LETTER : How Lebanon fell victim to its own liberal democracy

Sir: It is in the interests of us all, and this includes the Arabs, that Israel is strong. It is Israel that is a democracy, maintains the status quo in a disgustingly violent region and deflects the often violent anger and hatred of the Islamic fundamentalists away from us in the West.

Does Hizbollah, or any Arab country for that matter, warn civilians to vacate areas prior to launching an attack? Israel actually placed a very high priority on protecting innocent civilians at the expense of forewarning Hizbollah and, by definition, increasing the dangers to their own soldiers.

Richard Collis

Borehamwood,

Hertfordshire