Dear Anon:

Here's something Hamas and Hezbollah could do: accept Israel's right to exist. I don't doubt the IDF does A LOT of really nasty things, a lot of things that they couldn't or wouldn't do if they didn't have their US patron. And I agree that the collective punishment of the Lebanese people only creates more terrorists and harms Israel's cause. Further, I agree that Hezbollah and Hamas don't speak for all Lebenanese or Palestinians. But let's be clear who we're dealing with: Hezbollah and Hamas want to destroy Israel, drive all the Jews "into the sea" and establish theocracies in their respective countries. They are not democrats or freedom fighters or 21st century greem mountain boys, they are fascists who have clothed themselves in the language of liberation and revolution and Israel has a right to defend itself against people like that. No doubt, many innocent people die as in ANY war. But there is NO moral equivalence between people who will deliberately kill an entire family sitting down to passover dinner and a military force that tries its best to hunt down and destroy terrorists.

Reading the "letters" was way more fun than reading the actual article.

Watching liberals knee-jerk their way into supporting the aims of a quasi-fascist group hell bent on killing all the Jews and installing a theocracy in what they think is their land is a hoot. I also loved reading all the "analyses" by armchair Generals who are absolutely convinced that this isn't in Israel's interest and that they could do a helluva better job keeping Israel.

In all seriousness, the thing that truly annoys me about most Salon readers is complete lack of any willingness to consider that fact that the other side may be on to something. Recognizing that Israelis may look at being rocketed in a way different from someone in New Zealand would be a start.

It's truly disheartening when you read postings and fully half of them subscribe to crackpot theories about government conspiracies and secret demolition plans. It makes me want to cancel my subscription. The only thing I would say, and then I'll drop it, is that we're talking here about the GOVERNMENT, remember. The same goverment that did a heckuva job after Katrina, the same goverment that predicted there'd be stockpiles of WMD all over Iraq, the same goverment that conconcted this brilliant prescription drug plan. Seriously? Have you ever tried to get your Social Security card replaced? Filed for unemployment? That goverment?

It's a thinly veiled for of racism to believe that Arabs couldn't possibly have done this and that it must have been, Bush, the Jews, Mossad, aliens, the Illiminati, the Knights Templar...

It does a disservice to our nation and the victims to propound this kind of nonsense. Of course, this is America, you're free to believe what you like. You're also free to believe the earth is flat and that it's 6000 years old and that dinosaurs are just demons pushed up into the roof of Hell.

As someone who worked a block from the WTC on 9/11, I feel like it's my duty to say something. Normally I wouldn't justify most of what has been said here but there comes a point when people's opinions cross the line and become something dangerous. I do not want to impugn anyone's character as I assume everyone wants the to get to the bottom of what happened.

Since 99% of the world watched the event on TV and 90% of what is on TV is fantasy, I guess it's to be expected that most people didn't believe what they were seeing. Let me assure, it did happen, real people died.

Like most readers of Salon, I deplore what Bush & CO have made of 9/11 (Patriot Act, Iraq) and the cruely cynical way they have exploited the tragedy to sow fear among us and further there own twisted political ends. Their incompetence in Iraq and the ideological zeal that got us there have only compounded their mistakes. It will take a long, long time to undo the mess of this administration.

However, while there may be holes here and there, the reality (from my reading of the facts) is that 9/11 was carried out by radical Muslims hell-bent on destroying us and our way of life.

I say all this because I think that allegations of conspiracies and so forth, cheapen the political discourse and damage our credibility with the 51% of the nation that voted for Bush. It allows them to write us off as "crazy-leftie-wackos." As I see it, discussions like the one on this board only do the bidding of the Limbaughs and O'Reillys of the world.

You make good points. As a general (no pun intended) matter the military ought to resist the urge to express their opinions in publicly. However, that assumes their exists a (private) forum for the military to express their views without fear of retribution. Obviously, Rumsfeld's Pentagon is not that place.

I think many of the generals now speaking out feel enormous guilt for resisting Rumsfeld & Co. and leading their soldiers into an unwinnable situation. It begs the question as to what an active-duty military officer should do when faced with orders from a duly-elected civilian leadership that are unworkable, dangerous and will likely lead to the deaths of the soldiers in their charge. I've never been in the military but it seems to me officers have as much responsibilty to see that their soldiers lives are not sacrificed needlessly as they do carrying out orders.