Buchanon Faults Christian Support of Israel

An item at RedBlueChristian mentioned Pat Buchanon's criticism of Israel as "unChristian". Here' the top part of his column today in which he questions Christian support of Israel and its war on terror:

My country has been "torn to shreds," said Fouad Siniora, the prime minister of Lebanon, as the death toll among his people passed 300 civilian dead, 1,000 wounded, with half a million homeless.

Israel must pay for the "barbaric destruction," said Siniora.

To the contrary, says columnist Lawrence Kudlow, "Israel is doing the Lord's work."

On American TV, former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says the ruination of Lebanon is Hezbollah's doing. But is it Hezbollah that is using U.S.-built F-16s, with precision-guided bombs and 155-mm artillery pieces to wreak death and devastation on Lebanon?

No, Israel is doing this, with the blessing and without a peep of protest from President Bush. And we wonder why they hate us.

"Today, we are all Israelis!" brayed Ken Mehlman of the Republican National Committee to a gathering of Christians United for Israel.

One wonders if these Christians care about what is happening to our Christian brethren in Lebanon and Gaza, who have had all power cut off by Israeli airstrikes, an outlawed form of collective punishment, that has left them with no sanitation, rotting food, impure water and days without light or electricity in the horrible heat of July.

It's a tough call over there. On one hand it's hard to criticize Israel for attempting to clean up the swamp both inside and outside their borders, and if that means taking the fight to civilian areas where Hezbollah is known to operate, so be it.

On the other hand, there is the basic human - and Christian - compassion for those innocents caught in the mess.

I don't know if I would describe Israel's actions as "the Lord's work", but I certainly believe they are entitled to fight for their self-preservation, and Lebanon has done little to weed out the terrorists from their midst. At this point I don't see how Israel can back off and allow the problem to remain.

I just hope this conflict can be contained before someone feels the need to go "Old Testament" on his enemy.