Well, now we can see the chief influence that Hizbollah has in its new and expanded role in Lebanon's government -- ratcheting up the rhetoric (a technique doubtless learned from their mentor, Iran). Well, it is a very stupid and dangerous game that Lebanon is playing, following close on the heels of the announcement by Hizbollah that they have targeted IDF installations should a shooting war break out again. First of all, that is not true -- keep in mind that Hizbollah -- as dyed-in-the-wool terrorists -- targets civilians, or individual soldiers that they can kidnap. They have no interest in challenging an entity that can actually fight back. Lebanon needs to understand that sometimes you get what you wish for -- and except for Hizbollah (who don't mind martyrdom) -- the Lebanese will not much like what will befall them if Hizbollah continues to annoy Israel. Very much more of the rhetoric out of Lebanon, and Israel will have a new northern border -- the Litani. And there is not a damn thing that anyone can do to stop that from happening. The Lebanese press would do well to remember that Israel takes existential threats very, very seriously. They need to scale back the rhetoric -- or suffer some very unpleasant consequences. The choice is theirs.

IT'S THAT SHIITE MOB HEZBOLLAH'S WAR AGAINST ISRAEL AND AGAINST ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT LIKE THEM. IN OTHER WORDS... IT'S REALLY IRAN'S PROXY WAR AGAINST ISRAEL.

I agree with you Sarah. They threaten and provoke Israel but after they get stomped on they go crying to the UN. May God bless you and keep you safe. Here is a special blessing for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV3qoz0UD4c

Sarah B (aka Isreali PR machine) You live in a fantasy world that is very dangerous.Maybe you have been watching CNN. Isreal tried stealing land again and was stopped. Land grabs are all the rage in Isreal? Since what its inception no. You speak as If you talk to a higher power,do you hear voices? Its common for deranged psychopaths to creative false realities like Isreal controlling the Litani river they tried that and failed remember.I think you will find the 'Lebanese' will support and assist hizbollah against any Isreali land grab. Who are you speaking about Isreal of Hizbollah? Isreal is too scared to fight anybody that can fight back ,true! Keep killing innocents with fighter jets and bombs great training for the land grabber army but in a real war its useless. Enjoy the blowback LOL

Oh, Israel did control the Litani. The mistake was that Israel withdrew. I am touched that you are so concerned about collateral damage and civilian losses. Have you a clue how many East Timorese died when Australia decided to shell Indonesian positions there? If I'm not mistaken, Aussies are also deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Pretty high death toll among civilians there, too. You live in a glass house. Don't throw stones. Speaking of .... how many aborigines did the English criminals who arrived on those convict ships kill? Hmmm. You ARE quite the hypocrite. There's a small piece of blowback for you. Answer my questions, and then I might just take you partly seriously. (Although, I must say, for a native speaker of English, your spelling and grammatical skills are pretty poor. Your syntax is -- well -- nonexistent. I probably won't take you seriously after all. Sorry. LOL.

Thank you Sarah for correcting my grammatical errors a good diversion from the point. Sorry but Australia shelling East Timor what?? You have no idea what you are talking about true! I can tach you about Indonesian and Timorese history If you like. It was Henry Kissinger that authorised the Suharto government to expel and mass murder the Timorese, so American and British companies could exploit Timors natural resources. While Suharto was killing innocent Timorese the Americans and British rewarded him with a endless supply of military aid ( sounds familiar to Isreal) I am glad you shown some moral understanding for the plight of the Afganastanies and Iraqis but who pushed for these wars? Who is the only country in the ME obsessed with war? A document called "A CLEAN BREAK" in the middle east comes to mind do you know it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break. As for the Aboriginies the English style mandate that was subjected apon them is a stain on Australian history and shows how racist colonial mentality is! Furthermore we have learned from history this is wrong. What has Isreal learnt? Things that happened in history doesn't give Isreal or any country in fact the right to Land grab, cause wars or oppress innocent people. Right back at you baby!

Thank you very much. I quite enjoyed it! May G-d bless you, and cause your countenance to shine. Sarah

Yawwwwwn. 10,000 dead East Timorese, thanks to Aussie shelling. 18,000 dead Aghanis, thanks to Allied shelling (of which Oz played a significant part). 22,000 dead Iraqis, thanks to Allied shelling (of which Oz played a significant part). Right back atcha, baby. Now, how do you propose to address the war crimes perpetrated by Oz against the aborigines? Fifteen million dead is a whole lot of addressing, mate. Can you spell "land grab?" Hypocrite. Clean up your own house, before you worry about mine. P.S. Take an English class or two. Your usage is -- frankly -- embarrassing, for someone who purports to be a native speaker of English.

We have a strong relationship with East-timor. By the way, our role in Afghanistan and Iraq is far from significant. We have about 2000 troops in Iraq compared to over 200,000 US troops. And around 1500 troops in Afghanistan. We play a small roll in 2 wars we did not want to take part in. The only reason we sent troops was to show solidarity with the U.S. On the topic of Aboriginals, even before the European settlements it was estimated that there was between 300,000-750,000, so I really have no idea where you pulled the 15million dead figure from, especially when you consider that the total population in Australia is only 22million. If you want to give a history lesson to an Australian because you have no argument relating to the topic of Lebanon, at least make it somewhat realistic.

East Timor had been a Portuguese colony. In 1975, Portugal accorded East Timor independence. Unfortunately for East Timor, Indonesia invaded a few days later. The short answer to your question is 1975. That's when Australian shelling of Indonesian military positions in East Timor resulted in very few deaths of Indonesian troops but a whole heckuva lot of innocent East Timorese civilians. As to the massacre of aborigines, I dispute your numbers. Most realistic historians who do not engage in silly attempts to whitewash the truth acknowledge that the number is in the millions and possibly tens of millions. To this day, aborigines have ten times higher rates of disease and substance abuse (alcohol, drugs) than the rest of Australia's population, and their mortality rate is far lower than that of the average (white) Australian. For shame, dear. You need to come to grips with your history. You should be embarrassed that I know so much more about Oz than do you. By the way -- didn't you once proudly proclaim the fact that you are "Palestinian?" So which is it, dear? Palestinian or Australian?

Sarah the point here is Israeli obsession with war against its neighbours to deflect attention from making peace with Palestinians. Australia has apologised to the Aborigines but you are missing the point, we don’t continue to persecute them now. Best defence is offence wont work with me. When did Aussies shell East Timor? And I do care about your house especially when it threatens to cause WW3. The only solutions I hear from you are more' LAND GRABS' and using other countries history as an excuse for Israel to carry on in a self defeating and internationally destructive manner!

Israel has engaged in six wars. All of them were started by the Arabs. Israel is not war-obsessed. Unfortunately, our neighbors are. The Palestinians have on three separate and distinct occasions rejected the opportunity for a two-state solution, including (most recently) one which would have awarded them over 90% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a capital. One can only conclude (after six wars, sixty-plus years of unremitting terror and three rejected offers of a two-state solution) that the Palestinians are not interested in compromise. Nor are they interested in peace -- their actions over sixty-odd years have more than proven that. It was in 1975 that Indonesia invaded newly-independent East Timor, and 1975 that East Timor was rather mercilessly shelled by the Australian Navy. Killed far more East Timorese than you did Indonesian soldiers, but -- hey -- war is hell. Isn't it? Sure it is. Just ask Israel. We've been drawn into six that we never wanted. But we did win all six, and that, Chris, has to count for something. To the victor, after all, belongs the spoils. That would be Israel, and despite their very best efforts, the Palestinians will NOT succeed in putting toothpaste back into the tube. They are the architects of their misery, and seek to blame everyone else. When I make a bad choice, I still must take ownership of that choice. Shouldn't the Palestinians take ownership of the multitude of bad choices that they have made? I think so. By the way, I'm sure that the aborigines were very grateful for your country's apology. Tens of millions died, but I'm sure they're Oz's "gosh, we're real sorry" did the trick. So if Israel says "gosh, we're real sorry that we successfully fended off six Arab attacks on our country, and sixty plus years of Palestinian terror," that will do the trick, too, right? Cheers. Have a REALLY nice day.