I think a basic requirement for any real peace is getting hezbollah, hamas or Iran to first accept Israel's right to exist in any way, shape, or form (even Israel pulled back to its original 1948 boundaries)...I don't hold my breath...I'd be interested to hear if anyone believes that the those groups whose stated mission is the destruction of Israel would ever agree to give that mission up. A simple "yes" or "no" will suffice (a real peeve of mine is listening to all the ramblings of people from the region on TV who seem incapable of concise answers to simple questions.

Israel is the source of the discontent in the middle east. No problem in that region can be resolved without solving the Palestinian issue FULL STOP. I understand that Americans with their heads in the sand , on international issues, like to believe the official spin , that makes them feel American . The truth has no meaning to them.
Many conservative newspapers editorials are accussing Hir'bollah for the distruction of Lebanon. Well , remember President Nixon, he carpetted bombed vietnam, in the last days of that war , hoping to change defeat into a miraculous victory.
He killed men , women , children,even animals were destroyed, in fact all buildings were flattened. You did not hear blame being passed on to the viet cong. They were defending their territory, just as her'bollah is doing today.
These excuses in favor of Israel are lame and cruel. The tactic of scorching the Earth is a tactic Hiller used , which is what the Brutal Israeli Regime used on the villages and Towns of Lebanon. If you want to support the IDF campaign against the lebanese people , that is fine , but don't look for excuses . Don't spin the truth , no one is fooled anymore.
The Israeli fascist Regime will not succeed. Over the last 100 hundred years NO UNJUST WAR HAS SUCCEEDED Israel war against the Palestine and Arabian people is UNJUST
. The Israeli will win some battles but cannot win the WAR. . The war encouraged by us, the USA, are using USA weapons, in hopes of carrolling the middle east. THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, it has to fail, in the interest of peace , freedom and democracy for this Planet, despite the present genocide in Lebanon.

lets see....100 iraqis die a day from suicide bombers who are.....Islamic extremists, Israeli civilians die at the hands of....Islamic Extemists, 357 Indians die at the hands of....Islamic extremists, London subways are bombed by.... Islamic extremists, 3000 americans die at the hands of....islamic extremists, the trains in madrid are bombed by....islamic extremists...I mean we can go all day here. I think there is an enormous difference between dropping leaflets and saying get out there is going to be fighting and u r at risk and strapping a bomb to oneself and entering a wedding and blowing oneself up unexpectedly. hey, thats just me...but then again, I do not believe in allah. By the way, why so much love for jerusalem from muslims when they pray with their backs to jerusalem and face mecca....

UNPROVOKED AGGRESSION?

Please, even I, an American without ties to the Middle East and Islam, am getting pretty annoyed with Israel.

1) The Settlers
2) The Wall
3) Palestinian Refugees
4) The Golan Heights, the Farm,...
5) state sponsored terrorism
(yes, israel can be a victimizer too)
5) State sponsored Terrorism
6) STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM!

northern LA..Americans do know the scope of our support to Israel..we strongly supported because they're God's people....

I am in full support of Israel. If lebanon can't handle the groups (Hezbollah)within their own boards then they have failed as a govt. I would see no difference if the KKK would to grow so strong that our own govt. could control it then then they attack another sovern nation, then that nation has a right to defend itself. Israel has full right to defend itself against any TERRORIST organization. If hezbollah is really interested in peace then let them make for first move towards that peace. Rather than hiding behind innocent civilians. I see no difference between Hezbollah & al-Qaida. Both are groups made up a religious fanatics looking out only for themselves & bent on world wide domination.

NBC is about to really turn the heat on with David Gregory. He's doing a report on the leadership of Israel. I can't wait to see how unbiased this is going to be after reading the report above. I guess this kind of stuff was going on in the weeks and months before WWII.

Do you people really think that we give Israel money for them? Who do you think they are required, yes REQUIRED, to spend that money with?

It would be the same as you borrowing $20 from me to buy lunch. Before I give you the money here are the stipulations:
- you must spend the money in my store
- you must return the money to me
- if you want to give any part of the sandwich to anyone else, I must approve it first
- if you want to give the napkin to someone else, I must approve it first

and many more requirements.

It’s basically giving credit to someone who would buy from our defense industry (after all, when you make a product you must sell it to someone), without turning our weapons against us (not to mention do our dirty work for us).

Yes, indeedy. I sure do see here, among those of the anti-Israeli persuasion, one heck of a lot of Native American names. Unless you are willing to pack up your bags and relinquish your claim to your subdivision lot, turning it back to the Indian tribe from whom you stole it, please do not feel free to criticize Israel about anything. How ignorant and hypocritical can you possibly be?

find this discussion very interesting and I also find that lack of knowledge that Americans hold very applauling.

The reason why thee was nver a question posed by the US as to whether this is an offensive or a defensive action is because there was never a question about it. that is like asking whether America's reaction to pearl harbor was ofensive or defensive? was dropping 2 atom bombs on Japan an over reaction - no one seems or still semms to question that. What other country throughout history has been so second guessed by the world - not a one. One of the writers above was very correct in Nov. in 1948, in the days after the six days war and under the Clinton Administration the so Called Palistinians ( a word made up by the Romans by the way) were offered all that they wanted butthey had to accept Israel's right to exist. all 3 times they turned the ofer down. Hezbolla wants lebanese people to die because it knows that while they will lose on the battle field they have a chance to with the PR battle because of the gulibe media the exists today. Also Lebonon, Syria, Jordan, Saudis Arabia and Egypt created the "Palistinian" problem in 1948 because they told all those people notto move anywhere because the jews will be pushed into thesea and you will have the pick of the land they are still told that today. Israel has tried to offer all it can for peace but it is never enough nor will it ever be because there will always be those who want nothing less then the eradication of Israel.

Once people undestand and grasp this concept then may be they can begin to understand the True situation in the middle East.

And please do the research and prove me wrong.

Of course US government is behond this. The only way to take the so called terroirist out and not be the bad guy again. I'm sure our wonderful Jewish friends are benefiting greatly under the table. When are we ever going to learn to keep our nose out of others peoples business. I love American but I don't love what we do sometimes as a results of idots in politics.
Condi is best kept at home for now and I do think she is wonderful, because we all know her getting involved was just a smoke stream. After all they told her to leave, so when you aren't welcome stay home. Let's stop the maddness and get everyone to a peaceful living. Don't forget over 5 million Christians died during the Hitler era,( of course we don't see hollywood making those movies)not just the Jews. Sure we all have an axe to grind, but better to just put it away and get along.

Its pretty clear that this war between Hezbollah and Isreal is truly a war of the 21st century. This is a war of two differing nations (US, Iran) outsourcing their battle to two groups that economically would not be able to sustain such an effort on their own (Hezbollah and Isreal). The headlines really should change to read "US allows Isreal to drop 10 bombs on Lebanon" and "Iran sends 5,000 rockets to Hezbollah to fire into Isreal". What will the headlines read when Isreal and/or Hezbollah are destroyed and puppets cannot be found to do the outsourcing.

Let's suppose there was a Mexican terrorist group that parked itself near the border and started firing missiles into San Diego and LA. What are the odds the US would try diplomacy, run to the UN or listen to calls for restraint? Slim to nil, and slim just left town.

The US would pummel the hell out of the area whence the missiles were lauched and if that happened to be a town, I don't think there'd be too much crying over how many Mexican babies were killed in the process.

Perspective, people, perspective.

One comment often heard is that Israel does not target civilians while Hezbollah and similar organization do.

1) With the technology that Israel has, it has the capacity to target non-civilians. By contrast, Hezbollah has outdated rockets that cannot be directed anywhere except away from themselves. As their war machine is not on the same level, to get the same level of destruction and fear in the Israeli population as Israel's attacks have on the Palestinians and Lebanese people, Hezbollah et al sometimes resorts to suicide bombers. What are they going to do,... walk up to a military outpost and blow themselves up before they get shot 100 feet away? Continue to throw stones at walls being build down their towns? No, to inflict the SAME level of pain and damage, they have to target civilians. Unfortunate but, given the circumstances, not incomprehensible.

2) Intentions and process may be good, but the outcome is even more so. Woops if you accidentally ran over someone with your car but I think it's cold comfort to the family that it was an "accident".

3) When the terrorists bombed the Indian train stations, i don't recall India rolling tanks and aerial bombing Pakistan. when the IRA bombed London, did GB attack dublin the same way that israel is attacking Lebanon??

It is absolutely amazing to read such difference of opinion. I believe the problem lies with exactly that. Opinions. 99% of these postings are pure finger pointing. Few of these postings actually deal with the most important question. How to stop it. The bottom line: both Israel and Hezbollah/Hamas/et al (regardless of who sponsors them) are guilty. It's parallel to a schoolyard fight between children.
First of all, I believe, people on any part of the world cannot claim a birthright to land. And, until one religion is proven correct, no religious faith can claim rightousness over another.
As long as religious beliefs are among the motives between all parties in this conflict - this will likely never be solved. For example: Even if both PLO and Israeli governments agree to a solution, Hamas and Hezbollah will likely continue to operate, with virtual impunity, their own agenda based on their religious beliefs. How do you prevent that? I don't think you can.
The Arab communities involved had a few opportunities to stop this conflict, including one before it even got started.
Israel, too, could take considerably more effort to relax their iron-fist approach.
Despite the hawkish backlash in the government, why not give back some land to the Palestinians in a show of good faith; why not stop building or adding onto settlements deemed illegal by the very institution (UN) that gave you a state in the first place.
Bottom line: someone is going to have to take an appeasement approach and deal with the wounds later. I'd say an Israeli leader is best suited for that role. I'll bet in 100 years - that person (or group) would be a hero to both Jews and Arabs.

In conclusion, both sides are to blame in more ways than one. Finger pointing only leads to more conflict. If you choose to takes sides and/or point a finger, then I'm afraid you are likely not a part of the solution.

In response to the ignorant that stated
"If Israel is such democracy, why don't the palestinians have a vote in that government?"

Learn the current political landscape..Palestinians dont recognize the goverment of Israel...that's why...
The only way to deal with Islamic militancy is to exterminate them..you cannot reason with cowards that believe that they are doing Allah's work..

It's with a somewhat nauseating convenience that the Wexstern world looks at the conflicts. The US can continue to send weapons to Israel and hypocritically claim to be a fair broker for peace. Europeans can claim they're offended by Israel's attacks on Lebanon, but do basically nothing to end it. As long as the Palestinians, Lebanese and others continue to bear the suffering for the sins of Nazi Germany and the anti-Semitism of Europe/US, everything is okay for the Western world. Of course, an ironical reflection of history that the Christian savior was born in that region and had to die a brutal death for the "sins of the world". So too now, must the Palestinian people and others do. This conflict has little to nothing to do with Islam versus Judaism. Palestinian Jews, Christians and Moslems all lived together in relative peace until it was decided by Western powers that only the independence and self-determination of peoples of European Jewish extraction in Palestine would be recognized - the creation of a de facto apartheid state cloaked under the star of David - Israel. Nevermind the lie of the Balfour Declaration that the British apparently never intended to enforce in its entirety. So much for Palestinian Mandate to "look after the well being of the Palestinian people". It's about Europeans hating and exterminating their Jewish brethren, convincing them they needed a homeland elsewhere and through the course of history, basically expelling them to Palestine to make them "someone else's problem". And they will continue to feed them money & weapons to clear their conscience and watch the spectacle as if in a Roman coliseum. Of course, the way the "white man's" conscience works is always interesting- they were so appalled by the brutality of their brothers the Nazi Germany, that instead of taking the Jewish people into their own homes to protect them or at least forcing their brothers to compensate the Jewish people, they gave them a "homeland" in "a land without a people" -after all, in the racist hierarchy of things, Arabs and their kin don't count as people. The religious right will claim they're supporting "God's plan" - not surprising that they share the same ideology with the KKK of "Jews belong in Israel" and that has to happen for the benefit/salvation of _Christians_. The weak fight each other, the suffering continues and life goes on in smug comfort for the "leaders of the free world". Sick stuff, but as long as bombs aren't destroying my home, I have access to the internet, why should I complain?

ISRAEL IS NOT TRYING TO KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS!

They are trying to kill an armed highly trained militia that proxies for Iran and Syria that has completely militarized Southern Lebanon by hiding amongst civilians. Israel for 6 years did nothing after its withdrawal from Lebanon to internationally recognized borders and look what has happened in those 6 years. Israel has no choice but to act against Hezbollah now.

For over 40 years Israel has been trying to end "terrorist" attacks by dropping bombs and firing missiles, killing many times more civilians than enemy fighters. Each campaign has created a new pool of people willing to fight and die to get revenge for family and friends killed by the Israelis. They will never create peace by dropping bigger and bigger bombs, just more enemies, more "terrorists". They need to try something different, spend the money on hospitals and schools for the Palestinians, improve the standard of living for those in the camps, heal lives instead of taking them, and maybe this fighting will finally end.

There is a song ..I'm proud to be an American. These days I find myself questioning that more frequently. Some days I'm not proud to be an American.

The ignorance of people in the United States amazes me. Hezbollah places rocket launchers in civilian homes and CNN reports Israel killing innocent people when retaliating against this terrorist organization. Yes, innocent people are being killed, but the fault does not lie solely with Israel. Have we forgotten that we had 3,000 Americans killed only 5 years ago and were united to form an alliance against terrorism? But, because it is Israel being terrorized, we should not support them in their efforts? This reporting is not only biased, it is ignorant. Why is there no discussion of retaliation against a terrorist organization? Why must we stop Israel from defending themselves? Should the kidnapping of soldiers who could be your sons or daughters or brothers or sisters be met with a friendly discussion with the terrorists who captured them? Obviously there is no rationalizing with terrorist organizations that bread killing not Democracy and the fact that people insist that Israel is wrong in this situation should take time to research the subject before responding or in this case, reporting.

The media is of big concern in this country. What we see now is an opinion being broadcasted and not all of the full facts. The fact that the media takes any side in conflicts like this is extemely dangerous to our democracy.

In my opinion the media shows a huge favoritism for Israel. What is the purpose for this? I don't care about how the media favors. I only care about doing the right thing. The right thing in this case is to stop the fighting and start the negotiating. Start talking like civilized human beings.

The President (Bush) and the Congress have failed us all.

I agree with Susan and Indiana, let’s stop supporting Israel, it’s too much troubles, it would be much easier to support the Arabs … and we like easy.

After that let’s stop supporting hospitals. … it would be much easier to support the healthy people … and we like easy.

After that let’s stop all plastic surgery and make up sales. It would be much easier to support the beautiful people … and we like easy.

After that … oops, no more after that because the Arab terrorists ran amuck and destroyed the USA.

If you think Israel has been trouble for the past 60 years, just think what it would have been like without them. Just one example, Iraq a nuclear power.

The U.S. has no rights to interfer whatsoever with Israel's military actions against what basically are terrorists. The U.S. doesn't allow any other country to tell us how to defend or protect ourselves against terrorists.

Hellooooo..... Israel is a tiny strip of land (approx 250 miles x 50 miles)
1. Israel does not send in suicide bombers killing innocent non-miliatry people, the terrorists do!
2. Israel does not kidnapp innocent non-military/miliatry people, the terrorists do!
3. Israel does not display themselves burning other countries flags, the terrorists and their supporters do!
4. Israel does not march around with rage with hoods on their faces, the terrorists and their supporters do!
5. Israel does not display little children with suicide bomb belts (real or pretend) marching through their streets, the terrorists and thier supporters do!
6 Israel does not make threatning statements of anhilating their enemies constantly on tv, the terrorists and their supporters do!
7 Israel does not display/show video of beheadings and other barbaric acts for the world to see; the terrorists and their supporters do.
8 Israel does not have jubilation demonstrations at the killing of innocents (9/11, arial sharron stroke, etc), the terrorists and their supporters do!

Get a clue you ......
1. Israel just wants to live in peace without being threatened by neighboring countries on every side of her that have GIANT land masses, millions of people who hate Israel and are financially stable with their multi-billion dollar oil profits.

WHAT THE HECK DO YOU EXPECT ISRAEL TO DO IN DEFENDING HERSELF AGAINST SUCH ODDS, REPEATED HISTORY OF UNPROVOKED AGGRESSION AGAINST HER?????