Word: beirutization
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...state within a state but almost as the state itself. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah initially held a press conference to outline his terms for a prisoner swap: the soldiers would be returned for Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. But Israel answered by bombing the runways at Beirut's international airport. Hizballah then began raining rockets on northern Israel. Although Nasrallah went into hiding along with other Hizballah leaders, he continues to issue statements, telling al-Jazeera TV, for example, that he was not harmed by what Israeli officials described as a 23-ton bomb attack on a suspected Hizballah...
...threat of worse to come--would cow Hizballah. In addition to maintaining a militia, the group functions as a political party and has a representative in the Lebanese Cabinet. Hizballah represents the traditionally downtrodden Shi'ites of Lebanon, who live mostly in the south and the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, areas Israel has hit hard. The bombardment has driven an estimated half a million Lebanese from their homes; many will have only rubble to return to. The strikes on infrastructure are meant not only to prevent Syria and Iran from resupplying Hizballah with rockets and launchers but also to warn...
Meanwhile, the war continues. The Israelis announced early on that they hoped to assassinate Nasrallah, whom they credit as a clever and potent adversary. Israeli forces last week dropped 23 tons of bombs on a bunker in Beirut where they believed he was hiding. Nasrallah appeared later in the taped TV interview, disappointing Israeli officials, who said they were still after him. Nasrallah's death would bring Jerusalem a huge symbolic victory. But Israel may eventually regret raising expectations that it will get him. (Ask George Bush about the wisdom of calling for Osama bin Laden's head.) "If Nasrallah...
...That was the emphasis of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's surprise stop in Beirut today, as she sought to make a dramatic show of support for Lebanese leaders staggering under the Israeli bombardment and siege. Rice had planned to fly to Jerusalem, but she diverted to Cyprus at about noon local time, boarded a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter manned by the U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit 24, the same unit that was the target of the Marine barracks bombing in 1983. Rice's chopper, armed with tripod-mounted machine guns, landed on U.S. embassy grounds in Beirut at about...
...Rice's appearance here in Beirut was aimed as much to send a signal to Israel as one to Lebanon. Although Rice has never wavered from the Administration's position that the U.S. supports Israel's right to defend itself, her rhetoric has taken on a cooler edge as Israel has continued to bombard Lebanon's infrastructure and has blockaded land and sea routes into the country...