- Bush's word for the day? 'vacuum'
"Whatever happens in the U.N., we must not create a vacuum into which Hizbollah and its sponsors are able to move more weapons," Bush said.
[...]
"Sometimes the world likes to take the easy route in order to solve a problem. Our view is it's time to address the root causes of problems, and to create a vacuum ... is unacceptable."
It's hard to see how more weapons would be moved into Lebanon when the IDF has obliterated much of its infrastructure.
- Lebanon's prime minister Siniora gave a tear-filled statement to the Arab League meeting on Monday, once again calling for an immediate ceasefire. The Arab ministers are backing Siniora's request for changes to the draft UN resolution which would leave IDF troops in southern Lebanon. A vote on the resolution will probably not take place before Wednesday because the Security Council will now have to consider amendments submitted by Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel's Defence Minister is warning that if a diplomatic solution isn't agreed to quickly, Israel will seriously pump up its ground assualt.
- Quote of the day:
"Crushing Hizbollah is not like ordering pizza. It takes time."
Israeli Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser
- Via Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders):
"For many days, the concept of humanitarian corridors has been used to mask the reality: it is impossible to get a safe access to the villages in the south. The so-called corridor is a kind of alibi because in effect there is no real access for humanitarian organisations in the south. And the international community is deluding itself, if it believes there is.
"In practice, there is hardly any security for vehicles travelling to the south. The few UN convoys that managed to obtain security guarantees from the Israeli authorities deposited their cargos in warehouses before quickly escaping back to Beirut.
"This means that we do not have real access to the people most in need. By the same token, people who want to flee the affected region or seek help have no guarantees that they can do so safely, contrary to what is suggested by this talk of a humanitarian corridor."
- Antiwar activists arrested:
British police have arrested seven anti-war activists after three of them boarded a US military transport plane at an airport in Scotland to check if it was carrying weapons to Israel, a peace group says.
Anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares said its activists had cut through a perimeter fence at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow, on Monday and boarded a US plane to search for evidence of arms shipments to Israel.
- Lebanon's government has said it will send 15,000 troops into southern Lebanon.
- Reuters, responding to investigations by several right-wing bloggers over alleged photo manipulation by one of its freelance photgraphers, Adnan Hajj, has now said it has found a second altered image made by the same person. He was dismissed by Reuters on Sunday and the news agency has now withdrawn all of his photos (920 of them) from its database.
more to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment