The Green Revolution

President Bush is urging israel to preserve the fragile government of Lebanon, which was recently chosen in democratic elections supported by Bush himself. But Israel should do exactly the opposite. Hizbullah, the Iran-sponsored Islamic terror group, is part of the Lebanese government (23 Hizbullah members were elected to Parliament and two were given cabinet positions). A government that tolerates the operations of a terror group within its country, that does nothing to stop it from launching rockets on its neighbor's cities, and that further allows its presence in the Parliament and cabinet has no legitimacy at all. If the Lebanese are ever to have a legitimate government and lasting peace with Israel, they will have to show that they, like Israel, will not tolerate Hizbullah any longer.

David Holcberg

Irvine, California

The war in Lebanon was not so much a war as a massacre. Innocent men, women and children lost their lives, and to what end? The escalation of the war in Lebanon was a disgrace and seems to have marked the end of any peace in the Middle East. The pictures in NEWSWEEK of children dead in the streets physically disgusted me. Israel must stop using its tragic past as an excuse to take whatever action it deems suitable, and take responsibility for its actions in this war. This war was not about the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, it was about Israel destroying Lebanon for its own selfish needs and satisfaction. I am disappointed in the Muslim nations who have not shown a united front to make a strong appeal to the United Nations and America against the destruction of Lebanon. And as for George W. Bush and Tony Blair, they do not want peace in the Middle East, nor do they have any concept of how to achieve it.

O. Syed

London, England