On the brink of chaos

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | On the brink of chaos: "The time for calling for restraint has passed, since too many on both sides show no signs of exercising any. Sunday's deadly Hizbullah rocket attack on Haifa, in particular, elevates the conflict to a point where the danger cannot be underestimated. The most plaintive event yesterday, in the midst civilians of all faiths being killed, was the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, appearing on CNN to plead for his country's future. Lebanon's government bears the signs of collapsing into a failed state. To expect it to successfully disarm Hizbullah's militants, while Israeli jets pound Tyre and Beirut as they did yesterday, inflicting collective punishment and undermining its fragile economy, is unrealistic.

Last night there were reports of Italy acting as an interlocutor, the first positive sign of the weekend. Israel's leaders must be aware of the dangers they face. The road they are going down is one that Israel travelled before, and it ended in 1982 in disaster - hence the comments yesterday by Amir Peretz, Israel's defence minister, specifically ruling out a reoccupation of Lebanon. It is also worth remembering that the weekend's chaos began three weeks ago, with the provocative kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by allies of Hamas. Then, on Wednesday, Hizbullah captured two more. Their fate remains unknown. Israel's disproportionate response has now brought the area into chaos. It has acted as though the politics of the region do not exist; instead it has reacted directly to each kidnapping and each missile. Israel has the right to defend itself, a task made harder by the hidden arsenal of Hizbullah, and it should object to any one-sided calls for restraint. But it cannot control its enemies' responses: it can only control its own."