How Does One Justify the Actions in Lebanon?

Today, the talking head political news shows were filled with people who said Israel's actions in Lebanon were entirely justified because Hezbollah - and Hamas - had to be wiped out. This includes both Democrats and Republicans in the House of Reprehensibles who are in Jerusalem now on a "fact finding" mission regarding the Middle East crisis. Although the citizens of the U.S. by and large say they don't want involvement, where is the hue and cry to have Congress shut up on this matter, or to stop the "rush" for more precision missiles to Israel so they can kill more people? Where is the call to the president to do something more than say, "Israel can do whatever it likes"?

Look at the picture here lifted from CNN. Do these people look like Hezbollah guerillas? No. Again and again, the people hurt are innocent civilians in Lebanon. While Hezbollah guerillas likely are trained to avoid missile fire and ground troops, the men, women, and children who make up the vast majority of the civilian population there have no such training and they're dying in droves.

Imagine for a moment that Hezbollah operated in the U.S., say in parts of Texas or Montana. Would it be OK for Israel to rain precision millions on Houston and Dallas, killing hundreds of civilians in the hopes of also killing a few guerillas? Hell, no. So why are we fine with it when it's Beirut in Lebanon or in Southern Lebanon?

For all the talk about how Iran and Syria fund Hezbollah and even Hamas, the funding we say is provided is just a fraction of the aid we give Israel each and every year specifically earmarked for the Israeli Army and their secret military groups (separate from other aid we provide). If funding Hezbollah and Hamas is bad and wrong for Iran and Syria, why isn't it bad for us to pay Israel far more money when that money is being used to wreak incredible destruction in Lebanon and Gaza? Israel is behaving like a terrorist organization in its actions in Gaza and Lebanon. There is no moral equivalence for saying Israel is right and good but everyone else is wrong.

Were Israel just going after Hezbollah, I would not be writing this. You would not find dozens of posts from me on this subject. But destroying an entire country, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, is not "a search for Hezbollah". It's murder. State-sanctioned murder leaves people just as dead as that not conducted by a state.