Debate - Middle East

This blog's been quiet on it so far, so here goes. A late, post-happy hour dispatch.

http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20060718-083428-9213r.htm
Check the article above. Very one-sided, very sure of itself. Read it. What's your reaction?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701154.html
Now read Article No. 2. Well-reasoned, but equivocating.

We hear all sides of the debate here in the United States, assuming we do our part. It's our duty to listen in and to have a real, well-considered opinion on an issue this important. At stake are the prospect of eventual peace in the Middle East (possible!?), the types of government that will maintain and/or rise there, the acceleration or deceleration of the metastasis of Islamic terrorism, nuclear proliferation to crazy-men, and-- yes-- the economic and political stability of the world. Can you afford to not take a side here?

Set aside your long-held perspectives on Israel, Palestine, Iraq, President Bush, John Kerry's assurance that this most certainly would have never happened in a Kerry admin, terror as threat, terror as red herring, and think. Don't take the easy answer-- "Well, both sides are at fault." There are elements of truth to that, sure-- no one has all the answers. One of the most commonly used terms for the Mid-East over 50 years of conflict has got to be "tinderbox," though, for good reason. Impassioned self-righteousness on all sides, and each side has a point, but seeking extermination of a people and a nation can't be the best way to approach things.

In the current conflict, one side, one way, has got to be better than the other. The rooting out of terrorism across the region has got to be paramount before the plague is unstoppable. I cast my lot with Israel, although it must understand how touchy its job is: avoid civilians! don't inflame a region more than it is! find the bad guys! I cast my lot with supporting Lebanon but pressing.. and pressing... for a strong government stand against its parasitic Islamist militias. I hope for someone, anyone-- an international coalition, a state, an internal revolution of educated/sensible Iranian liberals, whoever-- to accelerate the fall of the Iranian pres. before nuclear blackmail becomes more than a threat but an obvious reality. Are all of these possibilities of war and terror and nukes scary? Yep, and they could become more reality than we want. But sometimes the time is right to take a stand.

Thoughts? Counterpoints?