UN Observers Killed in Southern Lebanon

I find it hard to believe that Israel is taking great care not to harm non-combatants when UN observers are in danger, regardless of whether this was of “collateral damage” or a deliberate strike. I also find it hard to believe that the families of those killed feel any less grief when their loved ones are killed accidentally instead of intentionally.

U.N.: Israeli airstrike hits U.N. observer post
Sources: Condoleezza Rice floats plan to end conflict

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations post in the southern Lebanon late Tuesday, killing four of the agency’s observers, according to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIFIL sent a rescue-and-medical team to the city of Khiyam, and the team was trying to clear rubble early Wednesday. UNIFIL said there were at least 14 incidents of firing close to the post since Tuesday afternoon.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was looking into the report, which came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed an ambitious plan in which international military forces would help the Lebanese government stabilize southern Lebanon, Lebanese political sources said.

Rice pitched the plan Tuesday to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, then traveled to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Rice’s diplomatic moves came on the 14th day of the conflict sparked by Hezbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes continued to pound Lebanese cities, while Hezbollah rockets rained down on northern Israel. (Watch cockpit view of bombing in Lebanon — :45)

The Israel Defense Forces also said it killed senior Hezbollah commander Abu Jaafar, who Israel says was in charge of the central area of Lebanon’s border with Israel. CNN was not able to confirm the report and there has been no confirmation from Hezbollah.

Since July 12, at least 392 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and as many as 1,383 wounded in Lebanon, Lebanese security officials said Tuesday.

At least 41 Israelis have died, including 19 civilians, and at least 388 have been wounded, Israeli officials said.

The plan proposed by Rice initially would involve putting an international force of up to 10,000 Turkish and Egyptian troops under a NATO or U.N. commander into southern Lebanon following a cease-fire, the Lebanese political sources said.

Another international force of up to 30,000 troops then would help the Lebanese government regain control over the region, the sources said. (Full story)

Rice presented the plan Monday to Lebanese officials, the sources said, and will show it to European foreign ministers Wednesday in Rome, Italy.

U.S. and diplomatic sources said Lebanese officials are leaking details of the proposal because they are opposed to many of them.

The sources describe the plan as an outline or working proposal and said no one has agreed to it. They also said there are many hurdles to overcome before it could be implemented.
No letup in the fighting

An overnight Israeli airstrike hit a house in the village of Nabatiye, killing seven people, Lebanese security sources said.

The IDF said its military operations have hit dozens of militants during ongoing fighting in Bint Jbeil, a town it dubbed Hezbollah’s “terror capital.”

Israel gained complete control of Bint Jbeil, according to IDF Gen. Gal Hirsch. The IDF said it had killed between 20 and 30 Hezbollah fighters in the area in the past 24 hours.

The IDF hopes to create a “security zone” in southern Lebanon until an international force arrives, said Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

“If there is not a multinational force that will get in to control the fences, we will continue to control with our fire towards anyone that gets close to the defined security zone and they will know that they can be hurt,” he said.

In Israel, a Katyusha rocket killed a 15-year-old girl Tuesday in the village of Meghar, Israeli, police and medical service officials said.

At least 18 people were injured in the port city of Haifa and one man died of a heart attack after a rocket struck near his home, officials said.

About 100 Hezbollah rockets were fired into Israel on Tuesday, striking the cities of Haifa, Carmiel, Kyrat Shmona and Nahiriya, according to the IDF.

Huge explosions reverberated Tuesday afternoon through the southern suburbs of Beirut — a Hezbollah stronghold — sending smoke billowing through high-rise buildings. (Watch airstrikes pound Beirut — 2:53)

Several Israeli strikes hit the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre. There was no official word yet on casualties.
Israel opens aid corridors

Israeli officials agreed during talks with Rice to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Lebanon, a U.S. State Department official said.

Lebanese officials have pleaded with the United States to pressure Israel for an immediate cease-fire, but U.S. officials said conditions are not yet ripe for such a move, and they expect Israeli military operations to continue for another week or even longer.

U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman delivered $30 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon, which will meet the basic medical needs of 20,000 people, according to an embassy statement. The shipment was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday afternoon.

The U.S. announcement followed a U.N. appeal for nearly $150 million in humanitarian aid earlier this week. (Full story)

CNN’s John King, Karl Penhaul, John Roberts, Brent Sadler and Fionnuala Sweeney contributed to this report.

Evacuations Revealed Cosmopolitan Nature of the Old “New Lebanon”

Since the latest round of fighting in the Middle East began two weeks ago, tens of thousands of foreigners have been evacuated. Another few hundred thousand others, mostly guest workers and refugees from other war ravaged countries, have made Lebanon their home. Simply, Lebanon is a strange location for the newest front of the war on terror.

When one thinks of countries likely to be attacked to root out terrorism, one often thinks of places where Islamic extremists control the country, where mullahs approve all elected officials, if elections take place at all, and where law and order is carried out on the streets in the form of hangings and other executions without trial for crimes such as watching unapproved movies, showing too much skin while walking down the street, or cheering too loudly in a soccer stadium. Lebanon was everything that Islamic extremistshate.

Condoleeza Rice called this conflict the “birth pangs of the new Middle East”. She is a few years too late. Beirut was the capital of the new Middle East. It was a westernized tourist Mecca known as the “Paris of the Middle East”. After years of civil war, the various ethnic and religious groups were living in relative harmony, all part of the government. Compared to the other democratic experiments in the Middle East, it was an overwhelming success. Now it would be a minor miracle if the elected government remained relevant.

Lebanon was not perfect. Hezbollah obviously held too much power and refused to renounce violence. It was in the process of morphing into a legitimate political party and focusing more of its efforts on social services. Change was slow, but it was happening. As Lebanon continued to modernize, and as the Lebanese government gained power and resources, Hezbollah would have lost support. The capture of Israeli soldiers should have been seen as a growing pain of modernization, a desperate attempt by a group losing relevance to get back in the news. Instead, it may prove to be the death knell of the most successful Arab democracy.

The Middle East Cheat Sheet

Are you confused about the Middle East Conflict? If you have been paying attention, you should be. While I may not agree with everything here, and would tend to place more relationships in the “It’s complicated” category, this should at least keep your head from spinning for a few minutes.

Life Under Hezbollah

Like all things in the Middle East, Hezbollah is much more complicated than one would think. It is equal parts religious movement, terrorist group, social welfare organization, political party, and revolutionary movement. The question is how to reconcile these many identities, remove those that are harmful, encourage those that are beneficial, and somehow encourage Hezbollah, which is not going anywhere, to operate in a way that is acceptable to both Hezbollah and its neighbors.

Slate’s “Today’s Pictures”

Life Under Hezbollah

The Picture of the Week

An internally-displaced Lebanese girl looks out of the window of the car in which she has fled from the south, in the mountain village of Qabr Chmoun, south of Beirut in Lebanon Sunday, July 23, 2006.

Last Week in the Rest of the World

Last weeks news that you may have missed…

Sunday

As Tensions Rise, U.S. and Moscow Falter on Trade

STRELNA, Russia, Sunday, July 16 — President Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin announced that they had failed to come to an agreement on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and aides said the deal, which had been expected as early as this weekend, was not likely for months.

Monday

Indonesia quake toll passes 100
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A major earthquake off the coast of Java and a tsunami that followed has killed at least 155 people, according to Red Cross officials.

Tuesday

U.N.: Heavy fighting in Colombia forces thousands of civilians to flee

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Intense fighting between the army and leftist guerrillas in western Colombia has forced thousands of civilians from their homes and trapped several Indian communities who are unable to reach safety, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Wednesday

Europeans Agree on Plan to Send Money to Palestinians

GAZA, July 19 — The European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, pledged Wednesday to start international donor funds flowing to cash-starved Palestinian hospitals as early as Aug. 1, part of a broader relief package that will provide the Palestinian Authority with about $130 million over three months.

Thursday

Ethiopian Troops Enter Somali Government Base

MOGADISHU, Somalia, July 20 (Reuters) — Ethiopian soldiers entered the Somali town of Baidoa on Thursday, witnesses said, a day after an Islamist militia advanced within 22 miles of the government’s temporary base there.

Friday

Charles Taylor appears in court

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Former Liberian President Charles Taylor appeared in a Hague courtroom Friday for a hearing aimed at paving the way for his war crimes trial.

Saturday

Mexico’s Losing Leftist Defiantly Awaits Election Ruling

MEXICO CITY, July 22 — As he fights his loss in court, the leftist candidate in Mexico’s July 2 election says he has been the victim of a broad conspiracy among the incumbent, election officials, other party leaders and business tycoons to rob him of the presidency.

Did you see an international news story that should be listed above? Have you seen one this week that should be listed in next weeks edition of “Last Week in the Rest of the World”? E-mail or comment below!

Stop the Violence to Start the Peace

Pundits, talking heads, and Israeli government officials have stated that they regret the civilian suffering that middle east conflict has cause, but they lament, Israel was left with no other choice. However, Israel does have a choice, and peace (first as a cease fire, and perhaps even a lasting peace) is still possible. While the following measures will take great restraint, exceptional political will, and patience, they will at the very least lead to less death and suffering for all involved. Lasting peace can not be achieved without the cessasion of hostilities on both sides.

Israel should take greater care with its air-strikes. If it knows where a Hezbollah rocket launcher is, or where Hezbollah troops are stationed, go ahead and bomb those areas. But do not bomb the airport, or roads, or set up naval blockades. The US is having to evacuate its citizens because they are in danger from Israeli air strikes, and Israel is our ally!

The most effective way of dealing with this situation is limited ground incursions to known missile sites. Because of the rugged territory, dropping bombs is not going to work. One must remember that Israel’s Vietnam war was in Lebanon in the 80’s and 90’s. The limited ground incursions will stop the rockets in the short term, and this is a legitimate goal. This would also limit hardships to civilians, preventing terrorist organizations from gaining support. Hezbollah can not be defeated by military action. It is impossible to blow up an idea.

The key to defeating an ideology is to take away reasons for its support . Hezbollah blames Israel for all the problems of the world. Israel then swoops in, blows up half the county, makes electricity and fresh water impossible to find, and creates food shortages. Most Lebanese (and a surprisingly large contingent of the Arab World) blame Hezbollah for starting the war. Most Lebanese don’t want Hezbollah there. However, the key is that the average Lebanese hasn’t been harmed by Hezbollah, and in the South where they have the most support, they have set up schools, hospitals, provide food and water, and act much the way a government does, except for that nasty fact that they are a terrorist organization. Not all support for terrorist organization comes from hate. Instead it comes from the concrete things terrorist organization can do for them. So you put this all together and Israel’s air-strikes will actually benefit Hezbollah, and encourage another generation to be anti-Israel.

Limited ground incursions, limited air-strikes, and harming the terrorists without harming a country that has the political culture most likely to support Israel in the middle east will end this before it is too late. If anything, Israel should have been providing aid to the Lebanese government so it could compete militarily with Hezbollah, and provide those services which Hezbollah provides that give it support.

If Israel actually wants to defend itself, it should go attack Iran and Syria. However, these countries are able to defend themselves, and Israel does not want its soldiers to die enmasse. Instead they bomb Lebanon so they can look like they are doing something. However, this will not make Israel safer and will actually make their situation worse in the long term. In the short term, judging by the latest rocket attacks on Northern Israel, the Israeli military has not made Israel safer.
Finally, Israel should have agreed to a prisoner exchange right away. Prisoner exchanges have been a part of the culture in the middle east for the last few thousand years. Some may argue that this only encourages further capturing of soldiers. This may be so. However, the occasional ceremonial prisoner exchange is much better for Israel’s security than rockets raining down on Northern Israel, the further involvement of Syria and Iran, and an enraged population in a formerly Democratic country. A prisoner exchange would at the very least lead to a cease fire, and from there at least some progress could be made. Lasting peace cannot occur during an all out war.

Frankly, I do not think Israel wants peace. They want to win, and the only way for them to win militarily is to kill everyone who is opposed to Israel. A much better solution would b to get people on their side instead of the side of the terrorist groups through acts of good will, not good weapons. Their latest actions do the opposite

Who wins?

If the Children are our Future…

Israeli girls write messages on artillery shells bound for Lebanon. The same has been happening for years in the occupied territories, culminating in young people taking up arms against the Jewish state.

Archived Audio from NPR’s Talk of the Nation Special on the Situation in the Middle East

This was an excellent overview of the current situation, the motivations of the major players, and where we are all headed.

Talk of the Nation, July 17, 2006 · Attacks and counter attacks between Israel and Hezbollah raise fears of a broader regional conflict in the Middle East. Guests cover the latest developments there and dimming prospects for peace.

Guests:

Loren Jenkins, NPR senior foreign editor

Raghida Dergham, senior diplomatic correspondent for Al-Hayat, a pan-Arab, Arabic language newspaper

Michael Herzog, visiting military fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and brigadier general in the Israeli Defense Forces

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the 2005 book The Opportunity: America’s Moment to Alter History’s Course

Sen. George Mitchell, former Democratic lawmaker from Maine and chairman of the Sharm el-Sheikh International Fact-Finding Committee