It was a moment worth remembering and relishing. Here was the State Department with its vaunted Arabist leanings declaring, without equivocation or qualification, that Israel was the victim of Lebanese cross-border aggression when IDF troops were fired upon by the Lebanese Army while operating legitimately on their side of the border.Here's how Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley put it at his Aug. 4 briefing for diplomatic correspondents:"The firing by Lebanese Armed Forces was wholly unjustified and unwarranted.  We don't want to see it happen again.  We don't want to see a repeat of this."Crowley went on to explain that he was making his statement, on the record and even before he could be questioned by reporters, because the U.S. had made a careful examination of all available evidence, including an earlier report from UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon that the IDF had not breached the border and that it was the Lebanese Army that fired...(Read Full Post)