By Malcolm Siret
After supplying Israel with £9bn worth of 'high tech weapons' in its war against Hizbollah - preceded by the Lebanese organisation capturing two Israeli soldiers on July 12-, the United States has now pledged to boost its Lebanese aid contribution to £121.4 million to help the country rebuild homes and infrastructure damaged in the intense weeks of bombings (22/08/06).
Why, then, would a superpower not only support the destruction of a country's infrastructure but also provide the means to do it – regardless of overwhelming condemnation from the majority of UN countries – while claiming to be working on an effective peace settlement?
Why, following the fragile cessation of attacks from both sides, would said superpower (and its poodle) offer millions in aid (Britain has so far pledged £12.5 million)? Funds, desperately needed to re-build southern Lebanon, will no doubt also be required to 'clean up' areas infested with US produced artillery such as unexploded cluster bombs threatening the lives of those returning to Nabatiyeh and its surrouding villages. Recent reports are already emphasizing the threat - and the potential escalation in casualties – posed by these devices to Lebanese civilians.
The US Executive Director of Amnesty International, Larry Cox, requested in an open letter to George W Bush on 14 August: 'We urge you to halt any shipment of cluster munitions because of the strong likelihood that such weapons would be used to commit serious violations of human rights or humanitarian law.'
He goes on to suggest: 'Cluster bombs scatter scores of bomblets over a wide area, typically the size of one or two football fields, without distinction between civilian and combatant. In most cases, these weapons also leave behind unexploded ordinance resulting in a severe threat to civilians similar to landmines.'
It's hardly surprising that the first shipment of US aid delivered to Beirut last month was met with ostracized remarks from senior aid officials: "I'm not sure American aid is very welcome." As Jeffrey Feltman (US Ambassador) claimed no embarrassment when donating aid to those injured by American-made munitions, Lebanese refugees were asking: "Why does President Bush send billions of dollars of weapons to Israel and hands the Lebanese a few boxes of food and blankets?"
