First:

"July 28, 2006 | TYRE, SIDON and NABATIYA, South Lebanon -- The bombs came just as night fell, around 7 p.m. The locals knew that the 10-story apartment building had been the office, and possibly the residence, of Sheik Tawouk, the Hezbollah commander for the south, so they had moved their families out at the start of the war...."

and then ...

"I will not leave. This place is not military, it is not Hezbollah; it was an empty apartment."

Sheesh. So much for logic.

Original Text:

"The handful of people in the town include some from Hezbollah's political wing, as well as volunteers keeping an eye on things while the residents are gone. Off to the side, as we watch the Israelis pummel ridgelines on the outskirts of town, one of the political operatives explains that the fighters never come near the town, reinforcing what other Hezbollah people have told me over the years."

Bias Removed:

"The handful of people in the town include some from Hezbollah's so-called political wing, as well as 'volunteers' claiming to keep an eye on things while the residents are gone but may have been scouting potential rocket positions. Off to the side, as we watch the Israelis' pin-point precision strikes on terrorist-occupied ridgelines on the outskirts of town, one of the shifty-eyed terrorist operatives explains that the fighters never come near the town, reinforcing my impression from other Hezbollah terrorists from over the years that A-rabs are a bunch of lying wogs."

Michael Prothero, I hope you were taking notes.

and never saying the wrong thing to the wrong people ... how much freedom do you think they have?

I'd LOVE to know what the Palestinians in Lebanon think ... what the Christians in Southern Lebanon think ... what all of the various factions think ... but as long as they live in fear of Hezbollah reprisal, I don't think we're going to hear anything but "the right thing" according to Hezbollah, at least from those within their sphere of influence (oh, and Iran's too)

Much of Palestinian politics in the territories reminds me of the old Chicago Daley machine (or Tammany Hall or etc.) ... when there are no jobs without connections and everyone "relies on the kindness of strangers" (either from the militias or from the government) doled out in return for favors, loyalty, kinship, silence ... there's no freedom ...

and I'm increasingly doubtful that anything approaching genuine democracy can exist in the absence of both freedom of speech and, to some degree, freedom from both terrorism and deprivation. (yes, see also, Iraq)

Too many of the "civilians" are totally dependent on the militias for freedom of anything to be real ... it borders on feudalism.

My title says it all: you don't want retribution then don't let the Hezbollah terrorists among you. Unlike your buddies, at least the Israelis are not deliberately targeting innocent civilians.

As a member of the Lebanese "government," it seems as if Hezbollah has themselves brought the trouble upon Lebanon. It would be like our government's contending that atrocities perpetrated by Democrats are not really American atrocities, since the GOP runs the government.

Just because Israel and America hide behind the masks of "real armies" does not make them any less barbaric or disgusting than what they purport Hamas and Hezbollah to be.

Exactly! Well stated.

Thank you, Zene.

What is a "political" member of Hezbollah? The man who recruits the suicide bombers, but goes home every night for dinner with his family? The unarmed man who only publishes the newspaper that calls for the death of the Jews. Or those nice guys who travel to Tehran to collect the cash to buy the weapons but never touch the weapons.

That would make Hitler an innocent man, since he was just the head of the "Political Wing" of the Nazi party?

"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.