... When Israeli loudspeakers warned villagers to evacuate the village of Marwaheen last Saturday, the families packed their belongings and headed for safety. More than 23 of them piled into a pickup and drove toward Tyre, with the brothers trailing behind. Another group set off for a nearby United Nations observation post, but were promptly turned away.

As the pickup raced to Tyre, Ali al-Ghanam said, Israeli boats shelled their convoy, hitting the car and injuring the women and children in the back. But within minutes an Israeli helicopter approached the car, firing a missile that blew the truck to pieces as the passengers struggled to jump out, he said.

His brother Mohammad, his wife and their six children, were killed instantly along with several of their relatives. The only survivor in the car was the brothers' 4-year-old niece, who survived with severe burns to much of her body.

"The dead stayed in the sun for hours until anyone could come and collect them," Mr. Ghanam said. "The Israelis can't understand that we are people, too. Should they wonder why so many of us support the resistance?" he said, speaking of Hezbollah.

The 23 bodies now lie in the truck, waiting to be buried. Mr. Ghanam said it would be impossible for them to be buried in their village while the bombing continued. Holding a funeral is impossible, but even digging a grave could attract fire, he said, assuming the remaining family were able to return to the village.

The brothers walked to the hospital on Thursday to sign documents allowing the hospital to bury the bodies in a mass grave.

As the onslaught against Lebanon enters its tenth day, Israeli troops are poised for a full-scale invasion that has been prepared by murderous aerial bombardment, and the far-reaching imperialist aims of the war have become all too clear. With the full political, financial and military backing of the United States, the Zionist regime is attempting to transform Lebanon into an Israeli protectorate. This military operation is a continuation and escalation of the imperialist geo-political restructuring of the Middle East and Central Asia that began with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and whose goal is the establishment of US domination of the entire region. The immediate aim of this war--the elimination of Hezbollah as a military and political force within Lebanon--is directed against all mass resistance to Israeli and American domination of the country. The Bush administration and its allies in Jerusalem see this as an essential step toward: 1) the removal of the Syrian Baathist regime, and 2) the launching of a full-scale war against Iran.

Over the past week, the American mass media has obediently fallen into line in defense of Israeli violence and aggression. As hundreds of civilians have died in Lebanon and an estimated half a million been made homeless by Israeli bombs and shells, the US media has consistently painted the conflict as a defensive action by the Zionist regime against provocations by "terrorists." The American public is deliberately being kept ignorant about the history and reality of the situation in the Middle East, as part of the combined effort by Washington and Tel Aviv to impose their brutal will on the people of the region.

Media reports now refer to Israel's attack on Gaza as the "forgotten war," a conflict overshadowed by the carnage in Lebanon. Tel Aviv is happy for this situation to continue. While the world's media focuses almost exclusively on Lebanon, and Israel has itself concentrated its military efforts on the bombing of Beirut, Tripoli and other major cities, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has also deepened its three-week-long offensive against the Palestinians. To describe Israel's actions in Gaza as collective punishment does not do enough to convey the scale of the crimes being perpetrated. The IDF has set out to destroy the social, economic and, indeed, political infrastructure of Gaza and is attempting the same on the West Bank.

... All of Lebanon is a target; all access roads, airports, and ports have been blocked or are in constant danger of being attacked, and a much larger swath of civilians are in danger.

According to eyewitnesses in southern Lebanon, including journalist friends of mine, the destruction of villages is the worst they've ever seen--both intense and systematic--and it's not Hezbollah that is usually on the receiving end of the ordnance, it is civilians.

Much the same is taking place away from the cameras in the northern Beqaa Valley, another majority-Shiite area.

As for the Hezbollah stronghold in the Haret Hreik quarter of Beirut's southern suburbs, it has been reduced to dust. While this may have made it a legitimate objective, the suburbs have probably the highest concentration of inhabitants in Beirut, and virtually everybody has fled. ...

They need breathing room.

Go Isreal.

... The only way to secure Israel's borders and ensure peace for its citizens is to solve all of the outstanding issues that define its conflict with the Arab world.

Applying UN resolutions (such as 1559, requiring Hizballah's disarmament) and guaranteeing Israel's security along the internationally recognized border with Lebanon won't bring Israel peace unless all relevant UN resolutions are implemented, and all of Israel's internationally recognized borders are secured.

And just as in Lebanon, the internationally recognized borders are those of June 4, 1967.

That is the basis of a settlement not only with the Palestinians, but also the wider Arab world as defined by UN resolution 242 and also by the Arab League offer to end all conflict with Israel based on a return to the 1967 borders. ...

And frankly, it will also now require a grand bargain with Iran. Anything less will simply leave the field open for more extreme forces to take the initiative. ...

There is no such consensus for peace now, because there is no peace on offer. ...

[And until there is,] there will be neither peace nor stability.

Armies are trained to destroy enemies and conquer their territory. An army that runs out of control will find and fight more and more external and internal enemies, always in pursuit of an elusive victory.

That has happened to the Israeli Army on several occasions. Whenever it was allowed free rein, its campaigns ended in humanitarian disasters.

Just now we are witnessing another instance: while the campaign against the Hizballah terrorist organization did not save the Israeli civilian population from rocket attacks, it rapidly turned into an assault on the Lebanese civilian population. Within days it deteriorated into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Half a million innocent Lebanese civilians lost their homes and became refugees.

The Israeli Government must reassume control of the Army and stop the fighting immediately.

Negotiations will surely achieve better outcomes.

The only way to secure Israel's borders and ensure peace for its citizens is to solve all of the outstanding issues that define its conflict with the Arab world.

"Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world. I asked Hitler for an explicit undertaking to allow us to solve the Jewish problem in a manner befitting our national and racial aspirations and according to the scientific methods innovated by Germany in the handling of its Jews. The answer I got was: 'The Jews are yours.'" - Former Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini in his post-WWII memoirs. [1]

the Mufti of Jerusalem, was a Palestinian Pan-Arab nationalist and a Sunni Muslim religious leader. More commonly known for his anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, al-Husayni fought against the establishment of a Jewish state in the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine. To this end, Husayni collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II and helped recruit Muslims for the Waffen-SS.

Oh, and you falsely identify the Palestinians as somehow part of Hizbullah.

"You're doing some hard work. It's hard work to defeat terrorists," the president said.

So I ask, are we ready to recognize that the hatred of the Jews, and transferred to the US by OBL, Hezbollah and Hamas is just the sons of Hitler?

Can I call Bush, Hitler now?

WASHINGTON July 21 (Reuters) - An Israeli invasion of Lebanon is likely on Friday night, intelligence sources told NBC News, its affiliated network CNBC reported on Friday. CNBC said an unidentified Western nation had also told NBC that Israeli troops were expected to enter Lebanon on Friday night.

At one time the Left could make claim that it was the extreme Right that had some common ground with the Nazis. As I watch the current crop of Lefties attack Israel and defend the terrorists it is plain that we have came full circle.

and then stories of helicopter gunships and fighter jets shooting at convoys of civilains leaving the area. This is tragic and criminal.

Somewhere, we have to reach out to moderate muslems

It is a bit more abstract and therefore likely out of your capacity for understanding.

It is fairly obvious that war is coming. However, this one is really not our war and I fail to see why we have an incentive to stop it.

Uh huh. The old "Only I am intelligent enough to understand my argument so I won't bother to give it." defense. And you never understood why I said you are an elitist.

As Brother Dave said, "If the world is wrong, kick thine self..." Glanton.

As for the far left and israel, look. Just read the blogs. All I see is calls for cease fire, Israel shouldn't be defending, etc. And when I post two comments/links showing the history, you laugh and others ignore.

Posted by spencer July 21, 2006 10:15 AM Can we say "War Crimes" now?

soccerdad, you equated Hizbollah with the Palestinians when you claimed that attacks against the Palestinians justified Hizbollah's aggression.

John Mann - You are so anti-Israel.. Have you forgoten the the research I did on the number of attack comments you have made?

Well, except for that whole "drive the Israelis into the sea thing".)

John Mann - The point is this. There is nothing Israel can do that will satisfy you. If I am incorrect, tell me what it is.

You know suicide bombers, kidnapppers and missiles have a way of posioning the discussion.