The US claimed that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program that it didn't have and the US then went in and destroyed that country. Oops. It didn't have nuclear weapons. Had Iraq had any nuclear weapons, the US would not have attacked it.

On the subject of the Gaza blockade, yes, people are not able to get their basic survival needs met, and yet somehow the people firing rockets are able to get the components for those rockets. That shows that the blockade does not accomplish the purpose that it is ostensibly meant to accomplish (keeping the rockets from being fired from Gaza). However, some members of the Israeli government have said that the purpose of the blockade is to coerce the people in Gaza into getting rid of Hamas. That seems more like the real reason for the blockade, and that is collective punishment (and a war crime).

Members of the Israeli government said the same thing about Israel's bombing campaign against Lebanon in the early days of it. They were saying that it was supposed to convince the people of southern Lebanon to kick Hezbolla out. That makes Israel's bombing campaign on Lebanon a war crime as well.

I have seen conflicting reports of the location of the first attack when the Israeli soldiers were taken. I have seen reports that It was in Israeli territory, and I have seen reports that the Israelis were in Lebanese territory when they were taken. I have also seen conflicting reports about whether or not there were diversionary rocket attacks at the time that the soldiers were taken. I don't have a fully formed opinion on that one right now. But it is true that Israel had been committing raids, kidnappings, military overflights and other violations of Lebanese territory since it withdrew from its occupation of Lebanon. Israel has many hundreds of Lebanese people whom it has kidnapped, and is holding without any charges made against them, and no trails or convictions. Hundreds of these people are women and children.

Israel thinks it can justify bombing a whole country back into the stone age for a very small handful of soldiers, but if people in Lebanon take three soldiers in order to try to get back those hundreds of people, they are the bad guys. I don't think so.