A Lebanese or Palestinian life is no less valuable than that of an Israeli. Yet when confronted with a choice in determining America's course of action in the Middle East, one administration after another has kowtowed to the dictates of America's pro-Israel lobby. The tragic results of this one-sided policy can be witnessed every day in the shattered lives of ordinary people throughout the region.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell once commented about Iraq that if we break it we own it, implying long-term occupation of a sovereign country. We made a mess of Iraq, and now we want to attempt the same failed experiment in Lebanon.

Current Secretary of Sate Condoleezza Rice's comment that these are the "birth pangs" of a new Middle East is just as bizarre as it sounds. Once again, our policy seems to be that we have to destroy a village in order to save it.

Many in the international community, including the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, view Israel's actions as possible war crimes. A number of legal experts say Israel is also in violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which requires that foreign governments receiving American weaponry use it solely for internal security and legitimate self-defense.

Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure and the intentional targeting of population centers with artillery-fired cluster munitions, phosphorous bombs and "bunker busters" clearly goes beyond self-defense. Despite these apparent breaches of international and U.S. law, our government remains silent.

More than 600,000 Lebanese refugees have been forced to flee their homes as Israel's war machine rains death and destruction from the sea, land and sky. Intentionally uprooting civilian populations to achieve political goals constitutes state-sponsored terrorism that deserves condemnation, not diplomatic cover.

American politicians take every opportunity to speak out in support of Israeli rights and Israel's national security, yet they seem content to leave the Palestinians and Lebanese with neither rights nor security.

The right of self-defense is not limited to Israel. The UN Charter as well as a number of UN resolution including the UN General Assembly Resolution 31/34 of 1976, affirm the inalienable right of "Palestinian People and of all peoples" to seek liberation from "foreign domination and alien subjugation."

Armed conflicts are not without rules of engagement. The concept of proportionality in all armed actions is mandated by the Geneva Conventions. The International Red Cross, the recognized guardian of those conventions, says that Israeli attacks on Lebanon violate this important principle.