Hezbollah-Israel conflict

this blog is ported from my geogworks website

Just a short note on the war. At long last just this Monday August 14, a UN-brokered ceasefire materialized. It's good that Israel respected the UN, we know that Israel as a state, was created by the UN, reason enough for Israel to consider the UN ceasefire initiative, or else the UN may declare sanctions against Israel. I really haven't followed much on the conflict what with my busy schedule. It is on my opinion that the ceasefire should hold forever and that Israel be given the bulk of the job in restructuring and rebuilding the infrastructure.

As I can see it, the reason for Israel to bomb the infrastructure and hold hostage Lebanese cities and towns is a strategic decision to really cripple Lebanon, not to Hezbollah alone. Putting religion aside, this war has geopolitical underpinnings. Lebanon, a country of around 4 million is in the crossroads of trade and culure exchange since when, prehistoric times maybe. Its strategic location north of Israel, south of Turkey, west of Syria, and east of Cyprus really is an asset. Its religion is more or less 50-50 split between Islam and Christianity--supposedly the only country where two conflict-ridden religions coexisted peacefully. Israel aside, its the most Westernized country in the Middle East. On its natural resources, notable is the resource of water which is significant in a water-deficit region. For that, maybe Israel really wants to extend its sphere of influence to Lebanon. The Lebanese government as we know, is weak, what with the civil war in the 80s and the volatile governments of the 90s. Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization within Lebanon, though its mantra of pulverizing the state of Israel makes it indeed one (a terrorist organization) among the eyes of some. It is allied with Iran and Syria, yes, but who can blame them? If a government is weak, some factions of its society particularly the one with military resources will occupy the vacuum of power.