Ted's views are predictable.

Two main comments:

1. The phrase "collateral casualties" (he used) is an unfortunate military/industrial excuse for excessive and inhuman killing by conventional forces.

The "righteousness" of using conventional forces (particularly aerial bombing) has become a morally lazy assumption of Western countries (including Israel). In contrast bombs delivered on the ground (by hand or body) are considered inherently immoral.

Admittedly Hizbullah's missiles are confusing this asymmetric dichotomy.

2. The scale of Israeli attacks in Lebanon suggests a wider purpose of escalating the war to draw Syria and Iran into it.

Israel is claiming that Hizbullah and some alleged Iranian agents (which Israel dramitically labels "Revolutionary Guards") are fighting an Iranian proxy war against Israel. The claim can then be made that if Hizbullah in future receives Iranian nuclear weapons, nuclear war with Israel will result – with catastrophic implications for US/Western interests in the Middle East (including oil shortages).

Iran's fiery words alone have been seen internationally as insufficient to justify the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. However if Iran can be seen as a participant/instigator of a "war on Israel" then the long anticipated Israeli/US bombing of Iran might be seen as a justified act to "preempt possible Iranian nuclear aggression".

For some US centrist comments on an Aussie blog article see http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com

Plantagenet
aka Spooky Pete
http://spyingbadthings.blogspot.com/

It's rather foolish to believe that anybody here supports the so called terror groups but many of us don't support what Israel is doing either. Those with a blinded one eyed view of the world will call us supporters of terror because they are the ends justify the means. the only way we will win the war on terror is to do two things.
1. Up hold the rule of law without fear or favour.
2. Don't use terror ourselves.

I'll give you a hint a child being killed by a bomb strapped to a person on a bus or bomb from a war plane ends the same way and is just as bad. In WW2 both side carpet bombed cities yet some believe the other side used terror and they didn't.

It always comes as a shock to the likes of Ted but it was not Hezbollah or Hamas who sent 6 million Jewish refugees to the gas chambers yet it is muslims all around who pay the price of the west in that holocaust.

I presume Ted agrees that Iraq has the right to defend herself against the invaders from the US, UK and Australia? Or Afghanistan the right to protect herself from the 32 nations with soldiers on the ground? What about the West Papuans against the Indonesian army murdering thugs?

Come off it Ted, Israel is not about the poor down trodden Jews who survived the holocaust anymore - most of the Israelis have come from all over the world to deliberately steal Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian lands for their "settlements".

Does that sound unreasonably harsh? Contrary to David Boaz's claims I am not politically naive and never have been.

Murdering children and their parents as they flee the Israeli army is not protecting Israel anymore than Australia locking up refugees from Saddam Hussein or the Taliban protected the borders.

After all the people only got to the outreach islands and were then flown to Australia on nice big jumbo jets at the behest of the Australian government.

Perhaps Israel might try living up to the 100 or so resolutions passed by the UN about going back to the 1967 borders.

Big Ted:
The more Israel runs wild in Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere, the more you waffle on about Rwanda, Srebrenica, Nazis etc. Is this because you know what we all know - that Israel is chalking up yet another crime against humanity - and your job is to deflect/obfuscate/confuse and otherwise blunt that understanding? But that's OK, that's what AIJAC pays you for. We understand that.
And all that waffle about self-defence, jihadists and Qassams, that's gotta go in to somehow justify Israel's mad rampage in Palestine, Lebanon and who knows where else next, hasn't it? Again, that's your bread and butter, and a guy's gotta make a crust, right? But please, please, spare us the hypocrisy of "Despite the best efforts of the Israeli army to hit only their armed antagonists...those innocent deaths are a tragedy..." yadda, yadda, yadda. Every time the Israelis unleash their shock and awe on the Palestinians and the Lebanese in the absolute certainty that innocent civilians will be slaughtered (when are we going to pass the 200 mark?) their crimes are indistinguishable from those of the terrorists they claim to be defending themselves against. I can take lies, misrepresentations, propaganda (much of it quite amusing in its labyrinthine ingenuity), but, Big Ted, it's the hypocrisy that gets me every time. Have mercy!

What a motley bunch of miserable ranters. None are so blind as those who cannot see.

Dear Marilyn....

regrettably, you are.

Here is the evidence. In short 'lack of analysis'....

Points.

You mention 'Iraq' defending 'it'self from 'Invaders'....

At the risk of repeating myself "Who".....is "Iraq" ?

Which.... ones do you mean ?

a) Sunni minority who lost (and are trying to regain) their privileged positions based on Sadaams brutality agains Kurd and Shia ?

b) Kurds, .. are they fighting the 'invading' Coalition ?

c) Shia... the formerly oppressed minority ? Yep...some of them are fighting, possibly for the following reasons:

i) They are being egged on by Iran for 'Greater Iran/Shia Empire' reasons

ii) They are hoping to consolidate a 'Shia' dominance over all others.

iii) They are just plain stupid and bite the hand which saved them. (maybe they now believe the US is intent on STEALING all their oil)

d) The Assyrian Christians ? who, by the way are so few due to KURDISH genocide against them, among other genocidal groups such as the Sunni Arabs.

So.. there it is. You are either seeking to mislead or you don't have much of a clue. You speak in sweeeeeeeping generalities which insult our own ability to gather facts.
None of the above is to deny that the US has serious oil interests at stake. I just get weary of your shallow sweeping statements.

My short term solution now is as follows: Basically the Israeli one.

1/ Buffer zone free of Hizbollah
2/ International community assisting Lebanese Army to disarm Hizbollah
3/ Lebanese Army deployed in Buffer zone.
4/ I add deport all Palestinians from the Camps to north of the buffer zone to start new lives.