Mitch -- I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt, and presume that you are not simply anti-Jewish, nor an adherent of the view that Israel has no right to exist. You have seen too much violence, over too many years, much of it seemingly indiscriminant or bloodthirsty, and you're tired of it.

But ask yourself -- what is the reason that Israel defends itself vigorously? And why is there so much civilian death? Is it really just that they are STUPIDLY attacking anything with the remotest association with Hezbollah, or just attacking for the hell of it?

If you are intellectually honest, you will admit that the problem is that Israel is under attack. In fact, Hezbollah is highly professional and competent, as you describe -- all the more threatening. There is an entire culture that has grown up believing that Israel (and more broadly, the West) are evil. Believing this from experience -- death and misery, every day of their lives -- and coming to this perfectly understandable conclusion. And in their misery and lack of alternatives, they hate and they attack.

Sad, because the real cause is the EXACT opposite. 1) the mind-bogglingly corrupt ARAB leadership, rolling in their oil TRILLIONS, doing everything they can to maintain control. 2) the deeply damaged religion of Islam, with it's culture and history and ideology of violence, of repression, of opposition to modernity, of enforced combination of church and state -- which cannot stand Western ideals, or deal with them non-violently.

Israel is under siege, and constant threat, and has been for 50 years. Under those pressures, it has NO CHOICE but to fight back brutally, as effectively as possible. It has NO ROOM for negotiation -- because it only takes a few who go nuts from the other side, who fail to meet their group's commitments, to bring more death to Israel. They cannot simply "trust". This is why no cease fire now can work, and why a repeat of failed old strategies cannot work.

It's an old point, but quite valid -- if Israel laid down her arms and stopped fighting, it would be destroyed. If Hezbollah AND the other anti-Israel forces laid down their arms, there would be peace, and a Palestinian state, and economic partnership between Israel and her neighbors.

So as unfortunate as civilian deaths are, they are completely Hezbollah's fault. They are the ones who can stop it. Israel does not have the power to end the conflict.

And I ask you -- do you REALLY believe that Israel kills civilians out of racism and bloodthirstiness? If you've been there, you know better.

Excellent in-depth look into Hezbollah.

This kind of reporting is hard to find and so necessary if we are to understand and come to grips with what is happening in Lebanon (and the Middle East) and why.

The demonetization of Hezbollah, on a daily basis, by the mainstream media is repugnant and the bias toward Israel even more so.

When efforting to understand the complex issues in the Middle East, I want access to information on all sides, not just one side. The present state of mainstream media is a daily dose of one sided propaganda and half truths.

Keep up the excellent work and many thanks.

Regards-Donna Volatile, Truchas NM

Wow. The VERY FIRST LETTER posted pulls out the "Anti-Semitic" cudgel. I'd say that was some sort of record if I didn't see examples of it all. over. the. net. constantly. now. whenever anyone DARE question Israel, the country.

Criticism of Israel's government is not criticism of the Jews as a people, much *less* anti-Semitism. Get over it, your one-note isn't playing anymore and fewer and fewer people are afraid to speak truth to power for fear of getting smeared with an ugly and untrue brush.

For years the Israelis have been criticized for targeting ambulances in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the two Intifadas. Well guess what I saw in a clip on YouTube just over a week ago? Hamas militia using ambulances as transports. It was right there in all its ugliness.

I think I'm going to continue believing that Hezbollah is deliberately fighting from civilian areas, thank you very much.

Oh, and if you want to see the clip, just run this search on YouTube: hamas fighting israelis gaza strip ambulances.

I had assumed that ALL Hezzbolah fighters just lived in their regular homes and left for their "office" each day that happened to be picking up and launching rockets at Israel. Thus, to supress them, Israel had no choice but to bomb everywhere in the hope that among all those killed they'd get some Hezzbolah too. (And/or that Hezzbolah would call things off because of how much the civilians were suffering.)

But, if Hezzbolah fighters live apart from the civilians, that means they live and train in some kind of camps. And those camps would be detectable from the air (the drone and ordinary recon aircraft). And, probably, from US satellite recon that the US presumably passes to Israel regularly.

If that is so, then why can't Israel bomb the bases? Surely they'd get a lot more Hessbolah fighters that way.

I'm not pointing a finger at anyone here. I'm just saying that something doesn't add up on what this story says. I'd hope to hear more to clarify it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,755424,00.html

You wanted a non-American source. Here's one. There's more. Go look yourselves. Every Israeli attack causes a hunt for collaborators. That's not a story the US's MSM is very good about publishing, but it is well known to others.

The New York Times is not considered by anyone on either side (left, right, Republican or Democrat) reliable anymore. Foreign Affairs, Der Speigal, Le Monde and a number of French newspapers are covering this. Slate is, too, if you want another lefty non-mainstream online mag. Kaplan at Slate has cited a number of the arguments I cited; a number of the columnists there are not exactly war hawks, but they are not blaming Israel for starting this one (only for bringing out the big stuff). In the blogosphere, you can find more non-traditional (less political) bloggers who are looking at this for a way out, rather than to assign blame.

A Clauswitzian or a Sun Tzuian analysis seems ruthless or immoral to many folk. These are normative philosophies in military philosophy and science. In some ways, we have forgotten what war really looks like and how it is fought. Sherman's approach was at once Sun Tzu and Clausewitz. It looks ugly. The poster gave a really good analogy there. Sherman may be reviled, but he won.