Just back from a quick trip to Israel, so here are a few comments in response to my detractors.

Sanity Check - you are behind the times when you claim "Not one officer has resigned or taken responsibility for the conduct of the war." The OC Northern Command, Major General Adam, has announced his resignation, and I'm sure he's just the first. But then what can you expect from someone who considers the "Socialist Worker" to be a reputable publication?

Fleurette - you are delusional if you truly believe that religious minorities in Iran, including Jews, live "peacefully to this day." The harsh persecution of ethnic and religious minorities by the Mullahs of the Islamic Republic is incontestable. Bahais and Jews, in particular, have been particularly severely treated. And, by the way, homosexuality in Iran is a capital crime, with young men regularly being hanged for the offense of consensual gay sexual relations. Not quite the paradise you would have us believe.

Marilyn: I am aware of Seymour Hersh, particularly his propensity for apolcalyptic prognostications that never come to pass, and his habit of claiming scoops on stories that were already part of the public record. I don't place a lot of credence in his work, quite frankly.

Of course Israel had contingency plans to deal with aggressive action from Lebanon. Given the long record of cross border provocations by Hizbollah since Israel's withdrawal in May 2000, the IDF would have been derelict in its duty if it hadn't done such planning. But so what? Every military in the world has "drawer plans" that it draws up in the event of crisis. None of this detracts from the undeniable fact that the conflict was triggered by a cross border Hizbollah attack into sovereign Israeli territory. Hell, even Nasrallah admits as much.

As for the human shields issue, visit the AIJAC website to see aerial reconnaisance footage of Hizbollah rockets being fired and hidden from within populated areas in Lebanon, including Qana village. A picture is worth a thousand words.

"None of this detracts from the undeniable fact that the conflict was triggered by a cross border Hizbollah attack into sovereign Israeli territory. Hell, even Nasrallah admits as much."

Ted, do you think that the long, brutal, illegal occupation of non-Israili territories may have influenced the situation?

Wow Marilyn, paranoia getting the better of you? I fail to understand how anything that I have done can be rationally interpreted as an attempt to intimidate you.

I challenge you to find any treaty to which Israel is a Party that outlaws the use of Improved Conventional Munitions (ICMs), as cluster bombs are known in military parlance. Both Israel and the US declined to ratify the 1st Protocol Additional to the Geneva Convention (1977) for the simple reason that the document awarded POW status to terrorists. Israel did nothing either illegal nor immoral during its defensive campaign in Lebanon. It warned civilians prior to the commencement of hostilities, as prescribed by the Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (1907). It exercised due diligence in its attempt solely to hit an armed enemy that deliberately used civilians as shields. (Hague and Geneva Convention IV). But when civilian sites and facilities were used by Hizbollah for military purposes, they lost their immunity and became legitimate targets of war under international law (Hague and Geneva Convention IV).

Or as I recently wrote in the "Australian Financial Review:

"Of course, the laws of war forbid combatants from using civilians to shield arms depots and gun positions. The Fourth Geneva Convention declares: 'The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.' But only the terminally naive could believe that the people who invented suicide bombing would care what international law has to say."

Once again, have a look at the aerial reconnaisance photos on the AIJAC website to see Hizbollah rockets being launched from and hidden within civilian areas.

Stan1: Israel forces left Lebanon over six years before the recent conflict. Even the UN validated that the Israeli withdrawal was total and complete. There was no territorial dispute between Lebanon and Israel.

Hizbollah's problem is not with Israel's borders, but with Israel's existence. Nasrallah has made it crystal clear that nothing less than the annihilation of the Jewish state will satisfy his Islamic radical ambitions.