To the Editor:

In his rush to cast aspersions on Israel's actions in the conflict in Lebanon, Peter Bouckaert accuses Israel of indiscriminately attacking Lebanese civilians ("For Israel, innocent civilians are fair game," Aug. 4). Yet he is hardly an objective observer.

Bouckaert ignores the defensive context of Israel's military activity and is blind to the threat posed by Hezbollah. His skewed reporting for Human Rights Watch ignores the unprovoked attack that sparked the current conflict, along with Hezbollah's cynical strategy of using the Lebanese population as a human shield. Hezbollah fighters have been so successful in the current conflict by hiding among civilians.

There is great value in the work of objective witnesses in Lebanon. But Bouckaert's history of subjective and biased observations, especially when it comes to conflicts involving Israel, taints his analysis.