Stefania got it right. Israel did nothing other than protect itself. Remember that Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said two years ago, that when the Party of God will be ready, it will attack the cities inside Israel (and so they did, for the first time ever!) and kidnap its soldiers, to show the Arab and Muslim world that Israel is a weak country that can be easily defeated with guerilla attacks.

Although one is Sunni (Hamas) and the other Shiia (Hezbollah), these two militias have the same sponsors, Syria and Iran.

What happened with Gilad Shalit did not just fall out of the sky; it was a maneuver well prepared by Khaled Meshal hosted by Damascus in grand style.

Khaled Meshal and Hassan Nasrallah planned the offensive long before PM Sharon withdrew from Gaza. None are interested in accepting Israel????????s presence in the region, and they certainly do not give a damn about peace.

So what we have here is a terror axis (I know its sounds like a clich????, but it is actually true) made of Hezbollah ???????? Hamas ???????? Tehran and Damascus. However, we should not forget that the money the Palestianis and Hezbollah get are not only from the international community (true for the Palestinians who for years misused the aid money to buy weapons) or from Iran; the wealthy sheiks of the Gulf have long supported these two militias, and other militias that are willing to attack Israel.

I do not understand why the European Union or UN do not get the message -???????? Israel and the Jews were always deeply hated in the region, and that will never change. Christians are pretty much in the same situation, but since 1948 the Arabs and Muslims focused on the Jews.

From my information, Hezbollah hoped that Israel will react as strongly as it did; that????????s why with weeks in advance they have moved their TV studios and all the necessary equipment into a secret location. So, when Israel hit the roof of Al Manar (the building is not destroyed, yet) no one was there. Hassan Nasralla, whois a good strategist, regardless of his ???????quality??????? of being the leader of a terror gang and of dragging Lebanon into a war for the sake of his personal aims, has read correctly what Premier Ehud Olmert will do. Remember that Olmert arrived on this position through a fate accident, and neither him nor the Minister of Defence have military skills as PM Sharon had. So, Olmert had to show the Israelis that he can protect them, and that he will not be intimidated by the terrorists. Said and done.

Nasrallah knew that this will likely be the course of events, and he is strongly backed up by Tehran and Damascus, who preferred to push Lebanon into trouble.

The current Lebanese government is a very weak one; they had a great chance to push Hezbollah in a corner right after the 14 March, when they had an overwhelming support on the streets to do so, but they acted stupidly and did not. From there on, we all know what happened. They (Hezbollah and the various political factions) engaged in long and ineffectual discussions that kept Lebanon in a dead point. The UN 1559 and the two other that came afterwards were never implemented.

The Lebanese people, regardless of their political or religious affiliation lost once again (they first lost the battle against terrorists when PLO took over the country, helped by the ancestor group of Hezbollah, and by Damascus), and they will find their country destroyed because they do not have the courage to tell Hezbollah to stop playing the Russian roulette at their expense.

Saad Hariri and Fuad Siniora, together with the Christians ruling clans and leaders, such as Gen. Aoun, the Gemayels, Moawads, etc. have done nothing to reestablish the sovereignty of Lebanon.

The ones who are familiar with Lebanon know that the South of the country, as well as a large part of the Bekaa valley, and a whole Beirut neighborhood, not to mention the Tripoli port are under the absolute control of Hezbollah. Nothing gets in or out without its acknowledgement.

When you let parts of your country be ruled by terrorists, thinking that somehow you can arrive at a common point with them, then you have today????????s consequences.