As Israeli forces push deeper into Lebanon, the questioning continues. Is this a fight for Israel's survival, as an Israeli cabinet minister contends in this article in the Guardian (by the way, scroll down and read some of the comments, they will make your hair stand on end)? Is the IDF using improper tactics?

Richard Cohen, after calling the existence of Israel a 'mistake' in an earlier column, now burnishes his pro-Israel credentials with this column.

The "military force won't work" crowd is out in force. This article says air power won't do it, which I agree with, but also implies that military force won't work at all, which I don't agree with.

Arnaud de Borchgrave interviewed a bunch of CIA types, all of whom conclude that the Israelis cannot win. After reading the column, I was almost inclined to send an e-mail to the author asking him why he did not end the piece with the conclusion that the only way to end the conflict was for the Jews to leave Israel. I didn't bother.

As for peace-keeping efforts, while this report indicates Hamas might be willing to make a deal in Gaza, in Lebanon the prospects for an international force are rather dim, as it seems no one wants to contribute troops for such a force. The U.S. and France were forced to retreat from Lebanon back in 1983 and don't want to go back, the British say they are over-extended in other areas, and the Germans say they won't go unless Hezbollah agrees to disarm. Since the Lebanese Army has already proven unable or unwilling to disarm Hezbollah, I guess that leaves the Israelis. Perhaps the early end to these hostilities being predicted in the media is just wishful thinking, as Hezbollah is fighting hard, and all they need to do to win is to survive with their weapons in hand.