There is a lot of people upset with Israel because they started bombing Lebanon AFTER EIGHT (8) of their soldiers were KILLED by the Lebanon terrorists. In addition, to the unjustified killings, the terrorests kidnapped two remaining Israeli soldiers. Israel is doing what they said they would do....set Lebanon back 20 years. They told the world this BEFORE they started their bombing campaign. EVERYBODY WAS FOREWARNED! The terrorists had a chance to return the soldiers, but they called Israel's bluff. So the carnage started becaues a bunch of men who are acting like boys refused to "give up."

Here what really upsets me. If Israel stops the war, the terrorists will claim victory!!! What a cruel joke that many people will be suckered into. Look at the idiots that will be out on the streets claiming victory among the ruins just because Israel will be forced to stop firing.

The terrorists are like the school "bully" that starts crying when a disproportunate amount of force (such as a baseball bat) is used against them. They'll cry every time just like the terrorists and their supporters are doing right now! Why do I call these terrorists bullies? Because they hide within the civilian population. They aren't man enough to accept responsiblity for causing the deaths of children, women, and their elders.

Everyone knows deep down that it's Hezbollah, funded by Iran and Syria, that started this latest Middle East conflict. Not our administration. Not the Israelis. Hezbollah is not rational, they are only going to agree to a ceasefire and peaceful existence when they run out of missiles and have no other choice.
This is a great time to teach Hezbollah what a formidable foe looks like. Israel does not cower behind children and farmers. Nor does it operate missile launchers out of municipal buildings and city centers. No, I'm not Jewish - just level headed and sick of terrorists.

i got some questions:

Why the MSM keeps counting the number and type of missiles Hezbollah launches into Israel, but no one seems to count the number and type of bombs and missiles Israel launches into Lebanon, what's the difference?

why we still have not seen any picture or video of hezbollah rocket batteries destroyed amongst the rubble of the buildings Israel destroyed?

Did anyone seen a Hezbollah rocket launcher at the Beirut Airport? or the Power plant?

it's the prhase "the right to defend itself" copyrighted by Israel?

why everyone has to comply (or else) with IAEA and UN resolutions and inspections, but Israel?

with what type of moral authority the US can ask countries (like Syria nad Iran) to stop sending armament to Hezbollah (allegedly) when the US is sending armament to Israel (allegedly)?

why nobody wants to address the root of the problem: the inhumane conditios in the Ghettos in Gaza and West Bank, and the right to Palestine to exist, and be respected as human beings?

How the people trying to leave the South of Lebanon, or the country can do so if almost every bridge and road is bombed and destroyed? i think the flying magic carpet is just a stereotype...

As long as the belligerents on all sides act with certainty of their righteousness, with certainty that God is on their side, with certainty that the bloodsoaked land is theirs alone, there can never be peace. The hatred we're witnessing on both sides (and in some of these posts) is the product of countless generations passing it to the next, of children learning to hate other children because of faith, or nationality, or as a result of some hateful act from those already indoctrinated. This isn't exclusive to Arabs or Jews, but rather seems to be a fundamental trait of our tribalistic species. The God that I see doesn't pick sides among us as we're all simply human beings. It's only we that make such distinctions - distinctions based on fear, greed, and lust for power. There will be no solution here - politicians are impotent and self serving, the hateful are infinitely numerous and joined by more each day, and the good are cowed and cowering, if not already dead. There may be a respite in the slaughter, but it will never end. If Armageddon comes, this is where it will come from. God weeps. Satan laughs. Pick your side.

Hesbollah, is a terrorist organization. . . they wish all Americans dead. . .Like the friends of Osama . . .you remember the ones who took out the Twin Towers. . you know the guys killing American soldiers in Iraq. . .

The last time we really ended a war was against Japan. . . remember how. . .Hiroshima & Nagasaki. . .by its existence war is despicable.. .it is not nice. . .You don't play by rules. . .you want your population to survive against their population. . .

I see the Jewish population being bombed (rockets aimed at civilian cities). . .and I hope their population prevails over the Hezabollah... their enemies are mine. . . .unconditional surrender is what is needed.. . .if the American way of life is to survive our enemies need to be . . .eliminated.

Throughout human history the rich and the powerful has had their way with the poor and the weak. They have been right when they were right and right when they were wrong. The poor and the weak have always been labeled as rebels or terrorist when they oppose the rich and the powerful. The rich and the powerful have a license to build as many weapons of mass destruction as they want, and use them to destroy the poor and the weak. They ruthlessly plan the destruction of those who resist and arm themselves. With other rich and/or powerful foes they talk diplomacy for they are afraid of mutual destruction. The poor and the weak they destroy without a thought. The rich and the powerful kill the innocent for drama and to show their powers. The rich and the powerful are quick to say ‘we are sorry’ when they kill the innocent, but we know they are not sorry because they continue to kill more – they call them ‘collaterals’, they say it’s the cost. I say to the poor and the weak, ‘…take heart, your day of justice will come. The rich and the powerful will not always be rich and powerful, and the poor and the weak will not always be poor and weak. A day of reckoning is coming where only the righteous will stand. Let evil have its way raining fire from the skies – one day that same fire will consume them.

Yep... we're all experts on the Mid-East and oh how we hate the Hezbollah and love Israel. We sit here fat, dumb and ignorant and in our self-rightous stupidity, thump our chests and pretend we have a clue as to what life is like for the non-Jews in the Mideast.

Personally, i could care less if they slaughter one another to the last Arab/Jew. I just wish they'd do it without picking the pocket of the American taxpayer to do it with.

Very sobering report Kerry, hope that we can get the editorial folks to air your reports and let the tabloids put out the trash. To all who are putting there lives in harms way to get us the truth, the force is with you all. Tell it like it is..

Americans aren't getting both sides of the story. Our administration keeps saying "Israel has a right to defend itself." Of course they do....but the reason they are being attacked is because of their illegal occupation of land. How can Israel ask the UN to adopt resolutions against others while completely disregarding the existing resolutions against themselves? Once Israel withdraws from illegally occupied land I will stand behind them 100%. Nobody I know supports "terrorism". But everyone I know supports fighting for their country. If the majority of Americans understand that the Palestinians and their supporters are simply fighting to get their land back, maybe progress can be made. But everytime we hear about innocent children being blown up by a suicide bomber....we think "Those damn terrorists....kill them all." I want the world to know that my heart goes out to everyone who has lost an innocent loved one to violence. It doesn't matter what side you're on, or what you believe...my heart goes out to you....especially if you've lost a child. I think the worst crime is that of a child being killed over a stupid greedy land grab. It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that money is taken out of my paycheck, and is then used to manufacture bombs that fall on innocent people. I am proud of the founding principals of the United States of America. I am proud to be an American. But each and every time I hear about an innocent human being dying from an American made weapon I am ashamed.

sheesh- as that man said.
Hesbollah,Hamas and assorted other Arab entities want to kill or drive the Jews into the sea. It is a printed fact.
Wouldn't you think they have the right to fight back.

Hezbollah targets civilians by design and with full intent,this includes making their own fellow citizens cannon fodder in order to seem the poor helpless victim. Even animals don't do that! You can see how brain washed the Lebanese people are when they heap praise on the very murders that sell the lives of their childern for so little. I always thought the Lebanese were the smarter arabs, I've now changed my mind. Can you image thanking the Hezbollah for their sacrifice, by starting a war that is killing your kids! If your that stupid you how can you expect anyone to take you seriuosly? Wake up! Hez(x)bollah is firing their missles that they got from Iran and Syria, from populated areas and then running before the bombs drop. Hezbollah are cowards! They pick a fight and then scream for help and claim Israel is the villian.

Wake up! This is an old trick that soft ignorant western people never seem to see. Its called BAIT and SWITCH! Start a fight and then when your getting your butt kicked accuse the other guy of being the attacker!

On the other hand Israel does not target civilians by design or intent. Yes, it has killed civilians, civilians who support the Hezbollah and no doubt those that do not. But whose fault is that? It would not have happened, even by accident if Hezbollah had not started this war! Israel is the only true democracy in the middle east, it sits on less than 1 percent of the land mass of the middle east, has 6 million citizens as compared to 1 Billion Arabs who for the last fifty years have done nothing but try to massacre an entire nation, mostly out of religious hatred and jealously. Yes, Israeli's been quick to fight back, but who wouldn't if they lived with a bunch of bloody murders at their door step for the last five decades.

I thought Israel's enemy was Hezbollah, not Lebanon, yet it is Lebanon that is taking the brunt of Israel's
assault, from the ecological disaster caused by the Israeli bombing of oil storage tanks causing the worst oil spill in the history of the country to destruction of the infrastructure that will take years and billions of dollars to rebuild to the killing of hundreds of civilians and innocent children. Is this the work of God's Chosen People?
Did God tell Bush (again) to allow this to happen?

The incessant folly that is the war in Iraq has so undermined US authority that our government can no longer broker peace in the rest of the Middle East.
Like it or not through US leadership relative peace has endured for a generation.

What is truly frightening about this crisis is that there is no credible leader anywhere, not in Europe or the UK, not in the region itself and certainly not in the United States, that has either the credibility or the vision or the power to broker an end to this terrible tragedy.

What a mess the neocons have wrought. Anyone for a new domino theory, this time involving Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan et al.

i used to work with kerry at wink tv in fort myers when he was a cub reporter.... its good to see him doing well and being a force in news. the action being taken by israel is just fomenting the next generation of hezbolla"esque" attitudes and is uniting the muslim world against israel and by proxy, because we support and supply israel, the united states. as far as i can see there is no simple solution to the problem. no matter who did what first, israel is throwning the moral high ground in the toilet by acting like bush did in iraq and going it alone. look where that has gotten us. what i cant figure out is why have we ceased coverage of the war that really matters to us, iraq.

The Isralies just don't get it. Hizbullah is using known insurgency techniguew, known since Vetnam. Irritate the politicians and have the army over react and drive the civilians toward the insurgence. All Isral has to do is nothing and quickly world opinion and the people will turn against Hezbollah

Fair and balanced reporting is when you report both sides of the story. Thank you, MSNBC, for a fine job. As for stockpiling rockets and missiles, Israel has one of the largest arsenals themselves. Whoever talks about that! And, as for the innocent Lebanese in the isolated villages--they can't go anywhere because the roads are bombed, and if they do, they get killed anyway from the Israeli rockets. It's a catch 22. They have no chance for survival--period. AND, this war did not start from the capture of the soldiers. What a crock. It has been ongoing for years. What precipitated the capture of the soldiers was when a Palestinian family was having a picnic on the beach and were obliterated by Israeli gunfire for no reason at all. Did they think there was a missle in their picnic basket?

HOW many UN resolutions has Israel ignored; how much land has Israel illegally occupied,and how much aid is Israel getting from the USA - our tax money - BILLIONS! Please tell me there is a difference between Christian, Jewish, Muslim, white man's, and black man's blood so we can keep killing GOD's children so "Christ can come back to earth and live in the HOLY LAND". No one's GOD is coming back to earth, for if HE does, someone is sure kill Him as well.O yes,if we can kill GOD, we sure can kill anyone we don't like. Let's finally love ALL GOD'S children and live in PEACE.

While everything is going on between Israel and Lebanon, more people continue to die in Iraq than Israel and Lebanon combined. Unfortunately, that is minimally covered. It is as if we are constantly being distracted by the latest shiny thing. I blame this administration for distabilizing the whole of the Mideast. Let's hope they can figure out how to repair what they broke.

give peace a chance !!!! stop fighting about land!!! there is enough to go around!! some people just like to fight!!!!!

I really hope israel destroys hezbollah. Hezbollah for the reason being are major terrorists they are known to be supported by iran.Now this does scare me because Iran is a United States hater.They hate us as much as hezbollah does too. It is very important for israel to crush them before they get stronger and come back to haunt the united states in the later years.

What I find missing from most commentary is the fact that the Hezbollah started its (despicable, foolish, ineffectual) firing of rockets into Israel only AFTER Israel started bombing Lebanon (which was of course prompted by the taking of Israeli soldiers). In this case, Israel was the first to start terrorizing - not Hezbollah. Their initial action was one of resistance and true "warfare" - then the Israelis countered with bombing of civilians. What's the end game? Israel must be allowed to exist, only if it ousts is current government, returns to its pre-1948 boundaries, and disarms.

It boils down to this: Hundreds of people have died and it really doesn't matter who started it, who bombed who where, or who believes in what. Neither side has the right to completely play the victim. What matters is who is going to BE the leader both in this war and in the world picture, and whose message seems to conflict itself depending on how the tide is turning. First, the United States administration needs to put up or SHUT UP! NO country acts like a leader by condoning what has happened in Lebanon - no matter the reason. Those being punished in Lebanon right now have little or nothing to do with the actual problem - TRY ATTACKING THE PROBLEM. Second, one of those countries could take leadership by committing to stopping no matter what, in order that no other innocent people are killed. The world will be watching to see which side doesn't agree.

I've seen almost nothing about the underlying issues: 1. The Israeli mines, that the Lebanese wants maps for so that their child don't get hurt, 2. The Shebba farms land which is in dispute, and lastly, 3. Return of the 19 or so Lebanese that the Israelis have held, some as long a 2 decades, without a trial.

When the above is added into the mix, the right and wrong portions don't seem quite so clear. i blame the utter lack of decent reporting for the American's utter lack of knowledge of the underlying issues.

When MSNBC gets better, and provides decent news, perhaps this type of thing will not happen, because American public opinion won't allow it. Shame on MSNBC.

Art

This is from a post I read elsewhere on the net:
......
And now we have the spectacle of Israel invoking a Security Council resolution calling for the disarming of Hezbollah, while conveniently forgetting all the resolutions it has contemptuously rejected when they demanded that the Jewish state vacate the territory it had forcibly occupied in 1967. Talk about the devil quoting the scriptures.

The truth is that over the centuries, there has been little morality in international affairs. There is a saying in Urdu that captures the essence of this law of the jungle: “Jis ki lathi, us ki bhains.” (“He who has the stick owns the buffalo.”) And thus, Israel with its big stick has been getting its own way since it came into being nearly 60 years ago. The Americans have been throwing their weight around for years. Morality and international law are clearly for the weak, while the strong get what they want by hook or by crook.

This is a lesson now being applied by terrorist and resistance groups. While Hamas is mercilessly hounded by the Israelis, Hezbollah is showing that in order to stand up to a regional bully, you have to acquire power. But power does not always mean expensive, high-tech weapons systems. Al Qaeda and similar groups have shown that dedicated (and occasionally brainwashed) individuals can be transformed into smart bombs. Suicide bombing has been condemned by sane people, but it remains the great equaliser: without recourse to the sort of weaponry available to powerful states, terrorist groups feel they have no option but to send out volunteers to blow themselves up, taking as many of the enemy with them as they can.

Terrorism has been called the weapon of the weak. But the oppressed feel they have no choice but to use whatever means they have to confront their oppressors. For years now, Israel has deliberately dragged its feet over negotiations. Clearly, it does not wish to return much of the territory it has captured. And when it withdrew from Gaza, it did so because it did not want to maintain a large garrison to protect 8,000 Jewish settlers. Under these circumstances and under international law, the Palestinians have the right to resist the occupation of their land.

Another aspect of asymmetrical warfare is that all too often, the weak have far less to lose than the strong and the wealthy. The one common feature between Tamil, Afghan, Iraqi and Palestinian suicide bombers is that they are from poor families, and their survivors will be looked after by their respective organisations. If their families are promised, say, $500 when they have completed their deadly missions, this is more money than they would probably see at the same time in their whole lives.

Then there is the anger caused by the actions of the strong: a Lebanese boy who has seen his family wiped out by the current Israeli bombing will be a willing volunteer for Hezbollah, just as an Iraqi will turn to violence to avenge a brother tortured to death by the Americans in Abu Ghraib.

The only way out of this endless cycle of violence, utopian though it may sound, is a return to morality. Double standards just do not work: who will listen now to American lectures on the rule of law?

I was originally in support of Israel and its needs for security, however, with their recent actions, I can no longer support them. They are using indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population as a means to try to reduce support for Hezbollah. They are not just attacking military targets.

And in response to a previous post, some more reminders would be:
1. Israel was founded through the terrorist tactics of Jews in the 1940's.
2. Israel has killed innocent Lebanese, Canadians, Americans, British, as well as many other nationalities.
3. Israel has detained and terrorized hundreds of innocent people.
4. Israel has been developing and refining nuclear weapons for years.
5. Why have they been able to stockpile? Becuase the US sponsors them and ensures they do not face international pressure...
6. Israel has ignored many UN resolutions against it. In fact, just last week, Israel decided to bomb a UN observation station with a smart bomb killing 4 UN peace keepers. This in spite of the fact that for the 2 previous days the peace keepers had been telling the Israeli's they were bombing too close to the station....

And lets not forget the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 middle east war. That attack killed 34 US sailors and wound 171 others... This was a deliberate attack to tell the US to back off.