<a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/arne_jernelov/2006/08/arne_jernelov.html">http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/arne_jernelov/2006/08/arne_jernelov.html</a><br><br><p style="font-weight: bold;">Long after the fighting has stopped, survivors of the Lebanon conflict will be feeling the environmental fallout.
</p><p style="font-weight: bold;">August 15, 2006 02:31 PM</p><p>In any war, the primary focus is on dead, wounded and displaced people. The number of people killed as a result of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Israel-Lebanon_conflict">
Israel's offensive in Lebanon</a>
at the time of this writing is reported to be roughly 800 Lebanese and
120 Israelis - not an atypical ratio for Arab-Israeli conflicts. The UN
estimates the number of displaced persons to be more than a million,
about 800,000 of them Lebanese.</p>
<p>Damage to infrastructure and the environment will also continue to
be felt once hostilities cease. Of course, infrastructure can be
rebuilt much more quickly than the environment can be restored or
recover on its own. In the case of Lebanon, however, the two are
closely linked, as much of the environmental damage comes from
destroyed infrastructure. </p>
<p>As in most modern wars, oil spills are one of the most visible - and
therefore most reported - forms of environmental damage. Until the war
started, Lebanon's beaches were among the cleanest in the
Mediterranean. They are now to a large extent covered with oil. For a
rare species of sea turtle this is bad news, as the eggs laid in the
sand on those very beaches in the annual spawning season are due to
hatch at precisely this time of the year. The total amount of oil
released into the sea is now well over 100,000 tons. </p>
<p>Naturally, oil cisterns are not the only targets, and coastal
locations are not the only regions hit. It is far too early to assess
the damage done by releases of other, less visible, chemicals, but it
is safe to assume that ground water will be contaminated for a long
time. The drier the environment, the worse the problem. </p>
<p>Moreover, bombs and grenades not only ignite buildings, but also
grass, bushes, and trees. The number of forest and brush fires that
start is thus much higher than during a normal summer. Worse still,
there is little capacity to fight them, as existing fire-fighting
resources are used to try to save human lives. Consequently, bushes and
forests burn, reducing the stands of cedar trees - a symbol of Lebanon
as much as the bald eagle is of the United States - by the day towards
extinction. A unique ecosystem is being lost. </p>
<p>There have also been reports, more often on the internet than in the
press, about despairing Lebanese doctors, who, not recognising the
wounds patients have sustained after Israeli air strikes, have
described what they see and asked colleagues around the world for help.
One such type of wound reportedly resembles second-degree burns over
large parts of bodies, but with the hairs intact - not a typical
reaction to fire and heat. There have been suggestions that agents
containing some acid or alkali were possibly stored in buildings
destroyed in the bombing. </p>
<p>According to this theory, such agents were dispersed after a missile
or bomb hit, rather than being delivered with incoming warheads. The
last word probably has not been heard. One has only to recall "Gulf War
Syndrome", which emerged after the 1991 conflict, and the controversy
surrounding the issue of what, if anything, affected US soldiers, to
understand how difficult it can be to answer such questions until well
after the fact. </p>
<p>The worst environmental effect on health is probably the one most
directly associated with the destruction of infrastructure: the release
of asbestos. As in many parts of the world with hot climates, apartment
and office buildings in Lebanon use asbestos for heat insulation. This
has been standard practice for decades, and most buildings that have
been erected or restored since Israel's last bombings in 1982 have
plenty of it. </p>
<p>When pulverised by bombs and missiles, asbestos fibers are freed and
can be inhaled with the rest of the dust. The protective suits that
specially-trained people are legally required to wear in the European
Union or the US when demolishing, rebuilding, or repairing any building
containing asbestos underscore the risk of pulmonary fibrosis and lung
cancer for Lebanese who inhale dust from bombed-out houses and offices.
Indeed, US companies have been forced to pay tens of billions of
dollars to ex-employees who worked with asbestos. </p>
<p>Lebanon cannot afford to pay anything close to such a sum. But this
is just one of many environmental debts that will somehow have to be
paid in full long after the fighting has stopped - by the victims, if
by nobody else.</p><br>