On the 13th day of the Israeli assault on Lebanon, the only true achievement Israel made was to enforce Lebanese patriotism and strengthen Hizballa. What Israel and the US do not understand is that they can kill people but they can't kill a people's faith, belief, and sense of right & wrong.

From here (USA) it does not look good for Israel. It's as if the British responded to an IRA border incident by bombing Dublin. Then the IRA retaliated with missiles. Which caused the British to retaliate which caused... It does not look like you can stop the missiles with airpower. So the longer you keep bombing the more civilian casualties you incur, thereby prolonging the cycle of reprisals. The Britih were able to settle that conflict precisely because they did not overreact in this way.

This is a very dangerous situation for Lebanon, Israel, and the USA. They need to put an end to the war right away. Lebanon can turn in to the next Iraq. Being of Lebanese decent I don't want to see that happen. If this happens, Lebanon will lose and Israel will have more threats and more suicide attacks. Citizen from both countries have to step up to their governments and put an end to the killing from both sides. There is nothing worse than watching women and children dying from both sides. We all know when a ceasefire is called; there will be a lot of photo ops from both sides of the government with lots of smiles in the pictures and the poor dead civilians will be forgotten once again.

Who is the Israeli government kidding by saying that it is not in a war with the lebanese people. It is destroying the country´s infrastrature and is making hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian flee their homes. The tourist season is dead in its cradle for years to come. So come on. The only people who line up with this disproportionate reaction is the hawks in the USA lead by Bush and his administration whose tenure has produced only catastrophies both in the US and elsewhere.

The world is at war, the enemies of democracy are stronger in some areas of the world than in others. This single battle is being fought along the border of Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah is the pawn in this single battle whose masters in Iran called upon to attack Israel.

If democracy wins this war, then history will record that Bush was correct in trying to weaken the enemies of democracy in Iraq; unfortunately his end game did not match the prevalent conditions. In the end the free world must decide what we will do with this enemy that assumes the mantle of 'civilian' when convenient and attacks us at every opportunity with the intent to install a fundamentalist religious governance over the entire world. If the Islamic fundamentalists win this war, civilization will be thrown back into the dark ages.

There is no reason to believe that strategy will work any better this time than it did during the decades of occupation of Lebanon. The only way the Lebanese Army is going to be deployed in the south is with the consent of Hezbollah.

What exactly, is the Israeli government expecting to gain from this cruel bombardment of Lebanon? The U.S. should be ashamed for supporting this act of vengence.

Children, women, innocent civilians are being killed by the Israeli attacks. Entire families are being chased out of their home villages. Bridges, roads, airports, ports, highways, energy plants and communication networks are being pounded to the ground.

The whole country has been cut off from the rest of the world. What is happening today goes beyond the issue of a prisoners exchange. Lebanon is in despair: it's a humanitarian and economic disaster.

Actions speak louder than words and the facts on the ground do not reflect what the Israeli government is repeatedly stating.

Perhaps the Israeli offensive will weaken Hezbollah's military power, but the reprecussions from the Israeli strategy will yeild a greater ant-Israeli feeling in the region along with anti-American sentiment.

Peace can never be achieved through brutal force, yet the Israeli government's position is far from diplomatic, and will not result in strengthening any future efforts by the Lebanese government to rebuild their cities and unite their the Lebanese people into accepting peace with Israel.

I live in the U.S. and I support Israel 100%. The Israeli people have had to put up with terrorists for over 2,000 yrs. Israel has every right to defend itself and woe to those who think otherwise, for yours will not be pleasant in the end! I urge the United States leaders to get behind Israel to help them defeat evil. I also encourage the Israeli people, God will never let anyone take away what is yours. Always remember His word says He will step in to defend Israel before anyone destroys it again. Go Israel!

Israel is not acting to strengthen the Lebanese governmnent. Israel is acting to remove the ability of Hezbollah to attack Israeli cities.

Hezbollah is an arm of Iran and is receiving arms including long range missiles from Iran with Syria's cooperation. Israel is being armed by USA. The real war is between Iran and US, Hezbollah will reign terror on Israel, US and the entire West unless Iran is made to suffer the consequences.

Israel's ultimate goal is not just the weakening of Hezbollah or its departure from South Lebanon. By allowing the deployment of Hezbollah, the government of Lebanon has adopted an agressive anti-Israel and pro-terror stance. Worse still, there are many other countries - Iran, Malaysia, to name a few - who claim a similar attitude.

Hi from Greece. The Greek TV station MEGA, had an interview with Druze leader Walid Jumblat two days ago. He did not seem to be very upset about what Israel is doing.

In fact he stated that, if Iran and Syria want to take on Israel and the US, they should "accept the consequences".

Wasn't it Karl Marx who said history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farse?

If so Lebanon was Israel's tragic Vietnam the first time around. Now it's a ridiculous and grotesque replay. We already know who will end up dead: Israeli draftees and piles of Lebanese civilians. It just remains to be seen who will be the Ariel Sharon of this round's atrocities and what, if anything, will becom of him.

I think that having Hezgollah gotten weaponry with higher technical capability and able this time to strike Israel soil father south, Israel has no other way to deal with this problem other than conduct military operations intended to uproot Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon

If Israel does not do perform the required defense military operations, it can be exposed at a higher risk of damage in the future

Israel is only trying to bring the U.S. into the battle to fight Syria and Iran.
That is what this is about, not Lebanon.

It doesn't make sense. Why is Israel chasing out of Lebanon all those who oppose Hezbollah, all those who not so long ago marched against Syrian occupation. Whatever the government says about not making war on the Lebanese people, it is clear all those with money and passports are fleeing. Israeli policy is creating an overwhelming Shiite nation in Lebanon with the counter focrce feeing in exile. Please explain.

The aim is to so diminish the military capability of Hizbollah, to so limit it politically that it can no longer do injury to the citizens of Israel.

It is more likely that some kind of international buffer force will be the means to this rather than the Lebanese Government.

Israel should do this in a way which causes minimum casualties to our own people. If airpower can do the job , let it be airpower.

Although the solution to peace is through diplomacy, Israel at this time needs to continue her military campaign to teach Hezbollah a lesson for kidnapping its soldiers.

For six years Israel endured kidnappings and occassional rocket barrages. Per UN Resolution 1559 Hezbollah was to be disarmed and the Lebanese Army was to be deployed on the southern border.

While I have sympathy for the Lebanese people, I also have to blame their government, as they with impunity allowed Hezbollah to act as a proxy state of Iran own their own soil. They let Iran ship weapons in through their airport and through Syria while doing nothing to stop it.

As a sovereign nation its their responsibility to secure their border. They did not and now they are suffering the consequences.

I don't think just weakening the Hezbollah would solve any problems. They have to be decimated for Israel and Lebanon to live together in peace. My advice to Israel is to 'Go for it'and wish you victory.

Its time for the forces of darknesss to give way to the forces of light. If Arabs will accept Israel, accept Jews as their brothers, stand up against hate in all of its incarnations, such that state sponsored hate is ceased, there will be a new dawn, where the boundries and fences of old, will be relegated to the trash been of history.
A re-uniting of the Sons of Abraham will bring the New World, much needed Order. And that Order will be good.

You have weakened the Lebanese government, not Hezbollah. Rather, you have brought the Sunni Muslims and Druze Lebanese around to realising that the enemy are not the Shiite plurality, but Israel. The Christians are probably doomed to leave Lebanon, like the Palestinian Christians left Palestine. As long as the U.S. supports you, you will be able to live in the area, but you will never have peace. I am sorry for that.

Striking the Hezbollah will not stregthen the Lebanese government, this must come from within, from the Lebanese people. The goal of Israel's actions against the Hezbollah is and should remain defensive. Israel should not attempt to have any loftier aim -- no one will appreciate it and it will only end up clouding Israel's right to defend itself against unwarranted attack.

I don't for a minute believe this. Israel is detroying Lebanon to help the government! The last war by Begin-Sharon produced the Hezbollah. How does a conventional army propose to eradicate a guerilla army? The "infrastructure" of Hezbollah is not simply bases and weapons, the real infrastructure is in the minds of people. This round of carnage will double hatred and may produce something worse than Hezbollah.
Israel tried to destory the PlO and got Hamas. It tried to install the Felange fascists in Lebanon and got Hamas.
if it destorys Lebanon, it may get Al queida on its doorstep.

What is happening now is a sign to Israel. With the new missles in Hezbollah's arsenal, all Israel is now fair game. This happens only one year after Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon. The Hezbollah are determined to build their arsenal and it is no secret that they are seeking efficent air defense systems. It is a matter of time that they get such systems and then they can claim they closed the gap. Israel should seize the opportunity now and step to close a comprehensive peace deal across the table. Otherwise, the next war will one of either Arabs are eliminated, or Israelies are eliminated. I hope someone can read between the lines and missiles here and do the right thing.

In 1982, Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war. Israel then sided with the most repressive and brutal of the contending forces - the openly racist, Phalangists. Hezbollah was formed - and it is widely respected amongst the Lebanese as the force that drove Israel out and destroyed their puppet armies. Today Lebanon is not divided. All factions respect Hezbollah as a resistance movement, and the Lebanese Army says it will fight any Israeli Invasion. This situation is far different and more dangerous for Israel than in 1982. Already the UK FO Minister, has condemned the air attacks and is calling for a ceasefire with Blair's blessings, while support for this adventure is dropping by the minute in the USA. If Israel had hoped to isolate Hezbollah from the Lebanese population, then these hopes have been in vain. If there is no great enthusiasm in the west for a western buffer force in Lebanon, in the wake of Iraq and Afghanistan so Israel will find itself fighting a never ending guerilla war. It is time for a cease-fire, a prisoner swap and a comprehensive peace.

Destroying Heszbollah might be a small part of the new order in the International Policy against terror. Unless Syria and Iran enter the conflict and give a substantial reason for being attacked, I can not see any achievement in this military raid. Israel must give a massage, they came here and will not move. Anyone who doesn't agree will face the consequences.

Israel is not fighting Hezbollah as a militia, Israel is fighting blood, faith and control. Previous experiences show that the best way for Israel is to keep as much as it can away from Lebanon and away from Hezbollah. Because at the end, no matter what the result of this war is, Israel will be a loser. If the idea is to destroy Sheaa and not just Hezbollah, then Israel should know that she is risking its existence, and should prepare for a World War III. It is quite clear that death and destruction can't weaken Hezbollah, and on the other hand, it weakens Israel. So take another look and think!

The strategy is not to strengthen the Lebanese government, this is irrelevant. It is important to cause irreparable damage to Hezbullah. This will require ground forces and recreating buffer zone to Litani. Until Iranian and Syrian regimes are collapsed and destabilised the problem will remain. Iraq is not currently a problem to Israel because it is in chaos. Perhaps chaos in Iran, Syria and Lebanon is not a bad thing. It is no difference to Israel who is firing and who is funding and who is harbouring the terrorist. All are equal, all are the enemy and the liquidation or destabilisation of all should be sought.

I don't think that the Israeli strategy and its military operation will weaken Hezbollah's military structure. Hezbollah has a regional project in cooperation with Iran and supported by Syria. Iran's strategic plan is to be a dominant player in the region's policies. So, without a new political order in the region, the threat of Hezbollah will not be eliminated even if the Lebanese army deploys along its borders.

Israel is doing part of the work that should have been done by the Lebanese government a long time ago: IDF is expelling Hezbollah from South Lebanon. I think Israel will succeed, because the status quo previous to Hezbollah agression will not be accepted, and this is something that everybody knows.

I think an international force will be deployed in South Lebanon, Lebanese army is not able to do anything different from what it has done until now.

This war, and the massive destructions it generates, is pure folly. Like it or not - I sure do not like it - the only thing it will weaken is whatever sympathy is left in the world for Israel among people with decent political instincts. There is already one big winner in all this: the Hezbollah and its culture of violence.

I believe that it is an illusion to think a limited offensive has the power to erase Hezbollah. The root causes of the problem remain Iran and Syria. U.S. policies have not achieved their objectives in the region. Just look at the mess in Iraq. The U.S. has good weapons, superb firepower but bad policies.

Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against Hezbollah. However the Lebanese government is too weak to stop Hezbollah operating on their territory. Isreal can and should secure the Lebanese territory south of the Litani and hand it over to an armed international force to secure the border.

Israel has no right to kill innocent Lebanese citizens by bombing their cities. This is criminal.

Ultimately Hezbollah can be weakened but not destroyed. The real solution is to move quickly forward to the creation of an independent Palestinian state based upon the 1967 borders so that a just Middle East solution can be implemented. There is no moral case to delay this any longer and the illegal West Bank settlements must be evacuated except those that are contiguous to the Green Line and additional land adjacent to Gaza should be provided as a quid pro quo.

The peace dividend for Israelis and Palestinians is a no brainer and it is a solution along these lines that will ultimately undermine and sterilize Hezbollah. The militants will never be defeated by making war on innocent civilians.

I think Hassan Nasrallah blundered into this war without realizing that Israel will seize on its soldiers' abduction to try to disarm his militia rather than begin negotiations for their release. But by now the Israelis, by wreaking havoc on Lebanon, are playing into his hands. In the Muslim world (look at the demonstrations!), the war is bolstering the clout of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Muslim world, where the guerrilla group already enjoys enormous prestige for rolling back the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. I'm afraid Israel's goal of eliminating the Hezbollah threat will remain unrealized for quite a while. Neither the Siniora government nor the Christians or Druze have the capacity to force Hezbollah to disarm. Nasrallah may be offered to incorporate his guerrillas into the Lebanese army. He could agree to do so on condition that the Lebanese National Covenant be revised to replace the ethnic quotas in government with a plain majoritarian system based on one person, one vote. In that case, the Shiites (40% of the Lebanese population) can dominate the government and use the national army as its militia.

Its time the terrorists and their complicit supporters feel the terror and the pain which they deal out to the world. There cannot be a war with different rules for the opposing parties. I admire the Israeli resolve to safeguard the security and honor of its citizens. And I also hope that there will be 'real' peace soon in the Middle East.

I don't think the strategy Israel is using will weaken Hezbollah. Time will speak for itself.

In my opinion the present Lebanese government can not in essence be separated from Hezbolla.It has not made any mark so far.

From watching the news on television, my hope is that the war will become wearisome for the common Lebanese people, and that they will put aside ancient hatreds in hopes of building a better future.

From Arafat onward, leaders have used hatred of Israel to hide their own corruption and inefficiency. The people are wise and will eventually reject this domination of error.

Israel will temporarily weaken Hezbollah but in the end, we will have negotiate with the guerrilla groups.

It seems to me that Lebanon's insistence that Hezbollah and Lebanon are not synonymous is somewhat disingenuous. They have tolerated, and even facilitated Hezbollah in so many ways.

Having said that, I think striking with as much military might as possible will, if Lebanon really wants to take back its prerogatives, go a long way toward freeing them from the friendly ties they've developed, and for which they are now paying a high price.

It's high time Israel reminded the world of its brilliance and all the technology that naturally accompanies such a blessing. Fight because you must. Israel's enemies will continue to multiply in numbers and armament. Their goal is annihilation.

I'm glad and encouraged to see Israel lay down the olive branch for a change and defend what she ought not have to defend. Her existence.