>>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!!!
>
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>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.

I thought it was pretty clear that the Israel would like to annihilate Hezbollah and that the U.S. agrees with that strategy. That's the crux of Secretary Rice's "sustainable cease-fire".
The trouble with that strategy - at least as being exercised by Israel - is that Lebanon and its people are being destroyed in the process and that such would be the case was obvious to everybody from the git-go!
I'll go so far as to acknowledge that the adopted strategy could go no other way. But, that being the case, it was an invalid "strategy" to start with!!!

England didn't bomb the hell out of Northern Ireland to get rid of the IRA. Spain hasn't bombed the hell out of the Basque region to get rid of the ETA. Even Indonesia didn't bomb the hell out of East Timor to get rid of its separatists. Etc. All of those killed/maimed people in large numbers.

We've seen what was totally predictable - that sophisticated guided bombs/missiles do not prevent civilian deaths/maimings, that incomplete 'intelligence' would cause killing/maiming of wrong people, that simple mistakes would cause killing/maiming of wrong people, that nervous trigger fingers would cause killing/maiming of wrong people, that Lebanon would be ruined in attempts to rout the integrated enemy.

The news makes heavy mention of UNguided rockets with ball-bearings added for maximum destruction. These things carry a 40 KG payload TOTAL. Israel is using 1000lb, 2000lb and 3000lb bombs and highly destructive heavy artillery (UNguided, by the way) and who-knows-what-else. The numbers of DEAD prove whose weapons are the most destructive. But Israel gets a pass??????
The news says Israeli leadership has full support of the people. They traded 2 kidnapped soldiers for over 50 of their own dead and the people give them full support! Man, this war stuff is wierder than I thought.
Sadly, too, it looks like Hezbollah's support is only growing by the action, suggesting to me that it will take the emptying of southern Lebanon for good for there to be any "sustainable cease-fire".

That war was the elected alternative is surprisingly stupid. That the U.S. supported it is UNBELIEVABLE.