P U L S E

Four years ago today the United States government issued a Humanitarian Situation report detailing the progress of the July War. According to the section entitled “Numbers at a glance – Lebanon”, the country had accumulated 421 dead and 3,225 injured since the start of the war on July 12, and currently boasted a “Total Affected Population” of 866,780. The report advertises the total amount of U.S. humanitarian assistance pledged to Lebanon as 30 million dollars but stresses that “[t]he most effective way people can assist relief efforts is by making cash contributions to humanitarian organizations that are conducting relief operations.”

It would seem that the U.S. government might have at least complemented the generosity of its citizens by ceasing wartime rush shipments of bunker-buster bombs and other such items to Israel that had proven effective in neutralizing Lebanese civilians in their basements. As for Israeli behavior necessitating large amounts of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, this has not prevented U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from recently promising that not even “challenging budgetary times” would prevent the current administration from honoring its 30 billion-dollar commitment to Israeli security over 10 years.

Below are a dozen photographs taken by my traveling companion Amelia Opalinska in the aftermath of the July War. See previous posts featuring Opalinska’s photos here and here.

Tagged: Amelia Opalinska, July War