Thursday, August 10, 2006

The tragic story of Lebanon and the Middle East

So it all started off on July 12, when Hizbullah guerillas caputerd 2 Israeli soldiers during fighting close to the Lebanese- Israeli border. Following that, Israeli newspapers headline the capturing of 2 soldiers as an "act of war" and they threaten to bomb Lebanon "back 20 years," and that is when the first air strikes were fired in southern Lebanon. The casualties on the Lebanese side of the border have surpassed 1000, with the majority being civilians. Whereas, about 121 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed. But who knew within a few weeks, the Israeli forces will bomb Lebanon back 50 years?

Many people around the world are actually shocked at the "invasion" of Lebanon. First of all, especially in the United States, except for the Palestinian and Israeli conflict or for that matter, any war in the world in which the US is involved in or has been involved in directly, people are oblivious of other conflicts that have taken place or are taking place. I could guarantee you, if you ask someone on the street or conduct a poll, 1 out of 20 people might know the history of the Lebanese Israeli conflict and that this war stems back to 1982 . The average person had no idea that something of this magnitiude could come about during such a time where the only focus of the media seemed to be on places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea. Hey, Im pretty sure N. Korea's happy! All eyes have been diverted, but I dont think it will be for too long because the US government and/or media never really needs an excuse to attract attention to any part of the world whenever they wish.

The Mideast Crisis today is definitely a deja vu for those who remember the 1982 Lebanese War. Its a haunting reminder for them, that what is yet to come, may be much worse than what came 2 decades ago. Whereas even for us, the younger generation and students of history and current affairs, who have only lived through atrocities of the War in Iraq, Afghanistan and the constant violence in Palestine, this violence is bone chilling. We might be the next generation to live through what may be the next World War.

Thats it for today...im done....but this definitely isnt the last of my posts on the invasion of Lebanon. Till next time...peace in the Middle East!

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