(Image courtesy Cox & Forkum)

The American Thinker reminds us to get the whole story before blatantly condemning Israel for the Lebanese civilian casualties. The blame for these deaths falls completely on those who are encouraging, or forcing civilians to remain in areas being used as military staging areas.

The idea that killing innocents – children, non-combatants—is moral and desired by God is embedded in the Quran. Islam has elaborate legalistic discussions about killing, but it grew out of a culture of desert warfare, where raiding, raping, and killing innocents was celebrated and glorified. Mohammad was a desert raider who committed genocide more than once. That easy acceptance of what the civilized world calls murder still pervades Muslim cultures today.

I join the world in hoping for a quick end to the violence – but I also believe Israel has the right, and the responsibility to destroy Hezbollah completely. The dispicable acts of the terrorist animals need to be realized for what they are, and if an international force is brought into the area, they need to go in with the facts in hand. Unless they know who the “bad guys” are and are willing to deal with them, they’ll solve nothing.