Usa Forum - The US Katrina Administration tries to counter Hizbollah rebuilding efforts

cor

8/18/2006 8:50:00 AM

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [NYTr] US tries to counter Hizbollah rebuilding efforts
Date: 17 Aug 2006 22:58:30 -0500
From: nytr

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

[Hilarious... The US is now trying to win the rebuilding and aid war
against Hezbollah. Think Team Katrina is in any shape to give Hezbollah
serious competition? -NY Transfer]

Reuters via Yahoo - Aug 17, 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060817/wl_nm/mideast_usa_reb...

US tries to counter Hizbollah rebuilding efforts

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Concerned that Hizbollah has an early advantage in
rebuilding shattered south Lebanon, the Bush administration is trying to
speed up aid and encouraging Arab states to step in quickly, U.S. officials
said this week.

The White House is "cracking the whip" on rebuilding efforts so
Iranian-backed Hizbollah is not seen taking the lead and winning any more
support among the local population, said a senior State Department
official.

"I've said we have got to get with this. These guys (Hizbollah) are out
there with their own bulldozers and what are we doing? It takes forever for
us to start up rebuilding projects," said the senior official, who asked
not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The United States came under heavy criticism from Arab countries and some
European governments during the monthlong war between Israel and Hizbollah
that halted with a U.N.-ordered truce this week.

Washington was criticized for refusing to back calls for an immediate
cease-fire, thereby appearing to give a green light to extensive Israeli
bombing in Lebanon.

The United States has pledged $50 million so far to humanitarian aid in
Lebanon, half of which has been handed out to aid groups working in the
conflict zone. But a senior U.S. official said it was unclear how much
Washington would contribute to rebuilding.

A donors conference on humanitarian aid is set for August 31 in Stockholm
and a later one may be held to deal directly with repairing Lebanon's
shattered infrastructure. Bridges and roads took a pounding in the
conflict.

Any large-scale U.S.-funded rebuilding effort could take months, just as it
did in Iraq where the Bush administration's efforts are still faltering.

TOO SLOW

American officials worry that that Hizbollah and Iran will take advantage of
U.S. bureaucracy surrounding aid efforts and boost their own credibility by
getting in first.

"We have been delivering stuff from the beginning (of the conflict) but we
need to get something much more substantial on the ground," said the State
Department official.

Hizbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed after Monday's truce that
his guerrilla group would help fund repairs for about 15,000 bomb-damaged
homes across Lebanon.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Hizbollah was using the same tactics
as the Palestinian militant group Hamas and al Qaeda in getting on the
ground quickly to rebuild.

"This is an emerging tactic, which is commit acts of terror, try to get
people to fight against each other, and set up a charitable foundation to
hand out cash and crumbs to the victims," Snow told reporters.

A senior U.S. aid agency official Bill Garvelink said the near-term focus
would be on helping to rebuild people's homes and that American engineers
were in the area assessing damage to bridges and roads.

The United States is pushing Arab states like Saudi Arabia to deliver aid
fast to southern Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has committed half-a-billion dollars
to humanitarian relief and promised another billion for rebuilding.

Israel is nervous that Iranian funding will be used by Hizbollah and is
pushing for tight restrictions on such assistance, telling the Bush
administration to tighten up any loopholes.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland)

Copyright ) 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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The US Katrina Administration tries to counter Hizbollah rebuilding efforts

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