ISRAELI FORCE NOT EXCESSIVE

U.S. Ambassador Bolton: Israel Force vs. Hizballah Not Excessive
Countering an assessment by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told MSNBC Thursday, "I don't think that the use of force by Israel is excessive" against Lebanon's Hizballah militia. Earlier Thursday, Annan condemned what he called Israel's "excessive use of force." Bolton called Annan's assessment "wrong." He said it is "important to understand that the Israeli operation is not conducted against the government of Lebanon or the people of Lebanon." (Dow Jones)

Israeli Pilots Concerned for Sparing Civilian Lives - Anshel Pfeffer (Jerusalem Post)
The pilots of First Squadron, which has flown more than 150 missions over the last eight days against Hizballah targets in Lebanon, said all operations were planned with a concern for sparing civilian lives. Maj. E, a reservist, explained that "each pilot has the permission to abort a mission if he feels that there is a danger to too many civilians."

"I personally took part in a mission to bomb a bridge, but when we were over the target I saw that there was too much traffic of people leaving Beirut on it, so I decided to abort. We returned at 3 a.m. to finish the job."

The Innocent Bystander Myth (IRIS Blog)
One of the most bizarre aspects of the current Lebanon crisis is the international community's unanimous insistence that the Lebanese government is an innocent party, and should therefore not be made to suffer for Hezbollah's actions.

And this presumption of Beirut's innocence has inevitably affected criticism of Israel's response to the Hezbollah attacks. Thus, for instance, the European Union's rotating president, Finland, issued a statement last week declaring that the EU "is greatly concerned about the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Lebanon in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel… The imposition of an air and sea blockade cannot be justified."

Hezbollah's attack was far from a rogue action committed in defiance of the government: The Lebanese government has actively supported it, in both word and deed.

In any normal country, a junior coalition member that attacked a neighboring country without its partners' consent would be swiftly disavowed and ousted from the government.

Far from repudiating Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, the Lebanese government has actively defended, facilitated and assisted them at every turn. There are thus no grounds for treating it as an innocent party in this conflict.

Now Isn't the Time for Restraint - Newt Gingrich
Imagine that this morning 50 missiles were launched from Cuba and exploded in Miami. In addition to buildings and homes being destroyed, scores of Americans were being killed. Now imagine our allies responded by saying publicly that we must not be too aggressive in protecting our citizens and that America must use the utmost restraint. Our history shows us that we have never reacted to a direct attack on our soil with any restraint. Every time America has been attacked by an enemy, we set about defeating it and ending the threat. Israeli concessions to the Iran-Syria-Hizballah-Hamas terrorist alliance have consistently resulted in their enemies preparing for the next attack. This is only the latest cycle in an ongoing 58-year campaign to destroy Israel. Hizballah in its military form must be eliminated, the Iranian Guard in southern Lebanon must be removed, and allowing the Syrian and Iranian dictatorships to supply, train, and equip the terrorists must be stopped. The writer, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. (USA Today)

Was NATO's Air War on Yugoslavia "Disproportionate"? - Elizabeth Sullivan
France should know whereof it speaks when it brands Israel for "disproportionate" force in bombing bridges, airfields and civilian power plants. Seven years ago, French pilots went after similar targets during NATO's 72-day air war against Yugoslavia. In fact, Israeli military tactics closely parallel those developed during the 1999 NATO air war and, more recently, by the U.S. against al-Qaeda. In 1999, dozens of NATO bombs and missiles hit Yugoslav bridges, communications grids, power plants, and a television station, killing at least 498 civilians. French fighter pilots flew more than 1,100 of the war's air strikes, or about 11 percent of the alliance's missions, according to Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)