Qana attack not the first time ... and dead children are result both times!

The familiar pictures (right and below left) from MSNBC and ABC aren't the first time that Qana has endured a horrific attack that has killed as many as 100 (last time) and 60 (this time) civilians -- most of whom are children. Interestingly, the Israelis attacked a UN Post there the last time and openly admitted that they believed that Lebanese were using the UN Post as a shelter -- which indeed some were.

Yes, I keep a fairly robust archive of material on the Israeli-Lebanon war(s).

What we all know today is that the current and continuing attacks on Lebanon have killed upwards of 450 civilians this time and that today's attack on Qana killed approximately 60, including 27 children. Yes, the Hezbollah are a terrorist organization, for the most part, but isn't it long past the time that the United States (George Bush or Condoleezza Rice) called for an immediate cease fire anyway?


Surely, the true (as opposed to Condi's "false") ceasefire may not be fully attainable at this time, but an immediate ceasefire just might save hundreds or civilian lives -- just as an immediate redeployment of Americans out of Iraq might save hundreds of Iraqi civilians there also.

Talking is better than fighting in any scenario, in my opinion, and Condoleezza Rice should use her time in Jerusalem (she will not be going to Lebanon now after the Qana attack) to demand that the Israelis immediately stop the indiscriminate shelling of Lebanese towns -- in Southern Lebanon and South Beirut further north.

For the record, it was on April 18, 1996 that Israel last attacked Qana -- that time it was an artillery attack with precision-guided artillery upon a UN base within which Lebanese civilians thought that they might be safe. 102 of them died there with their children and elderly.

But back to today's attack and a possible US demand for both sides to begin a "no-conditions" ceasefire: If Mr. Bush could detach himself from Cheney and Rumsfield for at least today -- he could blame his church schedule, he could get the word to Condoleezza Rice to (finally) state that the US wants an immediate no-conditions no-holds-barred CEASEFIRE!

By the time Cheney and/or Rumsfield would get word of it, the ceasefire could actually be in effect.

I am not an anti-Semite or even an anti-Zionist -- I care very deeply for Israel and all it's endured over the years as a result of terrorist car-bombs and suicide bombers of all kinds. It's simply that this carnage has got to stop.

I know that the New Testament of the Christian Bible isn't in your Torah, Israelis, but for the record, Jesus said

"Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Matthew 5: 9, 10

Let's all take a chance with peace for a change! Muslims, Jews, Christians (in particular Bush and Rice today) and any others who might be involved in this continuing hate and fighting. Something good just might come out of such a "chance."

Mr. Bush: Even your good friend, Tony Blair, has seen the light and is joining in the worldwide chorus for an immediate ceasefire. Call Condi now -- before Cheney and/or Rummy get to you with their counterfeit arguments.