To Save a Revolution  —  You could sense the hurt and anger as Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pleaded this week to the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Beirut for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets.  "The country has been torn to shreds," he said.  "I hope you will not let us down."

Israel calls up army reservists  —  Israel has called up thousands of reserve troops and told civilians to quit southern Lebanon immediately, amid threats of a large-scale incursion.  —  Israeli troops are already fighting Hezbollah inside Lebanon and have been heavily shelling the border area.

Pacifists versus peace  —  One of the many failings of our educational system is that it sends out into the world people who cannot tell rhetoric from reality.  They have learned no systematic way to analyze ideas, derive their implications and test those implications against hard facts.

Shaken and Stirred  —  The US invasion of Iraq has so shaken and stirred the Middle East that some exceptionally strange things are happening.  More importantly, these things unequivocally favor the US in influencing the outcome of the Israeli-Hezbollah War now taking place in Lebanon.

Privilege Breeds Bad Campaigning … TNR, via mcjoan: … There is a connection between the sense of privilege Lieberman and Lieberman supporters feel, and between his terrible campaigning.  Matt hinted at this back on Tuesday night, as has emptywheel over at The Next Hurrah.