WORLD REACTS WITH OUTRAGE AS LEBANON SHELLS PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT DAY

Just kidding, obviously. It's not Israel trying to defend Israeli citizens against openly stated genocidal intentions - an act known in media and diplomatic circles as "disproportionate retaliation" - so they can do whatever they want:

Fierce fighting has engulfed the Nahr al-Bared camp and its outskirts since Friday, when the army launched an offensive to drive the militants from their positions inside the camp. The army stepped up its offensive after the militants, who embrace an al-Qaida-inspired militancy and doctrine, rejected government demands to surrender and vowed to fight to the death. More than 100 people have been reported dead since the fighting first broke out May 20 between the army and Fatah al-Islam. It is the worst internal violence since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Fierce fighting has engulfed the Nahr al-Bared camp and its outskirts since Friday, when the army launched an offensive to drive the militants from their positions inside the camp. The army stepped up its offensive after the militants, who embrace an al-Qaida-inspired militancy and doctrine, rejected government demands to surrender and vowed to fight to the death.

The last time Israel killed 100 people without hysterical cries of massacres and UN resolutions of condemnation was... anyone? Never? 60ish years of nationhood, and Israel has never been allowed to defend itself militarily without having to devote significant time, energy, and money to defending itself diplomatically in international forums. Maybe they should ask Lebanon what the trick is. We suspect it has something to do with "not being Jewish". You know what though? The Bush administration consistently restrained Israel throughout Lebanon II because it didn't want to undermine Lebanon's political stability. Nice to see that's working out so well.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]