If the U.S. had so much clout with Hezbullah that we could force them to attack Israel, then Bush wouldn't have sounded like he did on that unscheduled microphone event. What clout does the U.S. have to get Hezbullah to do anything? Yoohoo, it's IRAN that funds them, not the U.S. When they attack, or don't attack, it's because their master with the purse strings says so.

Now, after Iran gave the go-ahead on the attacks, did Israel use the attacks against them to launch a major offensive? Indeed they did. That's certainly not something the U.S. wanted them to do though, especially with elections looming on the horizon. I doubt we want to draw Iran into any sort of direct conflict either, as Iran is capable of severely punishing us with attacks relevant to the oil market. You think the Republicans want to hit election time with gas prices double what they are now, our economy shuddering with debt strain, our armed services already stretched to the breaking point, and a Middle East in chaos? Maybe...if they really want to lose badly in the elections.

What sovereign nation capable of retaliating against an enemy wouldn't do so if the enemy started killing their people and lobbing missiles at their buildings? That's the (simplistic) way Israel sees it, and I can't blame them. Lebanon is basically controlled by extremist terrorists. If the people there hope for a more peaceful existence, then they need to wake up and figure out that playing host to terrorists makes you vulnerable to the same punishment meted out to those terrorists.

If you look at the history of Israel, mostly they just react to attacks against them, or, occasionally, preemptively attack when they perceive a looming threat. This is same ol' same ol' - someone attacks Israel, Israel lashes back. Other than Iran being an instigator of the conflict for its own purposes, this is the same stuff that's been going on for three thousand years, just with better weapons.

For those of you who think Israel is in the wrong here, what would YOU do if you were the leader of Israel and extremists in Lebanon started ranging into Israel and killing/kidnapping your people and lobbing missiles into your country? Would you ask the government of Lebanon to make them stop? Assume that's already been done, but the attacks don't stop. What would YOUR next step be? Israel chose to retaliate. But if that was the wrong response, what would the correct response be?