Damned Proud

photo:AP/BBC

the caption: People gather at the site where coalition warplanes destroyed two houses in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.


the BBC discussed the summer 2006 war with John Bolton:

Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah's military capability. Mr Bolton said an early ceasefire would have been "dangerous and misguided". He said the US decided to join efforts to end the conflict only when it was clear Israel's campaign wasn't working. The former envoy, who stepped down in December 2006, was interviewed for a BBC radio documentary, The Summer War in Lebanon, to be broadcast in April.
[...]
More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters were killed in the conflict. Israel lost 116 soldiers in the fighting, while 43 of its civilians were killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Emphases mine. He also said he was "damned proud" of what the US did to prevent an early cease-fire.


meanwhile, also via the BBC, Shimon Perez said that Jewish settlers were making Hebron 'unbearable':

his comments came on Tuesday, a day after settlers took over a building in Hebron, claiming to have bought it. A local Palestinian family disputed this claim, saying they had purchased the property. Peres said that the settlers should be evicted if it is proved that they have acted unlawfully. A large Israeli force of police and soldiers is surrounding the three-storey building after large numbers of settlers moved in late on Monday.

Today(March 22nd) is also World Water Day which was first commemorated by the UN in '93 to raise awareness of the fact that as many as a billion people around the world don't have ready access to safe drinking water.


photo via Slovak Agricultural University