Perhaps Israeli standards are too high - "all or nothing", no "playing dirty," etc. On the flipside, what did Hizbollah accomplish? Aside from increasing misery amongst the Lebanese? Or anti-semitism against Israelis? "Single-handedly" fighting IDF? Unfortunately for them, only the former will stick to the extent they generated - and no qualitative analysis is needed to realize that none are not worthy objectives (compared to say, defending a nation's right to exist). It is already known that Israel was fighting several arsenals and armies, and yet still managed to back the guerillas further north, and had Hizbollah's allies pushing for a ceasefire. So much for their personal "victory." Most importantly, the issues of human shields and media fabrication through their channels have become just a little clearer. Perhaps the latter is their greatest accomplishment.

Given the attitude toward the government expressed in the polls, they should resign immediately. If not, the Knesset should do the right thing and throw them out. A country in mortal danger cannot be led by people rejected by the population.

The failure of the "war" is obvious. For the last few years, it was the Palestinian defense force, not the IDF. It's main obsession was fighting the religious Jews. It took it's mission from either fiction writers like "Kod Kachol" (Blue Code, an obsession about the number of religious officers in the IDF) the HCJ, whose mission was to end any idea of a Jewish state, a hatred of Hesder sodiers, a hatred of settlers etc. All this time Halutz and his staff ignored the fact that Hizbollah, was doing the usual, like all Arabs were doing for the last 100 years, diggging in, to destroy all Israeli Jews, regardless of belief, whether the exremely religious, or the extreme secularists in Haifa!

This is a LULL...a SHORT lull, a PAUSE, if you will. Take advantage of it, because it won't last long. The Islamofacist HATE MACHINE has not been destroyed YET... it's hell bound to start rolling AGAIN...

Of course it did. Id failed too in 1973 and almost led to a catastrophy for Israel - had it not been for Israel's saviors, Henry Kissinger and Anwar Al-Sadat! One hopes that the failure in the Lebanon would suggest that Israel's adversaries are no longer a 'push over.' Technology will soon deprive Israel of the ONLY area where it can exercise supermeacy: the air. Then what? On hopes too that Israel would approach its neighbors and try to make peace with them. 'Greater Israel' is unlikely to be a reality, and in trying to achieve it, Israel may even loose the current version of Eretz Israel!

So what's you're point?

“Foreign militias?” Pease tell the world your stupidity has limits sport. Nassralla’s ancestors have inhabited Lebanon for a thousand year and long before New Jersey got a chance to pollute the entire US, Dumbo. It’s impossible to be more Lebanese than Nassralla and his men pal. Ain’t no “foreign” militias on Lebanese soil today but the IDF. Because the performance of the latter certainly proved it’s that of an amateur militia. The good old adage “you appeared perceptive till you opened your mouth and stupidity prevailed” must’ve been tailored for Eric of NJ. Go learn about demographics and lineage before spewing hysterically hillarious material.

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. I DONT CARE WHAT ANY OF U NON BELIEVERS THINK.. MAYBE OUR ARMY WAS NOT PREPARED, BUT WE HAVE THE MOST WILLING, MOST CARING, MOST AMAZING SOLDIERS IN THE WHOLE WORLD AND I TELL U WHAT, I SAT IN THE SHELTERS FOR 34 DAYS HATING EVERY MINUTE, BUT I WOULD HAVE SAT ANOTHER 30 DAYS TO SAVE THE LIVES OF SOLDIERS LOST. THOSE GUYS WERE AMAZING, THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND WERE LOST DURING BATTLE AND THOSE WHO ARE STILL THERE ON THE GROUND OR IN HOSPITALS RECUPERATING. IF I EVER DOUBTED WHY "WE WERE THE CHOSEN PEOPLE" I GOT MY ANSWER IN THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE OF MY NATION. I LOVE U ISRAEL I AM PROUD TO BE PART OF THIS COUNTRY, THIS NATION, THIS PEOPLE. GOD BLESS U ALL. MAY WE LEARN FROM THESE TERRIBLE MISTAKES AND HOPEFULLY WE WILL BETTER PREPARE OURSELVES FOR FUTURE CONFLICTS IF AND WHEN THEY ARISE..OR ALTERNATIVELY LOOK TOWARDS A FUTURE OF PEACE WITH OUR LEBANESE NEIGHBOURS WHO TOO ARE SUFFERING DURING THIS TERRRIBLE TIME OF WAR.. GOD BLESS THE IDF AND GOD BLESS ISRAEL...AMEN

Israel has to have a military genius to defeat the arabs. As of now Hizbullah has won the battle. Olmert must go!!

I find it quite funny that the Arab world and the international loony left likes to shout "massacre" and "genocide" at the drop of a hat, yet when there is a cease in fighting, they pounce on Israel, as proven by your claiming the IDF is an "amateur militia". Yes, Nasrallah was born in Lebanon. But your claim that his family has been in Lebanon for a thousand years is odd since Lebanon's gained independence 6 years before Israel. I hope you realize that if Lebanon and the international community fail again, there will be no restraint whatsoever. This "amatuer militia", which won every battle, I should add, and sadly inflicted much damage to civilian infrastructure, will hold nothing back next time around. And why the bitterness? I know it must be hard having the name, Gretchen, but there's no reason to spew such hate on a discussion forum.

On the surface, Israel lost; no doubt about it because no objective has been achieved! However, in the long run, Israel has won because NOBODY in his/her right mind will vote for LIBERAL IDIOTs/Traitors once again. Moreover, it is clear that Sharon let his country and countymen down by unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza. I hope the Israelis understand now well that voting bears its consequences. It is not about government-based subsidies but about life and death. My heart cries for the victims and my family's prayers are with their families. May G-d always bless Israel!

The reason I rarely respond to flames is that it is usually wasted effort. However, your post seems reasonably constructed and you appear to demonstrate enough sentience to recognize that other views may also be valid: 1) Foreign” militia means apart and separate from the recognized legitimate government of the land in which it is constituted. I use the term militia in speaking of Hezbollah in that they appear to be under the sponsorship, if not the command and control, of a state other than Lebanon (at least according to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora). In the case of Hezbollah, they appear to be subject to a call for service by their sponsor. 2) The IDF is not a militia; they are the recognized armed forces of the State of Israel – a country that has been a member state of the United Nations since May 11, 1949 and which has diplomatic relations with 161 other countries on this planet. Your learned assessment of the performance on the IDF notwithstanding, Webster's II states that a militia is: “A military force that is not part of a regular army and is subject to call for service in an emergency.” 3) Trying to follow your logic, since Russell Means’ ancestors inhabited North America for 10,000 years, give or take, before the 500 nations were subjugated by Europeans in the 19th century; would not that have entitled the AIM to kidnap American soldiers and shell American cities from safe havens in Saskatchewan and Alberta? 4) The ancestors of the Israelis inhabited Judea and Samaria and other lands, for over 3,000 years; I think I follow your point, I just am having a hard time accepting that you are arguing that this gives the Israelis title to parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Ethiopia and such cities as Medina, Shush, and Khaibar. The land at the heart of this dispute has been ruled, at various times by: Edomites, Jesubites, Canaanites, Philistines, Egyptians, Jews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Crusaders, Fatimids (the supposed ancestors of Nasrallah), Ottomans, British and now Jews, Druze (followers of the sixth Fatimid Caliph), Christians, and the Arabs who did not leave in 1948. Perhaps you wish to further legitimize your argument by returning your valuable home to the Costanoan nation who inhabited central-coastal California before the Spanish mission and land grant systems were established by force of arms. 5) I appreciate your appraisal of my intellectual credentials and I am impressed that you are able to make such a determination based upon such a limited sample of my writing. I would invite you to become even more informed about the subject the middle-eastern conflict. You might want to start with the Shab’a farms issue: http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.nsf/b86613e7d92097880525672e007227a7/97bad2289146f58a852568e9006d99bd!OpenDocument or to perhaps read one of Bernard Lewis’ books. I am gratified that you find my material “hillarious” and I hope that you might even find it occasionally amusing too. Perhaps my views on lineage and demographics are too colored by the years I spent working in the mid-east, mostly in the Gulf, speaking with and listening to well-educated locals whose ancestors have lived in the region for thousands of years. Thank you for correcting my vast store of misinformation – I should have gone Banana Joe's or The Hungry Slug in the first place if I wanted the truth – just think of the time I would have saved!

Please lighten up Steve, Gretchen is a wonderful name. Remember that Gretchen personified love and purity and enabled the redemption of Faust. I don't even mind being called Dumbo, it was my favorite ride at Disneyland growing up (a “C” ticket if I recall). As far as being thought stupid; I have a teenager who shares Gretchen's view.

you are so right bruce we need to stop hezbollah any which way possible.they are evil as is the president of syriaand the money of a president in iran. but this peace is only for a time there will be another war coming very soon because the hammas will start the new one.and hezbollah will be a part of that one also. so may our God of heaven protect israel and give peace to jerusalem.

NO ONE LISTENED LAST MONTH WHEN MARK PEOPLE KNEW KADIMA WAS SPINELESS, AND PROBABLY GOT IDF SOLDIERS KILLER UNNECESSARILY. COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT THE DAY THE PARTY WAS CONCEIVED. THE ROAD MAP FOR PEACE HAS BEEN A JOKE FOR, WHAT, 14 YEARS NOW!? LAND FOR PEACE...JEWISH PEOPLE DIDN'T NEGOTIATE THAT DEAL! NOT GOLDA MEIR ANYWAY!

You all think God this, God that - buy you kill Arab and Palestinians non-combatants as if they were animals. God must bo so shocked with his chosen people. This war was a war of choice, you went in there filled with self - thinking a few bombs would be enough - 1000 inocents dead, 3000 hurt - and yes, you lost - lost big time: God is pissed, you have to stop the killing, Israel is covered in blood and no, you will not get to keep the West Bank - it is not yours. Sorry and sad...

http://www.menapress.com/article.php?sid=1479

yes the hezbollah will be back soon it has be told about in the bible.because the prince of persia who is the devil.will try more to kill israel but it won't work because Jesus will come back to defeat all the armies of the anti-christ . and i pity all the moslems who help the anti-christ because they will be totally defeated.that's why i pray for the moslems and the muslims who worship allah. read the word of God in the bible and learn about love from Jesus who is the only son of God .

you are so right my dear.but remember to keep praying for the peace of Jersalem and israel. i have no idea if you are christian or hebrew.but keep on praying for all of the people there. God bless you and your family and may the Lord richly bless you and your family .amen.

Well, you got what you could from the Brits and then ran them off. You got what you could from the French and ran them off. Now it seems like you have got what you can from us Americans, so maybe it is time to run us off, too. I have been reading your think tank papers and the way they ar talking maybe you ought to go with the next big dog: Red China. Maybe India, too. An alliance of the East and the Jewish Middle East against the West. The Chinese would probably accept your tutelage and guidance better that the Brits, French and Americans are doing, Think about it. I really don't think you need America anymore.

It just dawned on me that the Sunnis killed more Shiites in a week with car bombs than you killed Lebanese in the whole "war". And more Muslims civilians were killed in one day in Bagdad bombings than Israeli civilians killed in the whole "war". Now why is y'all agonize about Lebanon? And why do folks call the last month of Lebanese skirmishing a "war". According to Bush, what is happening in Iraq is only urban skirmishing, not even a civil war.

Honey, you got anti-Semites on the brain. For a New Yorker, you really ought to chill out and get grip. Rathr than just flap your gums about the Great Satan Anti-Semite America, why don't you just make aliyah and fight for your people? I think we both would be more comfortable with that arrangement, don't you think? You wouldn't have to flip out over the Evil Goyim you live with in the NYC Galut and we wouldn't have to listen to you. Just a thought. It's a win-win situation. PS: Maybe you could ask Dersh to go with you. He seems pretty unhappy with America, too.

Watching the war from around the world we can only see what the media wants us to see. I am afraid Israel quit way to soon. It only means that Hezbulla has the time to regroup. You have a weak government Israel. Much of your problem comes from the liberal influence on everything. YHVH can not bless your efforts if you allow for the legacy of Sodom and Gomorrah to set up a camp in His covenant land. YHVH will purge you of this evil, then he will take those who have repented and win this war with them.

The UN is a joke and should be disbanded. The only way Israel is to survive is for her to destroy her enemies. We know that peace will never happen because Islam will never allow it because it wants Israel destroyed. I pray for Israel and her people and hope in the very near future that you select a strong government that will protect you from all of your enemies. God is with you Israel , you just have to ask Him to help you. God bless Israel!

EVERYONE PLEASE READ http://www.menapress.com/article.php?sid=1479 KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IDF,WE LOVE YOU

Both sides of this war... as is the case with the "war on terroism" are DEAD WRONG! BOTH ARE LOST AND BOTH ARE LOSING!!! Imagine the world continuing to fight, fight, fight, until only a small number of people are left.....perhaps unimaginable...but just imagine....Would man continue to fight and kill his "enemies"? At what point would someone have to stop and say look "mankind is on the verge of extinction, we need to resolve our differences non-violently!". Or maybe BOTH sides are thinking, "kill them all until they're all dead!" .............Who would be left to celebrate the victors? You think that's what God want's? For both sides to continue to kill off each other? The problem is...BOTH SIDES THINK THAT GOD WANTS THEM TO KILL THE OTHERS!!!". Right now, neither side can kill the other fast enough. But when the means increases, and the anger increases and the hostility spreads........and it will if we don't STOP NOW.........we're going to see human destruction like never before seen. peace be with you......