Kissinger and Friedman-- unhinged?

I just came across a site I hadn't seen before, "Just World News" by Helena Cobban and I like what I found there. This posting called "Kissinger and Friedman-- unhinged?" provides an indication of why I'll be going back again.

She starts with the question: "Did the bloody nose that Hizbullah was able to deal to Israel's once-"famed" military in South Lebanon this summer have the effect of driving some long-time American supporters of Israel almost batty?" and proceeds to answer it in the affirmative.

She references writings of Tom Friedman in the NY Times (subscription required) and Henry Kissinger in WaPo (not available on-line) which are pretty extreme or, as Helena says...

Of Friedman's piece:

Where can you start to unpack such over-hyped and partisan war-mongering?

The Lebanese of all sects whose homes, roads, bridges, power stations, and other vital infrastructure were deliberately targeted by Israel would be amazed by Tom's description of what happened. Back on July 12 itself, the Israeli government publicly announced that it had decided to go to war against the whole country of Lebanon. (And what amazing accuracy Tom claimed-- that those Israeli 2,000-lb bombs could actually discriminate between the home of a Shiite Hizbullah follower, and someone who was not!)

Of Kissinger's:

Let's review the facts here a little. Which side is occupying land belong to the other side-- the Arabs or the Israelis? Which side has thousands of members of the other side's population in its prisons-- the Arabs or the Israelis? Which side is still many times more capable than the other of affecting the lives and wellbeing of members of the other side-- the Arabs or the Israelis?

Israel is doing okay. It is nowhere near the point of being about to be "conquered." Take a d-e-e-p breath.

And I like how she closes the piece.

But you know what? Today's world is a world in which all nations and all peoples are vulnerable... Some more so, some less so, but all of us vulnerable, none of us totally self-sufficient. And that's okay. In fact, it's part of the human condition, from the very earliest days of humanity.

But I guess for these guys, this is a shocking prospect. Personally, I find it really interesting to see the degree to which, as it now seems, both of these weighty members of the US commentatoriat-- and likely many others as well-- have been affected by that one little turn of events this summer in distant Lebanon.