I'm from neither place, and I truly feel for all of you. What Hizbollah is doing is wrong as well as what Israel is doing. However, I would like to take exception with something you said, Will.

Keep in mind I get my news, aside from reading foreign papers, from TV which is not stellar reporting in the US. I think the foreign correspondents are great, but somehow I think a lot gets lost in the translation from them to the anchor's summarization.

Here goes.

It is my understanding that Hizballah crossed the border, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, then came back. Israel started firing artillery at Hizballah and began bombing the Beitut airport, then Hizballah started firing the Katyushas, is that understanding correct?

If so, then yes, Hizballah PROVOKED the current conflict, but were not the ones to start firing. That was the Israelis. Unless our news reports got it wrong which can happen.

I just wonder what would have happened had Israel gone to Lebanon after the kidnapping and said look, we know you can't take Hizballah out, but we can't live like this. How about we do a joint operation. We'll then guard the border together and have the international community send us uninvolved soldiers to help us, because if you don't come up with something, this is what will happen.

Is this simplistic? Yes. Is it far more complex than that? Yes, but this would have given the Lebanese government the opportunity to go to Hizballah and say look, we want to survive, we just rebuilt the country, it will get destroyed. Do you care about yourselves, your sponsors, or your country. It's time to choose.

Would they choose Lebanon? I don't know, but if they didn't? I think whatever popularity they had amongst even the people they have helped all these years, would have vanished rapidly after the 500 pound bombs started raining on them, and they saw all Hizballah could answer with were 50 pound Katyushas that are impossible to aim and are pretty much useless for anything but interdiction and fear. Once they knew that Hizballah could have prevented it, all support would most likely be gone.

Unfortunately, unless there were negotiations that weren't mentioned on the news, and were summarily rejected by the Lebanese government In which case this is their own fault), it looks as if Israel was the first to drop bombs, kill civilians, destroy civilian infrstructure and prolong this nightmare for the Lebanese as well as the Israelis.

You too, can make it stop. You aren't helpless. Join the anti-war movement that's growing in your country. We, the civilians of the world, suffer the hazards of war because of the actions of our governments. Which war, did you ever hear of, where the heads of state who ordered it, died because of shelling or bombs or rockets or anything else? None. Why? Because they save themselves, they are safe. They give us up as sacrificial lambs. We are just collateral damage.

Naive? No. That was my point. You will never defeat organizations such as Hizballah, Hamas, or the nutcase groups the US has, if they have any popular support. I don't care how many bombs you drop on them, it won't end. They leave, they come back. They look like the population because they ARE the population. You can't find them or extricate them. The people always suffer.

The way you make those groups disappear forever is to make the people withdraw their support. Then THEY will say look they are here, and here and here. If the question were put to them, cease fire if you love Lebanon, and they refused, whatever support they had would be gone. That was my point. And that is not naive.

Did you notoce that Syria left after the PEOPLE stood up and said we've had enough? It works. It's the only thing that does. And that's the only way Iraq will get settled, but not as long as the US is there. No one learns from our mistakes or apparently their own. Israel has been trying this strategy for years in the Middle East. But the militias are still there.