The Daily Background

We arrived in Dallas aboiut an hour and a half ago, and just got to the hotel. It’s about 100 degrees outside they say, so being a northern creature (New Hampshire/Chicago), I’m sweating like crazy. Air conditioning is a wonderful invention though.

According to NBC News, Israeli troops are planning a (partial) ground invasion of Lebanon very soon, as early as tonight. Although I wouldn’t have imagined this would happen a week ago (or even a few hours ago; I called it extremely unlikely), this does now seem consistent with reports coming from the Northern-Israeli-Southern-Lebanese border, as ground troops began amassing there a few days ago and there have been reports of illegal limited intra-Lebanon activity by the Israeli military. Israel says that any action it takes inside Lebanon will be ‘limited.’

This would also be consistent with reports that the Israelis are warning southern Lebanese that they should evacuate their villages or risk being killed in the coming days. The United Nations estimates that over half a million people have fled already, and are now refugees.

Reporting from villages in southern Lebanon the BBC witnessed mass burials of bodies, including one incident where 80 bodies were buried in a single mass grave. BBC also reported that some bodies are not possible to recover, and are rotting under buildings. BBC video report here (YouTube format).

Secretary Rice, who is now expected to leave for the middle east on Sunday (although she may merely make a brief stop and continue onto a previously planned Asia trip) said today:

I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think it would be a mistake. What we’re seeing here, in a sense, is the growing — the birth pangs of a new Middle East. And whatever we do, we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one.

Expect more news about developments overseas in tomorrow morning’s Daily Brief.

Filed under: Middle East Crisis, Z-TDB Blog