Disproportional responses

One of the saddest thing about the current explosion of hostilities in Lebanon is Hezbollahs wanton abuse of innocents. How many of us would be happy to have mortars and rockets outside of our front door - making us a target for attack? That is the difference between us (the US, Europe and Israel) and something that many on the left try to erase. However, take this into consideration.

"European warfare came out of a tradition of chivalry. The military uniform marks combatants from bystanders. The British Redcoats were brilliantly visible, as were Napoleon’s armies. The idea of disguising oneself in the face of musket and even cannot fire was treated with contempt. Far more, the idea of drawing enemy fire while hiding among women and children was simply criminal. The British Navy would have hung its own sailors for such crimes. European soldiers were ready to die rather than be contemptible.
The Geneva Conventions came out of this tradition. Wars were terrible, and became much worse as they become industrialized. But they still reflected some of the values of chivalry."

There is a hue and cry about Israel's "disproportional response". However, which is more disproportional - blowing up pizza parlors full of children or trying to target military components hiding in civilian populations? Sending hundreds of Katusha rockets into civilian areas every day for 6 years or bombing those rockets (stored in civilian areas) for 20 days? Bombing schools and school buses or bombing road so that your enemy can not rearm themselves?

Simply put - those that intentionally put non-combatants in the line of fire are the bad guys. The country that is simply trying to defend it's own citizens from an outside attacker is not! It is really that easy.