>SNIP
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>>I don't know if I would go as far as saying we value lives more or less based on citizenship. It's very clear, though, that we don't mind giving Israel some time to do whatever damage they can to Hezbollah. The vibe I am getting from Bush, Rice, et al is "Let's have a ceasefire .... one of these days .... real soon now .... in a bit ...."
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>Thing is, is LOOKS LIKE that and feels like that... 80% of roads bombed and 95% of bridges bombed and over 500 DEAD occupants of Lebanon (and how many maimed for life?) all because of a desire to have a "sustainable cease-fire". C'MON. That says directly that Lebanon and the Lebanese are more dispensible than Israel and the Israelis. Period.
>You can't compare small unguided rockets with 1000lb bombs. Both are terrible. But 1 1000lb bomb does more damage than 25+ unguided small rockets. Israel isn't only 'damaging Hezbollah', it's RUINING Lebanon and killing its innocent occupants.
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>A "sustainable cease-fire" when it is known in advance that Hezbollah is integrated into the cities/towns/villages makes NO SENSE. The only sensible stance would have been no bombing in the first place and find some other way to fix the problem.
>Of course when you start off on the premise that negotiation cannot be done and the U.N. is useless you've pretty much set up the conditions to believe that only war can fix the problem.
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>Yes, "Israel has the right to defend itself". But Israel also has the right to involve the U.N. or other parties that might be able to help out. But somehow the right to defend trumps ALL things, including targeted bombings of civilian areas. How sick is that. We're going backwards!!!


Jim, I think you may be led astray here by a false assumption that peace -- at least short term peace -- is what everyone wants. IMO both Israel and the U.S. have been concerned by Hezbollah for some time and would like nothing more than to see them annihilated or at least seriously diminished. This seems intended as a step toward long term peace in the region even if bombs greatly outnumber doves in air traffic space at the moment. That strategy could be argued either way but I have little doubt it is the one Israel and the U.S. are pursuing. Hope for a quick ceasefire is the furthest thing from their minds. More like pay whatever price is needed to curtail Hezbollah now, then move on.