You are correct...we did not create Al Qaeda, but our post War policy in the middle-east did create the conditions which allowed Al Qaeda. It was the placement of U.S. military in Saudi Arabia that helped foment bin Laden's radicalism. Our war in Iraq, combined with the blind support of Israel, are creating more enemies than we will ever be able to kill. Our foreign policy is ignorant beyond belief, but hey...war is a profitable business, except for the people who get caught in the middle.

I suspect a fair amount of the delay in the ground war is precisely because of the Hezbollah capabilities. But as the Gulf war showed, round the clock bombing can wear down any army.

"I'm not quite sure how the bombing of Beirut figures into this, but what do I know?" Drum comments. Indeed.

Hezbollah killed two ARAB children in Nazareth yesterday. What did they do to deserve it?

Meanwhile, Hezbollah surrounds themselves with children. They forcibly prevent them from leaving. So what does Israel do? Say 'oh well, keep lobbing the missles, we can't retaliate because you use human shields and any collateral damage as propaganda'.

As for creating more enemies, that's just plain ignorance of the world of terrorists. Israel attempted to appease their enemies, and we're all seing how that one worked out. Similarly, we did not create Al Qaeda. We will finish it though.

I'd like to see what these new recruits will use for weaponry with theirs destroyed, and the trade routes from Syria cut off.

WASHINGTON -- There is crisis and there is opportunity. Amid the general wringing of hands over the seemingly endless and escalating Israel-Hezbollah fighting, everyone asks: Where will it end? The answer, blindingly clear, begins with understanding th...

Does it occur that all these Islamic nutbags blowing up and sending missiles that deliberately target civilians are creating more resentment that breeds more Western military recruits? I don't care about terrorists or their supporters dying in a war they picked with Israel.

I'm not interested in the talking points put out by the Syrian government or by Hezbollah (they're responsible for about half the material in the video clips, btw).

I am interested in the fact that images of the dead---which are always highly emotive---are handled differently in the Islamic world than they are in the West or in Israel. This isn't for political reasons so much a cultural reasons.

The sum effect is one of unfairness to the political arguments, but not necessarily to the matter of truth. A major truth is that people get really pissed off when they see dead children and they think angry thoughts about those who killed them. Angry thoughts often lead to violent actions.

However justified Israeli actions are now---and I believe them to be justified---the Israelis need to be careful in their targeting to avoid whatever accidental deaths they can. Overkill will lose them the limited support the Israeli government has in the Middle East for taking down Hezbollah. That would be unfortunate, to say the least.

Too one-sided? Didn't show enough dead Israelis?

Could that be because the Israelis tend to rack up a few more victims than casualties?

At least 54 civilians and a Hezbollah militant were killed when Israel Air Force aircraft bombed targets in Lebanon on Wednesday, witnesses said. Thus the death toll in Israel's military operation in Lebanon has risen to over 300.

At least 12 people, including several children, were killed and 30 wounded in the strike that destroyed several houses in the southern village of Srifa, residents said.

They said more people were feared buried under the rubble of about 10 houses flattened by the strike on the village.

At least 34 other civilians were killed Wednesday in air strikes on other parts of south and east Lebanon, security sources said. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed in the strikes.

The deaths of women, children, and other civilians isn't "propaganda." It's a fact of warfare, particularly the kind of aerial-bombing war that Israel has chosen.

People who say "let's go to war" need to watch more videos like that.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/GRAPHIC_Images_of_suffering_death_on_0719.html

Notice no comments allowed.

Zelsdorf, that is a really, really dumb thing to say. Fantasy-world material.

Come on now. Tell us about this gov't that Israel can impose on Syria. We're all ears.

If Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons, Israel will be forced to wipe Iran off the map.

Preventive nuclear destruction of an entire nation (which I doubt Israel can achieve, though they could certainly do horrible things) because there's a *chance* that nation might nuke you?

Not dumb like the above, just evil.

Dave's attempts to distinguish the present attacks don't persuade without some more support. I don't think Israel kinda-sorta wanted to get rid of Hezbollah during the previous occupation, and I don't see that "destroying infrastructure" is going to do a lot of good, though it will kill plenty of civilians.

Anyway, I'll happily retract my skepticism when Hezbollah is exterminated or surrenders, particularly if there are one or two dozen civilians left alive in Beirut by that time.