So, I got an invitation to MySpace today.

Is, like, that a joke?

Y’know, I can’t figure it out.

I should create a MySpace blog?

Because it’s not like I already have a blog or anything, right?

My readers. They love to drive me crazy.

Yet another person who claims to be pro-Israel appears in my comments threads with yet another “I’m a friend of Israel, BUT” and then goes on to ask us to defend Israel against yet another charge of harming the poor, poor, pitiful pals.

Sometimes, someone slips through the moderation queue and manages to get comments in without approval. This was one of those times. I believe I’ve stopped the troll, but may I remind my readers one last time that I simply will not have those debates here. Please don’t respond to these people. And for would-be trolls: This is a No Israel-Bashing Zone. Let me quote the relevant paragraph from that post:

This weblog is a No Israel-bashing Zone. I simply won’t have it here. I read negative articles about Israel in all the world’s media. I see negative news reports on Israel on nearly every television channel. I hear Israel-bashing news on radio stations. I read Israel-bashing articles all over the web. And I have seen comment thread after comment thread devolve from a discussion on Israel or anti-Semitism into neo-Nazis throwing around the same tired anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks. So, no. I won’t have it here.

Once again, I simply don’t care about the “other side” of the argument—I get to read that side in every news article about Israel from a non-Israeli source (and sometimes from Israeli sources), in most weblogs, and in every single unmoderated comments thread that touches on the subject of Israel or Jews.

I have a corollary to Godwin’s Law: Every unmoderated comments thread that mentions Israel or Jews in any way will always devolve into anti-Semitism.

Always.

And so, I will not have that here. I am a Zionist and a Jew, and this is my weblog. You want to spout your anti-Israel crap, be somewhere else. I am not interested in it here.

The big news hitting the airwaves over the weekend was Hassan Nasrallah’s interview with a Lebanese news station in which he said he wouldn’t have approved the operation that murdered and kidnapped Israeli soldiers had he known the Israeli response would have been so huge.

In an interview granted to Lebanese news network New TV, Nasrallah said in an almost apologetic tone that “we did not believe, even by one percent, that the captive operation would result in such a wide-scale war, as such a war did not take place in the history of wars. Had we known that the captive operation would result in such a war we would not have carried it out at all.”

Interestingly, the AP quote differs from Ynet’s—substantially.

“We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 … that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he said in an interview with Lebanon’s New TV station.

The AP article also continues the world’s habit of ignoring any cease-fire violations by anyone who is not Israel, while also managing to let Nasrallah justify cease-fire violations against Israel. Funny how Kofi Annan can’t manage to raise his voice when Hezbullah sends rockets and gunmen at Israeli forces after the cease-fire was in effect.

“The current Israeli situation, and the available information tells us that we are not heading to another round,” he said.

However, he called any possible attacks on Israeli troops “legitimate” as long as even one Israeli soldier remained in Lebanon.

Lebanese officials have said continuing Israeli overflights violate the 2-week-old cease-fire, and Annan proclaimed an Israeli commando raid one week into the truce a violation. Hezbollah has not retaliated, but Nasrallah said the group would “choose the time and place” to strike back.

“If we have been patient until now, it does not mean we will be patient forever, but we are not obliged to reveal the limits of our patience,” he said.

And, of course, there’s the refusal to disarm Hezbullah:

“There won’t be public displays of weapons in the south , except of in cases of preparations or funerals of martyrs,” stressed Nasrallah.

“This is our policy – to refrain from displaying weapons. If the Lebanese army notices any gunman – it is it’s natural right to expropriate the weapons,” said Nasrallah.

Now, how do we interpret these remarks?

The Israeli government, of course, says this proves that Hezbullah was seriously harmed during the war. Note how Nasrallah isn’t boasting about the “great victory” over the IDF, and has dialed down the threat rhetoric immensely. Of course, my questions are: Is he doing this because of the Lebanese reaction, or is he doing this because his masters in Iran have told him to act less threatening for the moment? Some reports have Iran furious that Hezbullah wasted so much money and materiel in a war now, when apparently they were supposed to wait for approval from Iran. Other reports say that Hezbullah doesn’t so much as sneeze without the Mad Mullahs’ permission.

But here’s a very interesting article in today’s JPost that seems to bolster the argument that Hezbullah screwed up, big-time, by launching thousands of katushas at Israel:

Hizbullah has dismantled 14 outposts on the Israel-Lebanon border near the Shaba Farms, Lebanese security sources said Monday.

Reportedly, the group evacuated the posts using trucks to carry artillery, other weapons and military equipment, while bulldozers blocked access to tunnels and bunkers.

Witnesses said that the vehicles laden with weapons and other military equipment were headed northward.

A French news agency reported that the Lebanese army had deployed troops along the border with Syria and that its soldiers had blocked routes used by weapons smugglers.

This is huge. HUGE. Shaba (or Shebaa) Farms is the territory captured from Syria that Hezbullah is using as its excuse for “occupation”—in other words, to legitimize (in their eyes) attacks on Israel.

Of course, in my eyes, that’s a target-rich environment, but then, the world won’t stand for Israel actually bombing terrorists and their supply lines. But that’s a post for another time.

I have just stumbled on a post by Picow in One Jerusalem that is positively demanding of the “three stooges” (Olmert, Peretz and Halutz) to quit. It is not that this is a new revolutionary approach, but the vehemence of the post is outstanding.

We should take a pause to breath some fresh air. Possibly with assistance of one of these brown bags that help in cases of hyperventilation - in the movies, at least. We should try and remind ourselves that we are, possibly, the most bloodthirsty nation in everything related to our leaders punishment/performance. This doubtful quality could be seen best in our love/hate relationships with our football coaches. There is not a single one of them who has not been crucified at this time or another by the media and the public as one (this is one of the cases where these two work in full synch usually).

Unfortunately, we frequently apply the same “methodology” to our duly elected leaders. This is not to say that I am going to stand in the way of the lynching mob, protecting them by my puny little body. I myself have my doubts about some of these three candidates for lynch. But the demand that they just quit, not preceded by a demand for a commission of inquiry that will have a full freedom of subjects and of recommendations - such a demand is pure and stupid pandering by the crowds to the crowds.

The whole issue of Lebanon war, the related decision-making process, the army preparedness or the lack of it - all these issues are not simple. They are somewhat more complicated than Joe the Public and Sammy the journo would like to see them in their righteous anger. And if the commission of inquiry is not created, if we, instead, revert to a simple lynch - the loss is all ours.

So, my answer to all those baying for blood: not in my name, chaverim. Not in my name.

P.S. If you really want to see the lessons learned and then the justice done, go there and vote for the commission of inquiry. Knowledge of Hebrew might be a pre-requisite.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews