Narcissist, you should change your name to 'zionist'. I read you post carefully as at first I thought you were being satirical/ironic but sadly, it seems not.

I am neither pro-israeli and pro-arab in assessing this conflict overall, but like most people in the outside world I think that Israel's bombing of Beirut as retaliation for the kidnapping by a terrorist group in Lebanon of 2 soldiers is a huge over-reaction that Israel should not be allowed to get away with.

I see that you use 'surgical strike' in quotes but say nothing to disavow this cruel and ridiculous term. The only thing surgical about the bombings is what is occurring in Beirut's hospitals now to save the Lebanese civilians injured as collateral damage. You call the reaction of Israel justified - how do you justify the missile strike on the mini van of children fleeing to safety?

I think the Lebanese government would very much like to be rid of Hezbollah. That is easier said than done in a country still recovering from a 20 year civil war. No doubt, the governments of Pakistan, Ireland, Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and many other countries would also love to be rid of terrorist organisations in their midst,but have not been able to. Punishing those governments and bombing their cities would not be the way to go.

Not only is Israel's tactic likely to backfire badly on its own citizens, but it will severely test the loyalty of its main ally and supporter, USA. In the war on terror, the Bush Administration does not need the Israelis stirring up more trouble and hatred of westerners in the arab world.

The rest of the world should not be hostage to Israel's security.

It is hopeless, The undewrlying problem is the behavioural problems of the arabs who have generation after generation married their cousins.
Anyone who has had to deal with the behaviour of handicapped children as I have will notice the similarity in unreasonable attitudes when something does not go their way.

It seems to be caused by, amoungst other symptoms, a lack of the ability to understand the position of other people.

Now before you dip your keyboards in vitriole here are a few facts;

The UK Midlands Heath Service did a study and found that those who engaged in cousin marriage had 13 times the chance of having genitically harmed children. A UK parliamentary committee has recomended a ban on cousin marriage which is mostly engaged in by moslems in the UK.
Source BBC documentary about March this year. Also links from BBC web site to Parliamentary and National Health service.

Local; The NSW Health Dept sent a genitist to Auburn hospital to investigare a high rate of genitic defects in maternity unit.
She found that the problem was almost entirely restricted to mothers who were married to their cousins.
This item was about four years ago and I have forgotten the source.
It was refered to early this year in the state parliament.

Sorry if you don't like it, but thats life so live with it !

in 1947,palestine was roughly 80% moslem, 15% jewish, 5% odds and ends.

how is it that a jewish state existed in 1948? because jewish terrorist gangs drove out the british mandate government with bombs and gunfire, while the american government smiled and encouraged them- harry truman needed a big jewish turnout in the '48 election.

the terrorists were then folded into haganah, the official jewish army, and together they beat the feeble military of neighboring arab/moslem states.

the 'moslem terrorists' of today are the sons and daughters of the people of palestine who were disposessed of their land in 1948. they are simply fighting the zionist invaders as they have done since 1948.

they are entitled to do so. the zionists are the evildoers here.

Is this the same peace-loving Israel that carried out terrorist bombings in Egypt in the 1950s, that carried out the world’s first plane hijacking and invented the car-bomb, that used it’s retaliatory Unit 101 to massacre over 100 innocent civilians in Qibya and that deliberately and provocatively shot down a Libyan airliner in 1973?

The same Israel that launched a deliberate missile attack against the USS Liberty, that helped Maronite Christians kill around 3000 civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, that carried out the Qana massacre, that (in the manner of Saddam Hussein) has failed to comply with numerous UN resolutions?

The country that shipped armaments from the USA into Iran and continues to brutalise civilians in illegally occupied territories where it has outkilled the Palestinians by a ratio of 3 to 1?

Israel is as much a state-sponsored terrorist state as it claims its neighbours to be, and with the added complicity of the USA, probably more so. Their Hollywood/ New York PR machine is always busy. One side has “troops”, the other are “gunmen”.

Unlike Hussein, who had a beware-of-the-dog sign but no dog, Israel has it’s own WMD but no sign. They would not have developed their bomb if they were not prepared to use it.

Middle Eastern politics is not the simple black-and-white scenario that is being portrayed in the Media. There are significant problems and failures on all sides and Israel is certainly not totally guilt-free.

Simplistic one-eyed analysis provides unworkable simplistic solutions and this is the main cause of terrorism in the world today.

As far as I’m concerned, we should just stand back and watch because they all deserve each other.

Always stays the same, nothing ever changes, Middle East disputes seem to last for ages. Always stays the same, nothing ever changes, and this English summer rain seems to last for ages.

I'm in the basement, you're in the sky, I'm in the basement baby, drop on by. I'm in the basement, you're in the sky, I'm in the basement baby, drop a rocket on me as you pass by.

Always stays the same, nothing ever changes, Middle East disputes seem to last for ages. Always stays the same, nothing ever changes, English summer rain seems to last for ages.

I'm in the basement, you're in the sky, I'm in the basement baby, drop on by. I'm in the basement, you're in the sky, I'm in the basement baby, drop a rocket on me as you pass by.

Hold your breath and count to ten, and fall apart and start again. Hold your breath and count to ten, start again, start again ... Hold your breath and count your step, and fall apart and start again, start again, start again, start again, start again ...

It always stays the same, nothing ever bloody changes, and this Middle East dispute will just go on for ages.

Where's the Placebo when you need one?

PK,

I am not a Zionist, nor do I see this conflict in terms of religion A vs religion B.

For over six years, Northern Israel has been attacked, almost daily from Southern Lebanon by numerous means including NK51 Grad and Katyusha type Rockets. An extensive civil defence network has been established to protect targeted towns, with perhaps 1 minutes notice of an impending strike. Think of the old WWII Russian Rocket Lauchers, the back of a truck style and you get the picture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K51_Grad).

Of particular concern is that these rockets are now capable of indiscriminate killing at a range of 40KM. Even more worrying is confirmation that the Sa'ar5 Missile Boat was hit by a Iranian crewed C-802 anti maritime cruise missile (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Israel-Attacked-Ship.html?_r=1&oref=slogin). There are believed to be only 60 (oops 59) of these outside of China, and they are all thought to be in Iran.

Further more, there is more to this than the capture of 2 Israeli soldiers. During the raid on 12 July,

"Hezbollah's military wing launched a barrage of 9K51 Grad rockets and mortars on Israeli military positions in Lebanese Shebaa farms which is ocupied by israel forces previously, apparently as a diversion. A force of infiltrators then moved 200 meters into occupied Shebaa farms, attacked two armoured IDF Humvees patrolling the border on Shebaa farms near the Israeli village of Zar'it with anti-tank rockets, killing three soldiers and taking the remaining two in captivity to Lebanon's territory. Hezbollah has named this operation "True Promise."

"The IDF confirmed that two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah, and identified them as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. An Israeli Merkava Mark II tank was damaged by a 300 kg improvised explosive device as it attempted to pursue Hezbollah into Lebanon. All four of the crew members were killed. Another Israeli soldier was killed when he came under heavy fire during an attempted recovery of the bodies from the tank. In all, 8 soldiers were killed, 2 captured and 5 wounded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Israel-Lebanon_crisis