Readers’ Responses to Our Question (192)

How many vistims in 11 September 2001 Tragedy?? How many victims in Iraq war?? What we have calculated that? Who more cruel between 11 September, 2001 tragedy dicision maker or Iraq war dicision maker? Thousands of people becoming victim in 11 Spetember, 2001 and tens of thousand people becoming victim in Iraq war,not give a dam adult or child. Remember, only in Iraq war, not including war location in all the world. All of people including USA military in Iraq only becoming policy victim. How if our child becoming victims? They were all only victims from stupid dicision about Iraq war. Have we realize that? Iraq war not war fight against terror, but vengeance war. Vengeance war from senior to not other. Where peoples heart and mind? Where the heart of makers of news? Only healthy sensible peoples which can comprehend this. And finally, I hope bigly role to all of medias can campaigning anti war. Terror is together our enemy, but not with dropping bomb to finish it.

The awful truth is 9/11 was staged. Where is the Boeing 757-sized hole at the Pentagon? In fact, where is the Boeing 757? - http://i12.tinypic.com/6c7rm6t.jpg

Major Douglas Rokke, PhD, U.S. Army (ret) – Former Director U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project.

"When you look at the whole thing, especially the crash site void of airplane parts, the size of the hole left in the building and the fact the projectile's impact penetrated numerous concrete walls, it looks like the work of a missile. And when you look at the damage, it was obviously a missile."

G.W. (Jerry) Longspaugh, MS Aerospace Engineering (1942 - 2006) – Retired Aerospace Engineer.

"The debris found outside the Pentagon is inconsistent with the impact of a Boeing 757 or any aircraft of comparable dimensions. In particular, in the absence of some agency (possibly unknown to physical science) that removed the wings, there is no way to avoid the conclusion that the wings (and therefore the aircraft) were never present in the first place. In this case, no Boeing 757 struck the Pentagon building on the morning of September 11, 2001."

Capt. Russ Wittenberg, U.S. Air Force – Former Air Force fighter pilot with over 100 combat missions. Retired commercial airline pilot for Pan Am and United Airlines for 35 years.

"It’s roughly a 100 ton airplane. And an airplane that weighs 100 tons all assembled is still going to have 100 tons of disassembled trash and parts after it hits a building. There was no wreckage from a 757 at the Pentagon. … The vehicle that hit the Pentagon was not Flight 77. We think, as you may have heard before, it was a cruise missile."

Absolutely not. This administration needs to recognize the war in Iraq is a complete failure and mistake. There are more critical issues that affecting the lives of millions of americans and people world wide that our president is not taking actions against. Now the war has proven to be a failure and is causing more violence, terror and poverty in this world. According to the Borgen Project, it only takes $19 billion dollars annually to eradicate world hunger and poverty. However, our government has already spent more than $450 billion dollars over this fruitless war in Iraq. It is time for the Bush Administration to take a real interest in the lives of the American people as well as people who are in desperate needs around the world. Stop the lies and stop poverty now. Put away the arrogance and put the needs of the people before political gains.

Hi!

Come on guys the basic problem is :Too many European in Israel in the middle of Arabs.(Richard Cohen). .... They will fight for ever.

I know what I'm about to say will go against the grain of almost every American, but not all problems have acceptable solutions. I firmly believe the Mid-East falls into this category.

There are only 3 possible outcomes. First, we live with the status quo and tolerate the violence. Second, the Israeli's wipe out the Arabs. Finally third, the Arabs wipe out the Israeli's. None of these outcomes are positive. Innocent people will die in large numbers no matter what outcome takes place.

To point fingers and blame and call one side terrorists (Arabs) and the other side victims of terrorism (Israel) does no one any service. It marginalizes the Arabs and portrays the Israeli's in a light they certainly haven't earned.

However, I do smile as I read the comments thinking a peace is possible. Hope against reason always brings a smile to my face. What saddens me are the comments on whose fault it is. There is enough fault to go around.

So let me get this straight, Israel wants the security council to invoke res. 1449 or whatever that says Hezbollah must disarm. But what about the resolution that say Israel should retreat to pre 1967 borders and give back that land to its rightful owners? Is that resolution not as legit? THAT is the reason Hezbollah is around anyways!

'Let's be realistic': You are right. There is much 'he started it' logic here, as well as ther bravado of the 'chicken-hawk' as we say in the US.

To return to the topic of the board: NO, this is not making anyone safer. These tactics have been tried in the Middle East, and elsewhere, many times in the past, and have always failed. Except when the goal was extermination, and it was successfuly reached.

So what is the solution? Seeing the failure of the current policies, something different. In my humble opinion, as things are today, (1) Establish a Palestinian state in all the Gaza & West Bank; (2) Compensate the Palestinians for the land from which they were evicted in 1948; (3) Return occupied land (even if 'annexed'); (4) Release all the prisoners, even the 'terrorists'; (5) Let Israel follow whatever policies it desires within the borders of Israel.

If, after this, there are those who want to engage in cross-border activities, they can be handled the way normal states handle these matters.

For all those of you who keep stating that the only way to end the war in the Middle East is by getting the Israelis out, stop dreaming. I am a Lebanese, and know that if "Belfour" never happened, THIS war would not be taking place. But it did, and Israel was formed. We cannot solve the current problem with what ifs, we also cannot solve the problem by entangling ourselves in a "who started it?" argument. If Hezbollah started it, okay, let's give you that (for sake of argument) does that justify the killing of hundreds of civilians?

What will the so-called civilized world do NOW, in the present, to stop the killing of civilians and the destruction of a nation?

And please, do not post the childish response ñ again ñ of: but they started it!! It will only remind me (and every parent out there) of a three year oldÖ

Everytime this question is asked, it is followed by a comment: But Hezbollah started it? Let's pretend we're adults for a minute, and deal with the CURRENT problem. If a stranger on the road hits you, and you kill a person who happened to be his negihbour, what does that make you?

The U.S. Congress (both republican and democrats) are as guilty as Bush in making this world more dangerous. The gave Bush the authority to attack any country based on false pretenses; they funded the Iraq invasion, they have consistently failed to hold Bush's officials accountable for widespread violations of human rights.

Let's look at what happened in the last week:

- U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted to support Israel's atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon.

- Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said: "The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon's infrastructure." "We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

- U.S. senators and representatives demanded al-Maliki to apologize for his words against Israel. Otherwise, they said, al-Maliki will not be allowed to speak to Congress during his visit to the U.S.

IS THIS THE LAND OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ?

IS THIS DEMOCRACY ?

THE KIND OF DEMOCRACY THE U.S. WANTS TO IMPOSE ON THE MIDDLE EAST ??

Those that bombed UN's offices in Iraq were "bad, Islamist terrorists" .....but when the Israelis bomb UN forces that have been there for 25+ years and probably a fixture on Israeli war maps, but the Israelis are "allies".....helloooooooo!? Did I miss some thing?

I think Bush administration provide increasing of hatred againts USA and its Allies(especially England and Israel)...Bush created hell in Iraq and now he support Israel's occupation in Lebanon ( The targets that Israel had attacked, are mostly civil...That is why USA became the most hatred country of the World....

Not everyone should live by the US rules, i am sure the world existed way before the US was formed.

a microcosm of the "not working" qualities of the people in the middle east.

no project manager would allow the discussion that is occuring here to take over their meeting.

there is no discussion. no dialogue of a _real_ nature where the intent of the discussion is to arrive at solution.

there is only buttressing of opinions.

if I were in computers and one group were saying we need to back windows, and the other group said we need to back unix...

I would need real reasons to chose one over the other, and I would also need to include mixed networks, and the possibility of one becoming a better solution in 20 years....

or as another example: IF I were looking at energy or realestate as an investment or a managing project, there are very real things to consider

in the real world, emotions as a reason for doing something, always lead to poor conclusions.

and as far as conflict goes, the best conflict is always verbal, you don't have to repair anything when you're done...

I'm the one who wrote about the emotional age of the contestants being 3 years old, nothing that is written here disproves that. There are no "both side solutions," no _real_world_ solutions

no one in their right mind who remembers the bosnia-serbian crisis can honestly believe that these EXTREEMELY SIMPLE PEOPLES, the Arabic and Israeli peoples ever forget _any_ wrong done to them

it defines the Israeli mindset, "never forget," is their cry!

and what do they expect the Arabs to do? how stupid is that?

how likely is that when genocide is an African tradition? tribal problems, destroy the other tribe....it never goes away...eye for an eye...

these are really primitive low brow types, not intellectuals, not artists, in fact Iran is against the artist, intellectual types...

this is similar to Mao's Red Tide, or Hitlers or Mussolini's appeal to average/emotional types to do their works...

ah well, perhaps it's just as well that if people can't control themselves, that they are isolated.

.

that people from the middle east always see the world through

"me" colored glasses, as if that is perfectly reasonable. They must all be "three years old" emotionally, where everything is about me...

that includes the Israeli and Arabic factions....like slow monkeys waltzing with weapons....does it matter...perhaps they are too primitive to work with?

who cares....let the stupid people kill each other, then we can live in their houses, yes?

.

I'dont know if is a coincidence that in the picture Yossi Melman from Israel saying that the war in Lebanon will bring peace looks just like that perfect killer guy in that Luck Besson film. scary!

is very sad to see that we are going backward, not just in the middle east but everywhere, there is no respect for human life, no common sence anywhere, is patetic how israel feel that because of the holocaust they have the right to kill others in such a disproportional rate, those acts will just create the conditions for hundreds of "osamas" to come out in the open and bring us all an even crazier future!, is that the kind of world we want our childrens to inherit from us!

At first glance, I couldn't believe this was a serious question.
'Bush World' is a total disaster.
1 Iraq war based on lies and a misguided belief 'democracy' in Iraq
would spread throughout the region. This is a convoluted version
of the 60s 'Dominio Theory'.
2 Afghanistan, where I believe we were right to go, is falling apart
because we bailed early to 'bring joy' to Iraq.
3 Iran is more powerful that ever before because their 'balance',
Iraq is destroyed.
4 Lebanon, after fighting its way back from oblivion and rebuilding
for 20 years is being destroyed because we did not live up to our
commitmant to them to help them strengthen their Army and civil
structures after they so bravely ejected the Syrians just about a
year ago.
5 Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt etal are under crushing pressure and worsening instability thanks to all of the 'Big-Footing' of Bush.
6. Our borders are a joke.
7 An American President gropes annother world leader at the G8 Summit IN THE PUBLIC MEETING ROOM IN FRONT OF CAMERAS.
8 Our 'friends' think we are disgusting———-and in regards to our
'decider' they are right.

ARE WE SAFER??????????

In my humble opinion, all conflicts (whether among individuals, groups, or nation-states) should be handled with what I refer to as the "T.R.U.T.H. or Consequences" doctrine, where the acronym "T.R.U.T.H." stands for Tolerance, Respect, Understanding, Trustworthiness, and Humility. The root cause of most (if not all) conflicts derives from the absence of Tolerance, Respect, and Understanding of one another, coupled with the absence of Trustworthiness and Humility in dealings with one another. In short, peaceful co-exisitence can never be achieved without the ultimate "T.R.U.T.H." —- namely, ALL parties preaching AND PRACTICING mutual Tolerance, Respect, Understanding, Trustworthiness, and Humility toward one another.

Lest anyone mistake this doctrine as mere pacifist naivete, this suggested set of principles includes a companion, and absolutley critical, additional component —- "CONSEQUENCES." Until that day comes when all nation-states and non-state organizations preach AND PRACTICE only the peaceful principles in the acronym "T.R.U.T.H.," the international community must be willing to unite in enforcing and imposing appropriate "CONSEQUENCES" (including appropriate force as necessary) on those who would violate the "T.R.U.T.H." principles.

Applying this "T.R.U.T.H. or Consequences" doctrine to the Middle East conflicts may be the ultimate test to this new approach to conflict resolution. But if successful —- as I know it can be —- it could become the method of choice to resolve conflicts around the globe to acheive a more sustainable and lasting path to peaceful co-exisitence.

Regarding the Middle East conflicts, the first essential step is for all to acknowledge that at various times, both Israel and the Arab World have committed terrible acts of violence against the "T.R.U.T.H." principles. At varying times, rather than the "T.R.U.T.H.," Israel AND Arab nations and organizations have all been guilty of inTolerance, disRespect, misUnderstanding, unTrustworthiness, and arrogance (lack of Humility) toward each other.

But we cannot turn back the clock and undo what has been done. We can only control what happens in the future. And for the sake of the innocent, precious children throughout the Middle East being born this very day, all parties must pledge themselves to pursue the "T.R.U.T.H." principles or realize that appropriate and forceful "Consequences" will be imposed upon them for violating those "T.R.U.T.H." principles.

A second essential step is for all to acknowledge that no Israeli child was born today hating or seeking the destruction of Palestinians or other Arabs or Muslims. Similarly, no Arab or Muslim child was born today hating or seeking the destruction of Isrealis. Regrettably, those emotions are taught or influenced by adults. And that cycle must end.

The third essential step is for all parties to acknowledge that to date each side has stated its case through words and actions, and those words and actions have failed —- and will continue to fail —- to acheive their objectives. Despite each side's failed attempts, their sworn enemy still exisits, and will continue to exist. Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Arab extremists must recognize that Israel's right to exist will always be defended by Israel and by the international community. So if Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Arab extremists don't renounce their proclamation to eradicate Israel —- or stated another way, if they do not begin to espouse and PRACTICE "T.R.U.T.H" (Tolerance, Respect, Understanding, Trustworthiness, and Humility) toward Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state, then the international community must be willing to impose appropriate and forceful "Consequences" on those violators of the "T.R.U.T.H." principles. Correspondingly, Israel must recognize the mutual right of the Palestinians to have their own state, and for Arabs and Muslims to enjoy a peaceful co-exisitence in Lebanon and other Arab nations. Stated another way, if Israel does not begin to espouse and PRACTICE "T.R.U.T.H." toward Palestinians to exist in their own state, and Arabs to live peacefully in other Arab nations, then the international community must be willing to impose appropriate and forceful "Consequences" on those violators of the "T.R.U.T.H." principles.

Given the historic anger, hatred, and distrust among the parties, it would be naive to think any mutual practice of "T.R.U.T.H." will happen soon. Indeed, we must also recognize that, barring extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances, the process will likely take one or more generations to complete. Essentially, it will take those innocent children who are born today —- who have not yet been taught to hate and to kill —- to somehow grow up freed from the hateful and destructive influence of their parents, to become tomorrow's leaders and advocates for peace.

But the process could commence today by Arab leaders publicly and vociferously denouncing Hamas, Hezbollah, and other extremist organization's stated objective to eradicate Israel. And Israel must reaffirm publicly and unequivocally that it is committed to co-exisitng beside a free Palestinian state and its neighboring Arab states, so long as Israel's right to co-exist is reciprocally respected. Israel, Eygpt, and Jordan have all demonstrated the ability to create such co-exisitence.

Once all parties recognize and proclaim each other's right to exist in peace, then the international community should hold an international summit —- with a corresponding committment from Arab television and Western television to broadcast the summit in full and uncensored, as well as on the internet, etc. —- for the world to see and participate in indentifying the obstacles to peace and exploring innovative ways to construct the paths to peaceful co-exisitence. Perhaps if the international community used available technology to initiate such a fair and uncensored forum to air grievances, those who believe they have been unjustly aggreived won't feel the need to resort to destructive violence to be heard.

Some will say this approach is naive. I admit the process will be slow and at time arduous. But I also say there's no other viable alternative. We must now commit ourselves to embark on a long, deliberate, and likely at times difficult journey to a time and place where peaceful co-existence can be acheived by all nations and people of all backgrounds demanding, adopting, preaching, AND PRACTICING a new international doctrine of "T.R.U.T.H. or Consequences."

The whole world is now asking Who are the terrorists?
And now we see the might of the IDF showing they are the ones terrorizing millions of families, not thousands, and The USA is rushing new laser bombs and cluster bombs to kill even more civilians.

The issue of Israel is by far the most commented in all newspapers of the world.
And the vast majority is against the daily crimes commited agaist the refugees palestineans.

The world will be safer if Israel is relocated to the USA.(not here in NY, send it to Nevada or Montana).
Over 50 years of occupation didn't work and in the next 50 years will be the same. As long as Israel are not planning to use its nuclear weapons and start anothe world war.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/23/perry.tyre/index.html,

shows why we have now a new AXIS, the axis of the invaders, the axis of the murderers, and guess who is in this new AXIS? USA and Israel.

t

"WAR NEVER DETERMINES WHO WON, IT DETERMINES WHO IS LEFT". People never inquired how Hezbuallah was formed? It was formed when Israel(Israel is a US product) occupied Lebanon for 18 years, it was established in 1989. It is a product of occupation. Bin Laden, a US product, The adminstration cut off contact with him in 1997(negotiating the caspian sea pipe line). The civil war in Iraq, a US product. The US should look into their foreign policy and stop blaming others for their failures. I want to tell Americans how it felt during 9/11, it's been 9/11 in the Middle East ever since you have created the State of Israel in 1948.

I agree the Hitler analogy is uncalled for in this instance. Something everyone has to come to grips with is the Arab world is united in it's hatred of Israel. If we put it to a vote today in the Arab world I'd not only bet heavily in favor of a vast majority of Arabs voting to dispose of Israel I'd give very generous odds on that outcome. Is it really unjustified behaviour? Obviously, there has been no historical love loss between the Muslims and the Christians/Jews for well over a thousand years. Add to this the taking of ones homeland and the occupation of other Arabs homelands and I'm not that convinced the Arabs are completely unjustified.

As far as the United States is concerned I think the old adage applies, "the friends of my enemies are my enemies." What have we done as a nation to lead them to believe we are not an enemy? Set up a puppet dictatorship in Iran with the Shah, continually support Israel with money and weapons and invade Iraq twice. I don't think the Arab world views us as either their friend or a neutral country so the Iranian leader isn't as whacko in his comments about the United States as they might seem.

MD: Are there good killings, or bad killings of innocents? This kind of logic is the root of the problems, which sadly is advocated by current US foreign policy.

MD: Are there good killings, or bad killings of innocents? This kind of logic is the root of the problems, which sadly is advocated by current US foreign policy.

Hitler Parallel: It is outrageous to equate what Hitler did to what is going on in Lebanon. If you want to equate anyone to Hitler look at the intentions of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has repeatedly stated his intentions to wipe Israel off the map. He also has made it clear that he does not intend to stop with Israel and would love to get rid of the United States and any other countries he feels like. Israel is going into Lebanon to defend its people from terrorists. Hitler killed Jews for no reason at all, other than a blinding unjustifiable hatred for them. Jhyamo that parallel was really comical.

history repeats itself ..... sounds trite. i thought so, and sorry for the reintroduction of history101. looking at the events in the middle east today ..... one cannot help but remember this contrite remark. in all honesty, israel is doing to citizens of beirut what hitler did to the polish and german jews. in the name of security for its own people it is obliterating the lebanese from the face of the middle east.

"This war is creating more enemies, and more hatred towards Israel, America and their allies, and anyone who, by 1) either their inaction or 2) their support on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon - is basically supporting the killing of hundreds of civilian, a third of them children, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians."

What about the 1) inaction or 2) support of the Hezbollah movement against Israel? Israel did not start this war, and Lebanon did not prevent it.

The only way to achieve peace in mideast is to move Israel out of there. Its creation was a mistake that both sides have paid dearly for close to the past 60 years. How much more dying does it take for the world to realize that???????

H.E. Koke: Israel is an aggressor??????? What exactly constitutes an agressor in your eyes. Israel has only responded to terrorist attacks from both Hamas and Hezbollah. How exactly does that make her or him, or however you want to refer to Israel, the aggressor? Moreover, Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East. Palestinians live in Israel free to practice whatver religion they desire and with all other civil liberties intact. Israelis do not challenge the right for Palestinians to exist, whereas Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. Israel has no problem living side by side Palestine in a two-state solution, but Hamas would not even dream of a world in which the two states co-exist. Before you make outlandish comments, think who is the real agressor, Israel (for democracy and civil liberties for all its inhabitants) or Hamas (terrorists) and Hezbollah (terrorists). Your rhetoric actually makes you sound pro-terrorist.

is creating more enemies, and more hatred towards Israel, America and their allies, and anyone who, by 1) either their inaction or 2) their support on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon - is basically supporting the killing of hundreds of civilian, a third of them children, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.

The kidnapping of two soldiers does not justify the killing of hundreds of civilians, the killing of 30 Israelis (more than HALF, non-civilians), does not justify the killing of over a hundred children, the killing of several Hezbollah militias does not justify the destruction of a nation.

You are watching the birth of resentment and hate of a new generation. It is not the "brainwashing" of the Hezbollah militia that is creating more "terrorist" but the killing of innocent people by the Israeli Military. In the future, Hezbollah will not need to recruit any new members, the Israeli government is doing that for them.

To start a possibility of starting with a peace proces:
1- Peace force in south Libanon
2 -Peace force in the by Isreal occupied Palestinianland. The Palastinian problem has to be solved immediately and it is the only chance to prevent killing more innocent Palestianians This is a must
3- Israel has to know it is an aggressor. So she has to pay for everything she has distructed since july 1 2006.

ATs (arab terrorists) hide in Gaza; Israels bulldozes Gaza;
ATs hide in Lebanon; Israel bombs Lebanon;

what's next?

ATs hide in Syria...
ATs hide in Jordan...
ATs hide in Iraq...
ATs hide in Iran... what will Israel do?

secondary effects (colateral damage, as the military put it):

- innocent civilians killed
- infrastructure destroyed
- new generation of ATs created
- U.S. prestige and influence in tatters
- moderate governments in the Middle East destroyed
- Iran's nuclear threat forgotten
- North Korea's nuclear threat forgotten
- Iraq mess forgotten
- global trade talks killed
- Russia's autocracy strenghtened
- gas prices at record levels
- Bush cronies richer than ever

Sure. THAT is a safer world!!!

Iran is funding Hezbollah now. Which terrorist group will they use as a pawn next, and where? People need to take Iran as a serious threat or a number of nations may be caught unpleasantly offguard. Iran is using Hezbollah not only as a means of attacking Israel, but also to divert attention away from its nuclear ambitions. People can't just forget about Iran. They are a threat to Israel, the U.S. and beyond.

More wanton destruction of Arabs countenanced and even encouraged by the US Government (if you can call the bush administration a government) = more terrorists and more instability throughout the world. The central question is whether there will be anything left to save if the bush mis-administration remains in power until January, 2009.

We obviously disagree on what is 'defense'.

Vienna, VA: If it were as easy as good builds, evil destroys, then we wouldn't have any conflicts, ever. I am not advocating for the deaths of civilians. However, you are letting strong pictures cloud your overall perception of the issue. You are failing to realize that Israel would undoubtedly like to avoid hitting Lebanese civilians if at all possible. However, Hezbollah terrorists hide amongst Lebanese civilians while they shoot off rockets toward Israel. Israel has been left with no choice but to act in self-defense, a response it owes to its people. Israel cannot agree to a ceasefire because if it does not take care of Hezbollah now, there will always be an ongoing threat. Given these circumstances Israel is not overstepping its bounds in reacting to Hezbollah, and if the United States was similarly attacked it to would have a ride to defend its people, and I have no doubt that it would.

Michael Reiter: The picture is filled with the dead & maimed. And it is crowded with the destroyed infrastructure. There is always room for the big picture, but not at the expense of people. My big picture is that the purpose of life is to live. A simplistic version is 'Good builds; Evil destroys'.

Michael Reiter: The picture is filled withthe dead & maimed. And it si crowded with the destroyed infrastructure. There is always room for the big picture, but not at the expense of people. My big picture is that the purpose of life is to live. A simplistic version is 'Good builds; Evil destroys'.

Israel has not occupied Lebanon for the last six year. In fact, it pulled out in order to achieve peace. Israel had no desire to reenter Lebanon, but Hezbollah terrorists changed that. People need to understand the fact that Israel did not start this war and has a responsibility to defend its people. Furthermore, Hezbollah, and on a greater scale Iran, pose a much larger threat than Israel. Iran, who funds Hezbollah, and countless other terrorist groups, would love to see Israel wiped off the map, along with the United States, and there is no telling who is next on their agenda. If you have trouble sympathizing with Israel, at least look at the bigger picture.

Israel has not seen peace since it's creation,part of it by terrorism and it knows it is not going to see peace now.The military atmosphere is what israel dwells on because it guarantees the flow of american tax payers' money.It's appetite for violence and bloodshed,wanton disregard for human lives and the ability to con the world(especially the west)that it is the victim here even though four times more civilians are killed by israel's superior firepower,is guaranteed to keep it's military industrial economy booming.Anyone who thinks this will make us any more safer (a la bush) or asks the foolish cliche question of 'why do they hate us' ought to be tied to a light pole in beirut awaiting an american-made cluster bomb from an american-made f-16.Let's also not forget that israel is an occuping power that has the palestinians stacked into a tin can(the most congested per sq mile in the world),diverted their rivers for their own consumption and gets away with gross human rights violation and still talks about peace.I we do not condemn this kind of arrogance,beligerence and land hungry maurading we should then sit back and prepare for blowback.We are tired of dying getting kidnapped and paying high prices at home because of israel.Yes israel has tons of money friends here,they should move there and take their neo-madnes with them.

It looks like the war was not started a couple of weeks ago. It has long been there.

>>Israel did not start this war and would love to live peacefully beside Lebanon. <<

Is it true that "Israel's air, land and sea incursions into Lebanese territory, which have occurred nearly every day since its withdraw from South Lebanon in 2000" (from the Daily Star editorial)?

Why all the discussion? Israel is merely executing the plan written by Paul Wolfowitz and Perle and given to Netahyahoo. Using American blood and treasure invade Iraq, next Syria then Iran. Leave the mid east and it's oil and lovely land to the Israelis. When the Iraqi disaster left Americans unwilling to go further, the boys had to go another slightly different route meant for later....put in place their 'Kill Lebanon' plan...then onto
Syria, et al. They're getting their way. Except maybe the ground invasion isn't going so well...

Me, paranoid?! Who wants to know?

Like a number of others, I regard the current unpleasantness in Lebanon as a distraction on the part of the Iranians.

The questions that trouble me are:

What is it a distraction from, precisely?

Why the insistence on the date, 8/22? Is that a code for their operatives around the world?

Is their "answer" to the UN going to be a bigger version of 9/11?

Is their president as big a loon as he appears to be?

Are the Iranians further along with their nuclear capabilities than our "intelligence" supposes?

How long before the world wakes up to the fact that Islamic fascism is behind all the ruckus? ("Mean old Israel — why won't they just lie back and take it? I remember the good old days, when we could gas them with impunity.")

To start a possibility of starting with a peace proces:
1- Peace force in south Libanon
2 -Peace force in the by Isreal occupied Palestinianland. The Palastinian problem has to be solved immediately and it is the only chance to prevent killing more innocent Palestianians This is a must
3- Israel has to know it is an aggressor. So she has to pay for everything she has distructed since july 1 2006.

To start a possibility of starting with a peace proces:
1- Peace force in south Libanon
2 -Peace force in the by Isreal occupied Palestinianland. The Palastinian problem has to be solved immediately and it is the only chance to prevent killing more innocent Palestianians This is a must
3- Israel has to know it is an aggressor. So she has to pay for everything she has distructed since july 1 2006.

The question is an oxymoron. Destroying Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah is a futile undertaking. This campaign of "draining the swamp" will no longer work. Israel has committed atrocities against the Palestinians who rightfully are angry & want to seek revenge. The sooner we accept that Israel is not a "victim" & could be an aggressor too, the better our thinking processes will be. Bush, Rice, Cheney, Rumsfeld & the neocons do not have the brains, judgement, experience and know-how to effect a change in the Middle East. These people have exacerbated the conflicts with the invasion of Iraq & their continued blustery talk. You ask about "Safer" when "safe" would suffice.

Israel did not start this war and would love to live peacefully beside Lebanon. That cannot happen however, as long as Israel continues to live under the Hezbollah terrorist threat. If Israel were to agree to a ceasefire right now that threat would still be looming over its head. Hezbollah's actions have given Israel the legitimate right, the same right America or any other nation would have if it were attacked, to deal with the problem. And that's what they're doing. Furthermore, Hezbollah is funded by Iran who not only poses a threat to Israel, but to the United States and countless other nations. In order to weaken Iran it is important to stop Hezbollah, as it is being used not only as an Iranian pawn for terror, but also as a distraction from the Iranian efforts to gain nuclear capabilities.

No this war will not make Israel or the US any safer. Just as Israel's 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon created a whole generation of terrorists (and sparked the formation of Hezbollah), so too will their destructionn of the only functioning Arab democracy in the region create a new generation that hates Israel and the US. Rice and Bush argue that we should not stop the killing because only more killing can create a long-term peace ("We don't want a short-term cease fire, but instead will work for a lasting peace"). This is very much akin to saying "war is peace" and "ignorance is strength". Paging Dr. Orwell anyone? Obviously violence only begets violence. Does any rational person think that the millions of Lebanese who have had their homes destroyed and their loved ones killed by Israelis, using American weapons, will suddenly decide they no longer hate us? I would like to see the President, just once in his 8 years in office, attempt to talk to a group that he disagrees with (diplomacy) rather than blow them to pieces.

Just to remind you there are two wars now in the middle east, and both are making both Israel and the US less secure. Even if Israel and the US found and killed every single so-called terrorist, does anyone think for a second they wouldn't reappear? For every one you kill, 100 more will pop up. It's like a physician who decides to operate and surgically remove all of the cancer cells in a patient with metastatic disease. Sure you can kill the cancer, but you also kill the patient. By mulitiplying the number of terrorists in their militarily excessive actions in Irag and Lebanon, we are killing the countries we are trying to help. We are destroying the countries and turning those who survive against us, not to mention the rest of the world.
Bush has taken moral clarity to an extreme, to the point whereby it becomes a vice. It has reached the point where he refuses to talk to certain key players he deems evil. And he won't relent the war efforts until a perfect solution is found. If the perfect solution can't be implemented, it's better to allow innocents die!! Most people of the world understand this is lunacy.
THere will always be evil people with whom we must communicate. And there will never be a perfect solution. Politics is about amelioration and compromize. Not about perfection. This is the reality of the practical world that the ancients knew, and people who bother to read books know, which Bush did not do.
The current problems in the middle east are not military issues. THey are political. And the more we confuse the two, the more insecure the US and the world will become.

Well, perhaps all the mayhem there is a good thing: It pushed Iraq off the front page. Apparently our press is more concerned about Israeli casualties in Lebabnon than US casualties in Iraq. Not to mention that Iraq is getting worse.

So, there is a silver lining to this storm afterall (for Bush/Rice/etc.)

Absolutely NOT. There is no way. Violence begets violence. Israel has crossed a line here and become the very thing they have fought. This is nothing short of mass murder in lebanon aided by the US govt. position helping Israel. No excuse is valid in my opinion and no one could ever justify the Israeli response to me not the US position. This is creating more terrorists than it is getting rid of. It is creating more exponantially. Safer?? joking right?? try much more dangerous for all of us.

It funny, after a fairly good nights sleep, I awoke and not one Katusha Rocket had slammed into my neighborhood. No one died, there was no damage, and the population of Pensacola wasn't huddled in bomb shelters. Think about that for a while...

My specialty is Iran, their armaments, and for years I have been keeping an eye on them - as I believe they are the true threat in the Middle-East. Many of my past articles have born out this point. Iraq, total crap, but Iran is a different matter.

Anyone notice the difference in Syria now stating that if Israel gets "too close" they will also get involved? THAT is an about-face, and we have to ask why - as for all practical purposes, for now Syria is not under the threat of bombing or invasion. It almost appears that Syria, via Iran's support, is attempting to escalate the situation beyond the limited conflict we are witnessing right now. I have to ask myself why, as Syria is the most vulnerable - and does not have the defense capabilities of Iran. To me it appears as if Israel and the US are being "baited" - to what end I'm not sure of, as any retaliation against Syria could be devastating to Syria itself.

Do I support Israel? Without question, I have seen them withdraw, and in many cases were attempting to implement the "Roadmap to Peace." To have Hezbollah enter their sovereign territory, without provocation, and kill three soldiers and kidnap two others was seriously provocative and they knew it would draw a serious response. In the matter of them being able to protect their citizens, to stop the cause of these new and better rockets from terrorizing the Israeli population, yes, I support them completely.

As I said above, there aren't any rockets falling in my neighborhood, but if there were, the US response would be strong - perhaps even stronger than that of Israel. Lebanon never held-up their part of the UN Resolution to secure the border - as their government has been successfully hijacked by Hezbollah and the southern border is used as a launching site against Israel. Was Israel's response "over-the-top"??? Yes, to a degree, although I am uncertain how to get at an enemy that makes it blend-in with the populace. I'm sure I have no better idea of how to handle that part of the conflict than anyone else - but I do believe that Hezbollah must be stopped in their tracks.

No, I haven't turned into a Bush supporter; In fact, this escalation in the Middle-East is a direct result of his failed policies and provocations in that area, and surely magnifies the necessity to get this nut-job out of office before the whole damn area goes up in flames. The Left-Behind crowd is almost in orgasmic bliss, seeing this as a sign of the "End of Times" which by their stupidity, are helping to instigate and add fuel to the fire. History is rife with the bodies of those who believed as they did - yet they never learn a lesson, and our far-right Christian Evangelicals are sounding more like Radical Islam everyday!

Yeah, this is a topic that needs serious discussion - although at this point, it appears that all we can do is speculate, as Bush once again has the heat off of him due to the possible beginning of another war. My, my, how convenient for Bush and his band of warmongers - and who would have ever though it?????

Yes, Israel and the U.S. are doing the right thing.
Why should Israel give back anything they occupied? They are stronger and have backing from an even stronger U.S. Heck, I say take what you can, while the cash is flowing. I feel like a little kid in a candy store again.
Bombing those lebanese is the only way to go. It will help "win hearts and minds" of the lebanese and subsequently all Muslim people (oh wait that was Bush's quote oops. Well Olmert agrees).
After all is said and done the entire middle east will be scared and embrace Israel. Muslims will realize that Israelis are their friends and just want to help root out 'terror' thats all.
Then and only then can Israel regroup and bomb the crap out of Syria. Then the Syrians will love and embrace them. I know EXACLY what Bush and Olmert are thinking. Brilliance. And we elected these leaders, pat yourselves on the back.

This is a joke. All of this. The entire Israeli/US policy in the middle east. Can't wait to help my child many years from now when he has questions about this time period and why America the great had become so evil.

Let us rejoice. UK and USA have collectively committed to pay USD‌39m to the Lebanese cause of 1 million families that have lost their homes. That is a whopping 39 Dollars per head! They lost their house, job, belongings.....but they are getting a pair of shoes!...or all 1 million can get together and buy an apartment in New York.......

The entire pledged sum is a mere $ 200m, or $200 per head. Shameful what has happened to the world and its sense of charity.

I think the answer to the question has already been communicated by Mr. Eugene Robinson in Washington POst today. It is perhaps the best analysis of the situation that has been printed in any newspaper since these atrocities began. Israel is the biggest threat to world security and these actions in Lebanon only reinforces the idea and USA only stands shoulder to shoulder in this carnage. What USA and Israel dont seem to understand is that there is almost a billion population of muslims in the world and majority of them live in their own muslim majority countries where the local media is portraying Israel and USA as the greatest enemies of Islam. Analysts and commentators show and comment on bloody children and dead bodies as open warfare and wherever Israel is mentioned, USA is also in the same breath. AlQaeda (if it exists at all) uses the antiUSA and Israel sentiments to recruit fresh blood from all corners of the globe and believe me even educated and professional muslim men and women are joining the ranks of AlQaeda and Hizbullah supporters. Even Ms. Rice's smirks and smiles yesterday on national television in her meetings with Lebanon officials were seen as a satisfaction on the progress of civilian cleansing by Israeli army so far. USA and Israel are making matters worse and they are making Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah an icon in the Islamic world. Even the Europeans are not in line with USA's wishes. All the tourists going back from Lebanon are not going to portray Israel as a peace loving country.

The only thing that i've learned from all this stuff is that the press is as bought as the congress. And i do mean bought, not this "gosh we were misled" tripe.

sincerely,
s. kirkeby

clash of cultures, then discuss and demonstrate that...

we have ethnic groups seperated within the United States, although they call it racial here....even though visually there is not a real difference....

like what race are puerto ricans, or brazilians?

I don't think anyone is ignoring the primitive nature of the contestants.

I think that _should_ _be_ discussed openly. I also think that Israel is not exactly the best example of an enlightened theorcracy, nor do I think religious states should exist as governing agencies.

I think both sides should be exposed for being ethnocentric "bible" thumpers.......and force them to examine that as their right to be

_brutal_

we should openly discuss the "right," of muslims to fight holy wars, and discuss whether that makes _all_ of them untrustworthy....

is the word of the "prophet," untouchable, or is it like the word of the pope, simply the word of a man using gawd to whip his people?

.

The only way there can be peace in ME is by wholesale settlement of ALL territorial disputes all at once. All Arab states have requested this but Israel has refused prefering to whine.

Unless the western word forces Israel to agree, we will never be free of terrorism. Given there is a direct cost to western nations (terrorism and economic costs) they have every right to ask this of Israel.

Of course Israel and her friends fight tooth and nail and spin all sorts of lies and skirt this issue. They think terrorism works to their benefit, and that eventually they will be abe to bring about a global war between muslims and the west and solve their problems that way. I say they are wrong.

If war brought peace in the Middle East, we would have certainly seen peace by now. I do not believe peace will be achieved by attacking Lebanon. What will be achieved is verification that the only possible avenue for muslim nations is to revert to terrorism where they have a certain advantage because they don't fear death and are willing to lay their lives on the line for their cause. Perhaps we could move Isreal to Texas and let W be our ambassador o the new nation of Isreal once his tour as prez is up.

The solutions become far more difficult now that the U.S. has demonstrated to the world it's inability to support Lebanon's democratic government.

Once again we have made promises and abandoned our friends.

Must have been an interesting meeting with Secty Rice!!!

Yes it is becoming more dangerous not only for Israel and America but for the whole world peace. If we probe the causes of anti american sentiments, the major cause which comes to our notice firstly, is the US blind support to Israel. Secondly, US perception regarding democracy out of America. US has its own perception about democracy i.e. the government of its choice favouring US interests-whenever where ever the dictatorship is favourable to US, it support it and where ever the democracy pervails but not as per interests of US, it do not support it and tries to topple the democratic set up. The latest major examples are Egypt and Hamas governments. These double standards of democracy has created the sence of deprivation among the people and when we try to suppress them through aggressive policy, it culminate the sentiments against US governments. It is natural phenomenon that voilence erupts from the bed of aggression. The battle among the scattered unarmed stone throwers and the missle equipped soldiers can not justify the peace efforts. To achieve real peace it would be more appropriate that the real owners of the land may be given their cake. Do not let Israel become cancer to america and the world. Peace efforts must be done timely to curb the anti-american sentiments.

Very culture centric dialogue going on here. I grew up in the Middle East. Years in Libya and Kuwait as a child. War is a terrible thing, but it shapes all our history and reflects that the most determined and/or technologically advanced cultures win out. (Read "Guns, Germs and Steel" before you react.) As a man whose childhood was lived in ME and North Africa, I caution all of you who think Israel is to blame to examine the cultural and historic differences between the Islamic culture and the West. They are very different. You would not want the situation to be reversed, with the Middle Eastern nations superior to us Westerners in wealth or technology. I promise you would not like to live in that world. So, yes, these things are painful and terrible to watch, but better there than here. This is a clash of cultures. Israel is our ally. I am amazed at how much like Neville Chamberlain many of these posters sound.