What's a few hundred dead Lebs between Israel's friends?

The number of people willing to defend outright mass murder is breathtaking. What's Chris Mitchell think when he looks at the civilian death toll then scribbles such garbage?

And Howard, re-affirming that any muslim who associates us with Israel's homocidal tendencies is entirely justified:

"Much as I deplore the violence ... one has to understand Israel's position," Mr Howard said.

Just don't try to make any effort to understand the position of a 100% innocent Lebanese civilian who has their family murdered in a brutal and senseless reprisal. And don't, whatever you do, sit down and think about the incredible gulf between the picture painted by the statistics (that's dead civilians I'm referring to) and the rhetoric about self defence.

Meanwhile, in a high point for mid-conflict humour, Olmert is threatening payback for the latest Hizbollah rocket attack.

Payback? As opposed to what- minor incidental genocidal reprisals?

Will they try to slaughter thousands, rather than hundreds, is that when it becomes payback?

When they get to 500 civilian homocides, will our government, overpaid Murdoch hacks, Bush, conservative bloggers, will these pundits quietly start to fall out of line and question the proportionality of the response?

What about 1000 dead Lebanese civilians? 2000? Use of a WMD? Use of 2 WMDs?

Or is their support a blank cheque, underwritten by sheer anti-Islamic hatred? The rate this is going, we're going to find out pretty quickly just where some people draw the line, if they do so at all.