This piece is so naive... Obviously, Mr Prothero has a very very superficial knowledge of south Lebanon (was it his first time there?) and of Hezbollah's duplicity. For good journalism on the same subject and of what is really happening in southern villages, please read NYT's "Christians Fleeing Lebanon Denounce Hezbollah" (by Sabrina Tavernise). There, you'll find out that terrorists doesn't have to stay away from civilians when it comes to an open confrontation with a regular army. On the contrary.

Only the Maoists who write for and read Salon could believe that Hizbollah's "political" wing has nothing to do with the war which Hizbollah instigated. It is a little like saying, "Well, yes, the Gestapo were naughty boys , but why punish the German people and the government they put in power?" Of course, one's perspective is sharpened from where I am writing this, just south of the Lebanese-Israeli border. The Hizbollah crossed into Israel, killed 8 soldiers and kidnapped two. If the Israelis wanted just to kill Lebanese civilians, the casualties would have been far greater (G-d forbid). From what I see, the Israelis have been concentrating on Hizbollah command and control and the weapons being used, as well as preventing resupply by Iran and Syria. Are your writers too stupid to comprehend that Iran masterminded this war so they could continue to gull the witless Europeans while going nuclear? And it must gall Salon that your favourite demon, President Bush, has stood firm in refusing to impose a ceasefire which would reward the terrorists and their Iranian sponsors? Why not visit where I am, it might open your eyes to elementary political truth. Salaam Aleikhum, you all, Joel J. Sprayregen, usually of chicago IL.

The virulent hate espoused on these pages comes from those who advocate and justify Israel's murderous actions in Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza. Ugly Americans (Israelis?) indeed.

You can never be too sure with those evil zionist monsters. Keep up the fight, brothers.

So what will it take for supporters of Israel to be satisfied? A state of Israel ethnically cleansed of all except Jews? And where exactly are the borders of this state, if that's what you want? That will never lead to peace, but then maybe you don't want peace? Pardon me, if this seems to be very naive, but I think peace is the best solution. And peace to me means a recognition that all people have the right to live unmolested in their homes, on their own property, with equal protection under the law with equal access to education, health care, etc. Basically, Israel needs to be one state with borders already defined by UN Resolutions and composed of all people with equal rights. All people should have the right to develop economically - not just one religion or ethnic group. There needs to be RESPECT and EQUAL RIGHTS for every religion and ethnicity represented in Israel.

I am very unhappy that my tax payments are supporting this maddness in the Middle East and I told my Congresspeople (even though their actions seem to represent Israel and not America) The first step is an immediate CEASE FIRE NOW. Israel needs to allow humanitarian aid safe passage to the Lebanese and Palestinian refugees. Those are the first steps to be peaceful solution. The burden is on Israel and the United States to establish their sincerity, since they are the most powerful players and the architects of this barbarity.

Anyone familiar with basic principles of logic knows that it is impossible to prove a negative. In science we call it the null hypothesis. For example, it is impossible to prove scientifically that God does not exist. Prothero says:

But this claim is almost always false. My own reporting and that of other journalists reveals that in fact Hezbollah fighters [...] avoid civilians.

He is setting the bar pretty high for himself with that claim. You would therefore expect him to refute the numerous reports of Lebanese civilians who say otherwise. Instead, his next piece of "evidence" comes on page 2 of the article:

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.

So now we have fuzzy anecdotal evidence, which "reinforces" what Prothero has learned from Hezbollah sources? This is evidence?

He further goes on to say:

[...] the Lebanese army, [...] would halt my trip and send me over to Tyre to get permission from a Hezbollah official before I could proceed, usually with strict limits on where I could go.

Every other journalist I know who has covered Hezbollah has had the same experience.

So, his access to the area is limited to the places where Hezbollah wants him to go, yet he expects us to consider his analysis authoritative?

His conclusion?

So the analysts talking on cable news about Hezbollah "hiding within the civilian population" clearly have spent little time if any in the south Lebanon war zone and don't know what they're talking about.

I looked thoroughly through Mr Prothero's "analysis," yet I found very little in the way of facts to support this conclusion, and lots in the way of anecdotal propoganda from Hezbollah itself. Maybe someone can enlighten me and point me to the parts of the article that prove Prothero's grandiose claim?

All people should have the right to develop economically - not just one religion or ethnic group. There needs to be RESPECT and EQUAL RIGHTS for every religion and ethnicity represented in Israel.

No Name, your ignorance is startling. Israel is the only country in that region where all these things are true! Ethnic Arabs sit in the Israeli legislature and have access to Israeli courts. They run businesses, own homes, participate fully in Israeli society.

Now tell me how many countries in the Arab world where the same thing is true of Jews or Christians.

stop with the b.s., you know as well as I that Jews have more rights and privileges in Israel and even among Jews there is no equality.