LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
August 26/2006

Latest New from the Daily Star for August 26/06
Third Lebanese arrested in German bomb plot
Israel won't lift blockade until troops are in place
Jumblatt, Hamade meet with French officials to discuss international force
European nations pledge 7000 troops
'Future Movement rift' drove CDR chief to quitreport says PM tried to sideline Shalak
Majority of Lebanese believe Hizbullah won war
Our silence is complicity
Hamade: Syrian help an option in construction
Indian envoy for Mideast peace process makes solidarity visit to Lebanon
Israeli troops aid 16 people across border into Jewish state
What caused France to increase deployment?
US starts probe into Israel's use of cluster bombs
Report says Lebanon's GDP will fall 10-percent
Syrian ports gain from Lebanon blockade
Family of dead Hizbullah fighter grieves loss of sons
'Back to School' calendar a work in progress in war's aftermath
Lebanon can only count on itself to ensure its sovereignty is respected
63 percent of Israelis want Olmert gone
Lebanon success may see UN troops in Gaza
Engage Syria and Iran in order to save Lebanon -By Habib C. Malik
A ride into the heart of Baghdad's worst battle zones-By David Ignatius
Bringing the East River to the Middle East -By Rami G. Khouri
Latest New from miscellaneous sources for August 26/06
Syria cuts power supplies to Lebanon-Jerusalem Post
Europe Pledges 4,000 Troops for Lebanon-New York Times
Europeans make plans for Lebanon force-Olberlin 
UN: Cluster Bombs Litter South Lebanon-ABC News
Chirac: 15,000 Peacekeepers 'Excessive' ABC News
Lebanese PM Says Army Can Patrol Border-Washington Post
French troops bolster UN force in Lebanon Independent Online
US demands Syria abide by cease-fire-Jerusalem Post - Israel
lysis: Syria UN border warning-BBC News - UK
World survives, but solution on Iran is no closer-Sydney Morning Herald
Iran defends 'positive' atomic reply-NEWS.com.au
German Authorities Arrest Third Train Bomb Suspect-Bloomberg 
Analysis: Hezbollah and the Lebanon bill-Monsters and Critics.com
Syria Must Not Avoid Investigation-All Headline News

Hizbullah 'settles score' with SLA families
Eight Lebanese family members, former SLA members, arrive at northern border next to Metula Thursday, request to enter Israel following Hizbullah threats to hurt them. Defense minister instructs IDF to grant them entry, but until now, only one allowed to cross border
Hagai Einav Published: 08.24.06, 23:41
Drama on the northern border: Eight family members fromLebanon , former members of the Southern Lebanese Army , arrived Thursday afternoon within 10 meters of the border next to Metula and requested IDF authorization to enter into Israel following Hizbullah threats to cause them physical harm. It turns out that this is a real phenomenon in which Hizbullah members threaten family members of former SLA members.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed the IDF to grant the family members entry into Israel and ordered to offer them humanitarian aid, until their situation and the circumstances of their flight from Lebanon are examined. However, as of now, the eight have yet to gain entry into Israel.
An IDF force on the northern border reported the presence of the Lebanese refugees on the border to the commanders of the Northern Command and to the Kiryat Shmona police station. As of now, it has been decided that the issue will be handled only by the IDF. Some of the family members felt unwell because of the intense heat in the area, and residents of Metulla transferred bottles of cold water to them by way of the IDF.
Towards Thursday evening, one of the family members, who was severely wounded in his limbs and face 10 years ago when Hizbullah inserted explosives in his belongings, was brought into Israeli territory. This incident occurred while the man was collaborating with Israel.
A few days ago a 30 year-old Lebanese woman crossed the security fence in the Metula area along with her three children to reunite with
her husband, a former SLA member who left Lebanon with the IDF’s withdrawal from the country in May 2000. Following an IDF interrogation the woman spent a few hours at the Kiryat Shmona police station, where it was determined that she had no intention of carrying out an attack in Israel. The husband was eventually located and met with his family later that night.
It is estimated that families of former SLA members residing in south Lebanon have been subject to repeated threats of physical violence since the ceasefire came into effect.

Polls: Israelis Tired of Olmert, Shifting Back Toward Center
By Alex Traiman
Following perceived mismanagement of the war, Israelis believe top government and defense officials Olmert, Peretz and Halutz should be replaced. Voting tendencies are shifting from left to center.
Recent polls reveal that the public deems Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unfit to continue serving his post.
According to a poll published Friday in the Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot, 71 percent of the public believes Olmert is no longer competent to lead the country.
Sixty-three percent of Israelis believe that Olmert failed in managing the war in Lebanon, and should consequently resign.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz fared even worse than Olmert, with 74 percent saying he did not manage the war properly. Only 20 percent surveyed believed Peretz should remain in his post, and merely three percent believe Peretz, previously Israel’s top Labor Union chief, is suitable for the defense portfolio to begin with.
IDF Chief of Staff General Dan Halutz was also faulted by the public. Just over 54 percent of those surveyed believe Halutz should resign for Israel’s failure to defeat Hizbullah’s terrorist army.
Support for the current leftist government coalition is weak as well, with only 19 percent saying the current coalition should remain in power. Only 27 percent, however, favor early elections.
Public Shifting From Left to Center
According to a poll conducted by Ma’agar Mohot, broadcast Thursday night on Israel’s Channel 2, Kadima’s stronghold of 29 Knesset mandates would drop to merely 14 if new elections were held. The Labor party would drop significantly as well.
Both Labor and Kadima have withdrawals from Judea and Samaria at the top of their diplomatic agendas.
Conversely, support for center-right parties more than doubled. In new elections both Likud and Israel Beiteinu would achieve 24 Knesset mandates. Likud would increase to 24 from its current 12 seats. Israel Beiteinu, led by Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, would grow from 11 mandates.
The results for the Channel 2 poll are as follows:
Likud 24;
Israel Beiteinu 24;
Kadima 14;
Labor 9.
In a separate Ma’agar Mohot commissioned earlier in the week for the Hebrew newspaper Israeli, hypothetical elections results were as follows:
Kadima 23;
Likud 20;
Israel Beiteinu 15;
Shas 13;
National Union-National Religious Party 12;
Labor 12.
A Smith Poll, broadcast on Channel 2 revealed the following results:
Israel Beiteinu 16;
Likud 14;
Kadima 11;
Labor 10.
In the Smith poll, Likud could achieve as many as 20 Knesset seats if former IDF Chief of Staff replaced current Likud Chairman Benyamin Netanyahu.
Both the Yediot Ahronot poll, as well as a Teleseeker poll published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv similarly showed Likud achieving 20 mandates, with Netanyahu as chairman.
Friday’s Yediot poll results:
Likud 20;
Israel Beiteinu 17;
Kadima 17;
Labor 11.
The Yediot poll revealed that Likud’s Netanyahu would win national elections with 22 percent of the votes, and Israel Beiteinu’s Avigdor Lieberman would secure 18 percent. Both Kadima’s Olmert and Labor’s Shimon Peres would receive merely 12 percent.
If Olmert and Netanyahu were the only two candidates in the elections, those surveyed said they would vote overwhelmingly for Netanyahu, with 45 percent as opposed to just 24 percent for Olmert.

Europe Antes Up for International Force in Lebanon
By Alex Traiman
France pledged 2,000 troops to a UN force soon to be deployed in southern Lebanon. The force, still short of its 15,000 troop mandate, will attempt to help the Lebanese army control Hizbullah.
French President Jacques Chirac announced Thursday that France would send an additional 1,600 soldiers to the international armed force as European nations struggle to meet the minimum commitment of soldiers brokered by the United Nations Security Council to maintain a ceasefire.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 calls for the deployment of 15,000 troops to help control southern Lebanon. The troops were supposed to be deployed nearly two weeks ago, alongside the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
“Two extra battalions will go on to the ground to extend our numbers within UNIFIL [United Nations International Force in Lebanon],” Chirac said. “Two thousand French soldiers are thus placed under blue helmets in Lebanon.”
Blue helmets are worn by the UN forces which have been present in southern Lebanon since 1978. During the past six years of UNIFIL's deployment, following Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hizbullah amassed a weapons collection of over 12,000 rockets.
Four hundred French troops have already arrived in the region.
“I am convinced today that French soldiers can be deployed effectively,” Chirac stated.
France was one of the major diplomatic players involved in drafting the ceasefire resolution, pushing for the international force to total 15,000. France’s pledge comes days after an Italian commitment of 3,000 soldiers, and an offer to lead the international force.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has been meeting diplomats across Europe to speed up the deployment of troops to the region.
“The extremists who want to inflame the region are watching us, and this will test the strength and determination of the international community,” Livni said in a meeting with her Italian counterpart Massimo D’Alema, in Rome, on Thursday.
Representatives of the European Union would like the force to be deployed within a week, although troop commitments are still several thousand short.
“We would like to see the first reinforcements for UNIFIL arrive within a week if possible,” said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja. Finland currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
Countries have been hesitant to commit troops to the region, as the force’s mandate remains unclear. According to the Security Council resolution, international forces are meant to support the Lebanese army’s deployment in dealing with Hizbullah.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the international force would be permitted to use “deadly force” in its mandate to defend itself and provide protection for civilians. In addition, UNIFIL will be expected to help the Lebanese Army ensure that neighboring Syria does not bolster Hizbullah’s arm supply.
Lebanon has pledged 15,000 troops to the south. Yet, with 35 Hizbullah members currently serving in the Lebanese parliament, and statements by Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fuad Saniora praising Hizbullah for defending the nation, it is doubtful if Lebanese troops will attempt to disarm the terrorist organization.
In an interview with the Israeli Hebrew daily newspaper, Haaretz, Italian Foreign Minister D’Alema said that any international efforts to disarm Hizbullah must be initiated by Lebanon.
“This essentially depends on the Lebanese,” D’Alema said. “If the government of Lebanon wants to, it is certainly possible, and we must encourage the government of Lebanon. We cannot act against the will of the Lebanese government.“If, with the assistance of a UN and European presence, a positive process begins in Lebanon - the country is stabilized and the fundamentalist threat is removed from Israel's borders - that will show people in Israel that the international community can be efficient, that Europe can be efficient,” D’Alema stated. “Such a process would prove to Israel that it can ensure its security better through the politics of peace than through war. The main problem is that in Israeli politics, peace and security are two different, often contradictory things."

At Funeral, a Sunni Village Condemns Hezbollah’s Presence
(Photo) Residents of Marwaheen, Lebanon, at a funeral Thursday for 23 victims of the war. Many blame Hezbollah for drawing attacks on their town.
August 25, 2006
South Lebanon
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
MARWAHEEN, Lebanon, Aug. 24 - For months, the residents of this predominantly Sunni village near the Israeli border watched anxiously as the Shiite Hezbollah militiamen brought arms and rockets into town in preparation for battle. The residents grappled with whether they should accept the fighters' presence and face a possible Israeli attack or try to eject them, with the more probable risk of retribution by Hezbollah.
On Thursday, as the village buried 23 people who were killed by Israeli warplanes while trying to flee on July 15, many had belatedly made up their mind.
"We kept beseeching them, 'Stay out! Stay out!' " said Zainab Ali Abdullah, 19, who lost her father, brother and several other members of the family in the attack. "They said, 'We're all in the same boat together, so deal with it.' But why should our children die for their cause?"
Hundreds of people gathered here on Thursday to lay to rest the last bodies that had been left at a temporary mass grave in Tyre, burying them in a grave site on the edge of a tobacco field overlooking a valley in an emotional ceremony that brought much-needed closure to the town's ordeal. The bodies had languished in the temporary grave for more than a week after the cease-fire, until the residents decided it was safe to return.
For many, the gathering on Thursday also became a chance to air grievances against Hezbollah, whom they blame for having brought trouble to their quiet community.
Criticism of Hezbollah is rare in southern Lebanon, where the group exercises significant influence and economic power. Villages like Marwaheen - which largely supports the Future Movement of Saad Hariri, son of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - often miss out on Hezbollah's largess but pay the price for its politics. "There is no way for us to stop them," said Ibrahim, who lost several relatives in the attack and who asked that his last name not be
used for fear of retribution. "These are not people you can say no to."
On July 15, Israeli loudspeakers across the border warned villagers to evacuate after Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel from near the town. The families gathered in the center of the village and then went to a nearby United Nations base for shelter, but, they said, they were turned away. Many returned to the village, but one group, including Ms. Abdullah, drove in two cars in the direction of Tyre, a larger coastal town that they hoped would be safer.
About five miles away, one of the vehicles broke down, Ms. Abdullah said, and was soon struck by a shell from an Israeli gunboat. Israeli helicopters then fired rockets at both cars and continued with machine gun fire, she said. Only four people survived the attack, she said, including herself, her niece Lara, who lost her entire family, and two neighbors.
Ms. Abdullah said she walked with shrapnel wounds in her leg and stomach for an hour and a half to get help. The town's troubles began sometime last year when a local resident who had converted to Shiism was appointed the local representative of Hezbollah, residents said. Soon strange things began to occur: strangers came through for late-night meetings; trucks would come and go in the middle of the night; and a suspicious-looking white van was parked at each end of the village.
When the war broke out, rockets flew out of the village and a hilltop nearby, and the fears of many residents that trouble would come grew stronger.
On Thursday, one of the suspicious white vans was sitting next to the town mosque. The van had apparently been hit by an Israeli missile, but the launching platform for a Katyusha rocket could still be seen inside. A rocket that lay next to the van a few days earlier had been removed.
Elsewhere, villagers showed off a weapons dump that included heavy machine guns, mortar rockets and launchers, and numerous other rockets left behind. Part of the weapons store had been bombed, but a much larger store down the street was intact. Residents said Hezbollah was using them as human shields. "One man in this village was able to turn all our lives upside down for just a bit of money," Ibrahim said. When the villagers left, he said, the fighters did too, as evidenced by the limited damage done to the town. "We want the army and the United Nations to come in here and protect us," he said. "Israel is our enemy, but the problem is that Hezbollah gave them an excuse to come in and kill our children." In an emotional two-hour burial, a train of ambulances carrying the bodies drove into town with sirens blaring and recitation from the Koran playing over loudspeakers. Survivors ran to the vehicles.
"That was my dad," Ms. Abdullah said pointing at a poster on a wall in town depicting her family members who were killed. "That was my brother, and that is his family. I wish God had taken me with them." Ms. Abdullah stood outside as the coffins were carried to a makeshift staging ground for the burials, waving farewell to each body as it was carried past. "Farewell, father," she cried as his coffin moved past, fighting off her cousins who tried to hold her back. "Farewell, brother, I
will miss you."

Europe Pledges 6,500 Troops for Lebanon
Sign In to E-Mail This Print Reprints Save
By CRAIG S. SMITH
Published: August 25, 2006
BRUSSELS, Aug. 25 — At least 6,500 European troops have been pledged to the expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, and more commitments may be received by the end of the day, Secretary General Kofi Annan said today.
“The firm commitments we have received from several governments in the last few days have given me confidence that we can begin to put together the kind of force that the Security Council has authorized,” Mr. Annan said, calling the commitments the “credible core” called for by the U.N. resolution authorizing the force.
Erikki Tuomioja, a senior Finnish official, told reporters at a news conference here, “European contributions add up at this point to 6,500 to 9,600 troops, plus naval and air support.”
The planned total troop strength of the force is 15,000. “More than half the force has been pledged today,” Mr. Annan told reporters.
He said the United Nations had received serious offers of troops from countries outside Europe as well, including Malaysia and Indonesia, and that he was consulting with Turkey about whether it would contribute.
Mr. Annan said the expanded force will be commanded by France at first and Italy later.
France, which commands the small current peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, will lead the expanded version until February, Mr. Annan said. Italy will then take over on the command on the ground. In addition, he said, he intended to appoint an Italian general to head a strategic office at United Nations headquarters in New York that will provide military guidance to the force.
The decision on a joint command rewards Italy for leaping into the diplomatic breach in recent days with bold promises of troops and leadership while other European countries hesitated. And it avoids embarassment for France, which was initially expected to take the lead but soon drew criticism for being slow to commit more troops.
Mr. Annan’s presence at the ministers’ meeting today underscores the urgency of getting additional peacekeepers on the ground in Lebanon to cement a fragile cease-fire. Still, Mr. Annan gave a positive assessment of the situation.
“The cessation of hostlities has, on the whole, held remarkably well,” he said. “Israeli forces are withdrawing progressively from south Lebanon, and the Lebanese Armed Forces are moving in.”
Mr. Annan said that, after hot debate among U.N. officials and prospective contributors to the force, agreement has been reached on new rules of engagement. They authorize the peacekeepers to use force against anyone preventing them from doing their job.
“If, for example, combatants, or those illicitly moving weapons, forcibly resist a demand from them, or from the Lebanese army, to disarm,” the secretary general said, armed force could be used.
He added, however, that disarming Hezbollah — a central goal of U.N. resolutions on Lebanon — “is not going to be done by force.”
The expanded peacekeeping force’s mandate is to support the Lebanese Army in enforcing the U.N. resolutions. But disarmament of Hezbollah “has to be achieved through negotiation, and an internal Lebanese consensus, a political process, for which the new Unifil is not, and cannot be, a substitute,” Mr. Annan said.
He said that within 30 days he would make recommendations to the Security Council on ways to resolve the political situation that led to the crisis. He said he would visit Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories next week.
In Russia, the government was reported to be considering dispatching Russian troops to join the force in Lebanon. The newspaper Kommersant, citing unnamed sources, said a decision could be made soon.
Russia’s defense minister, Sergei B. Ivanov, made clear that the question was being considered but said that no decision had been made yet. “It is not yet clear what the status of the peacekeeping force is, what their rights are, what they should do there, and what mandate they have,” he told reporters during a visit to the country’s Far East, Interfax reported.
It is unlikely that Russia’s military, whose manpower and budget are already stretched thin, would be able to send a significant force.
Russia has sent peacekeepers to a number of distant countries in the past, including Bosnia and Kosovo, where they operated beside NATO forces. Mostly, though, Russia has kept its largest contingents of peacekeepers close to home, in conflict areas of what was once the Soviet Union, including Moldova and Georgia. In both those cases, the Russians have been accused of siding with breakaway regions opposed to the central governments.
Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Moscow for this article.

French troops bolster UN force in Lebanon
August 25 2006 at 11:54AM
By Ines Bel Aiba
Naqura, Lebanon - Another 170 French troops arrived in southern Lebanon Friday to reinforce UN peacekeepers along the border with Israel as part of an enlarged force of 2 000 promised by President Jacques Chirac.
As crowds of residents crowded balconies around the Mediterranean port of Naqura, the French amphibious assault craft Foudre stood off the coast of the border town, reports said.
Several landing craft transported the soldiers and their trucks, bulldozers, dump trucks, generators and water purification equipment ashore.
'The French decision will help boost European participation'
"This reassures me. The number of troops is not important, it's what they can do, if they can protect the Lebanese or not," said Ali Taher, as he watchedfrom the rooftop of a nearby house under construction with a group of friends as the French troops sailed ashore.
"Israel always comes here, destroys everything, and burns everything. I don't want this anymore, we have the right to live. Why can Israeli and French people live in peace, but not the Lebanese?" asked the 47-year-old man.
The soldiers, specialists in demining and reconstruction, will be under the command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), Admiral Xavier Magne said.
"They... are basically preparing the ground for further deployments. Their role is to prepare for further deployment, check for landmines and prepare facilities for future troops," Unifil spokesperson Alexander Ivanko said.
Asked about difficulties that might obstruct a smooth UN deployment, he said: "the Israelis are withdrawing, the ceasefire is holding well and there have been only minor incidents reported."
Colonel Christophe Issac, the commanding officer of the engineering detachment, said the mission of the soldiers will be to support the deployment of Unifil and Lebanese army forces in southern Lebanon.
He also said one of their main tasks will be to help clear landmines.
"The different protagonists left behind a certain amount of unexploded ordnance, whether unexploded bomblets, anti-personnel or anti-tank mines, or various explosive devices," he said.
"It is a gigantic task that we will have to work at in the days to come."
A first contingent of 49 engineers arrived on Saturday. France already had 200 troops serving with Unifil, and President Jacques Chirac promised Thursday to enlarge the force to 2 000.
The UN force is seen as crucial in shoring up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah that came into effect August 14 after more than a month of fierce fighting.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 34 days of fighting, the ineffectual UN force is to be expanded from about 2 000 to up to 15 000 troops to help monitor the ceasefire.
EU foreign ministers were due to meet in Brussels later Friday to nail down troop offers from member states. Italy may contribute up to 3 000 troops, and Spain 800. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said Friday France's decision to enlarge its troop presence will bolster European participation and help consolidate stability in the country. "Undoubtedly, the French decision will help boost European participation," Siniora said in a statement.
"In turn, this will help speed up the formation of the international force, which along with the Lebanese army, will protect civilians and achieve security and stability," he said. The deployment of the French troops "helps strengthen stability in Lebanon and allows the country to regain its territories through an Israeli withdrawal and the extension of state authority over all territories," he said. - Sapa-AFP

Fri, 25 Aug 2006
From: "Anwar Wazen" <anwarwazen@yahoo.com>
To: clhrf@yahoo.com
Stop desecrating the dead
A disturbing practice has been vaunted on Arab TV networks , Arab newspapers , arab tabloids and most recently on the internet : Pictures and newsreel footages of dead children whose bodies riddled with shrapnels , bullets and rubble are held up from the feet by bearded fellows telling the world viewers : In your face .
The corpses were brandished in front of reporters and re-transmitted in real time by Al Jazeera TV , Hizbolla’s al Manar TV and other Lebanese and Arab networks . The same pictures were shown again and again to the millions of viewers around the world with no respect whatsoever for any ethical standard or the sanctity of the innocent children who perished in the 33 days Israeli/Hizbolla war . Have there ever been a clean war ? Are we to expect a bed of roses after wars , any war ? Hizbolla’s “jihadists” were caught red handed in some villages of south Lebanon lobbying missiles at Israel’s cities from Lebanese civilian areas then running to take cover in tunnels dug underground .The civilian population, families with their children , were caught in the crossfire and innocent lives were lost in the shelling .In other words Hizbolla fighters were cowardly using mothers , children and their fleeing car convoys as human shields . Israel’s tanks , airplanes and firepower may have bombed indiscriminately , war is a dirty business : you kill before you’re killed , and when your enemy is lobbying missiles at your cities from atop a house or from the basement of an apartment block you bomb the hell out that house or basement . In the military lexicon it is as simple as that .There is no doubt that Israel have committed mistakes but the Arab media and Hizbolla’s propaganda machine made sure that those young and innocent lives were slaughtered twice .
The same ignominous pictures are circulating now on the net in the form of pps. and wmv. files . My e-mail box has been flooded on a daily basis with nauseating images courtesy of Hizbolla & co’s propaganda network . By not letting those young souls rest in peace , Hizbolla and other internet naïve pundits want to make sure the world buys this cheap and appalling propaganda . This must stop . The international community should come up with harsh measures preventing the media and internet users from disseminating such disgraceful and despicable material .
The dead deserve not only a sheet to cover them up respectfully but also harsh measures to be enforced against whoever desecrates them after they die. Zarqawi’s throat slitting videos were banned from the internet , why can’t we impose strict measures on the Arab media to exercise some self discipline or at least to warn the viewers that such pictures and /or film footages might be disturbing . As for the internet users , strict monitoring should be applied and whoever is caught originating , propagating and /or circulating such material desecrating the dead should be prosecuted and brought to justice .
Knowing that sooner or later Israel would open the gates of hell on Lebanon if provoked , mullah Hassan Nassrallah should have been keeping busy building fortified underground shelters to protect the population of south Lebanon with part of the hundred of millions of dollars he received for years from Iran . Instead , he was busy digging underground tunnels and holes to protect like rats his “ mujahiddin” . Mullah Nassralla built his State within the State of Lebanon , he failed in one important aspect though : protecting the families and children of south Lebanon . He should get quickly on the job of building those shelters before he triggers the next round of devastation and destruction .
Anwar Wazen -Brussels-Aug 25th , 2006

Engage Syria and Iran in order to save Lebanon
By Habib C. Malik -Commentary by
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Iran's month-long war with Israel on Lebanese soil has created significant opportunities for more ambitious and comprehensive progress on several pending Middle Eastern fronts. Eventually, the aim must be to secure the optimal conditions for a lasting peace between Israel and its two northern neighbors, Syria and Lebanon.
The prerequisites to reaching this objective are varied. They must entail a serious dialogue between the United States and Iran over the latter's nuclear program and a host of related issues that include future Iranian influence in Iraq, Iran's relations with Syria, and Iran's support for Hizbullah. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, writing on July 31 in The Washington Post, nearly said as much. American and European interests, not to mention the wellbeing of all Arab states, particularly in the Gulf, are best served through US-Iranian dialogue, not confrontation.
An Iranian-American dialogue with a view to resolving peacefully the Iran nuclear issue is itself an indispensable requirement for the resumption of the Middle East peace process based on the tested principle of land for peace bilaterally pursued - a kind of Madrid Two.
This time the carrots to be offered Syria in order to pry it loose from the Iranian clutch will not include a free hand in Lebanon, which proved a worse remedy than the disease it was intended to cure, even under the best-case scenario of benign Finlandization. The nostalgia in some Israeli quarters for that cozy arrangement will have to give way to a new approach. By investing so much to remove Syria from Lebanon, the Bush administration is not about to reverse itself on the policy of containing Damascus. Nor is all the current positive international focus on Lebanon about to culminate absurdly in such a reversal.
Instead, Syrian cooperation must be rewarded with the ending of its diplomatic isolation paving the way for an avalanche of foreign investments, the softening of the impact of the Brammertz investigation, the opening up of Saudi coffers, and, eventually, the return of the Golan Heights in exchange for a full-fledged peace treaty, normalization and security guarantees given Israel. In Lebanon's case, the package leading up to final peace will include Israel's yielding the Shebaa Farms, an exchange of prisoners, final demarcation of the Blue Line, making Israeli landmine maps available to the Lebanese, and iron-clad security guarantees on Israel's northern border.
Lebanon benefited from three factors as it endured the hardships and devastation of the war of summer 2006: overwhelming international attention and sustained support; no return to civil strife; and the absence of Syrian troops on Lebanese soil. While Lebanon's internal politics remain fragile and vulnerable, it is not too late to broaden the base of political participation to make it more inclusive of large portions of the Lebanese communal spectrum that felt sidelined following the June 2005 parliamentary elections. Lebanon functions best when it strives for internal political balance among its factions and sectarian constituencies, something regrettably missing in the current political configuration.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
Moreover, the prevailing tendency in certain quarters to continue to pick a fight with Damascus despite Syria's physical departure from Lebanon in April 2005 is unhealthy and counterproductive. If regional and international trends toward lasting peace gather momentum in the coming weeks and months, Lebanon stands a good chance of finally breaking that infernal cycle where it is periodically destroyed, thanks to time bombs like an armed Hizbullah or armed Palestinians embedded within its fabric, intended at a future date to ignite further cycles of violence and destruction. This vicious sequence no longer serves the interests of the big powers, least of all the US.
Rarely does a clear victor emerge after an asymmetrical engagement like the one that pitted Israel against Hizbullah. Hizbullah's fighters no doubt performed well on the battlefield, but their "victory" was a pyrrhic one at best given the incredible destruction that the party's institutions and the Shiite community throughout the country endured. The myth of the "balance of terror," laboriously inculcated by Hizbullah into the minds of its young and impressionable followers has, one hopes, been shattered by the awful realities of what transpired on the ground. Not only Lebanon's Shiites, but everyone in the country, paid too heavy a price and suffered grievously from this obvious imbalance in terror.
And yet, since we do live in a predominantly shame-based culture in which issues of honor, dignity and integrity permeate the collective psyche and determine individual as well as group mindsets, there is a benefit to be derived from cultivating a sense of victory among those of the weaker party. Negotiations resulting in enduring settlements of intractable disputes often occur following such feelings of triumph, whatever their validity. It is not so much a question of Hizbullah giving up its arms but rather yielding the decision to use them unilaterally, or according to the instructions of a foreign agenda, to the Lebanese government, of which the party is, and can continue to be, a part.
The silver lining in the inconclusive outcome of the recent clashes in Lebanon is precisely that new opportunities of historic proportions loom large on the horizon of the troubled Middle East. Momentous issues like an impending nuclear Iran and the potential loss by the US to Russia of its European energy markets - the US now being the main transporter of petroleum products out of the Gulf - make the swift and peaceful resolution of the outstanding conflicts in the eastern Mediterranean imperative. It is the challenge today facing bold and creative diplomacy to seize the moment and propel the region toward an era of lasting peace.
**Habib C. Malik teaches history and cultural studies at the Lebanese American University, Byblos campus. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.