I believe that:
1) What Israel is doing now, is wrong. There's no excuse for it. Two soldiers can be bargained for. Over fifty lives lost, can't. Now the death toll will simply escalate on both sides.
2) Israel has the upper hand. Why? It has the support of the Bush administration and has "one of the best funded military forces in the Middle East and ranks among the most battle-trained armed forces in the world, having been involved in five major wars and numerous border conflicts. In terms of personnel, the IDF's main resource is the training quality of its soldiers and expert institutions, rather than sheer numbers of soldiers. It also relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems, some developed and manufactured in Israel for its specific needs, and others imported (largely from the United States)." - taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel. This is just the quickest evidence I can find on hand, but if you'd prefer more secure sources, I have no trouble in believing I'll find them saying exactly the same thing.
3) The Lebanese government is still developing! It simply *cannot* be held accountable for a separate organisation's actions. It is *exactly* the same as if Australia attacked Indonesia for Jamar Islamir - they certainly have links in the Indonesian government but you don't see this country purposefully invading another country for that sole reason.
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I don't support terrorism. I don't support how they've captured soldiers. Don't throw that at me. But I
certainly don't support what Israel have done. Violence and war should *always* be a last resort and not the immediate action to take.
Please, look at what the people of Lebanon think:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5176582.stm before you start condemning them as supported Hezbollah.
"If the Lebanese government does not deploy its armed forces as a sovereign government should, we will not allow Hezbollah forces to move again onto the other side of the border." - Amir Peretz, Israeli Defence Minister
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5175886.stm
...
Wait. Does that mean that Israel has a right to economically cripple a country which has only recently finished reconstruction? Does that mean they have a right to bomb this country until they get what they want?
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To Sum up:
I'm not pro anything, really. I just think that basic ethics are being ignored here. That the US can stop any UN action through veto-ing any proposal put forward about Israel is ridiculous. Is this what we call democracy? Where is this so-called "liberty" you so proudly fight for?
This is what the terrorists want. They want social disharmony. Racial tensions. Far-flung accusations and overblown reactions. That is the kind of situation in which extremist groups can gain a following. Because people become scared. Because fear can be one of the greatest motivations of all.