Throughout Israel's campaign against the terrorists of Hezbollah, the IDF has done it's utmost to reduce it's collateral damage within Lebanon by just bombing bridges, runways, TV and Radio towers.(These can be rebuilt. It's far from the nonsense I've heard about the IDF completely destroying Lebanon.) To further minimize the risk of greater civilian injuries and deaths, the IDF has dropped millions of leaflets and transmitted messages via the radio to get out because they we're coming in to clear out the terrorists. Now while it's unfortunate that some 50 plus people were killed following an Israeli bombing of a suspected Hezbollah missile site in Qana, I've got say this is something that can happen when terrorists like Hezbollah place their command-and-control, anti-aircraft and missile batteries within civilian populations. Just take a look a this article in Australia's Herald Sun and you'll discover that Hezbollah knows the power of the MSM and the respect that the IDF has for the taking of civilian life and has decided that by entrenching oneself into the civilian populations(wearing civilian clothing) they get a well protected base and a huge PR victory of showing civilian deaths even if most of these are terrorists.
This just goes to show you that air-power has its advantages and its disadvantages when it comes to fighting terrorists within a civilian population. Though the casualties are way down due to the usage of GPS and laser guided JDAMs and other munitions it could be reduced even further by switching to a larger ground campaign where boots are on the ground and highly trained soldiers can properly identify the members of Hezbollah. Until they make the switch from a air to a greater land assault, they'll have more tragedies like in Qana. An even more important aspect of the IDF increasing its presence on the ground is that it ensures you a far greater path to victory and less calls for ceasefires. (I'm guessing that the Israeli cabinet is regretting its rejection of going into Lebanon on the ground.) I'd say that if you're going to take out or minimize Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and establish a buffer between the terrorists and Israel, you've got put boots on the ground. The IDF will secure Israel a whole lot better than what the UN or NATO could offer.
Here's some pictures from the Herald Sun on how Hezbollah endangers the civilians of Lebanon.
***Check out this piece by George Jonas in the National Post on Hezbollah's tactics.
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