Claudia Rossett talks about disproportionate responses by the UN.

Where are all the so-called "human rights" organizations? When will someone formally accuse Hezbollah of war crimes? Hiding weapons and fighters among a civilian population is a war crime. Making war out of uniform, or wearing the uniform of the enemy, is a war crime, and both are illegal via the Geneva Conventions. But when Lebanese civilians are killed or injured as a result of these actions, the autonomic response in Turtle Bay and among the NGOs is to blame the Jews.

When listening to people talk about such things, I often wonder what we would do if a percentage of Mexico's population decided that everyone in the US must die - and started shelling LA or San Diego with rockets.

Would people be content to let that happen for a while? We did steal California from them, after all. And of course it is not Mexico's fault.

In the end, it doesn't matter who's fault it is - if missiles come from Mexico and the Mexican government can't stop it, invasion is really the only option.

When will someone formally accuse Hezbollah of war crimes?

Right after pigs have wings or John Kerry gives up his service record or Ted Kennedy says he's a lying non-swimmer or Nancy Pelosi says George W. Bush did ANYTHING right, or Koffi Annan says he knew Saddam was cheating or North Korea says they'll allow all their nuclear capability to be closed down or...you know I could do this all day, and the answer would still cme out to, it just isn't going to happen.

RE Davids above comments on US/Mexico. I'll take it further, ANY country with a neighbor allowing such activities would take action just as Israel has. Even those nations that now rail against Israel for doing so. Even FRANCE!

Is it just me or do recent events begin to look a lot like the "appeasement" offered to Hitler prior to WWII?

It ain't just you Trudy! Todays headlines read like Churchills first volume of his "History of the Second World War", with of course the people/places names changed.

It should come at no surprise that the UN has disproportionate response, their "peacekeepers" have to weapons to keep thepeace with.

I'm surprised though that France is against Israel on this issue, perhaps Israel needs to say "BOO!" to France and send them running again.

Some observations and some questions.

If there was nobody but Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, there would not be any issue with civilians being killed by the Israeli actions. Israeli soldiers vs. Hezbollah doesn't seem to upset anybody very much.

So my question is: do civilians bear any responsibility for the terrorists in their midst?

I don't think the answer to this question is a simple "yes" or "no." If there is a healthy, rule-of-law-centric nation to begin with, and the civilians of that nation allow a large terrorist force to develop within its borders, I'd say the civilians of that nation would be largely culpable. On the other hand, if you are a civilian in a community with a bunch of terrorists, it's probably not very healthy to be the one trying to organize things to try and get rid of them.

If civilians are activly abetting terrorists, they are probably culpable. If they are being coerced by force, not so much.

If civilians are fully aware that terrorists are operating heavily in their area, and they do not get themselves and their families out of there when there is a chance--before the fighting starts (e.g. to northern Lebanon)--are they somewhat at fault if they get hurt?

An interesting parallel is WWII. Were the civilians operating the factories which created bombs and tanks strictly non civilians? When we invaded by land, we didn't line up civilians and shoot them, but we certainly didn't hesitate to bomb cities filled with civilians. I don't think there was much hand-wringing about it at the time. The civilians worked the factories. The civilians fed the soldiers. The civilians elected Hitler and allowed (or "allowed") his policies to proceed. Germany started the war, we just finished it. I don't know if that would be the thinking now, but it seems to me as if that was the thinking at the time.

How responsible is the civilian population which allows a terrorist group in its midst (or, for that matter, allows a formal military with expansionist ambitions)?

France fight back? France defend itself? I'll have to think about that one.

If Mexico or Canada or any close by country lobbed a missile or two at us,

1st: Kerry and Pelosi would blame George Bush,

2nd: we'd own that country in a week,

3rd: all our usual detractors in the U.N would say it was our fault

4th: some conspiracy nut would say we did it ourselves to corner the global market in tortillas, Molson Golden Ale, Salvadoran palm oil, Guatamelan pistachio nuts etc.

The UN observation post was bombed for hours and people from UN made phonecalls to Israel for them to stop. Multiple airplanes were involved in the bombing, and the bomb shelter couldn't take so many direct hits.
A well-known well-marked observation post that had been there for years.

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