RALPH KINNEY BENNETT:

Maybe, when this Lebanon thing is over, we’ll finally get it:

Guerrillas like to hide behind civilians.

Muslim guerrillas take it a step further: “Civilians” are a weapon to them — as much a part of the fight as the AK-47 or RPG they carry.

Those who have visited any Hezbollah installation in Lebanon over the years always remark on the fact that there are always families, women and children, in and around the place. “Secret” installations are usually hidden in plain site — in houses or apartment buildings.

Seldom, if ever, has a guerrilla movement been able to so openly and exquisitely weave itself into the fabric of a society as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon. . . .

To Hezbollah — high on the hatred of centuries — this is total war, and the very term “civilian” — except for its temporary value in gulling the West — does not apply.

This is something that neither the press, nor discussions of the law of war, gives sufficient attention.