Original source URL:
" Concerned that Hezbollah has an early advantage in
rebuilding shattered south Lebanon, the Bush administration
is trying to speed up aid and encouraging Arab states to
step in quickly, United States officials said this week."
Having wrecked the china shop, the bull now wants to praised for repair work.
The arrogance of bullies knows no bounds.
rkm
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=751920
U.S. tries to counter Hezbollah rebuilding efforts in s. Lebanon
By Reuters
Concerned that Hezbollah has an early advantage in rebuilding shattered south
Lebanon, the Bush administration is trying to speed up aid and encouraging Arab
states to step in quickly, United States officials said this week.
The White House is "cracking the whip" on rebuilding efforts so Iranian-backed
Hezbollah is not seen taking the lead and winning any more support among the
local population, said a senior State Department official.
"I've said we have got to get with this. These guys [Hezbollah] are out there
with their own bulldozers and what are we doing? It takes forever for us to
start up rebuilding projects," said the senior official, who asked not to be
identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The U.S. came under heavy criticism from Arab countries and some European
governments during the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah that halted
with a UN-brokered truce this week.
Washington was criticized for refusing to back calls for an immediate
cease-fire, thereby appearing to give a green light to extensive Israeli bombing
in Lebanon.
The United States has pledged $50 million so far to humanitarian aid in Lebanon,
half of which has been handed out to aid groups working in the conflict zone.
However, a senior U.S. official said it was unclear how much Washington would
contribute to rebuilding.
A donors conference on humanitarian aid is set for Aug. 31 in Stockholm and a
later one may be held to deal directly with repairing Lebanon's shattered
infrastructure. Bridges and roads took a pounding in the conflict.
Any large-scale U.S.-funded rebuilding effort could take months, just as it did
in Iraq where the Bush administration's efforts are still faltering.
Too slow
American officials worry that Hezbollah and Iran will take advantage of U.S.
bureaucracy surrounding aid efforts and boost their own credibility by getting
in first.
"We have been delivering stuff from the beginning [of the conflict] but we need
to get something much more substantial on the ground," said the State Department
fficial.
Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed after Monday's truce that his
guerrilla group would help fund repairs for about 15,000 bomb-damaged homes
across Lebanon.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Hezbollah was using the same tactics as the
Palestinian militant group Hamas and al-Qaeda in getting on the ground quickly
to rebuild.
"This is an emerging tactic, which is commit acts of terror, try to get people
to fight against each other, and set up a charitable foundation to hand out cash
and crumbs to the victims," Snow told reporters.
A senior U.S. aid agency official Bill Garvelink said the near-term focus would
be on helping to rebuild people's homes and that American engineers were in the
area assessing damage to bridges and roads.
The U. S. is pushing Arab states like Saudi Arabia to deliver aid rapidly to
southern Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has committed half a billion dollars to
humanitarian relief and promised another billion for rebuilding.
Israel is nervous that Iranian funding will be used by Hezbollah and is pushing
for tight restrictions on such assistance, telling the Bush administration to
tighten up any loopholes.
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