Friday, May 09, 2008

Can You Hear Me Now? How About If I Blow You Up?

One of the most amazing things about the Middle East is the tendency to resort to mindless violence in the face of the least provocation. You can always count on nations and organizations in the Middle East to stubbornly keep digging once they've reached the bottom of the proverbial hole, ensuring that the endless cycle of violence and general misery continues, and that America will ultimately be blamed for it.

In Lebanon, the latest round of savage fighting between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, that peace-loving social welfare organization, has been touched off by ... cell phones.

Yes, while you and I roll our eyes and try to ignore the bozohead yakking loudly into his cell phone at inappropriate times, Hezbollah declares war. I'm sure God is pleased.

This story in Time Magazine tells the bizarre story of Lebanon's Cell Phone War. The Readers' Digest version of the sad story is this: the government does not want Hezbollah setting up its own telephone network (or exploiting video cameras at Beirut airport to plan kidnappings), and has declared these actions illegal. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the gentle, easy-going leader of Hezbollah, doesn't want anything - much less a duly-elected government - to interfere with his ability to plan for his next war with Israel.

And so Lebanon, it's capital of Beirut once known as "The Paris of the Middle East," descends once again into war.

Here's Bilbo's Three-Step Plan For Peace in the Middle East:

1. Build a wall 100 feet high around the entire region.

2. Fill the area thus enclosed to the top with sand.

3. Start over.

I don't think anything else is ever going to work.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

3 comments:

  1. I agree :( And that's such a shame, but these people have been fighting each other since the beginning of time it seems.

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  2. I have nothing to say....just rolling my eyes.

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  3. Maybe we should import some of those Hezbollian types over here to pick off some of our more obnoxious cellphonian users.

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