h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It really is - in the short term, at least (as I found out a few years after the last 'war' ended )...

I found this, in the Christian Monitor so shedloads of salt required... but some valid points are made:

Can force fell Hizbullah?

..."Since many terrorist groups are caught up in notions of cosmic war – grand struggles of religious dimensions – they in fact welcome overt warfare since it vindicates their views of the war, a war whose timelines are very long," says Mark Juergensmeyer, a specialist in "new terrorism" at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who visited Lebanon just before bombs began to fall. "A siege is exactly what they want – it keeps them motivated."...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060721/ts_csm/acrush

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=74136

BEIRUT: The capital saw its first anti-war rally Thursday morning. Lil Hayat (For Life), a gathering of 40 voluntary organizations and NGOs, made the call. The 300-odd demonstrators marched from UN House (headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) to the Saifi headquarters of the European Commission. There, organizers read a letter to EU envoy Patrick Renauld calling on the EU to press Israel for an immediate cease-fire.

Israel "is using a policy of collective punishment by bombing civilians," the letter read, "systematically destroying Lebanon's infrastructure as well as public and private property and by [en]forcing a siege through land, air [and] water on Lebanon ... The situation has led to complex humanitarian and health problems."

"Israel is violating international regulations as well as EU declarations, particularly the Euro-Med Partnership agreement [to which it's a signatory]."

En route from ESCWA to the EU offices, demonstrators paused to sing a verse of the Lebanese national anthem and generally tried to dissociate themselves from politicos - at both ESCWA and the EU - who materialized to speak or chant in favor of Hizbullah.

"We're not deluding ourselves," said Lil Hayat organizer Wael Hmaidan. "Civil society must express itself independently of politics. This is a humanitarian crisis and everything is getting worse. Everyone's leaving. Already we have half-a-million displaced people in the country."

"The condition of people on the street is appalling. Refugees are arriving with a day's worth of money. Supplies are harder to find. We want to present a clear picture of what's going on here. That's why we're focussing on humanitarian issues. We have no idea how a cease-fire comes about, but this attack must stop immediately."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

Though some Hizbullah sympathizers tried to "hijack" the proceedings, Hmaidan insists there's nothing political in demanding a cease-fire for humanitarian reasons.

"There are different political attitudes among the various NGOs here," he says. "They're simply not discussed."

Other participants in the Lil Hayat rally expressed frustration with the black-and-white political landscape that is either pro- or anti-Hizbullah.

"We're trapped in the logic of war and violence," said Jihad Nammour, a Saint Joseph University researcher. "We want to break this cycle."

Nammour and a small group of friends created the Lebanese Network for Peace Initiatives when Israel began its assault last week.

"We couldn't stand watching the destruction on TV like goldfish," he said. The group brings journalists into contact with associations working with the displaced. "We'd like to show that, beyond the ugliness of the conflict, there's a lot of solidarity growing."

For Jihane Safar, a PhD student, interaction among Lebanon's communities is especially crucial these days.

"We haven't really worked on our collective memories in the past, especially after the war," she added. "The same dramatic situations are being repeated."

Wilma, I just spoke to the director of my local Red Cross office. They are beginning to get donations of money in for relief to Lebanon. However, he said they hadn't received any official word from the national headquarters concerning Lebanon. He's frankly puzzled and so am I. He said he was expecting some sort of information about it any minute.

The wheels are turning pretty slowly it seems. Politics, I imagine.

That's why I posted the Lebanese Red Cross/Crescent details at the Atelier, Hyp. Medecins sans Frontiers have only just said they will be going in. They have people on the ground already - in the refugee camps - who were there from before this crisis. Other than that, I heard Oxfam will be starting a campaign in the UK to raise funds. There are two shipps with food and meds on their way from France arriving tomorrow. Other than that nothing is getting in... and food is getting short.

My niece specified to me: dried pulses like beans and lentils, rice, bread or flour. They need soap and detergents, toilet paper, diapers for babies, sanitary products for women. There is no bedding so they need blankets and towels. It is now getting desperate because the stores ran out at the weekend and the villagers are themselves running out of supplies. My niece works with a non-profit organisation. I have not posted her details but that is who we are all sending money to from here. Mainly because we know it will get to where it is needed. However, at the moment the money is no good to them - not yet. They immediately need food.

http://www.redcross.org.uk/news.asp?id=58220

but not to Lebanon?

I'm here, holding a candle, and I'll send money as soon as I have some.

Don't, Lil. I'll send on your behalf. BA are refunding our tickets next week and we have decided to use a chunk of that money to buy food to ship out as soon as we are able to. I will put your name on our roster... just keep that candle lit, please

Wilma, my local Red cross office only accepts money. Then they use it to buy supplies for relief efforts. They say that it is much more efficient that way, which I am sure is true.

In the old days, they collected actual supplies from people. There was a storage problem as well as a transportation problem. So, money it is now.

Very true, Hyp, except nothing is getting through at the moment and there is nothing in Lebanon. I guess I am aiming at the immediate now. By the time the aid agencies pull their fingers out... I don't know. I *do* know 2 French ships carrying aid are en route to Lebanon now. Can they feed the millions left in Lebanon? Even for a day or two? Food is running out now. *sigh* There are no plans for any other ships to go in at the moment that i know of..

I don't know what the best thing to do is. If it is famine that they have to endure next, on top of all this bombing for ten days solid... It does not bear thinking of. That is why we are trying to get food in - now. The aid agencies can come do the long-term stuff.

I would think the relief agencies could buy supplies on Cyprus or some other place in the region and then ship them over. Don't the Israelis realize that it isn't Hezbollah that is suffering - it is innocent people who are powerless to influence politics to any meaningful extent. But then I guess they don't care. Neither side cares who gets caught in the middle. Both sides think they are fighting for their lives, which sadly is probably true.

At the risk of being totally ostracised for saying this - thank the heavens above the Israelis are so accurate. Given the entire south and east of the country - fully half the land - has been flattened by the bombing, to *only* (God forgive me) have lost 300-400 souls is near unbelievable.

Hypatia, the Israelis are targeting anything that looks as if if might be carrying any kind of supplies to HizbAllah... so nothing is allowed to move in south Lebanon (Shia areas)- no aid is getting in - at all.

As for the Christian, Sunni and Druze areas, some aid is getting in to Mount Lebanon but they are moving it in open backed trucks with people walking alongside so the Israeli warplanes won't target them, the idea is that the contents of the trucks can be identified. Despite this, Several trucks in Mount Lebanon and east of Beirut *have* been hit, including several new ambulances donated by Qatar. For this reason, the areas near a border are receiving supplies but those further in are already desperate now.

I guess I would have to sit with you over a map to show you. Sorry, I am not explaining this too well...

Nevertheless, the aid agencies will eventually help, so of course do donate if you can and they will take it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060721/ts_nm/mideast_dc_471

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel warned Lebanese civilians to leave border villages on Friday and called up 3,000 reserves in a possible prelude to a ground offensive that would expand its 10-day-old campaign against Hizbollah guerrillas.

Israeli planes dropped leaflets over south Lebanon warning civilians to flee for safety north of the Litani river, about 20 km (13 miles) from the frontier.

An estimated 300,000 mostly Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese normally reside south of the Litani. There was no word on how many have already fled the bombing and fighting of the past few days. Air raids have wrecked many roads and bridges in the region.

Elite Israeli troops have been launching small-scale raids in Lebanon to try to stop Hizbollah rocket attacks. But Israel has been wary of launching a full-scale invasion, only six years after it ended a costly 22-year occupation of the south.

"The siege on Lebanon is not letting humanitarian aid in," said Hisham Hassan, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "The south is isolated."

Two ICRC trucks were on their way from Beirut to a hospital in Tire, where staff began burying corpses temporarily in a mass grave dug in an army barracks to clear space in the morgue.

U.N. relief agencies said they needed urgent access to southern Lebanon to take in medical aid and food.


... and so on and so forth.

In this latest crisis, TV has also taken on an important humanitarian role, with the most "pro-resistance" stations, New TV and Hezbollah's own al-Manar, broadcasting the mobile phone numbers of people cut off by the bombardment or in need of emergency care.

"People give their numbers to al-Manar, and I and other doctors watch and call them up when we think we can help over the phone, or just to give them moral support," says Dr Faqih.

"That's how I was able to speak to the women in Mansoureh, and I make calls across the targeted area."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5205194.stm

WASHINGTON - If Israel launches a massive offensive into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah guerrillas, Lebanon's small army, if it decides to fight, will be overpowered, analysts say.

While Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr has virtually ruled out joining forces with the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, he has stated that his army would resist an Israeli invasion and defend Lebanese soil.

"The Lebanese armed forces would get routed, and there's no chance that the Lebanese army would take control of southern Lebanon," said Steven Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "They're too weak. That's why they've never taken on Hezbollah. They've never had the firepower to take on Hezbollah."

Formed at the end of World War II, the Lebanese army split along sectarian lines at the outset of the country's civil war in 1975 and was only reunited in 1990 from the various factions that had previously fought one another.

According to "Middle East Military Balance," an annual publication from the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Lebanese army has about 60,000 men. The country also has a small air force and an even smaller navy.

The army is split along five regional commands, with 11 mechanized infantry brigades, plus artillery, special forces, commando, logistics and medical units. It has about 350 tanks and 1,100 armored personnel carriers, most dating from Soviet-era and the Vietnam war. Its artillery consists of around 175 towed guns and howitzers ranging from 105 mm to 155 mm.

Those weapons would prove no match against modern Israeli tanks, artillery and other weapons, many of which are supplied by the United States and all of which are virtually state of the art.

When Israel invaded in 1982, the Lebanese army stood by as Israeli forces routed Palestinian fighters under Yasser Arafat and forced them from the country. After Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, Lebanon failed to deploy its army along the border with Israel and essentially gave Hezbollah free rein to build up its own forces.

Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, wrote in a recent article that Israel's strategy in the current fighting seems to be to weaken Hezbollah while forcing the Lebanese government and its army to secure its southern border.

If so, the results will likely be "just as strategically self-destructive" as Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

"Going too far turned a victory against the Palestinians into permanent Shiite hostility and gave birth to Hezbollah," Cordesman wrote.

How to strengthen the Lebanese army is expected to be discussed early next week in Rome at a meeting of officials from Lebanon, moderate Arab countries, the United States and Europe.

---

© 2006, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15095286.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060722/wl_afp/mideastconflictisrael

NEW YORK (AFP) - "The United States is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, citing unnamed US officials.

The decision to expedite the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the administration of President George W. Bush, the officials said Friday on condition of anonymity.

The New York Times reported Saturday the disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Irans efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

According to the officials, the munitions being sent are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale package approved last year that Israel is able to draw on as needed.

But Israels request for rush delivery of the satellite- and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike, the newspaper said..."

God help us

Oh my God, how disgusting is this? It totally angers me that this sort of thing is being done "in my name" with my tax dollars and there is not a darn thing I can do to stop it other than protest to my representative I mean it is so wrong and so immoral and so cynical

Well, folks, GW strikes again!

There are days that I am ashamed and embarrassed to be an American, and this is one of them.

It was Eienstein who said: "You can not simultaneously prevent and prepare for war."

So, we pay lip service to the idea of cease fire in front of the media and at the G8 summit, and send Ms. rice over to the region (a week late and several million dollars short), but at the same time rush bombs to the combatants.