no peace without justice?

That is something people like to say, without thinking through the possible contradictions to their worldview. However, let's get pragmatic for a second.

I don't think that people who criticize Israel's policies or actions as a nation are "anti-semitic" any more than I think it is "un-American" to criticize the Iraq War. I will say this, the Iraq War was wrong, unjust, illegal, stupid, and poorly planned. Israel's current war in Lebanon may be one or two of the above things, but it is not unjustifiable or disproportionate. If one consider's Israel's war in Lebanon as compared to Syria's actions against Lebanese or her own citizens, or as compared to Russia's dealings in Chechnya, or China's treatment of Tibet, or the American invasion of Iraq, Israel is making a good faith effort towards a just peace.

Israel IS a crusader state, an example of Western Imperialism or Colonialism and a throwback to another era. That does not mean it has no right to exist. Almost every nation on earth owes its borders and ethnography to Western Imperialism. Don't we give the Albanians rights to order their own affairs in Kosovo? Don't we allow the Japanese to deny citizenship to any but "pure-blooded" Japanese? I'm sick of all the liberal carping about how bad Israel is. Here's a good example.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour criticized the rising toll, saying the shelling was invariably killing innocent civilians.

"International law demands accountability," she said in Geneva. "The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control."

So where is the international accountability for Hamas, Hizbollah, King Saud, the Assad family, Ahmadinejad, or even Bush or Cheney? Let's face it, human rights lawyers, in another time you would have been Franciscan monks throwing up their hands at the injustices of the world. In fact, Franciscan monks probably did more to stop wars than human rights lawyers do.

The fact of the matter is, Israel is under literal attack from all sides. Hizbollah, Hamas, Iran, or Syria don't care about peace. If they did, they would stop firing rockets at the Israelis and negotiate. Negotiating means to be willing to give something up to get something else. The Israelis have done plenty of giving up. They left Sinai, they left Gaza, they left Lebanon. Sure, they captured that territory in war, but when's the last time we demanded that France give back Strasbourg, or Poland give back Breslau. How about the fact that France still has colonies, the largest being French Guiana?

I'm sick of all the hand-wringing over Israel's retaliation in this matter. Surely it is horrible that Lebanese civilians are being killed. TIME Magazine tried to make us aware, however, most of us are blissfully ignorant of the horrible slaughter in the Congo.

The Arab states are either going to have to completely destroy the nation of Israel or accept its continued belligerence. They can't have it both ways. Of course, the Ummah could always try and make peace.