When there's fallout ON Tel Aviv I will declare a day of Salon Celebration.

"Nobody in their right mind would argue that Hezbollah is not going after Israeli civilians with their missiles."

At least that's more or less the 'enlightened' narrative. Loss of life is one thing. The deaths of 2000 Israelis and more than 60 US citizens since 2000 is quite another. Let's not forget that in our oh so delicate whining about the poor victims of violence. Stick with the script people.

OK - A Couple of possibilities:

1. Fog of war, Israelis accidentally destroyed building not known to have any people inside. Hundreds of missiles had been fired from Qana on previous days.

2. Destruction of targets does not always occur on the same day that missiles are fired from them. Its not "whack a mole" where you can only destroy a target the same day you see missiles fired...

Most likely Qana was unintentional. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Hezbollah is not going after Israeli civilians with their missiles.

Why is Cana (pronounced KAY-nah) being referred to as Qana (pronounced KAH-nah)? I had no idea that this tragic city was in fact a major "player" in the New Testament until an article in the Chicago Tribune described it as such. The least the media could do is use both words in the reports so as to clarify the location, and its historical significance, for the benefit of Westerners.

This arbitrary changing of spelling and pronunciations of foreign cities seems to be "on a roll" lately, beginning with the Turin/Torino controversy in this year's Olympics.

60 years we've been trying and they keep popping up like vampires. What do we have to do to them?

OK, Israeli appologists; please explain the IDF report that says that there were no rockets fired from Qana on the day in question.

In the fog of war, accidents happen. Often targets are not bombed on the same day missiles are fired from them. When the enemy continously targets civilians and uses civilians as human shields as part of their strategy, tragedies like this will occur.

The below article from CNN is proof enough to me that Hezbollah was operating from and does operate from a hospitals, mosques, schools - (they have to to survive!) I trust Israel's press to find the truth, as do even many of the people that are against the Israeli response to Hezbollah.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's military on Wednesday released video that it said proved a hospital it raided overnight deep inside Lebanon was actually a Hezbollah headquarters.

Israeli special forces raided the hospital near Baalbeck, Lebanon, snatching five militants and killing 10 others, Israel's army said.

Hezbollah disputed the Israeli military account, saying five civilians were arrested who are not members of the militant group.

Israeli video of the scene appeared to show weapons that Israeli soldiers discovered during a search of the hospital. (Watch Israeli video showing soldiers searching the hospital -- 1:34)

Anyone who claims Israel intentionally kills civilians while at the same time ignoring the intentional attacks on Israeli civilians by Hezbollah that started this war is guilty of bias. The loss of life is sad and sickening - but its root cause is Radical Islam - which must be destroyed, since it is impacting all nations, not just Israel. Even Peace Now supports the Israeli response.

It was revealed on ABC Australia tonight that the IDF had this invasion planned in February 2005 so I guess the blood is on Sharon's hands again, same as in Shatila and Sabra. Which by the way spawned the resistance group called Hezbollah.

They had decided to bomb the country back 20 years and they have certainly done that.

Then tonight Olmert said that the whole thing had been a great success because the entire population had been displaced, bombed and moved along.

With one million innocent people involved that is a massive war crime in anyone's language.

Enough already about Hezbollah hiding in the houses to shoot rockets - what a deranged lie that is. The house didn't collapse 8 hours later, that is a lie, everyone was dead in the basement for god's sake.

Disabled children, the elderly are dead. How dare you racists believe that arabs are subhuman - what is murdering or displacing 1 miilion people about?

Who on earth wins? Israel occupied Lebanon for years and off and on invaded and killed and smashed everything in their sights.

For the record - it is the IDF that is bombing US citizens still in South Lebanon and they have been branded by Olmert as Hezbollah and are to be destroyed.

Along with 170 Australians.

With friends like this we don't need an enemy.

About the deaths in Qana, from Haaretz, the Jerusalem paper:

"It now appears that the military had no information on rockets

launched from the site of the building, or the presence of Hezbollah

men at the time.

The Israel Defense Forces had said after the deadly air-strike that

many rockets had been launched from Qana. However, it changed its

version on Monday.

The site was included in an IAF plan to strike at several buildings in

proximity to a previous launching site. Similar strikes were carried

out in the past. However, there were no rocket launches from Qana on

the day of the strike."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/745185.html

It's the smell, of, Zyklon-B. A little acrid, a little like almonds. With a just a whiff of eau de Mengele.

"It's a war. Civilians are gonna die on both sides. That's what happens in wars. Americans don't seem to understand that because our mainland has never experienced war. That's why 9/11 was such a shock to people."

Eric, the United States mainland is soaked in blood from the wars held here. From the very beginning, the Revolutionary War, the French and Indian War, the War of 1812, the bloodiest of bloodiest Civil War, the Mexican-American War...and what happened to the millions of Native Americans during this time? Did they all drop dead conveniently of illness? If so, why then are there so many Native Americans still existing in other American nations like Canada and Mexico - they also encountered Europeans. The Native Americans in the USA were wiped out in a genocidal war on the mainland like Little Big Horn, like the Trail of Tears. What about the war against African Americans by the KKK and the non-intervention of the federal governmen like Rosewood, like the lynchings and burnings all AFTER the civil war and slavery abolished? What about the war waged against workers who have been murdered, beaten, tortured, jailed and abused in the history of this country by the capitalists who demanded the workers bend to their inhuman demands - check out The Peoples History of the United States? In most of these cases the government sided against the victims in favor of the wealthy and powerful.

Why do we lead all civilized nations on Earth in homocide and imprisonment?

Smedley Butler exposed the fact that the American military (in which he served as an officer and a marine his entire life) were 'enforcers' for the corporate elite against the rest of the world for profit. His essay "War Is A Racket" is a classic. Back in his day (FDR was president) the Eastern Establishment who admired Hitler wanted him to participate in a Coup d'etat to become military dictator of the USA under their direction. Instead, he went to the press and exposed the plot. Congress investigated and the guilty were shielded (as usual).

The Vietnam War killed 50,000 Americans before it ended. Here in the states people died protesting it; were beaten and castigated and put in jail for standing up against it.

In South America, Carribean, Southeast Asia, we had no business waging the secret wars using our military (once again) at the behest of powerbrokers. That's where the USA stands; it is very hard for those of us here to point fingers when we are now causing long term genetic damage to Iraqi arabs by depleted uranium and destroying that country like armaggedon. Because we have no free press and because most people prefer the comfort of being 'told' what to think, there is no questioning of possible genocide in Iraq. What else would du be for?

So, just to conclude...our country is only 200 years old; we have had plenty of wars and blood shed here. We are embedded in violence, blood and guilt. Most of the shock experienced in the US at the time of 9/11 was denial of ultimate reality. And we can not be sure of what that is because it has been obscured to us.

Respectfully,