12% of Americans say Israel at fault

The headline on the Rassmussen survey from Monday and Tuesday says, “Hezbollah to Blame for Current Strife, 56% Say.” You have to read down to see that another “18% place the blame on the government of Lebanon” and then read on to see “12% say Israel.”

So, a more complete headline would say something like “74% of Americans say Hezbollah and the Lebanon it controls to Blame for Current Strife.” One has to be a Rassmussen subscriber to see who the remaining 14% blame or if they're just confused or tuned out, after adding the 12% blaming Israel.

As interesting is the partisan breakdown:

A plurality of 46% say protecting Israel's right to exist is more important than securing an immediate ceasefire. Again, men (55%) and Republicans (62%) are more likely than women (37%) and Democrats (36%) to say protecting Israel should be the priority.

That unresounding Democrat resolve ought to provide something for pro-Israeli Democrat partyline Jews to remember.

This poll may also be something to remember at the New York Times and TV networks who focus on bemoaning casualties in Lebanon, by and among those who harbor terrorists.

While you’re at it, the editorial in the Washington Post is a must read of sense. Excerpts:

The usual means of stopping the fighting in the Middle East would only reward the aggressors…The usual options in the State Department's playbook would hand to the extremists who launched this war exactly the results they have hoped for…. That's why the best diplomatic step the Bush administration can take toward Syria is to ignore Mr. Assad. He should be excluded from any settlement of the current crisis and from the postwar order in Lebanon…. An international force would help only if it had a mandate and the capability to enforce Hezbollah's disarmament. That won't be possible unless Israel's military campaign greatly weakens the movement. There's a chance Israel's offensive will succeed, but it might take weeks …
The Bush administration does have one good diplomatic option, though not much has been heard about it this week. That is to insist on the passage by the U.N. Security Council of a resolution ordering Iran to stop its nuclear program, including the enrichment of uranium. The council's five permanent members and Germany promised to take such action last week after Tehran refused to respond to a package of incentives. The unprovoked attack across an international border by Iran's client Hezbollah succeeded in turning the world's attention from the nuclear crisis to the Middle East -- just as Iran must have hoped. The best response is to shift the focus back -- and make clear that the United States and its allies will not be intimidated through war-by-proxy.