the lastest civilian deaths:

[MikeWaters]

from CNN:

"We can't do anything for them under the rubble because we do not have the right equipment," the unidentified official said.

Red Cross worker Sami Yazbak, who was helping to pull bodies from the building, said many of the children who were sleeping inside were handicapped.

Video broadcast by Arab TV showed the bloodied bodies of women and children who appeared to be wearing night clothes. Many of the bodies were under rubble in the basement of the building.

Images of handicapped, poor children in their night clothes. Dead. Couldn't afford to leave.

Israeli's are running a clinic on how not to run a war. They are playing a videogame war.

You had better 1) go for an all-out ground invasion against this guerilla force (with likely poor results in the longterm) or 2) accept international peace-making.

Dropping bombs and racking up hundreds of civilian deaths is not the way to go. I hope Condi has an ace in the whole, because two things are coming through:
1) Condi looks like she is bumbling around
2) Bush is silent and looks to be devoid of any ideas or leadership

If we saw images of dead American children like that, national outrage would be uncontrollable, whether fair or not. I expect the same will happen among Muslims. We will pay a price for this, as well as the Israelis, whether fair or not.

[Archaea]

Can you imagine how many instances Bush has had to come up with ideas. I don't have any solutions for the current problems, and I haven't even heard any good ideas floated by anybody.

Because matters are always so bad over there, I doubt the images will inflame somethig already inflamed.

[Colly Wolly]

I have an idea. Why dont you write a nice little letter to the leader of Hezbollah and politely ask him to order his "troops" to come out and fight like real men? Maybe then Israel could whup ass and eliminate these cowards once and for all, without all the collateral damage you read about or see on tv. There are going to be civilian casualties in almost every kind of military conflict. The problem is worsened when you are fighting a war on terrorists.

It is the terrorists who are choosing to endanger and harm civilians, just as they have all along. They attack them with impunity, and they hide behind them, using them as shields, with impunity as well. Then the bleeding hearts blame Israel.

There is no way for Israel to win this type of struggle and retain world approval. It is going to have to be one or the other.

[TheSizzle36]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

1) Condi looks like she is bumbling around
2) Bush is silent and looks to be devoid of any ideas or leadership

So what would you have done were you the President to stop this from happening?

And, since this HAS happened, what would you do NOW as the President to stop it?

I really can't think of a great solution here. As the President, you can't really condone what Israel is doing, and at the same time, you can't really tell them to stop because a Hezbollah victory is not good for Israel OR the United States. Giving radical organizations like that hope that they can take on the 'big boys' and win isn't something that anybody wants to see happen.

I really don't like this situation one bit because it really appears to be a lose-lose for the country.

[MikeWaters]

the reason Bush is silent is because he is telling the Israelis one thing in private, and another thing to the public (through proxies).

what ever happened to the patriot missiles? do they not work against these kind of rockets?

If I were president, I would play a much bigger role. I would exert more pressure for Israel to take steps toward peace, some of which they have already done (stopping settlements for example).

I personally think their current strategy is going to be a disaster. What are they going to do? Blow up cities for another two months? A year?

I would tell Israelis it is imperative to capture the moral advantage. Accept a cease fire. Wait for Hezbollah to violate it. Strike again. Cease fire. Wait. It must be crystal clear that Israel wants to live in peace, and Hezbollah wants war. That is not the case right now, on the street.

[Colly Wolly]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I would tell Israelis it is imperative to capture the moral advantage. Accept a cease fire. Wait for Hezbollah to violate it. Strike again. Cease fire. Wait. It must be crystal clear that Israel wants to live in peace, and Hezbollah wants war. That is not the case right now, on the street.

This is exactly the type of solution that hasn't worked for the last several decades.

It should already be crystal clear that Israel wants to live in peace. Does this mean bending over for the people who want to destroy you?

[MikeWaters]

would you agree that expanding settlements is an indication of not caring about peace?

[Colly Wolly]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

would you agree that expanding settlements is an indication of not caring about peace?

Do we really need to go into the nitty gritty here about what Israel has done or not done to show they care about peace?

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

You had better 1) go for an all-out ground invasion against this guerilla force (with likely poor results in the longterm) or 2) accept international peace-making.

The real problem is that neither one of these things is a tenible option for Israel. If they chose the former they instantly lose our support (our public won't put up with it) which they need to kep the money and arms flowing to them. If they chose the latter they are postponing the inevitable and giving Hexbollah a victory.

I don't know what you do if you are them.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Stick It In Him

Do we really need to go into the nitty gritty here about what Israel has done or not done to show they care about peace?

Apparently, yes.