and is a glass house of land thieves.

I am rooting for Iran to completely destroy Israel.

Reza is lying? Let's exam everthing he said:

1. the numbers look okay to me, matching what i got from MSM news reports;

2. this looks okay too;

3. i suggest move it down to 4., and move 4. up here to have the argument more connected;

4. to be swapped with 3.;

5. true, see MSM news reports;

6.1 no objection;
6.2 i remember that news;
6.3 the news i read said it's 15 (not 16) months before this incident;
6.4 & 6.5 mtaching news reports;
6.6 seem okay. but people would argue Hizbollah was also acting in Iran's interest. Thus their act is not fully justified.
And this is the point many argued about who started the war. They also would say Israel had COMPLETELY withdrawn from occupied lands in Lebanon in 2000 according to internationally recognized border agreement. Since, it was "calm"(same definition as the 15-month Hamas cease-fire, as Israel has constantly violated Lebanon's territory via land, air ,and sea incursions during the time span between 2000 and the abduction.)

6.3? 6.7?

----------------------------
I've known a few Iranians for a few years here in the U.S. Some of them secular, some Christian, and one Muslim. All of them are friendly, fairly open-minded (in comparison with some people here). None of them like the Ayatollahs and all of them think Cheney is nuts, if not as bad as the Ayatollahs.

$100 to $200 million annually is spent by Iran in supporting Hezbollah. Iran bought the gun, the bullets, taught hezbollah to aim and told it when to pull the trigger: Hezbollah attacked Israel on the eve of the G8 summit at which Iran would have been the main topic.

Where would Hezbollah be now without Iranian support? Perhaps it would be a radical party with a group of Lebanese-style assassins and a couple of cronies in Damascus, capable of blowing holes in the Lebanese democracy. But there would be no need for such tactical prowess and staying power. Hezbollah is in all but name independent, it is in all but name a resistance movement. It is in all but name a foreign legion unit of the Iranian republican guard, created to draw Israel into a war that would take more than just a few days. It's supposed to take the spotlight away from Iran for quite a while.

Hezbollah receives ideological and military training; it received c-602 anti ship cruise missile systems that Hezbollah fired at the Israeli navy. Considering the sophistication of the fortifications along the border it has received training that Iran gained in the Iran-Iraq war. Given the presence of IEDs heavy enough to kill the 4 operators of a heavy Merkavah tank, has expertly incorporated Iraqi insurgency tactics as well.

The Shi'a revolution has been reactivated by President Ahmadinejad. One only has to google the news a bit to realize that Iran has named the USA and Israel as its targets multiple times and that it has vaguely hinted at the "new wave of confrontations" that are current at this time. For Iran to gain ascendancy it will need to be able to blackmail its neighbours with a bomb big enough to make an impression. It needs its bomb making capability off the agenda, and Hezbollah is the only weapon it has that isn't obvious enough to show a clear Iranian hand.

In the mean time the free nations of the west are debating if Israel's response is "proportional" while Iran has the world so exactly where it wants it that it would be funny if it wasn't so extremely dangerous.

i have a question about the buffer zone proposed by Rice. why is it on Lebanon side, not the other side of the border? to be fair, shouldn't both sides contribute part of their land for buffering.

and it also sounds to me like a proposal to have an international force working in Israel's interest.

can any one enlighten me on this issue?

jvd70,

well, they also provided their constituency the social welfare system, namely schooling, health care, dare care, etc, with Iranian aids.

Israel and the U.S. could have replaced Iran in providing the aids to help the poor neighborhood in the south Lebanon. And they could have done it thru the Lebanese government. it might have changed things a bit.

but, unfortunately, they'd rather spend a huge amount of money on weapons than a relatively smaller amount on building social systems.

"dare care"???
-->"day care"

Interesting how the entire focus of all the media has conveniently been diverted towards Syria and Iran!

This is not about anyone but Israel indiscriminately murdering innocent people in Lebanon.

This operation must have been in the planning for months, so the entire garbage about Israeli soldier's being kidnapped is total 100% garbage!

I just read something that the Iranian President said which is "He who sows the wind will reap a hurricane". This would normally be amusing, but in this case it is very true and Israel should stop manipulating everything, just because it can.

It is time for us to tell Israel that what they are doing is wrong and they should get no support from us.
Unfortunately, Bush, Blair and our general media are still too frightened or blind or both to tell the king that "he has no cloths on"!

Leopol Weis, an Austrian born Jew, further, belonging to a family of rabbi's, who was a correspondent for a prominent newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, "then one of the most outstanding newspapers in Europe", recalls his brief discussion with Dr. Chaim Weizman, "the undisputed leader of the Zionist movement" in his book, My Discovery of Islam. asit is written in the book...
"'And what about the Arabs?'"
"I must ahave comitted a faux pas by thus bringing a jarring note into the conversation, for Dr. Weizmann turned his face slowly towards me, put down the cup he had been holding in his hand, and repeated my question."
"'What about the Arabs...?'"
"'Well-how can you ever hope to make Palestine your homeland in the face of the vehement opposition of the Arabs who, after all, are in the majority in this country?'"
"The Zionist leader shrugged his shoulders and answered drily: 'We expect they won't be in majority after a few years.'"
"'Perhaps so.... does not the moral aspect of the question ever bother you? Don't you think that it is wrong on your part to displace the people who have always lived in this country?'"
"'But it is our country ,' replied Dr. Weizmann... 'We are doing no more than taking back whta we have been wrongly deprived of.'
"'But you have been away from Palestine for nearly two thousand years! Befor that you had ruled this country, and hardly ever the whole of it, for less than five hundred years. Don't you think that the Arabs could with equal justification, demand Spain for themselves - for, after all, they held swey in Spain for nearly seven hundred years and lost it entirly only five hundred years ago?'"
"'Nonsence. The Arabs had only conquered Spain; it had never been their original homeland, and so it was right that in the end they were driven out by the Spaniards.'"
"'Forgive me' I retorted, 'but it seems to me that there is some historical oversight here. After all, the Hebrews also came as conquerers to Palestine. Long before them were many other semitic and non-semitic tribed settled here - the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Hittites. Those tribes continued living here even in the days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They continued living here after the Romans drove our ancestors away. They are living here today. The Arabs who settled in Syria and Palestine after their conquest in the seventh century were always only a small minority of the population; the rest of what we describe today as Palestinian or Syrian "Arabs" are in reality only the Arabianized, original inhabitants of the country. Some of them becme muslims in the coarse of centuries, others remained christians; the muslims naturally inter-married with their co-relioionists from Arabia. But can you deny that the bulk of those people in Palestine, who speak Arabic, weather Muslims or Christians, are direct-line descendents of the original inhabitants: original in the sence of having lived in this county before Hebrews come to it?'"
" Dr. Weismann smiled politely at my outburst and turned the conversation to the other topics."
I did not feel happy about the outcome of my intervention. I.... . But I had hoped that my defence of the Arab cause would at least give rise to some sort of uneasiness which might bring about more introspection and thus.... . None of this had come about. Instead, I found myself facing a blank wall of staring eyes: a censorious disaproval of my temerity, which dared question the unquestionable right of the jews to the land of their forefatherss..."
" How was it possible, I wondered, for people endowed with so much creative intelligence as the Jews to think of the Zionist-Arab conflict in Jewish terms alone? Did they not realize that the problem of Jews in Palestine could, in the long run, be solve only through freindly co-operation with the Arabs? Were they so hopelessly blind to the painful future which their policy must bring?-to the struggles, the bitterness and hatred to which the Jewish island, even if temporarily successful, would forever remain exposed in the midst of a hostile Arab sea?"
" And how strange, I thought, that a nation which had suffered so many wrongs in the coarse of its long and sorrowful diaspora was now, in single-minded persuit of its own goal, ready to inflict a greivous wrong on another nation - and a nation, too, that was innocent of all that past Jewish suffering. Such a phenominon, I knew, was not unknown to history; but it made me, none the less, very sad to see it enacted before my eyes.
My Discovery of Islam; first published in London 1954 under the title of The Road to Mecca; later by Goodword Books 2001 in New Dehli.

Leopol Weis, an Austrian born Jew, further, belonging to a family of rabbi's, who was a correspondent for a prominent newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, "then one of the most outstanding newspapers in Europe", recalls his brief discussion with Dr. Chaim Weizman, "the undisputed leader of the Zionist movement" in his book, My Discovery of Islam. asit is written in the book...
"'And what about the Arabs?'"
"I must ahave comitted a faux pas by thus bringing a jarring note into the conversation, for Dr. Weizmann turned his face slowly towards me, put down the cup he had been holding in his hand, and repeated my question."
"'What about the Arabs...?'"
"'Well-how can you ever hope to make Palestine your homeland in the face of the vehement opposition of the Arabs who, after all, are in the majority in this country?'"
"The Zionist leader shrugged his shoulders and answered drily: 'We expect they won't be in majority after a few years.'"
"'Perhaps so.... does not the moral aspect of the question ever bother you? Don't you think that it is wrong on your part to displace the people who have always lived in this country?'"
"'But it is our country ,' replied Dr. Weizmann... 'We are doing no more than taking back whta we have been wrongly deprived of.'
"'But you have been away from Palestine for nearly two thousand years! Befor that you had ruled this country, and hardly ever the whole of it, for less than five hundred years. Don't you think that the Arabs could with equal justification, demand Spain for themselves - for, after all, they held swey in Spain for nearly seven hundred years and lost it entirly only five hundred years ago?'"
"'Nonsence. The Arabs had only conquered Spain; it had never been their original homeland, and so it was right that in the end they were driven out by the Spaniards.'"
"'Forgive me' I retorted, 'but it seems to me that there is some historical oversight here. After all, the Hebrews also came as conquerers to Palestine. Long before them were many other semitic and non-semitic tribed settled here - the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Hittites. Those tribes continued living here even in the days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They continued living here after the Romans drove our ancestors away. They are living here today. The Arabs who settled in Syria and Palestine after their conquest in the seventh century were always only a small minority of the population; the rest of what we describe today as Palestinian or Syrian "Arabs" are in reality only the Arabianized, original inhabitants of the country. Some of them becme muslims in the coarse of centuries, others remained christians; the muslims naturally inter-married with their co-relioionists from Arabia. But can you deny that the bulk of those people in Palestine, who speak Arabic, weather Muslims or Christians, are direct-line descendents of the original inhabitants: original in the sence of having lived in this county before Hebrews come to it?'"
" Dr. Weismann smiled politely at my outburst and turned the conversation to the other topics."
I did not feel happy about the outcome of my intervention. I.... . But I had hoped that my defence of the Arab cause would at least give rise to some sort of uneasiness which might bring about more introspection and thus.... . None of this had come about. Instead, I found myself facing a blank wall of staring eyes: a censorious disaproval of my temerity, which dared question the unquestionable right of the jews to the land of their forefatherss..."
" How was it possible, I wondered, for people endowed with so much creative intelligence as the Jews to think of the Zionist-Arab conflict in Jewish terms alone? Did they not realize that the problem of Jews in Palestine could, in the long run, be solve only through freindly co-operation with the Arabs? Were they so hopelessly blind to the painful future which their policy must bring?-to the struggles, the bitterness and hatred to which the Jewish island, even if temporarily successful, would forever remain exposed in the midst of a hostile Arab sea?"
" And how strange, I thought, that a nation which had suffered so many wrongs in the coarse of its long and sorrowful diaspora was now, in single-minded persuit of its own goal, ready to inflict a greivous wrong on another nation - and a nation, too, that was innocent of all that past Jewish suffering. Such a phenominon, I knew, was not unknown to history; but it made me, none the less, very sad to see it enacted before my eyes.
My Discovery of Islam; first published in London 1954 under the title of The Road to Mecca; later by Goodword Books 2001 in New Dehli.

Interesting how the entire focus of all the media has conveniently been diverted towards Syria and Iran!

This is not about anyone but Israel indiscriminately murdering innocent people in Lebanon.

This operation must have been in the planning for months, so the entire garbage about Israeli soldier's being kidnapped is total 100% garbage!

I just read something that the Iranian President said which is "He who sows the wind will reap a hurricane". This would normally be amusing, but in this case it is very true and Israel should stop manipulating everything, just because it can.

It is time for us to tell Israel that what they are doing is wrong and they should get no support from us.
Unfortunately, Bush, Blair and our general media are still too frightened or blind or both to tell the king that "he has no cloths on"!

Leopol Weis, an Austrian born Jew, further, belonging to a family of rabbi's, who was a correspondent for a prominent newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, "then one of the most outstanding newspapers in Europe", recalls his brief discussion with Dr. Chaim Weizman, "the undisputed leader of the Zionist movement" in his book, My Discovery of Islam. asit is written in the book...
"'And what about the Arabs?'"
"I must ahave comitted a faux pas by thus bringing a jarring note into the conversation, for Dr. Weizmann turned his face slowly towards me, put down the cup he had been holding in his hand, and repeated my question."
"'What about the Arabs...?'"
"'Well-how can you ever hope to make Palestine your homeland in the face of the vehement opposition of the Arabs who, after all, are in the majority in this country?'"
"The Zionist leader shrugged his shoulders and answered drily: 'We expect they won't be in majority after a few years.'"
"'Perhaps so.... does not the moral aspect of the question ever bother you? Don't you think that it is wrong on your part to displace the people who have always lived in this country?'"
"'But it is our country ,' replied Dr. Weizmann... 'We are doing no more than taking back whta we have been wrongly deprived of.'
"'But you have been away from Palestine for nearly two thousand years! Befor that you had ruled this country, and hardly ever the whole of it, for less than five hundred years. Don't you think that the Arabs could with equal justification, demand Spain for themselves - for, after all, they held swey in Spain for nearly seven hundred years and lost it entirly only five hundred years ago?'"
"'Nonsence. The Arabs had only conquered Spain; it had never been their original homeland, and so it was right that in the end they were driven out by the Spaniards.'"
"'Forgive me' I retorted, 'but it seems to me that there is some historical oversight here. After all, the Hebrews also came as conquerers to Palestine. Long before them were many other semitic and non-semitic tribed settled here - the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Hittites. Those tribes continued living here even in the days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They continued living here after the Romans drove our ancestors away. They are living here today. The Arabs who settled in Syria and Palestine after their conquest in the seventh century were always only a small minority of the population; the rest of what we describe today as Palestinian or Syrian "Arabs" are in reality only the Arabianized, original inhabitants of the country. Some of them becme muslims in the coarse of centuries, others remained christians; the muslims naturally inter-married with their co-relioionists from Arabia. But can you deny that the bulk of those people in Palestine, who speak Arabic, weather Muslims or Christians, are direct-line descendents of the original inhabitants: original in the sence of having lived in this county before Hebrews come to it?'"
" Dr. Weismann smiled politely at my outburst and turned the conversation to the other topics."
I did not feel happy about the outcome of my intervention. I.... . But I had hoped that my defence of the Arab cause would at least give rise to some sort of uneasiness which might bring about more introspection and thus.... . None of this had come about. Instead, I found myself facing a blank wall of staring eyes: a censorious disaproval of my temerity, which dared question the unquestionable right of the jews to the land of their forefatherss..."
" How was it possible, I wondered, for people endowed with so much creative intelligence as the Jews to think of the Zionist-Arab conflict in Jewish terms alone? Did they not realize that the problem of Jews in Palestine could, in the long run, be solve only through freindly co-operation with the Arabs? Were they so hopelessly blind to the painful future which their policy must bring?-to the struggles, the bitterness and hatred to which the Jewish island, even if temporarily successful, would forever remain exposed in the midst of a hostile Arab sea?"
" And how strange, I thought, that a nation which had suffered so many wrongs in the coarse of its long and sorrowful diaspora was now, in single-minded persuit of its own goal, ready to inflict a greivous wrong on another nation - and a nation, too, that was innocent of all that past Jewish suffering. Such a phenominon, I knew, was not unknown to history; but it made me, none the less, very sad to see it enacted before my eyes.
My Discovery of Islam; first published in London 1954 under the title of The Road to Mecca; later by Goodword Books 2001 in New Dehli.

Interesting how the entire focus of all the media has conveniently been diverted towards Syria and Iran!

This is not about anyone but Israel indiscriminately murdering innocent people in Lebanon.

This operation must have been in the planning for months, so the entire garbage about Israeli soldier's being kidnapped is total 100% garbage!

I just read something that the Iranian President said which is "He who sows the wind will reap a hurricane". This would normally be amusing, but in this case it is very true and Israel should stop manipulating everything, just because it can.

It is time for us to tell Israel that what they are doing is wrong and they should get no support from us.
Unfortunately, Bush, Blair and our general media are still too frightened or blind or both to tell the king that "he has no cloths on"!

Interesting how the entire focus of all the media has conveniently been diverted towards Syria and Iran!

This is not about anyone but Israel indiscriminately murdering innocent people in Lebanon.

This operation must have been in the planning for months, so the entire garbage about Israeli soldier's being kidnapped is total 100% garbage!

I just read something that the Iranian President said which is "He who sows the wind will reap a hurricane". This would normally be amusing, but in this case it is very true and Israel should stop manipulating everything, just because it can.

It is time for us to tell Israel that what they are doing is wrong and they should get no support from us.
Unfortunately, Bush, Blair and our general media are still too frightened or blind or both to tell the king that "he has no cloths on"!

Leopol Weis, an Austrian born Jew, further, belonging to a family of rabbi's, who was a correspondent for a prominent newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, "then one of the most outstanding newspapers in Europe", recalls his brief discussion with Dr. Chaim Weizman, "the undisputed leader of the Zionist movement" in his book, My Discovery of Islam. asit is written in the book...
"'And what about the Arabs?'"
"I must ahave comitted a faux pas by thus bringing a jarring note into the conversation, for Dr. Weizmann turned his face slowly towards me, put down the cup he had been holding in his hand, and repeated my question."
"'What about the Arabs...?'"
"'Well-how can you ever hope to make Palestine your homeland in the face of the vehement opposition of the Arabs who, after all, are in the majority in this country?'"
"The Zionist leader shrugged his shoulders and answered drily: 'We expect they won't be in majority after a few years.'"
"'Perhaps so.... does not the moral aspect of the question ever bother you? Don't you think that it is wrong on your part to displace the people who have always lived in this country?'"
"'But it is our country ,' replied Dr. Weizmann... 'We are doing no more than taking back whta we have been wrongly deprived of.'
"'But you have been away from Palestine for nearly two thousand years! Befor that you had ruled this country, and hardly ever the whole of it, for less than five hundred years. Don't you think that the Arabs could with equal justification, demand Spain for themselves - for, after all, they held swey in Spain for nearly seven hundred years and lost it entirly only five hundred years ago?'"
"'Nonsence. The Arabs had only conquered Spain; it had never been their original homeland, and so it was right that in the end they were driven out by the Spaniards.'"
"'Forgive me' I retorted, 'but it seems to me that there is some historical oversight here. After all, the Hebrews also came as conquerers to Palestine. Long before them were many other semitic and non-semitic tribed settled here - the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Hittites. Those tribes continued living here even in the days of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They continued living here after the Romans drove our ancestors away. They are living here today. The Arabs who settled in Syria and Palestine after their conquest in the seventh century were always only a small minority of the population; the rest of what we describe today as Palestinian or Syrian "Arabs" are in reality only the Arabianized, original inhabitants of the country. Some of them becme muslims in the coarse of centuries, others remained christians; the muslims naturally inter-married with their co-relioionists from Arabia. But can you deny that the bulk of those people in Palestine, who speak Arabic, weather Muslims or Christians, are direct-line descendents of the original inhabitants: original in the sence of having lived in this county before Hebrews come to it?'"
" Dr. Weismann smiled politely at my outburst and turned the conversation to the other topics."
I did not feel happy about the outcome of my intervention. I.... . But I had hoped that my defence of the Arab cause would at least give rise to some sort of uneasiness which might bring about more introspection and thus.... . None of this had come about. Instead, I found myself facing a blank wall of staring eyes: a censorious disaproval of my temerity, which dared question the unquestionable right of the jews to the land of their forefatherss..."
" How was it possible, I wondered, for people endowed with so much creative intelligence as the Jews to think of the Zionist-Arab conflict in Jewish terms alone? Did they not realize that the problem of Jews in Palestine could, in the long run, be solve only through freindly co-operation with the Arabs? Were they so hopelessly blind to the painful future which their policy must bring?-to the struggles, the bitterness and hatred to which the Jewish island, even if temporarily successful, would forever remain exposed in the midst of a hostile Arab sea?"
" And how strange, I thought, that a nation which had suffered so many wrongs in the coarse of its long and sorrowful diaspora was now, in single-minded persuit of its own goal, ready to inflict a greivous wrong on another nation - and a nation, too, that was innocent of all that past Jewish suffering. Such a phenominon, I knew, was not unknown to history; but it made me, none the less, very sad to see it enacted before my eyes.
My Discovery of Islam; first published in London 1954 under the title of The Road to Mecca; later by Goodword Books 2001 in New Dehli.

So as soon as there is talk of a UN Peacekeeping Force in the area - Israel sends a message....

"NABATIYEH, Lebanon - An Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon, killing two peacekeepers and leaving two others feared dead in what appeared to be a deliberate strike, U.N. chief Kofi Annan said.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post 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.

Annan issued a statement saying two U.N. military observers were killed with two more feared dead. Earlier, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Security Council was informed that four officers were killed, but he had no other information.

Story continues below ↓
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Rescue workers were trying to clear the rubble, but Israeli firing "continued even during the rescue operation," Struger said.

As reports of the attack emerged, Annan rushed out of a hotel in Rome following a dinner with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a U.N. observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in the statement."

Why in the world are we supporting these people with money and weapons?

Who cares if Hamas and Hezbollah are democratic? Is that supposed to bolster support and earn them respect? Jesus, if anything these democratic elections are an indictment of the arabs' support for radical militant islamic groups. Fringe minority my ass. The jihad is at the top of the charts in the arab world.

Democracy does not necessarily mean GOOD. You can have a crowd of people who agree on the basis of majority rule to rape and kill a woman walking to her car. Does that make it right? No, Mohammed, it does not. It turns out that your people, the arabs, are savage barbarians that are behind almost every single armed conflict the world over. So if you people are voting, I'm definitely not pleased.

ps- I am against genocide, and killing people, but I would be delighted to see the religion of Islam be completely and eternally destroyed. It is a thing of evil.

This is my impression of most of the comments posted here:

The Isrillis are bad, they are Zionest occupiers. The Jewws take over America, shame on them, pigs and apes, Inshallah they wil be killt by Allah the merciful.

-"Fred"

"ps- I am against genocide, and killing people, but I would be delighted to see the religion of Islam be completely and eternally destroyed. It is a thing of evil."

So how do you propose you destroy the religion if you are against genocide and killing?

There are sentiments above that Islam is a "virus" and its a plague to the society and so forth... I find it a shortcomming in the study of Islam. For i came to find the opinions of many western scientists and rehtorics and people of other religions who have scrutinised Quran without any premeditated assumptions, have found it quiet close to reality, or "the work of a geneus". Its a living example very well to be implemented 14 centuries ago, when it was revealed, as well as today . Filled with scientific revelations such as " Read in the name of god who have created man with a sencitive drop of blood", one of seven stages of birth, and described in miraculous language combined with mathematical patterns which makes its claims of never being able to be reproduced true.
And quiet obvious to alienate any interpolation intruduced in its text.
Around 620 CE, its elliptical style of writing was well understood by the Arabs speeking the same language as vernacular. Which makes it a very difficult endeavor for its translator to be undertaken today as the idiom that is manifested in it could only be learned by being exposed to it scince childhood before. Today that idiom is almost lost due to cultural diffusion brought in by the post-oil frenzy.
Its original effect as it had on the people of Mecca at the time of its revelation can never be assimilated. Thus it can only be understood today by emmensley learnerd people, in Quran referred to as "alim". The word "alim" is understood by muslims today as religiously learned, while its intended meaning is scientist. Thus making it an obligation on every muslim to strive after education. Ironically, litteracy is one of the most neglected subject in muslim nations making Islam a mere ritualistic and confused ideology among muslims. "Islam", indeed means the submition to the will of god, but that will is also explained in the Quran and is ironically contrary to the scuecide bombing and goes as far as protecting the civilians on both sides even in the state of war. Most muslim countries today are proxy governments most under tyrany. Majority of the people biding most of their efforts on livlihood or how to sustain life are prone to any intoduced shortcommings in any ideology.

"Sean589" is a textbook example of my observation. Or should I say "Kareem589"???

You're no Sean.

Why america is become JEW country? America should be neutral.

What the fk is going on in america? Why people become so stupid?.

Why not get the thinsg done secretly ?

Why these open war?

Why america select idiot bush second time?. SO jews can control this idiot?.

Jews are part of america like everyone. America should protect israel but that does n't mean america should play Israels poodle role in killing civilians.

Enough of this nonsense.

Alex, compared to you George Bush is Shakespeare. Please don't share any more of your philosophy with us. We might drop IQ points by simply reading your posts.

HAHAHA!.

America act stupid with so many smart people. The head is an idiot. He is controlled by rightw ing jewish fanatic.

IRAn has nothing to do with what is going on lebanon. Lebanese use weapons of russian, french and american. So blaming Iran for Leabanese weapons is completely laughable.

The only country responsible for this is ISrael. Israel just decide to capture lebanon and hope they can create fear in lebanse shias. Good luck to that.

Fear will be powerfulw hen you have moral authority.

Isreal do not have moral authority to kill Civilians and blatant attack on UN is a insult to the world.

Jews are pissing of lots of people in the world. Yes everyone hate muslims butjews don't misuse that chance for something else.

There should n't be greater israel or israel for that matter. No country should be allowed to exist on single religion. That will be like communism. Israel has to be cut to size.

But not yet. we have islam to tackle first.

HAHAHA!.

America act stupid with so many smart people. The head is an idiot. He is controlled by rightw ing jewish fanatic.

IRAn has nothing to do with what is going on lebanon. Lebanese use weapons of russian, french and american. So blaming Iran for Leabanese weapons is completely laughable.

The only country responsible for this is ISrael. Israel just decide to capture lebanon and hope they can create fear in lebanse shias. Good luck to that.

Fear will be powerfulw hen you have moral authority.

Isreal do not have moral authority to kill Civilians and blatant attack on UN is a insult to the world.

Jews are pissing of lots of people in the world. Yes everyone hate muslims butjews don't misuse that chance for something else.

There should n't be greater israel or israel for that matter. No country should be allowed to exist on single religion. That will be like communism. Israel has to be cut to size.

But not yet. we have islam to tackle first.

Richard Cohen and Howard Kurtz have been doing a great job making excuses for Israel's slaughter of hundreds of innocents in Lebanon.
The Holocaust is invoked. Israel's "retreat" from some of its illegally occupied territories is invoked. Hezbollah is blamed. As is Iran. As is Syria.
But Israel -- the country doing by far the vast majority of the killing?
Oh, no. Any such criticisms "fall on (Cohen's) ears "not as genteel expressions of fairness... but as ugly sentiments pregnant with antipathy toward the only democratic state in the Middle East."
Translation: In Cohen's world, you're an anti-Semitic bigot if you dare criticize Israel's slaughter of hundreds of innocent men, women and children in Lebanon.
Then there's Kurtz, doing somersaults to try to remind us that Hezbollah started it and that Hezbollah blends in with civilians (which makes it presumably okay, in Kurtz's world, for Israel to destroy all these expendable lives.)
I have no problem with committed Zionists and other supporters of Israel's wholesale slaughter in Lebanon being given a forum to air their views in the Washington Post.
But where's the balance? Where are the Post writers arguing Hezbollah's cause? Or at least writing from the perspective of a Lebanese Shiite? Or even a Lebanese Maronite, for that matter?
No, it seems the Post allows only members of the Israel-right-or-wrong crowd to peddle such casually dehumanizing sentiments toward the lives of others.

Who are non jew in Bush administration?

Armand:
"Where are the Post writers arguing Hezbollah's cause?"

Are you kidding? I don't believe a major newspaper is going to argue in favor of a TERRORIST organization's position. TERROR should NEVER be condoned, and their position should never be given a forum. When Hezbollah decides to enter into the modern world and act like civilized human beings, they may actually get some interest in their cause.

Thanks, I'd forgotten that other excuse for Israeli butchery -- that Israel's foes are "terrorists."
But it's so easy, isn't it, to dehumanize and delegitimize your enemies by labeling them as "terrorists" and, in so doing, to justify all manner of butchery.
What, though, is to stop a fair-minded observer of concluding that Israel practises terrorism every bit as much as its foes? Israel was, after all, founded in large part thanks to the terrorism against Arabs committed by the likes of Menachem Begin. And it is today inflicting unspeakable acts of terror on defenceless Lebanese civilians. Israel is today slaughtering 10 times as many innocent civilians as any of the armed groups it has chosen to designate as "terrorists."
So this "terrorism" word actually obscures more than it illuminates in this instance.
Sure, members of Hezollah have committed terrible crimes, just as members of the Israeli government and military have committed terrible crimes. But the fact remains that Hezbollah now has freely elected representatives in the Lebanese parliament, just as Israel has had freely elected terrorists (like Menachem Begin) elected on its soil.
Labeling one's enemy as a "terrorist" doesn't bring us any futher to peace. It's just an excuse to keep waging war.

Armand:
You are either completely brainwashed by propoganda or you're delusional. Or, I guess it must be that you're a Hezbollah supporter. Hezbollah has the bloodshed of people from around the world on its hands. Not just Israelis. But, I guess you can go ahead and lump all Jews together with Israelis. Something tells me that's your real issue. Am I right?

By the way, there are many, many Lebanese are are very unhappy that Hezbollah has taken up such a stronghold in their country. I guess that doesn't matter either?

Armand:
One more thing - - Israel is a legitimate country recognized by most of the world's countries. Hezbollah is recognized solely as a terrorist organization, so it really doesn't even matter how they've infiltrated the Lebanese Parliament. Even Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have recognized that Hezbollah has done something wrong in this instance.

Before discussing Iran, we must first understand the nature of Iranian society. In 1979, the Iranians created the current Islamic Republic of Iran. During the ensuing 28 years, the Iranians were 100% in charge of their own destiny. What did they accomplish? They created a failed, authoritarian society run by religious fanatics. The quality of life is substantially below that in the West.

Now, consider Japan. In 1947, the Japanese people created the present nation of Japan by adopting the postwar constitution. During the ensuing 28 years, the Japanese created a democratic society run by elected officials. Japan achieved the prosperity of the West.

We must condemn the failure called Iran. Iran is a failure because Iranian culture is a failure.

Now that we have benchmarked Iran against a successful Western nation like Japan, we know that Iran is a horrible failure. The Iranians spend millions of dollars to export terrorism. Iran is a prime backer of Hezbollah.

By contrast, the Japanese spend millions of dollars in foreign-development aid to export democracy and free markets. Japan is a prime backer of the World Bank and of various initiatives to promote prosperity in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.

Let's not mince words. We should kill the right people in Iran. We need a well-trained hit squad like the Korean Special Forces (KSF). The typical KSF soldier is the closest thing to a "universal" soldier. We should send a squad of about 100 KSF soldiers from Iraq and into Iran. The express purpose is to de-capitate the Iranian politicians and all the Iranian clerics.

After we kill the right Iranian thugs, we send the KSF team to Syria to decapitate the Syrian government.

I've been watching this terrorist violence unfolding on American television for the last 30 years. Sure. The Jews in Israel are a bunch of racists, but at least Israel is a democracy that enjoys some measure of prosperity. Is anyone sick and tired of this this Islamic violence year after year? What the hell is wrong with the Muslims in Syria and Iran?

Wafa Sultan, a well-respected Syrian-American scholar, has repeatedly warned that Islam (like that in Syria and Iran) is a scourge on the earth. We must wipe Islam off the face of the earth. I fully support Wafa Sultan and her condemnation of Islam.

Are you clueless?. Israel is a democracy? Are you dreaming?. It is a religious fundie state.

Israel should n't exist at all if you ask me.

The issue is that Israel