Reading the interview with Fouad Siniora was quite depressing. It gives one good insight into the extent to which we cannot expect peace in Lebanon any time soon. Mr. Siniora categorically refuses to accept any responsibility for Lebanon's role in the current violence. He seems to think that a negoitated peace would require Israel to withdraw completely to 1967 borders, to grant complete soverignty to Lebanon, to sign peace treaties with Syria and Iran, and to compensate Lebanon for damage. He also refuses any offer of an international peace keeping force, calling them "colonists." If Mr Siniora is in charge of "negotiating" peace, then we can expect more war. This is pitiful for the people that Mr. Siniora supposedly represents, because they are the ones who will continue to lose their homes and lives in this war.

I agree with you Perry. Although I do see blame in this for Israel as well, Its funny how someone as bright as Siniora can never accept blame for his own government's actions or the actions of Hezbollah. Many will say the same can be true for Israel, and of course, it can... Unlike many others discussing this, I don't see WW3 or any silly armageddon in this, just decades and decades more of misery for everyone involved.

Those peddling unrealistic conclusions that lean towards racism like the preceding poster can only exacerbate the problem in Lebanon. I would urge them to reread the interview with an eye towards what they got completely wrong about what Mr. Siniora said.

Hundreds of innocent people have died that do not deserve to be blamed for Hezbollah’s actions. Mr. Siniora seems to be a good faith negotiator, and for everyone’s sake we can only hope that he is able to stay in power and keep his teetering government together.

Why is the demand that Israel withdraw to 1967 borders so ridiclous?

Because, Hamid, Israel has build hundreds of settlements outside the 1967 border. The Israeli government has provided huge subsidies and tax breaks to those willing to move into these settlements. These settlements are forever expanding due to "natural growth"

If I'm not wrong, there are like 200,000 settlers in the West Bank. It's difficult to repatriate them, and US tax payers will probably have to pay for their resettlement if it ever comes to that (like never), getting more aid (US$100,000s per settler?) than American citizens do in the process. Such ridiculousness.

I wonder who's going to pay for Lebanon.

A Lebanese peace treaty is dependent on the settlements being dismantled? Interesting... Lebanon had to basically expell the PLO due to the horror that organization inflicted (and then, like now, Lebanon became a base for attacking Israel)- but they couldn't, relying on ISRAEL to do her dirty work, the brave leader, Yasar Arafat, sneaking out of the country as a woman wearing a burka. It would be one thing if there truely was a pan-Islamic solidarity movement, but with Shite murdering Sunni - and vice versa, with Iraqi warring against Iranian (1 million dead), with Black September (3-5000 PLO dead and expelled to Jordan), with Muslims the globe over at war with their neighbors, it's hard to make the claim that this is about the settlements...

On the surface, returning to the 1967 border seems a good solution. It would certainly satisfy the UN Charter which prohibits the forceful taking of another countrie's territory. And it would look to satisfy Israel in so far as the Arab countries would recognize its existence and borders. In practice though it isn't going to happen. Despite claiming as the settlements were being established that none of them were permanent and subject to negotiations, the idea that 250,000 settlers are going to be moved is absurd. Even if the settlement issue could be compensated for in negotiations, Israel has made it clear that it will never give up East Jerusalem.

If the Palistineans never lost an opportunity to lose an opportunity, then so too has Israel hs never lost the opportunity to use the excuse of Palistinean intransience to take by force what it wasn't entitled to.

So what should we do about Hezbollah?

"It's the Jews"

Are you concerned with a rebel state with a state?

"It's the Jews"

What will happen with rebuilding?

"The Jews"

Excuse me but -

"Jews Jews Jews Jews"

thank you.

Reasonable conditions

Why is the demand that Israel withdraw to 1967 borders so ridiclous?

-- Parvez Hamid

What's ridiculous is that it's tantamount to Lebanon saying they're fighting for the Palestinians. This is ridiculous, of itself.

Or that on the one hand he says he doesn't know anything about Hezbollah, and on the other, he can speak to their negotiating terms.

Would it be fine with you if every nation that wants Israel to withdraw to the 1967 line started attacking them? Israel didn't just decide to start attacking Hezbollah. Hezbollah fired rockets and kidnapped soldiers.

And I know you didn't ask about it, but as to the "prisoners" Nasrallah wants released, there are only 3 that Israel has. One of them is Samir Qantar, a murderous psychopath who caused the death of a policeman and a woman's entire family.

The Sheba farms thing is another red herring. Isreal completed a 100% withdrawal to the maps that Lebanon agreed to (and the UN witnessed) ending in 2000. It was only after that withdrawal that the Lebanese started laying claim to Sheba farms. The UN has recognized the Israel-Lebanon border to be legitimate for 6 years now.

Hezbollah started a war over unreasonable terms. The Prime Minister knows he cannot come right out and say "release Samir Qantar," but Nasrallah actually does come out and say that. None of these men are "reasonable."

The Shebaa Farms area is recognized by the entire world as Syrian territory - it belongs neither to Lebanon nor to Israel.

The American taxpayer, of course! Not only will we pay in monetary terms, but we will pay for the bad karma engendered by Israel's destruction of Lebanon and its people. In terms of dollar costs, we already pay for the missiles, jets, fuel, Apache helicopters, etc, that Israel uses to blitz Lebanese infrastructure and people, as well as the infrastructure and people of the West Bank and Gaza. We will pay for the damage to Israel's economy, too. Will that "emergency bail out" bill be ignored by the American press as it is quietly rubber stamped by our Congress? After all, the press never mentions the cost to the American taxpayer of Israel's subsidies. Remember when the press wrote about the cost to American taxpayers for evacuating Americam citizens from Lebanon without ever mentioning the American taxpayer cost of the jet fuel and precision guided missiles that were shipped to Israel at about the same time to be used in the attack on Lebanon?