Putting the Israeli/Lebanese War in Perspective

The Times of London nails it:

The facts now evident on the ground suggest an entirely different assessment.
First, the damage inflicted by the Israeli Defence Forces on Hezbollah’s infrastructure and resources is far, far greater than the equivalent harm that it has suffered. A sizeable proportion of Hezbollah rocket launchers and fighters have been eliminated, while the Israeli army has lost no more than a few tanks and, to its regret, about 100 soldiers. For a body that is used to incessant combat, this is not a spectacular setback.

Secondly, Hezbollah has deployed a huge percentage of its missile arsenal to very little advantage. Only in the Alice in Wonderland world of the Middle East could it be seen as a “triumph” for a terrorist organisation simply to launch Katyusha missiles in the direction of Israel and roughly 95 per cent of them to hit nothing of any value. It took Hezbollah six years to accumulate a stockpile that, fundamentally, it has wasted.

Thirdly, the administration in Lebanon, which had ostentatiously refused to send its soldiers to the south of that country for the past six years, has been obliged to pledge to the United Nations that it will now do so. It will, furthermore, be under the de facto control of a much larger international force than has been assembled in that region before — one that will be judged a success or otherwise by the extent to which it keeps the place quiet.

If Olmert had given the IDF free rein, Hezbollah would've been wiped out (or very close to it) as a viable entity. And what kind of people exult a leader who spent the war not with his troops but in the safe confines of another nations embassy?

Binyamin Netanyahu knows that this is just a rest before the next event.

Lastly, let's not forget what started this war. Hezbollah guerillas invaded Israel and abducted two soldiers whose current whereabouts and condition are unknown. Hezbollah is a political member of the Lebanese parliament, which means that Lebanon is responsible whether they like it or not. They failed to disarm Hezbollah as was required.

Israel has made it abundantly clear that they would unleash hell on anyone who kidnapped their soldiers and just proved that it was not an empty threat.

This is not over but is just another chapter in a very long book that has not been completed. This chapter is just more recent.

Update: The Israeli public and Hamas have their say.

Update 2: European anti-Semitism hit Norway and John Gillmartin is exasperated. Most sane people are, buddy.