details here
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.htm

A very one-sided viewpoint.

The Lebanese, Hezbollah and especially Syria/Iran are no angels in all this. If people are going to demonise Israel then they should give equal consideration to these parties too.

Nuke the lot of them

I was actually cut off from her on the phone on Mon. Although they were out of Beriut they were still in Lebanon. The family and another group have been forced to hide and on Monday they had no electricity or water. Food supplies are running out as obviously nothing can get in or out.
Golf Pro - please explain what is the otherside of this madness?

Pea..can I put this question to you. Do you believe the Lebanese, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are blameless in all this?

No I don't, but I believe that many Lebanese civilians are innocent victims. Isreal has launched an out -and- out offensive in reponse to the kidnap of 2 soldiers & must be held accountable for the destruction for the 2nd time of a country and it's people. There will be nothing left of them if the airstrikes are allowed to continue for another week before anyone steps in.
Golf-pro - you didn't answer - what is the otherside of the argument to genocide?
The UK Government along with the rest of the international community must stop dancing to that scumbag Bush's whistle & I am going to march on Saturday for my friend and her family, for a cease fire and for an end to this craziness.

What I'm suggesting pea is that as impartial it's important to take an even handed approach. All sides have degrees of culpability in this matter, some more than others. That does include the Lebanese for allowing [and indeed actively encouraging] a terrorist organisation to operate from within its borders.

Regarding your question, I think genocide is way, way too strong a word. How many people have been killed in this conflict? Are we actually in the hundreds, in a country of how many million?

Based on some of the language you are using Pea and your stated allegiances can you hand-on-heart say you are being even handed to all parties?

400 Lebanese are dead, over 1000 wounded and a population of 50,0000 are displaced and afterwards –they have no infrastructure or homes to go to. What do you think will follow? The Lebanese won’t be able to pick up where they left off and go back to work on Monday; they will face poverty disease and more death.
Bush has given Israel a green light to carry on for with this for another week. Did you know Israel have hit civil defence posts and blown up Red Cross ambulances attending to the civilian wounded? How much do you estimate will be left of Lebanon and its people, after another 5 or 6 days of this? This is a systematic and deliberate effort at obliteration of a nation, ergo I call it an attempt at genocide.

Israel has stated they will NOT attack Syria or Iran, but “leave that to the world community”. No golf-pro I am not prepared to be impartial or evenhanded. I am disgusted at my Government, Bush & the International community for it’s lack of response to the crisis of the Lebanese people.
I make no bones about my use of emotive language either. I am emotional about this.

Remember I began by simply placing some information as a thread without comment, which is there for those that want it.

Perhaps you should try then and inject a little balance into your viewpoint of the situation? You appear completely unwilling to even consider this from an opposing viewpoint, which on a forum such as this is very suprising.

You haven't actually posted an opposing viewpoint.
I have asked you twice - whats the otherside of this & you haven't responded with a direct answer. I am desperate to know.

But the majority of the people suffering ARE innocent victims. You can talk about being even handed, but it is not an even situation. On one hand are terrorists and on the other is a sovereign state with a highly sponsored military. In other words, one is accountable to the international community, and can be, to a certain extent, influenced by decisions made by Bush/Blair etc. The other side cannot. As for the communities under fire being "harbourers" of terrorists, well why did we not, as Ali G suggested, carpet bomb northern Ireland? And if we did, would you attribute "equal blame to both sides?"

I was hoping the opposing viewpoint was pretty obvious. It's been in the media enough. The has to be some realisation that the Lebanon by allowing [arguably actively supporting] a terrorist organisation to operate military actions from within its boundaries is partly responsible for what is presently happening too it. Also it would be nice if there was some acknowledgement that by the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers Hezbollah in fact precipitated this conflict. Finally, perhaps anger could be directed equally at Hezbollah by the fact that they steadfastly refuse to release said soldiers and are hence exasperating this situation. Balance.

re Northern Ireland
"As for the communities under fire being "harbourers" of terrorists, well why did we not, as Ali G suggested, carpet bomb northern Ireland?"

(I can't find Ali G's comment, but remember reading it at the time - why can't I ever find anything using the search function here??)

My basic understanding of Israel-Lebanon (why I freely admit I just gained from wikipedia: Hezbollah was founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli Defense Forces who occupied southern Lebanon until the year 2000) as it relates to Northern Ireland is that Northern Ireland 'harboured' two sets of opposing terrorist organisations within the one country (ignoring the terrorists operating mainly in the Republic of Ireland); while there were attacks in England, the conflict was mainly contained within Northern Ireland. So 'us' ('we') - I guess you mean England? - bombing Northern Ireland is not directly comparable to Israel attacking Lebanon. The English weren't one side of the terrorist conflict in Northern Ireland - loyalist terrorists weren't operating in and on behalf of England.