Respectfully from Beirut

The letter and pictures below were sent to our departmental mailing list yesterday. I have permission from the author to reproduce them here.


Dearest Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

I apologize for the mass email, but I wanted you all to see the pictures I took yesterday in southern Lebanon. I would attach more pictures to help you all understand the extremely disgusting nature of this war, but internet service here in Beirut is quite slow do to the conflict.

I am sending this email because I am very disturbed by Israel's claim to have destroyed the infrastructures that will stop the movement of arms and claim to have destroyed buildings that harbored arms. After touring the regions most heavily hit, I can attest to the fact that NONE of this is true. In reality, Israel only hit the major roads used by civilians and not the minor roads which are used by Hezbollah. Further, the only only movement and traffic that was hindered was the civilians, the Red Cross, and the World Food Program. Regarding "buried arms and munitions," it is absolutely ASININE to assert that apartments, mosques, and houses contained Katusha rockets. Please remember, these are not unreasonable people, these are instead people who have known peace for over 10 years now. It is almost certain that the stores of rockets are buried in the hills and in bunkers removed from their families. Yet Israel proceed to bomb, destroy, and level over 15,000 buildings. Of the hundreds upon hundreds of destroyed buildings that I have inspected over the previous several days, I have not seen any evidence of arms or munitions. Why would members of Hezbollah store Katusha rockets in the same house as wives, parents, and children? Who in their right mind keeps a rocket in the same house as their child?

In case you were not aware, our government and our elected representatives all voted to support these actions and also to supply the munitions used in these attacks. In other words, your tax dollars paid for this destruction and war on Lebanese civilians.

I beg each of you spend a moment to look at these pictures and try to understand the hell that war reaps on ordinary civilians.


This first picture is of the Damour bridge crossing a river – this is one of the most heavily used bridges in all of Lebanon, is 10 km south of Beirut, and provides the major connection between Beirut and the south.



The second set of two pictures are from Qana. The first is of the building that was struck by 3 rockets from an Apache helicopter, and the second is of the mass grave that created to bury the 28 woman and children who died in the attack (all the casualties were civilians). Since this burial is the major news today from Lebanon, so perhaps if you watch tonight's news you may see similar pictures.

Lastly, I want to reiterate that OUR government and nearly all of OUR elected representatives (410 in favor vs. 8 against in the House and unanimous in the Senate) supported and paid for the destruction of residential buildings and civilian infrastructures. How is destroying residential property and civilian infrastructures in another country self defense?

Thank you for spending the time to comprehend the disgusting acts that our government paid for and supported.

Respectfully from Beirut,

Andrew Van Eck