Thursday, July 27, 2006

CRS Report Warns Of Problems Ahead From Conflict Between Israel And Hezbollah

The U.S. standing in the way of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah battle could lead to nasty consequences for a lot of people.

Bad as it is, the Lebanon conflict could widen and worsen the longer it goes on, U.S. congressional analysts warn in an in-depth analysis of the crisis.

Open war between Israel and Syria will grow more likely, and Lebanon's old civil-war rivalries might re-ignite, the Congressional Research Service writes. Oil prices could spike, and the U.S. homeland will have to guard against new terror threats, says the report "Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah: The Current Conflict."(pdf)

The 41-page document, to be updated periodically as events unfold, is a briefing paper for Congress members and staff on the 2-week-old war that exploded with waves of Israeli air attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket salvos falling on Israel after the Shiite Muslim militia killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two others in a cross-border raid.

More than 400 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon thus far, and more than 40 Israelis have died, mostly soldiers.

The nonstop Israeli air and artillery bombardment appears not to have significantly reduced the arsenal of the Syrian-supported Hezbollah, since on Wednesday the Lebanese guerrillas fired one of their heaviest barrages yet, 119 rockets, into northern Israel. Syria's apparent continued resupply of Hezbollah could prove a flash point in the coming days or weeks, the congressional analysts warn.

3 Comments:

Blogger Peter Jacobs said...

Don't think for a moment that Israel does not have an agenda - this is the oddest 'self-defence' ... And do not think for a moment that that agenda is not fully supported by the US government.

7/27/2006 8:06 PM  
Blogger M1 said...

My wildest of guesses has me stating that few here harbor any such assumptions of agendas in the lacking.

But that's just a guess of the most irresponsible kind.

7/28/2006 2:13 PM  
Blogger Effwit said...

I gotta vote with Meatball One on this one.

7/28/2006 3:06 PM  

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