I'm actually a bit sad to see Dilip Hiro wading into this particular sump. Back in the '90s, I actually read a lot of his reporting about Central Asia which was top quality stuff. Just goes to show you that just because someone is knowledgable about region A doesn't mean they aren't an idiot when it comes to region B. I'm surprised the Beeb didn't do their usual trick of pretending to provide a balanced debate by matching Hiro with somebody from the extreme fringes of the Israeli left who would also condemn the IDF. And while we're on the hasbara note, I think we should all applause Brig. Ido Nechushtan. Nechushtan has been all over Sky News the last couple of days and has shown a keen ability to stay on message even when the Sky anchors start getting hostile.