Violence in Mideast skews standards

Re “O.C. Rally Calls for Halt in Lebanon,” July 30

I agree with those who deplore the loss of innocent civilian life in Lebanon, but I just can’t help wondering why these folks waited until Israel was involved to raise their voices. Where were these people when terrorists blew up trains in Madrid? Where were they when extremists blew up buses in London? Why are they silent about the thousands of innocent Sudanese who are being killed at the hands of Arab-backed militia? What about the daily carnage generated by Muslim-on-Muslim killing in Iraq?

RICH SIEGEL

Culver City

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The new rules for warfare that have been placed on Israel and the United States are very interesting. First, the U.S. must win decisively within two years or 2,000 deaths, or else the party out of power wins. Israel must win within a week; the Six-Day War set a very high standard. Second, Israel can’t kill anyone, especially children -- they must be saved so when they grow up they can go off to martyrdom with bombs strapped to their backs

GERALD MARANTZ

Chatsworth