Word: southernization
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Sooner or later, when you're dropping tons of bombs every day, you end up hitting something you didn't mean to. In 1996, during its "Grapes of Wrath" campaign against Hizballah in southern Lebanon, Israel inadvertently shelled a U.N. refugee camp at Qana, killing 106 people, a tragic mishap that brought overwhelming pressure to end the campaign. Israel's strike on a U.N. position in southern Lebanon Tuesday that killed four peacekeepers may not bring a swift end to its offensive against Hizballah, but it highlights the deteriorating prospects for Israel and the U.S. to achieve their optimal outcome...
...There was substantial agreement in Rome, not surprisingly, on the need to send an international force to police southern Lebanon to allow for the Lebanese army to assume control of the border and for Hizballah to be disarmed. But how such that can be achieved remains highly contentious. Even if most of the international community wants an immediate cease-fire, it is powerless to effect one without the support of the U.S. - the only player capable of persuading Israel to call off its assault. Still, the way the military situation is evolving may actually give the Arabs and Europeans greater...
...Israelis have been bombing much of southern Lebanon, but Bint Jbeil - which commands a strategic height - has been a scene of intense shelling. Residents have been forced to flee to the town of Tibnine, southeast of Tyre, where they're holed up in the city's hospital. "Most of the houses have been destroyed," said Abou Alawi, describing how she ran from house to house as the Israelis bombed structure after structure...
...Hebrew, the word "merkava" means chariot, and the Israeli tank known as Merkava 4 is a mighty, steel-plated chariot of war. But in the stony hills of southern Lebanon, in battles where stealth is more valued than firepower, the chariot is reduced to being an ambulance, ferrying wounded commandos back across the border. And even then, the tank is proving to be less than invincible...
...Hizballah has given him the authority to negotiate on its behalf, Berri has taken a surprising position. His people say that Berri - and by extension Hizballah - would be willing to discuss all of the U.S. proposals, including using a multinational force to help the Lebanese government take control of southern Lebanon...