* In The Australian, Rebecca Weisser argues that the Aussie media has unfairly held Israel to a higher standard than the terrorists attacking it.
* Reporting from Haifa, Martin Fletcher of NBC News effectively highlights the random terror caused by Katyushas.
* NY Times columnist Tom Friedman has an interesting take on Hezbollah’s effect on efforts to democratize the Arab world:
What both Hamas and Nasrallah have done — by dragging their nations into unnecessary wars with Israel — is to prove that Islamists will not be made more accountable by political power. Just the opposite; not only will they not fix the potholes, they will start wars, whenever they choose, that will lead to even bigger potholes….
The Arab democracy experiment is on hold — because if Islamist parties can’t be trusted to rule, elections can’t be trusted to be held.
* Detlev Mehlis, who led the UN’s investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri, discussed with the German Deutsche Welle his thoughts on the Lebanese crisis, particularly the likelihood of Syria’s foreknowledge of Hezbollah’s plans, and the effectiveness of possible international peace-keepers. A number of papers picked up on this interview.
