It took Israel’s military thinkers about two weeks to declare the systematic destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure – along with Hizbullah’s launching of hundreds of rockets into Israel – a war. The nearly one million Lebanese civilians fleeing the South and Beirut’s southern suburbs, turned into refugees in their own country, could have told them as much on day one. So, too, could the casualties of that war: at time of writing, some 950 killed and about 3,225 wounded. For the first time since Israel withdrew from south Lebanon six years ago following its 18-year occupation, the Jewish state is getting involved once again in Lebanon. And once again, it finds itself caught in the Lebanese quagmire with its plans for a quick campaign going askew. Lopsided conflict Indeed, it may well be a war as the Israeli military has declared, but it is a very lopsided conflict, with Israel inflicting
