Violence in the Middle East

"Once again Lebanon is paying the price for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Raja Kamal wrote July 19, 2006, in the Chicago Tribune.

"For the last 40 years, Lebanon has been the battleground for numerous regional power brokers. Syria, Israel, Iran, the Palestinians and their proxies have used Lebanon to score political points and send messages. Meanwhile, Lebanon continues to bleed. The latest sad escalation is yet another blow to fragile Lebanon that has only recently started to recover from a lengthy civil war and the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the popular former prime minister.

"The current dispute, triggered by Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, illustrates the explosive nature in the region. The response of Israel, as the record would indicate, was swift and disproportionately forceful," Kamal wrote.

External Links

Profiles

• "Middle East Crisis: In Depth", BBC.
• "Lebanon News" and "Turmoil in Mideast," New York Times.
• The Daily Star, Lebanon.

Weblogs

• Beirut Notes Blogspot.
• Beirut Spring Blogspot.
• Blogging the Middle East.
• Cold Desert Blogspot.
• Lebanese Blogger Forum.
• Lebanese Political Journal Blogspot.
• Manamania / Cedar Seed LiveJournal from Beirut, Lebanon.
• Thawrah's Den Blogspot.

Timelines

• Victoria Kent, "Crisis in the Middle East, day by day," Toronto Star (Canada) (with Reuters), July 22, 2006. Timeline begins June 9, 2006.
• "Timeline of events in Lebanon," Al Jazeera, July 22, 2006. Reverse timeline.

Articles & Commentary

• Robert Parry, "The Abyss Beckons," consortiumnews.com, July 18, 2006.
• Nicholas D. Kristof, "Feeding the Enemy," New York Times (The Progressive American), July 18, 2006.
• Raja Kamal, "In whose best interest? Lebanon: Its saga just keeps on going," Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2006.
• Mark Sandalow, Analysis: "Bush's vision, and the region, appear to be near collapse," San Francisco Chronicle, July 19, 2006.
• Jon Ponder, "Katrina II: Bush’s Faltering Response to Middle East War Is a Disaster in the Making," Pensito Review, July 19, 2006.
• Joe Conason, "Our coarse president can't fix the Middle East. Incompetence hindering progress in the region," WorkingForChange, July 19, 2006.
• Robert Parry, "A New War Frenzy," consortiumnews.com, July 20, 2006.
• "Israel troops clash with Hezbollah fighters," Agence France Presse (News.com.au), July 20, 2006.
• Jad Mouawad and Steven Erlanger, "Fighting rages on in southern Lebanon," New York Times/International Herald Tribune, July 20, 2006.
• Hassein Dakroub, "Israel Won't Rule Out Full-Scale Invasion," Associated Press (Forbes), July 20, 2006.
• "Have a Happy World War III," PRWatch, July 20, 2006. Source: Inter Press Service.
• "Hezbollah defies Israeli pressure," BBC, July 21, 2006.
• Lee Keath, "Israel Preparing Lebanon Ground Offensive," Associated Press (ABC News), July 21, 2006.
• "Israeli air force pounds Beirut," BBC, July 21, 2006.
• "Israel continues to pound Lebanon; 500,000 displaced," People's Daily Online (China), July 21, 2006.
• Barney Porter, "Lebanon warns army could join Hezbollah fighters," ABC News (Australia), July 21, 2006.
• "Muslims in Asia protest Israeli attacks on Lebanon," Associated Press (The Hindu), July 21, 2006.
• Matt Moore, "Israeli Army Calls Up More Reserve Troops," Associated Press (Washington Post), July 21, 2006.
• Sam Ghattas, "Battles rage in Lebanon amid signs Israel moving to carve out new buffer zone," Canadian Press, July 21, 2006.
• Robert Fisk, "Once again, truth is the first casualty of war. The exchange rate for Lebanese vs Israeli deaths now stands at 10 to one," The Independent (UK), July 22, 2006.
• Andrew Burgin, "Reaction: 'If Israel is behaving like a psychotic bullying child, Britain and the US are like its mad tattooed parents'," The Independent (UK), July 22, 2006.
• "The race to destroy Hezbollah before the world calls for peace," Times Online (UK), July 22, 2006: "The Lebanese bodies are piling up and Israeli civilians are cowering in their bunkers, but the two enemies will stop at nothing."
• Benjamin Harvey, "Israeli tanks, troops point to invasion," Chicago Sun-Times, July 22, 2006.
• Borzou Daragahi, "Radical Shiites in Baghdad Rally for Hezbollah. Leaders condemn Israel and the U.S., and demand action by the U.N. or Arab League," Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2006.

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