Redstate

Didn't the Israeli Cabinet say some time ago that there are no "Civilians" in this conflict? I would happen to agree with that. Inaction in a warzone equals tacit support. There have been three options on the table for Lebannon from the beginning:

(1) Take controll of security in their own territory and kick out Hezbolah. (we can dream...)

Result: Israel's actions aid Lebannon's efforts to stabilize the place.

Options Two and Three are corollary to the Bush Doctrine. We have the entire world divided up like a pie, with every concievable plot of real estate assigned to a certain government; but howmuch of that territorry is actually under the controll of that government? A courntry is de facto only that territory which it can effectively govern. (i.e. Kudistan was never but titularly part of Iraq under Saddam.)

With this in light:

(2) Endorse Hezbolah's actions and give them aid and shelter. (This is what your post seems to indicate falling into place.)

Result: Official Israeli Declaration of War on Lebannon is justified.

(3) Take no action, in effect ceding sovreignty of S. Lebannon to Hezbolah. (The current state of existence.)

Result: Israeli Declartaion of War on "Hezbolahstan" is Justified.

In the olden days, when nations were threatened, they merely expanded their frontiers through conquest and repopulation. Historicaly, Israel has every right to annex "Hezbolahstan" and should have held on to the West Bank and Gaza(which were occupied by Jordan and Egypt, respectively, before Israel even considered it.)

Many are just so caught up with maintaining the status quo of their arbitrary colonial-era maps. Unfortunately, this will never happen.

"Any love letter is incomplete without a Ronald Reagan quote"
--my sophomore year roommate

Either way, Lebanon's President just declared war on Israel...

"Always be honest with yourself even if you are honest with no one else...
...It helps you keep track of your lies..."
--Myself

I had thought of the Lebanese government as a largely innocent bystander, suffering the unfortunate but unavoidable consequences of being too weak to rein in Hizbullah. Now it's looking more and more like an accomplice with Hizbullah in starting the war with Israel.

Along with Lahoud's statement cited by Streiff, there's also the Hizbullah leader's statement that he gave advance notice (without specific timing) to the Lebanese government that he would capture Israeli soldiers. From the Middle East Media Research Institute's translation of an Al-Jazeera interview:

Hassan Nasrallah: I told them on more than one occasion that we are taking the issue of the prisoners seriously, and that abducting Israeli soldiers is the only way to resolve it. Of course, I said this in a low-key tone. I did not declare in the dialogue: "In July I will abduct Israeli soldiers." This is impossible.

Interviewer: Did you inform them that you were about to abduct Israeli soldiers?

Hassan Nasrallah: I told them that we must resolve the issue of the prisoners, and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli soldiers.

Interviewer: Did you say this clearly?

Hassan Nasrallah: Yes, and nobody said to me: "No, you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers." Even if they had told me not to... I'm not defending myself here. I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers in meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country.I don't want to mention names now, but when the time comes to settle accounts, I will.

Of course Nasrallah doesn't specify which "main political leaders" he told of his plans, and we can't be sure it's true just because he says so. However the Lebanese government leaders' failure to vigorously denounce Hizbullah's act of war lends credibility to Nasrallah's claim.