US sends warship to Lebanon

Signaling impatience with Syria, the United States has sent its USS Cole warship off the coast of Lebanon in a “show of support” for regional stability, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

(…) “The United States believes a show of support is important for regional stability. We are very concerned about the situation in Lebanon. It has dragged on very long,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition he was not named. Reuters

Watch stability sprout up at gunpoint.

Al Jazeera turns 10

They grow up so fast. Soon it will be a teenager and will start to be difficult: Middle-eastern news station Al Jazeera is turning 10 years old today. link

For a peek behind the scenes at this extraordinary network, watch the documentary Control Room. It’s quite good.

UN denounces Israel cluster bombs

The UN’s humanitarian chief has accused Israel of “completely immoral” use of cluster bombs in Lebanon.
UN clearance experts had so far found 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets at 359 separate sites, Jan Egeland said. BBC

I’d like to add that those are Made in the USAâ„¢ cluster bombs.

Makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, doesn’t it? Or maybe that’s just that piece of shrapnel that shredded your intestines on the way to school courtesy of the Military Industrial Complex of the good old U.S. of A.

South Lebanese warned of strikes

It’s escalating. And that’s their word, not mine:

Israel has warned residents of southern Lebanon that it will escalate operations there as it continues its campaign against Hezbollah militants. BBC

Or else!

Not a resolution yet, only a draft:

The US and France have agreed the wording of a UN resolution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

It calls for a “full cessation of hostilities”, demanding that Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations. BBC

It’s also unclear what would happen if either Israel (never!) or Hezbollah break the ceasefire. Is either side going to be sent to their room without dinner? I mean how much worse than all out war can it get?

Israel bombs Lebanese highway

Israel today extended its assault on Lebanon, making its first major attack on the Christian heartland north of Beirut and destroying four key bridges providing a vital aid supply route.

The Israeli air force strikes severed Lebanon’s last significant road link to Syria, stopped a convoy carrying 150 tonnes of relief and cut what the UN called its “umbilical cord” for aid supplies.
Guardian (emphasis added)

100,000 March Against U.S. and Israel in Baghdad

Not part of the plan, I take it? (Of course not. We all know there isn’t even a plan. This is the Bush administration we’re talking about here.)

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 4 — More than 100,000 followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched today to show support for Hezbollah, denouncing Israel and the United States for the violence in Lebanon.

The protesters filled 20 blocks of a wide boulevard and dozens of side streets in the Shiite-dominated Sadr City section of the capital. New York Times

Israel to widen air and ground raids in Lebanon

The Israeli army has been told to prepare for a possible advance in what could be its deepest incursion into Lebanon for more than 20 years.

The defence minister’s order could see the army push up to the Litani river, about 30km (19 miles) north of the border, in pursuit of Hezbollah. BBC

Guardian: Israel bombs Lebanese highway, cutting it off from outside world

Israeli aircraft bombed southern Beirut last night and today launched raids on the highway north of the city, threatening to cut Lebanon’s only remaining link with the outside world. Guardian

All part of operation Without Thinking Twice, I take it?

Before and after images of Beirut

Via the New York Times:

More detailed view here.

Say and do

They say:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, heading for a weekend trip to the troubled Middle East, said she would work with allies in the region to help create conditions for “stability and lasting peace.” AP

They do:

The Bush administration 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, American officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its 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 Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah. New York Times

Leave… if you can

Israel has massed troops and tanks on the border with Lebanon and called up thousands of reserve troops, in a possible prelude to a ground offensive.Planes dropped leaflets on southern Lebanon warning any civilians to leave. (emphasis added)BBC

That reminds me: How are these people supposed to leave when the bridges they have to cross are either bombed already or still under fire? That sort of thing sounds more like “without thinking twice” than “restricted pinpoint attacks.”

Israel calls up army reservists

Israel has called up thousands of reserve troops and told civilians to quit southern Lebanon immediately, amid threats of a large-scale incursion.

(The move has widened speculation that Israel is preparing for a large ground offensive.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has warned that Israel is prepared to launch a full-scale ground operation if necessary, saying “we have no intention of conquering Lebanon but… we will do it without thinking twice”. BBC (emphasis added)

In Break With Bush, Iraqi Leader Assails Israel

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq on Wednesday forcefully denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, marking a sharp break with President Bush’s position and highlighting the growing power of a Shiite Muslim identity across the Middle East.

“The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon’s infrastructure,” Mr. Maliki said at an afternoon news conference inside the fortified Green Zone, which houses the American embassy and the seat of the Iraqi government. “I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression.” New York Times (emphasis added)

Sniff, they grow up so quick, don’t they?

Haifa under siege

I wouldn’t want to give the impression I do not feel for the Israelis who have been living in fear for the last fifty years, give or take a few millennia. The BBC, being the journalistic demigods with far reach that they are, have this quite touching story about how the inhabitants of Haifa, Israel, are coping

But still, let’s keep some perspective here. Are we seriously to believe this was all and exclusively about those Three Israeli Soldiersâ„¢?