"In case any of you were wondering, here's what the email says:

"The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity."

Um, that's only part of what the e-mail supposedly says. The full version hasn't been released or reported yet.

"The UN spokesman neither denies the contents, nor offers an explanation of his own.

I quote:

A senior UN official, asked about the information contained in Maj. Hess-von Kruedener's e-mail concerning Hezbollah presence in the vicinity of the Khiam base, denied the world body had been caught in a contradiction.

"At the time, there had been no Hezbollah activity reported in the area," he said. "So it was quite clear they were not going after other targets; that, for whatever reason, our position was being fired upon.

"Whether or not they thought they were going after something else, we don't know. The fact was, we told them where we were. They knew where we were. The position was clearly marked, and they pounded the hell out of us."

Notice that he doesn't explain the email at all. He seems to prefer to ignore it. It is a very straightforward interpretation of the email that Hezbollah activity near the site created the "tactical necessity" for Israeli counter-activity."

Um, he doesn't need to deny or confirm anything because he's making the relevant point. Namely that there was no reported Hezbollah activity near the UN post during the period it was being bombed, and in fact, they told the IDF what was going on while they were being bombed, got assurances that it would stop, and contiuned to get bombed.

Now, I don't think the bombing of the UN post was deliberate but using half-assed spin to try to excuse it is silly. It was more than likely a tragic accident.

"Or perhaps he was saying there was a "tactical necessity" to bomb the UN observers so the evil Jews could have the run of the place.

The idiocy of the letter writers here continues to amaze."

Since you're a prolific letter writer here that must mean your idiocy is off the charts, eh? Btw, the anti-semitism charge nonsense everytime one of your talking points fails is getting beyond absurd. It's venturing into parody.

"Hamas killing suspected Israeli collaborators"

That is not a source for your claim. Specifically, that "Hamas kills more Palestinians than Israel does". Unless of course you think the number of suspected collaborators killed by Hamas outnumber other Palestinians killed by the IDF... And enough with the Sherman analogies. That's more of an example of one off hindsight bias than real military anaylsis that's applicable to this situation.

"Here's Another "Myth" That Turned Out To Be True"

I'll make it simple for you. The myth is the claim parotted endlessly by some that Hezbollah (btw, that's not Hamas) normally hides among civilians and that's why civilians are getting killed. The author pointed out that this was ALMOST ALWAYS FALSE. Now, that doesn't mean it never happens. It's just not the norm. Your Hamas ambulance story proves the point. Blowing up ten ambulances and killing many civilians because Hamas used one to carry weapons is the kind of overkill people are talking about. But hey, better safe than sorry. What's a few more dead Palestinians.

The Hamas part of this thinking always intrigues me. Where EXACTLY is Hamas supposed to go? The West Bank is militarily occupied by the IDF and Gaza is bascially a walled off prison. Everytime I hear the Hamas version of this charge of "hiding among civilians", I almost have to laugh. I'm sure the IDF will be willing to let them set up military bases in Gaza and the West Bank.