To bomb or just to threaten to bomb? That seems to be the only question the Israeli government asks itself about Lebanon these days. Two weeks ago, it plumped for bombing, cutting off power to most of the country. Last week, it settled for mere threats of bombing: any retaliation against towns in northern Israel, said David Levy, Israel's foreign minister, would mean that Lebanon would "burn—blood for blood, soul for soul, child for child." Ehud Barak, Israel's prime minister, recruited his French counterpart, Lionel Jospin, to label as terrorists the Lebanese guerrillas fighting Israeli occupation. Terrorists they used to be, of course. Nowadays, though, things are not quite so simple.
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