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Deaths in the Mideast should be blamed on terror groups

Re: Mideast violence.

For everyone bemoaning the killing of civilians in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere, it must be reaffirmed that jihadists, terrorists, Hezbollah, Hamas and the rest of these radical armies do not fight as an army. They wear civilian clothes and operate their wars from among the civilian population of their country. They hide their armaments in mosques, hospitals, schools, etc. They fire their rockets and missiles from heavily populated areas assuming there will not be an attack against them. The cat-and-mouse game they are playing is fairly obvious, and Israel has known this for many years.

Hamas and Hezbollah have both crossed Israel's border to kill and kidnap soldiers. They then run back to intersperse with the general population and proceed to fire rockets and missiles across their borders with Israel, while being welcomed with open arms by their people.

Israel has every right to protect its borders and its people. If the Israelis do not make a stance, who will and what will happen to the state of Israel? These terrorists have made it clear they want Israel wiped off the map. Israel must do what it has to do to survive, plain and simple. If civilians die as a result, the blame should be leveled directly at the terrorists themselves for bringing civilians into the war by hiding among them. Israel should not be blamed for trying to protect itself from cross-border attacks.

I feel for the families in Lebanon and Palestine, but maybe they should redirect their energies to disarming and evicting the real and only root of the problem, Hezbollah and Hamas, instead of protesting against Israel and the United States. They then could sleep at night without the sounds of gunfire and bombs.

Don Mott, Largo

This is no longer our fight

Re: Horror in Lebanon, July 31.

Horror in Lebanon? What about the horror in Israel? For more than four decades, Lebanon has provided a staging ground for forces and factions that want to see Israel "wiped off the face of the earth." These hostile groups operate out of Lebanon with impunity. They are a movement of Hitler clones with only one aim in mind. Recently, one of their elite said they would not stop until they reached Spain! Is this the Crusades all over again?

Israel has a right to survive and a right to fight for survival. But this is in the back yard of Europe and Russia. We've blown enough "foreign aid" over there, and now it's time for them to step up and protect what Churchill called "the soft underbelly." If they don't, then they deserve what they get. It is not our fight.

We've had 12/7/41 and 9/11/01. When the fanatics are through with Israel and Spain they'll come here again. We need to pull our troops out of Iraq and bring them home where they will be needed. With madmen guiding Islamic policy, it's just a matter of time until we are again at risk on our own ground.

Charles V. Scott, St. Petersburg

Providing destruction and relief

Talk about a schizophrenic foreign policy. We expedite the delivery of bombs to Israel to insure that it has the resources to destroy Lebanon and then our secretary of state slowly goes to Lebanon and offers U.S. aid to help rebuild what has been destroyed with the same U.S.-made ordnance.

We may be looking at another opportunity for the industrial-military complex to flex its power and make money on both sides of the conflict.

Has the noble pursuit of the blessed peacemakers been replaced by the greed of the arms-mongers to bleed the American treasury to spread pain and suffering for fun and profit?

Patrick J. Conrey, Spring Hill

A one-sided view of a tragedy

Re: Horror in Lebanon.

I was both sad and disappointed to see this headline and read the story that followed. Sad to learn about the tragic and heartbreaking loss of civilian life in the town of Qana, Lebanon, but equally disappointed to see what I consider biased and one-sided coverage of this tragic incident.

Nowhere in the article does it mentioned that Hezbollah (and other terror groups, for that matter) deliberately place military targets in the heart of civilian areas, a serious violation of international and humanitarian law. Even the United Nations' humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, said: "Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children. I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this."

Nowhere in the article does it mention that Israel dropped thousands of leaflets before the attack over the town, repeatedly warning its inhabitants to leave the area. When was the last time Hezbollah alerted Israeli civilians of an impending rocket barrage?

Absent from the article is the complete statement of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which said:

"I express my deep regret, shared by the entire State of Israel and the IDF, for the death of civilians in the village of Qana. Qana was used for launching rockets at Kiryat Shmona and Afula. All residents were warned to leave. There are hiding places for rockets inside the village, and the village itself constitutes a shelter for rocket launchers. We have no policy of killing innocent civilians. For 18 days thousands of missiles have been fired, aimed at murdering innocent civilians in the north (of Israel)."

Why didn't the author of the article ask why there were children in Qana, after all residents of south Lebanon were cautioned to leave? Did Hezbollah prevent civilians from leaving in order to maximize civilian casualties?

These are some of the facts the St. Petersburg Times failed to report, which is disappointing in view of its fair and balanced coverage of the conflict to this point.

Bruce A. Epstein, Pinellas Park

Protection starts at home

Last week I read in your paper that America sent two planes full of missiles to Israel. En route they landed in Scotland for refueling.

Can you or anyone tell the American people why we as Americans, who try hard to love our children and bring them up as good Americans, are sending missiles to Israel to kill innocent children?

Have you all forgotten what it was like when the twin towers collapsed? Do you remember the feelings you all had watching them come down? Well, imagine if it was your children being blown up by our missiles. How would you feel about the people running America?

Shame on us. We are supposed to be civilized. Civilization starts with discussion and understanding, not attacking someone's country. Who gives us the right to attack someone else's country? You say terrorism, but protection starts from within. Protect our own borders, our own people, make us strong by securing our land first.

M. Adams, Spring Hill

Where are Hezbollah's apologies?

Its ironic how Israel has to apologize for bombing of civilians while Hezbollah, which only bombs civilian targets, doesn't have to apologize for anything.

I would like to see some fair reporting all around. Let us know which targets Hezbollah is hitting as well as the Israelis. The world is so ready to condemn Israel for defending itself. What would we do if rockets were landing on our shores?

Why doesn't Hezbollah just return the Israeli soldiers and let this "war" be over? The answer is because Iran wants Israel defeated and eliminated and will do anything, including killing innocent people, to get at that goal.

Dee Goldsmith, New Port Richey

[Last modified August 2, 2006, 01:29:23]