Broken Lebanon

Rebuilding Lebanon: Residents Struggle to Cope with Destruction

Three weeks after the ceasefire that ended the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, residents in Lebanon are struggling to rebuild. Israel's bombardment of the country destroyed homes, bridges, roads, water treatment plants, supermarkets and fuel tanks. International donors pledged one billion dollars for reconstruction efforts at a conference last week in Sweden. The Lebanese government estimates it will need at least three and a half times that amount to repair the damage and the money may take months to come in. Thousands of families returning to their homes now face the daunting task of clearing away the rubble and starting to rebuild. Democracy Now producer Ana Noguiera is in southern Beirut.

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The dump trucks of war: Trucks carrying the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes queue along the coast of the southern Beirut suburb of Ouzai. [sad about the coastline landfill - jkf]

Hezbollah besting Lebanese government

"More than 130,000 homes were destroyed or damaged in the short war. Unemployment has doubled, to 20%"

[...]

Mustafa Bedredine is mayor of Nabatiyeh - a stronghold of the Shi'ite militant group, Hezbollah. Pummeled during the 34-day Israeli bombing what was rubble has now been cleared. Electricity and water are already restored. When asked where the money for this reconstruction will come from, the mayor answers flatly that Hezbollah will provide the cash. Throughout South Lebanon, Hezbollah has deployed its team of bankers and engineers - keeping promises to rebuild lives. It's like a tale of two states - Lebanon and Hezbollah. On the one hand, a pro-democracy government struggling to survive; on the other, Hezbollah is stronger than ever. It's a reality, political analysts say, that neither Israel nor the U.S. had banked on. Even in the worst-hit parts of Beirut, 'Construction Jihad' - 1,000's of Hezbollah volunteers led by Bilal Naim are at work.

Been said before, but perhaps Hezbollah could be hired to rebuild New Orleans.