Bombing Damage Worth Billions, Says Lebanon

[Purveyor]

The Lebanese Government says three weeks of Israeli bombardment has inflicted $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) of damage on Lebanon's infrastructure.

As Australians in Lebanon are urged to get on board what will possibly be the last government-chartered evacuation ship from Beirut, Lebanon's Transport and Public Works Minister has detailed the damage to infrastructure which has impeded the refugees' escape.

Israel launched a bombing campaign and ground incursions into Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

The bombardment has cut off many roads, bridges and flyovers in the south and east of the country as well as putting the country's only international airport and ports out of action.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1704482.htm

[William769]

1. Well they have an easy way of stopping it.

[Emit]

8. They do? n/t

[shain from kane]

2. Actually, the damage is worth nothing. It's that re-building that's going

to cost you.

[QuestionAll...]

3. the damage is worth a lot to arms investors.

ca ching ca ching! wohooo!
:sarcasm:

[uppityperson]

5. very good.

thank you for the laugh.

[TahitiNut]

4. Just one 500lb bomb is more than ten times as destructive as one Katyusha

While there's acknowledgement of the 'disproportional' character of this conflict, I've not seen anything approaching a fair perspective presented on how enormously disproportional it really is. The media is full of questionable P/R claims of "over 1,000 Hizb'allah rockets in 24 hours" and references to IDF "airstrikes," the rhetoric fails to convey the incredible imbalance. The firepower of a single "airstrike" can, in many instances, totally dwarf the destructive force of even "1,000 Katyusha rockets."

I'm far from being the sharpest military knife in the drawer, but the overwhelming bias (selective amplification and trivialization) in the media is astonishing, even after more than 6 years of corporafascist excesses.

For example, nowhere have I seen any acknowledgement of the necessary Fabian tactics that must be employed by Hizb'allah in using their mobile rocket launchers - the need to launch from a nexus of escape routes - the need to launch in 30-60 seconds after setup and then bug out withing another 30 seconds - the need to escape arial surveillance - etc.

[Purveyor]

6. The $2B estimate is less than we send to israel in welfare

payments.

I suggest next years 'handout' be addressed to the Lebanon gov't/people.

[MoseyWalker]

7. How much is a life worth? n/t