From Cox and Forum:
The criticism that Israel is using a “disproportionate response” to the kidnappings of its soldiers is an attempt to morally disarm Israel and make Israel out to be a bully. This notion is ludicrous when considered in the full context: Hezbollah and Hamas initiated the current crisis in an ongoing war against Israel’s right to exist. Notice that no one cried “disproportionate response” when Hamas demanded 1,200 prisoners in exchange for one Israeli hostage. Hamas and Hezbollah aren’t playing a game of proportions, why should Israel?
Israel, an outpost of freedom in the Middle East, has every right to use whatever means necessary for her long-term interests to defeat those who are warring against her. All the “disproportionate response” critics are accomplishing is to empower Israel’s enemies to wage more war, harm more Israeli citizens and escalate the violence. They are kicking Israel when she is down, when she needs our support the most.
From The Jerusalem Post: Chirac: Israel has gone too far.
French President Jacques Chirac castigated Israel for its military offensive in Lebanon on Friday, calling it “totally disproportionate,” while he and other European leaders expressed fears of a widening Middle East conflict that could spiral out of control.
Referring to Israel’s attacks Friday on Lebanon’s international airport and other transport links, the latest in a three-day offensive, Chirac asked aloud whether Lebanon’s destruction was not the ultimate goal.
“One could ask if today there is not a sort of will to destroy Lebanon, its equipment, its roads, its communication,” Chirac said during an interview in the garden of the presidential Elysee Palace to mark Bastille Day, the French national holiday.
From Russia to Spain, leaders voiced concern at the escalation of the conflict, with Lebanon now drawn into the spiral of violence that has long been the mark of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin called on all sides to stand down.
“All the sides that are involved in the conflict must immediately cease military action,” he said before a G-8 summit this weekend in St. Peterburg. …
In Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero warned Israel that it was “making a mistake” to attack Lebanon and said that both the EU and the United Nations must secure “an immediate cessation of the hostilities.”
“One thing is defense, which is legitimate, and another is a counteroffensive of widespread attack,” Zapatero told Punto Radio. “It won’t bring anything other than an escalation of violence.”
The Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic church, echoed that remark – and the fear of a widening conflict.
“In fact, the right to defense on the part of a country does not exempt it from respecting norms of international law above all for that which concerns the safety of the civilian population,” said a statement by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s No. 2 official.
Pope Benedict XVI was following the situation, the statement said, warning that it risks “degenerating into a conflict with international repercussions.”
From FoxNews: G8 Leaders Agree on Statement About Mideast Fighting.
Leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations agreed Sunday that three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by terror groups must be returned as a first order of business, and that all sides must put down their arms to resolve a conflict that is tearing up both Lebanon and Israel’s northern region.
Members of the Group of Eight, the world’s industrialized nations and Russia, issued a consensus statement that they say sends a “strong message” on the Mideast crisis.
Bush is still ridiculously urging “restraint” from Israel, but at least we’re sending them jet fuel for their warplanes.
Some critics of our inclusion of the Pope in this cartoon are trying to distance the Pope from the comments of Cardinal Sodano. But this news report quotes the Pope as follows:
“In recent days the news from the Holy Land is a reason for new and grave concern for all, in particular because of the spread of warlike actions also in Lebanon, and because of the numerous victims among the civilian population.”
A very relevant observation at Tigerhawk that I think also applies Israeli strikes in Lebanon. (via Alan Fang)
There has been some complaint about Israel’s reactions in Gaza as “asymmetrical.” Those complaints are, frankly, silly. Military actions in war are meant to be asymmetrical and lead to victory. They are not meant to be measured to achieve a stalemate.
More from Pope Benedict XVI: Pope makes new appeal for peace in Middle East.
“In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis the right to live in peace in their State, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland,” a message from Pope Benedict read, as released by the Vatican Information Services on Thursday.
The Lebanese surrendered their sovereignty when they continued allowing a terrorist state to exist within their borders. Palestinians leadership has never demonstrated that they would create anything but a terrorist state, and they have no right to that.