Israel's instigation in Lebanon...
Israel is at it yet again...violating Lebanon's airspace and now killing three who "looked" threatening.
An Israeli army spokesman said on Monday evening: "A force identified armed gunmen coming toward them in a threatening way. The soldiers fired at them and identified three hits."
It is unclear if the men were killed in the shooting which is one of the most serious incidents since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah began on August 13.
The above article can be found at AlJazeera.net.
Israeli publications even admit that Israel is instigating as this quote from Haaretz states...
Even if the tasks that the multinational force will undertake will not meet Israel's requirements, or address all the articles of Resolution 1701, it will force both Lebanon and Israel to recognize the fact the UN decisions have practical significance. Lebanon needs this force because it is meant to assist the government and will not only act to deter Hezbollah, because it has undertaken to help UNIFIL, but it will also be a deterrent against Syrian and Iranian involvement in the country. From Israel's point of view such a significant force could show perhaps the sole diplomatic gain in this war, and may even allow the continuation of certain Israeli-instigated operations inside Lebanese territory.
LOOKED threatening?? What is this...PRE-EMPTIVE INSTIGATION????You used to have to make some type of threatening ACTION before being killed during a cease fire. I guess George's policy of pre-emptive strikes also means Israel has the right to pre-emt their behavior in someone else's country as well.
I can not understand why the "white powers" of the world insist on blaming those who have defended against Israeli aggression as the "terrorists" when it is more than obvious that it is Israel who has caused the conflicts over and over again...seeing the Middle East as theirs by right as the "chosen people of God".
It is more amazing still that the International Community has allowed Israel to get away with the same, if not worse, actions that Arabs and Muslums are accused of and persecuted for.
It is a severe double standard and is severely wrong. If Israel wishes to terrorize it's neighbors as it does, it should be held accountable. If Israel is allowed Nuclear technology for domestic use, Iran should have the same right. If Israel violates U.N. resolutions, they should be made to suffer the consequences...
...but they literally get away with murder...
It's easy to see why many think Israel has no right to exist.
Israel Violates Cease Fire Resolution 1701
Who would have ever gurssed that Israel, instead of Hezbollah, would violate the cease fire so soon?
Considering the Israeli publications were expounding before the cease fire about how Israel would be back in Lebanon soon...to finish what they started...I have expected this.
According to Haaretz The Israeli forces were wearing military clothing of the Lebanese army and also driving their vehicles...
The raid was authorized in a meeting Olmert and Peretz held with the IDF senior command on Wednesday.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the unit was transported by helicopter before dawn, and was being driven in two vehicles to raid the office of senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek in the village of Bodai before being discovered by Hezbollah militants. A battle gunbattle erupted and the troops were forced to retreat, Hezbollah TV said.
Lebanese sources said the troops were carried in two Lebanese army vehicles and were wearing Lebanese army uniforms.
How can this not be seen as a flagrant and willful violation of the cease fire is anyones guess. If that were not enough...
Earlier Saturday, Israeli aircraft fired several rockets at a target in a Hezbollah stronghold in eastern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source said.
Not only a planned covert raid but missiles fired as well. You can find this article HERE.
Other articles from this publication go on and on about how Israeli did not violate the cease fire but it is obvious they did. In fact, what they have done is give Hezbollah an excuse, if they should want it...and nobody could rightfully hold them accountable as the aggressor.
If Israel truly wanted to PROTECT itself they would not be willfully giving Hezbollah or anyone else reason to fire on them. It really appears as if all Israel can truly claim in it's actions is that they want total domination in the ME and security is no more than an afterthought and excuse for their aggression.
I still can not see any difference between Israel DETAINING Palestinians and the KIDNAPPING of three Israeli soldiers...the only difference is the word used but it is still the very same, absolutely identical action.
Israel has just "detained" more of the Palestinian government. I emphasize...WHEN YOU CROSS YOUR NEIGHBOR'S BORDERS AND "DETAIN" ONE OF THEIR CITIZENS, IT IS KIDNAPPING.
Hezbollah and Hamas are not guilty of anything that Israel has not done to them. Without Israel's aggression, there would be no Hezbollah or Hamas.
There is a nasty similarity between Israel and the U.S here, though, that shines a brilliant light on policies shared by both countries. Neither believes in democrasy. They both tout it and expound on it but both countries react to it the same...
If Israel and/or the U.S does not like the people that are democratically elected in another country, both feel free and obliged to undermine, interfere with or even distroy the democratically elected government of that country.
Israel and the U.S also are identical at the present for their aspirations to make the population afraid in order to force bad policy into play.
I do not need or wants Bush/Cheney's "Fear Factor"...I refuse to be terrorized by my faux government.
I am an American. I am a Patriot. I am strong with or without Bush/Cheney. I would rather die standing than live on my knees as they would have me do.
Israel and the U.S. do not care or desire a democrasy of a nation's people, the people's will and votes are meaningless. The only people entitled to choose who runs any government are the arrogant leaders of the U.S and Israel...in that order.
Middle East Remoldeling...Courtesy of the U.S, U.K. and Israel.
Not bad for someone who is not in the political spectrum at all...I have done well Yoda.
I saw the truth as it unfolded (so far) and did not buy the horse manure the U.S government has been shoveling.
Bush stated recently the Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran are the problems...NOT HARDLY. If THEY were the problems, THEY would not be STUPID enough to do something, lie about it and then expect that no one would ever find out.
ANOTHER BUSH ADMINISTRATION LIE...
A spokesperson for the Bush administration has stated that Bush had no knowledge of Israel's war plans but before that statement was made the Jerusalem Post stated that the U.S. government had expressed their interest in having Israel attack Syria...BUSTED
The fact appears to be that Bush gave the green light to Israel in May and it had been planned as an appetizer for the U.S. to attack Iran. Unfortunately, Olmert tried to use the same "Shock and Awe" type of campaign that Bush and Co. used in Iraq with as much success as the U.S. had...NOT MUCH.
Like the Iraq stupidity, Israel murdered hundreds of innocent people, destroyed much of the civilian infrastructure, caused a major ecological disaster to the Mediteranian Sea, poluted Lebanon with Depleted Uranium (not to mention evidence of the use of chemical weapons - both courtesy of their friends Dick and George) and made the people of Lebanon refugees in their own country...which, BTW is a war crime to target civilian infrastructure.
The really interesting part is how Israel and Bush say that Hezbollah provoked it by kidnapping two soldiers (if Israel does it they are detaining/arresting, NOT kidnapping).
Three days after the May 23 summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. President George W. Bush, a car bomb killed two officials of Islamic Jihad in the Lebanese city of Sidon.
Immediately, Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, denounced the murder of brothers Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub and pointed the finger at Israel as the prime suspect. On June 10, a man named Mahmoud Rafeh was arrested for the car bombing and, according to the Lebanese army, confessed that he was a Mossad agent.
Rafeh, a 59-year-old retired police officer, belonged to a “terror network working for the Israeli Mossad,” which had smuggled a booby-trapped door into Lebanon from Israel for use in the assassination, the Lebanese army said.
In retrospect, the Majzoub assassination looks to have been part of a larger U.S.-Israeli strategy – following the Olmert-Bush summit – to encourage a tit-for-tat escalation of violence that would ratchet up pressure on Palestinian and Lebanese militants – and through them their allies in Syria and Iran.
A 'Pretext' War in Lebanon
The above article come from a seasoned reporter who uncovered many of the details of another illegal U.S. fiasco...the Iran - Contra Affair.
Israel drew the first blood and provoked Hezbollah as an excuse.
Israel does commit terrorism, as often if not more than anyone else, yet Bush with his Chutzpah rhetoric state that Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran are all in the "TERROR" thing together with al Qeada against us (the good guys).
I am really starting to think Israel had something to do with 9/11...the FBI has no solid evidence on AQ/bL being responsible and this administration, like Israel attacking Lebanon, had to come up with an excuse to get us to war. It is obvious that we have not been told the truth about anything and that coupled with the lack of evidence, etc...the fact that Israel has attacked Americans before without even a slap on the hand and Bush willingness to plot with Israel...that is the only scenario that makes any reasonable sense.
You give me an excuse to go to war and I'll give you what you need to do the same...together we can remodel the Middle East in our own image...
Yet America and Israel are the main culprits in trying to destroy democrasy in other countries, either by use of force, interfering with the voting process, intimidation or a down and dirty coup (there is always funding the opposition to go with other underhanded activity).
If we (US and Israel) do not like those who are democratically elected, we find a way to replace them. Hell...people in America can not have all their votes counted for those in charge believe they have some type of divine entitlement and they will do anything to hang on to that control...even at the expense of U.S. citizens. The U.S can not spread democracy if it is always working to undo it, at home and elsewhere.
Israel did NOT win this war of choice with Lebanon. They showed their callousness and inhumanity (not to mention arrogance and stupidity...sounds like someone else we know, does it not?).
Hezbollah did NOT lose in the war that Israel provoked. Intelligent people rallied for them
America, in general, has to be absolutely stupid beyond reckoning to buy Bush's horse sh*t (sad to say when I live here but, hey...I did not buy it at all).
Since "BIG BROTHER" is so busy spying on American citizens and labelling any dissent as "terrorist sympathizers" or "enemy combatents" I might end up disappearing for expounding the truth and expressing what USED TO BE my Constitutional Right...
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
No more fun with Dick and George...awwwwwwwwww, shucks...
Despite Israel's Acceptance of Resolution, More Civilians are dying.
Something is seriously wrong with this scenario. The U.N. Security Council agreed unanimously on the resolution to stop the killing but as soon as it was agreed to, Israel expanded it's terroristic efforts, not only in Lebanon but Gaza as well.
Would anyone in a civilized world accept the idea that another country has a right to call you, tell you to leave your home and everything you own because they are going to bomb you and then either distroy your home or not?
The call that tells you: run, you're about to lose your home and possessions
That is terrorism and Israel is doing it...and has been for a while. It is psycological warfare amounting to torture.
Would an American be willing to suffer that from anyone? The answer is a resounding NO!.
Israeli apologists who use the pathetic excuse that Israel is trying to minimize civilian casualties need to wake up and smell what they are rolling in...and it sure ain't rose petals.
I have been reading two Israeli websites quite a bit over the past couple weeks...Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post...and if I had a say about my tax dollars going to Israel I would not be sending half of what I have to.
I never held any belief in some of the things I have heard about Israel but as more of a realist I have to wonder where their self rightous "we are the victim" ideology comes from. There are a few things that I have read that were written by people who ARE realistic but those few people are condemed as an anti-semite or a "self hating Jew". One comment over one such realistic post was from a woman calling herself "Daisy" who justified the civilian deaths and destruction in Lebanon by way of claiming that the whole region really belonged to the Jews anyway...the "Holy Land" belonged to God's chosen people (Jews) and that was all the justification needed.
It angered me to the core to read on both websites how the U.S. was giving them unprecedented leeway for their bombing of the Lebonese people...America is very much complicit in the murder of innocent civilians.
When we have military personnel that refuse duty as a Conscientous Objector, it is normally because they do not want to participate in killing that they consider morally, legally and ethically wrong...and they normally end up in confinement of some sort.
I read in both above publications that they have had objector released from fighting in Lebanon over their belief that lands Israel occupied (stole) should have not been released...area like Gaza. NO JAIL, just dismissal. Settlements that were illegal, according to Internation opinion are Israel's rightful property and that the legality of it was rectified is insult to many Israelis. How screwed is that.
Before buying my property, I rented it. When getting ready for purchase my property was surveyed. It was only then, after 2 1/2 years with the same neighbor behind me, did I find out that my neighbor behind me had taken it upon himself to annex almost half of my back yard right before I had moved in. He claimed much of my yard but had not purchased it from the owner. I reclaimed my property with some difficulty but was harassed for it until they moved out. Would any other American just GIVE their property to someone who decided to "squat" on it? Again a resounding NO! To make it more ironic, the man who decided to annex half of my back yard is supposed to be a preacher...head of the local Southern Baptists. Religion is an excuse to take what is not yours (steal), get out of responsibility for your actions, murder the innocent, discriminate and/or manipulate those who have given up the right to think for themselves.
To reiterate...religion is not of any God, it is man made and politicall based to allow only a few to have power in order to use the masses to their own political purpose. Very few religions, even fewer monotheistic religions of which there are three, have heirarchies that do not live in splender while the masses live considerably less well off...and God has not a damn thing to do with that. The Pope is a fabulous example.
I now have a much more interesting view of "Dark Helmet"...a character in the movie "Spaceballs".
He is apparently fashioned after reality by the looks of it.
STOP THE ISRAELI AGGRESSION AND TERRORISM!
Terror In The Skies...Foiled Plot or More Fake Fear Factor?
I knew something did not ring true in the lastest "Fear Factor" attempt by the Bush administration.
Just like the guys arrested in Florida for talking big, apparently the Brits accused of trying to blow up planes coming to America hadn't purchased airline tickets, some didn't have passports and the real evidence the Brit Authorities could have gotten if given more time to investigate (looking for solid evidence) was thwarted by none other than the Bush administration.
Source: U.S., U.K. at odds over timing of arrests
A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was NOT IMMINENT, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.
It appears that the Neo Conservatives are again attempting to make a mountain out of an anthill in the hopes of scaring America into re-electing Republicans in November by saying they are "keeping us safer than the Democrats would. Considering the Brits were trying to get real evidence and the Bush administration prevented them from doing so, in what way have they kept America safer? Looks like they blew it again.
The source did say, however, that police believe one U.K.-based suspect was ready to conduct a "dry run." British authorities had wanted to let him go forward with part of the plan, but the Americans balked.
At the White House, a top aide to President Bush denied the account.
"There was unprecedented cooperation and coordination between the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistani officials throughout the case," said Frances Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, "and we worked together to protect our citizens from harm while ensuring that we gathered as much info as possible to bring the plotters to justice. There was no disagreement between U.S. and U.K. officials."
Another U.S. official, however, acknowledges there was disagreement over timing. Analysts say that in recent years, American security officials have become edgier than the British in such cases because of missed opportunities leading up to 9/11.
Aside from the timing issue, there was excellent cooperation between the British and the Americans, officials told NBC.
The British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the U.S. would "render" him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.
British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody "in circumstances where there was due process," according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.
So the Bush administration not only interfered with the investigation but they also added strings that would, if these guys were actual terrorist, aid them in court to get off on technicalities. No solid evidence, no "dry run", no airline tickets, no passports and no DUE PROCESS. Add these to the things that make you go "hmmmmm"...
Do not forget...THERE WAS NO IMMINENT THREAT...just another fabrication of Bush/Cheney.
Why would the Bush administration interfere with a serious Brit investigation and then LIE about it?
Like Chertoff stating to the Press that he has no definate association with these guys and al Quada but turns around and makes a statement that it looks like an AQ setup,
BTW...on June 5, 2006, FBI spokesman, Chief of Investigative Publicity Rex Tomb said, "The FBI has no hard evidence connecting Usama Bin Laden to 9/11."
We have been told for years that bin Laden was responsible. Who is not being honest here? No evidence means the Idiot in Chief needs to get his facts straight. No actual evidence that al Queda had anything to do with 9/11 either, according to the FBI. Could it be that AQ is nothing more than a fantasy group of the Neo Cons, useful to scare the hell out of those easily led and gullible? Naw...George, Dick and Donald would not even THINK of lying to us, right? You could believe that but they have been caught on tape doing just that.
If the Republican machine really does keep us safer than anyone else, why is it that the misinformation we are spoon fed can be proven as inacurate?
Lies and manipulation does not make America safer.
Interfering with a legit investigation does not make us safer. Allowing Israel to kill a thousand innocent civilians and watching Arab countries fume does not make us safer. Double standard policies for Israel and then the rest of the Middle East doesn't make us safer, Profiling all Muslums is not fair or acceptable, making harsh rules for just those of Arabic discent causes animosity and doesn't make us safer.
The Bush administration has not made us safer...they have made America and every American citizen a bigger target.
Israeli Aggression Intensifies Despite the Unanimous U.N. Resolution
Forces in Lebanon tripled as IDF pushes north
Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war in Lebanon, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on Saturday.
Halutz said IDF troops would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives.
"We have almost tripled our forces that are operating in Lebanon," Halutz told reporters.
UN Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto told Reuters on Saturday the UN force could begin deploying in seven to 10 days, suggesting there is still some time before the "immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations," as called for in the resolution, actually comes into force.
Before ANYONE tries to say that I am trying to use Muslum or Islamic information to critisize Israel, you should take a look at where this info comes from...HAARETZ is an Israeli publication. There is also mention in this article that more Lebanese civilians have lost their lives due to Israeli stupidity.
The same scenario as Bush with his Mission Accomplished photo op, Olmert thought he could wipe out Hezbollah in a snap when, in fact, Israel has not even dented Hezbollah but has killed almost 1000 civilians, targeted civilian infrastructure and caused an environmental disaster...all this is a violation of International Law.
There is another juicy piece...sounds like a mark to me that Bush has let Israel run amok by choice...also from HAARETZ.
Isreal Must Win
The fact that the United States has spent major diplomatic capital providing Israel with an unprecedented window of opportunity to deal with Hezbollah, facing down both its European allies and the Arab League, and complicating efforts to launch multilateral sanctions against Iran, makes matters even worse.
This is especially true when U.S. domestic political developments are taken into account. In the past, Israel could depend upon a basic consensus among both Republicans and Democrats that it was a valuable, indeed indispensable, ally that occupied the moral high ground. The political sands, however, are shifting. Anti-Israeli sentiments are rife among Democrats - 59 percent want the U.S. to be more "evenhanded" in the Middle East - some of whom appear to be convinced that the Bush administration's deposition of Saddam Hussein was masterminded by "neo-conservatives" in Israel's interest.
The next setence sounds as if they may have been the speech writers for Cheney and Lieberman...
Senator Joseph Lieberman's August 8 loss in the Connecticut primary, and the evident triumph of the Democrats' neo-McGovernite wing, signal trouble ahead.
More civilian deaths according to the Jerusalem Post when a refugee convoy is attacked. How can the people of Lebanon flee if Israel will not let them?
IDF drone fires on refugee convoy
An IDF drone fired at a convoy of refugees fleeing southern Lebanon on Friday night, killing at least seven people and wounding 22, an Associated Press photographer said.
The army said it was investigating the incident.
The attack on the convoy was the most dramatic on a day of fighting Friday that saw air strikes pound south Beirut and border crossings to Syria, killing at least 15 others as ground fighting picked up intensity in the south of the country.
Lutfallah Daher, the photographer, was with the convoy when it was hit near the Bekaa Valley town of Chtaura, about 30 miles north of the Litani River. Israel has said it would attack any vehicle on roads south of the Litani, assuming it was carrying Hizbullah weapons or fighters.
The photographer said that when the convoy left the south Lebanese town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, it was made up of more than 600 civilian vehicles in addition to vehicles carrying 350 Lebanese soldiers and police. A few vehicles had left the convoy before it was hit, the photographer said.
How can they win an aggresive war of choice when they, like the Bush administration, ignore reality and facts in leiu of their "Divine Rightousness"? Like the Bush administration, all they have accomplished is to multiply the number of extremists and compound the hatred for Israel, the UK and the US.
There are extremists in all religions. Religion was borne of man and it is molded to the political purposes of those in power. Whatever you want to call it, it is no more than fascism...to use extreme force to take what belongs to someone else. Israel wants all the land that politicians of old labelled as "The Holy Land", they started advancing on the borders of their neighbors in the late 60s and are now trying to retake what they stole before...South Lebanon. The US wants control of ME oil thinking it will give them "World Domination".
It is also pathetic that every time someone disagrees with Israel, they are labelled "Anti-Semite" Let me clue you in...
The Holocost was beyond horrible but it was a long friggin time ago. Just like whites that rage on the stupidity that they are superior, blacks who still want to rag about slavery and supposed Christians deciding that the divine right of moral judgement entitles them to discriminate against those who hold beliefs different to theirs...
Get over your self victimization...especially when you partake in similar treatment of others.
Israel and America Terrorizing The Middle East
Damn you George Bush...
All it would take to stop the terrorizing of the people of Lebanon is a friggin phone call from you to Olmert.
I did not like Ronald Reagan very much but at least he was man enough to call Begin (Israel's PM) and stop the Israeli carnage 20 years ago. George, you have inescapably proven that you are a lesser man than either Reagan or your father.
This is what is happening in Lebanon. Lebanon Documentary "The Fog of War" Since I was fortunate, or rather unfortunate, enough to be born an American, it puts me in the realm of partial responsibility for the carnage and I am truly angry.
The excuses you and Israel are making for the slaughter of Lebanese civilians is as bogus as the idea that you got into the Guard without your "daddy's" help. Israel has made a very small impact on Hezbollah and, in fact, had been planning their invasion for over a year before the three soldiers were kidnapped (one in Gaza, two by Hezbollah). How many prisoners does Israel hold? Do you even know...probably not. Do you have any idea how young some of them are? I doubt that you even care.
You obviously enjoy being the Commander in Terrorism since you and your stooge, John Bolton, have fought against putting an end to Israeli aggresion. What's wrong...are you trying to give them a chance to commit as much damage as possible to repay them for all the Gold Teeth your grandfather got from the Nazis? After all, it is on record that your grandfather and the Nazis had a real tight working relationship...or, like when you wimped out of serving your country, you just enjoy the idea of seeing other people die for stupidity.
Or were my earlier opinions correct that the unmitigated sadism of the Neoconservatives wish to have Israel help the U.S. annihilate any Arab who stands in your way of total world domination by way of controlling ALL of the ME OIL?
John Bolton, who has no business representing any democrasy, has already made public statements that tell the world that the Lebanese civilian lives lost have no value...this man needs to be on strong medication because those Lebanese who have died from Israeli terrorism are worth more than any of America's so called leaders.
It comes down to the fact that the Neoconservatives have one agenda...to creat fear. The only way the masses in the U.S. could be led by the nose ring you brandished them with is to create a never ending cycle of fear. You would lose control if you lost the "FEAR FACTOR" so you consistently have to create more terrorism (even if you had to make it up or commit it yourself), create more hatred, chaos and death. That is all you know and all you want. In the process you have sold out the American people and our country for the sakes of your own hunger for divine power, to line your own pockets and the pockets of your personal friends.
You are not representing me nor are you representing the virtues of the Christian Bible. You have appointed yourself and your cronies as prophets of God and have chosen to force feed your judgements to those who pay your salery.
Screw you, your administration and your buddies. No living person has the right to appoint themselves as any God's personal judge. You do not represent me or my friends. Maybe you represent the bigoted, discrimination prone "Crackpot Christian's" but the last time a group followed an idiot so closely is when they all drank poison kool-aid, murdering their own children.
May you, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton and all the rest of you like minded self rightous pricks have to bear the burden of every child killed by munitions you so willingly send to Israel.
May you all burn in the very hell you are creating.
Israel's Inhumanity and U.S. Complicity in Genocide
The United States and France were supposed to be coming up with a reasonable way to end the crisis in Lebanon. I say "supposed to" because it obviously was not John Bolton's desire to end the crisis and the longer he insists on giving Israel everything it wants, the longer Israel has to smother an entire soveriegn nation...kill off the whole of Lebanon - women, children and all - for it's delusions of entitlement to posess the land that the Lebanese people have.
New York Times article
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 8 — Dr. Nadim Cortas saw the destruction wrought by Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, and the shortages of medical supplies that went with it.
But, he says, he never thought he would face a situation like this: the respirators and critical medical equipment in his hospital could soon come to a halt.
“This is the doomsday scenario,” said Dr. Cortas, dean of the faculty of medicine at the American University of Beirut and vice president for medical affairs. “We have about 10 days of power left,” he said.
Almost one month into the siege of Lebanon, with a land, sea and air blockade by Israel choking off the country, fuel reserves have all but dried up.
Two ships that were to offload more than 30,000 tons each of diesel fuel and fuel oil to crank the country’s power plants and generators have languished in Cyprus, unable or unwilling to enter Lebanese waters.
A large stockpile of fuel oil at the Jiyeh power plant, just south of Beirut, was lost when Israeli warplanes bombed it on the second day of the war, sending oil seeping into the Mediterranean Sea or catching fire, sending a thick plume over Beirut.
Even when authorities have been able to scrounge up diesel fuel to power generators, trucks have not been able to deliver it to hospitals in the south of the country because of bombed out roadways and continuing air strikes.
The most pessimistic estimates have the country running out of fuel for its power plants in a week; the most optimistic give Lebanon less than a month before the blackout.
It is bad enough that John Bolton refuses to allow any Arab input and is rejecting everything fair in this horrible demonstration of greed, but he actually allowed the Israelis to help draft the resolution which gave them all they wanted out of it. They can still ocupy Lebanon and continue doing damage as long as the U.S. refuses the call for an immediate ceasefire.
Nowhere have the shortages been more critical, though, than in Lebanon’s hospitals, many of which have been forced to close departments or turn away all but the most critical cases.
Kidney dialysis supplies have been running out, as have stocks of heart medications and nuclear medicine for diagnostic tests, Dr. Cortas said.
The potential loss of electrical power — both from the national utility, Électricité du Liban, and from in-house generators — poses the most catastrophic problem, he and others said.
“A hospital won’t stop working because it’s missing one or two medications — you simply find substitutes,” said Sleiman Haroun, head of Lebanon’s association of hospital owners, which has scrambled to find fuel and keep supply lines running. “But a hospital will grind to a halt if it’s out of fuel.”
The American University Hospital, the region’s pre-eminent medical research and treatment center, never closed its doors during the civil war or during numerous Israeli bombardments that followed. But even here, doctors and personnel have begun to fear a possible shutdown.
“We never thought we could get to ground zero in such a short time,” said George Tomey, who became acting president of the university when the school’s American and European staff evacuated at the beginning of the war. “I have been here for 40 years and this is the worst it has ever been.”
By Monday, 200 of the hospital’s 325 beds were occupied. There were between 8 and 12 patients in intensive care, 22 babies in critical condition in the neonatal ward and at least 37 casualties from the bombings in the south.
It could take up to 20 tons of diesel fuel a day to keep the hospital running if the main utility shuts down, says Dr. Haroun, the hospital association official. Even smaller hospitals need hundreds of gallons of diesel per day to stay powered, quantities that are becoming harder find.
“Hospitals typically store 20 day’s worth of fuel — now many have only two or three days,” Dr. Haroun said. “Sure you can eventually find one or two days’ worth. But then what?”
In Beirut, hospital administrators have agreed to funnel utility power to Beirut’s four largest hospitals and leave smaller hospitals powered by generators, said Dr. Cortas, the medical school dean.
That decision ensures diesel supplies remain with those hospitals, buying perhaps several more days. More drastic plans include gathering critical patients at one hospital that will get priority for diesel.
American University Hospital officials have also begun to lobby the United States to pressure Israel to allow oil tankers to sail into Beirut. The ships’ captains have refused to enter Lebanese waters without Israeli and United Nations guarantees. So far, however, the Israelis have not granted the ships safe passage, Mr. Asr said.
So this is our big plan for the Middle East? We shall have Israel kill off the Lebanese and Palestinians, that will eventually draw Syria and Iran into it and then we can jump in, irradiating every square inch of the ME with DU weapons like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan (which Israel is now doing, thanks to us) and kill off every Arab dissenter who believes that his/her home is worth fighting for.
America used to be the country to jump in and help to stop the insanity but now George W. Bush has his own entitlement delusions...
Middle Eastern oil is ours...the Arabs just occupied our fields before we got there.
The "Crackpot Christian's" or American Taliban...extremist Evangelicals...are looking forward to Armegeddon and thanking Bush for it. They see Israel's actions as rushing in the "second coming" of Jesus. Let us be clear on this...the MAN IS DEAD. There will be no redemption because of Israel's U.S. approved genocide. Any God who would approve of the actions of Israel is not a God of any kind of morality. Get over it and check your meds.
You can get your self rightious undies in a twist all you want and you can also call me whatever you like. I do not shrink from religious labeling because I know for a fact that any person with real faith and devotion to their beliefs will not stoop to playground rules and childish name calling. If that's the best you can do you are wasting your time.
Any person supporting Israels land grab is a traitor to humanity.
Lieberman's Loss
Tonight before the final tally of the CT. Democratic Primary, Joe Lieberman announced that he would run for his seat again as an Independent.
Now I consider myself a moderate, I try very diligently no to be extreme about too much...of course, I did argue to a friend last year that Tom Delay would be gone before his term was up and even won a whole one dollar bill from it (some things can be seen through Pagan eyes). Mostly, I say "to hell" with anything partisan because first and foremost I am an American, even if that is not much to be proud of anymore. Lieberman has proven one thing above all...
He does not give a rat's ass about what the people said loud and clear...they do not want him to represent them any longer (over 50% of registered voters turned out to send that message).
All Joe Lieberman's efforts are strictly about his wants. The wishes of the people do not count, their votes do not count, their trust does not count and his disloyalty does not count.
Is it that he wishes to help the Republican party in November by taking votes away from the Primary winner?
Is it because he has delusions of granduer that he is entitled to his office even if the people do not want his representation anymore?
Is he entitled because he is Jewish? He did spout off a while back that Jews should vote for him (and there was mention of those who didn't being Anti-Seme
itic).
Does he think that his religion entitles him to do anything he pleases, no matter how harmful, just like Israel and their campaign against the civilian people of Gaza and Lebanon?
NOT HARDLY...
I, unlike many others, am not afraid of labels or slurs so you can call me anti-semitic if you choose. My problem is not with a person for their religion but their actions.
Lieberman appears to be a traitor simply for the fact that his conceding statement basically told the voters...the people of Connecticut...that they do not matter because what Joe wants is more important. That is what is terribly wrong with those who are running America into the ground, profiting from wars of choice and gutting America's bank book.
Use religious excuses if you choose, it only shows you more for what you are...pathetic.
So long, Joe...you should have followed Ney's example (even if the GOP forced the issue).
The people of America are starting to voice it with gusto...
This country belongs to the people and no politician is entitled.
