Aug. 17, 2006
 
COMMENTARY: The New War in Lebanon
 
By Dale McFeatters
Scripps Howard News Service
 
By conventional standards, the fighting in Lebanon ended in a draw between Hezbollah and Israel, but Hezbollah is proclaiming a victory and much of the rest of the world is treating it as such.
 
But a second war remains to be fought: Who gets credit for the reconstruction of Lebanon -- the Lebanese government backed by international donors, including the United States with an initial $35 million; or Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria?
 
If there was no clear winner in the conflict, now halted by a shaky cease-fire, there was a clear loser: Lebanon and its people.
 
The damage: 35,000 homes and businesses destroyed, 400 miles of road, 150 bridges and interchanges; perhaps 1 million people displaced, almost all mostly poor Shiites from whom Hezbollah draws its supporters; distribution of basic goods and services disrupted.
 
Hezbollah has been quick to seize the opportunity. Its operatives fanned out, taking the names and addresses of people whose homes have been destroyed, offering to pay for the rebuilding. It is offering rent money for temporary quarters, providing mattresses and promising to pay for furniture.
 
Hezbollah officials are handing out food and medicine. Its bulldozers are clearing the streets of rubble.
 
Dispatches from Lebanon indicate that this is more than just show. The militia cum political party is providing genuine help and the gratitude of those being helped also seems genuine.
 
There must be Lebanese who see the twisted irony of Hezbollah, which brought all this destruction on their country, now seeking credit for promising to rebuild it. There's a word for that, although not one Hezbollah would use because it's Yiddish -- chutzpah.
 
Contact Dale McFeatters at McFeattersD@SHNS.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com