'Disproportionate' is the word Jack Straw uses to describe the Israeli actions in Lebanon, which has brought speculation on a rift in Tony's Cabinet. Jack was Foreign Secretary until last May, and has a high proportion of Islamics in his constituency.
One has to wonder, how politicians in the West can make judgements based upon ambiguous reports from so many disparate sources. Again, one must deplore the deaths of civilians in this conflict, but unless one is on the ground there, and has been for quite a while, it might be difficult to condemn any military actions against what's known to be a terrorist base.
It is exceedingly unfortunate that so many die in the class of 'collateral casualties', but again, wherein does the blame lie? Any country which harbours terrorists, or funds extremist causes, must themselves be held responsible for whatever action another country might take to eliminate the threat.
We do not condemn the British and American forces in Afghanistan for their continuing actions against Taliban. We do not condemn British, American, and other international forces for their continuing actions against Hammas and Hezbollah in Iraq.
How, in good concience then, can we condemn Israel for it's actions against an active foe?
al Jazeera aired a statement from al Q'aeda just two days ago, supporting Hezbollah and demanding the extermination of Israeli's and the dissolution of it as a State.
We have been told by George and Tony that we might expect a cease-fire within days, and truthfully this could be a script for the next Harry Potter novel. There is little or no chance that Israel will cease it's determination to eradicate those groups which call for it's destruction, nor is it plausible that those within the ranks of the terrorists will sit down at a table of arbitration and call off their rocket attacks.
This situation is one which has no real solution, and that can be blamed on hostilities which are ancestral.
Until the greater Islamic States involve themselves in a movement towards disbanding their terrorist factions, there will never be peace in the Middle East.
To think otherwise is naive at best. More likely it's a boondoggle in which the West is absolutely clueless. Sending the American Secretary of State to try and broker a settlement between these opposing forces is a chimera, for nothing will end this until someone begins to pull tight Western purse-strings.
One must mourn the deaths of innocents, but one must also be aware it is their own State which has brought this upon them.