NEWS

WAR OF 2006

AFTER THE WAR - 2006

YOUTUBE.COM VIDEO OF ISRAELI MILITARY IN LEBANON
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Lebanon is suffering because of the actions of outsiders
and on the orders of outsiders.
If Iran wants to fight Israel, let Iranians do it from their own country
and watch Iran be destroyed.
Enough is enough. Let Lebanon live in peace

Photo of child holding a sign: "wake up! We are getting killed"
Lebanese are tired of other countries choosing to fight a war on Lebanese turf.
It is easy to blame Israel, but what about blaming Arab countries also. Enough is enough. Lebanon deserves to live in peace.

Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, left, with Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafik Hariri in Damascus in August.
Members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition now see the meeting as fateful.
Reports indicate that Assad threatened Hariri during that meeting

THE U.S. MARINES LANDED IN LEBANON IN 1958

Kuntar vows to continue his 'resistance' against Israel
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and AP
Hezbollah Eldad Regev

Convicted terrorist Samir Kuntar on Wednesday vowed to continue his 'resistance' against Israel, speaking at a Beirut rally welcoming his return and that of four Hezbollah men Israel released as part of a swap deal with the Lebanon-based guerilla group.

"I returned today from Palestine but believe me I will not return until I go back to Palestine," he told the roaring crowd. "I promise my people and dear ones in Palestine that I and my dear comrades in the valiant Islamic resistance are returning."

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the same rally, declared that there would be no more defeats at the hand of Israel

The age of defeats is gone, and the age of victories has come. This people, this nation gave a great and clear image today to its friends and enemies that it cannot be defeated," Nasrallah told tens of thousands of cheering supporters.

Shortly before being whisked away by bodyguards, Nasrallah said Hezbollah had achieved its two major goals since the end of the Second Lebanon War, to gain the release of all Lebanese prisoners in Israel and form a national unity government from the country's fractured political parties.

Large banners behind him read "divine victory" and "God's achievement by our hands." Earlier in the day, Hezbollah transferred to Israel Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the Israel Defense Forces soldiers kidnapped by its guerillas in a cross-border raid that sparked the 2006 war.

The Shi'ite leader kissed and hugged each of the five men in his first public appearance since January. Nasrallah, who only appeared for the third time in public since the war fearing Israeli assassination, later addressed the crowd from a secret location on a giant projection screen.

Earlier Wednesday evening, hundreds of spectators turned out to celebrate at a red carpet and honor guard welcome as the five made their first public appearance in the southern Lebanon border town of Naqoura.

The five, clad in combat fatigues, walked behind militants carrying the Palestinian, Lebanese and Hezbollah flags. They were greeted by Hezbollah officials and Muslim clerics as they stood at a podium.

President Shimon Peres denounced the red carpet treatment, drawing a comparison between the behavior of Israelis, mourning the two Israel Defense Forces soldiers whose bodies were returned after two years as part of the swap, and what he called Lebanese "dancing and drumming."

The Lebanese government declared Wednesday a national holiday to celebrate the "liberation of prisoners from the jails of the Israeli enemy and the return of the remains of martyrs."

In the exchange, Israel also handed over almost 200 bodies of Palestinian and Lebanese fighters.

Coffins containing the bodies of Regev and Goldwasser were delivered to the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday morning by Hezbollah. They were later delivered to an army camp in northern Israel, where their families were waiting.

On the Lebanese side of the Rosh Hanikra Israel-Lebanon border crossing, Hezbollah erected a platform upon which to honor Kuntar. Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags were hung above the stage.

A former cellmate of Samir Kuntar, Jaber Weshah, who is now deputy director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, said: "Today is a true day of joy for all Palestinians and all freedom lovers across the world."

Related articles:

So, Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, is now saying that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is dead. It's not absolutely dead, but Israel's reluctance to facilitate a solution in the Shebaa Farms area, like its willingness to conclude a grand prisoner bargain with Hizbullah that handed the party a fine victory, will certainly help dismantle what remains of the security framework set up after the summer 2006 war.

There are two Lebanese approaches for dealing with Israel today. There is the one advocated publicly by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and MP Walid Jumblatt that calls for a return to the 1949 Armistice Agreement. Then there is Hizbullah's proposal, which is to pursue an open-ended armed struggle against Israel. Siniora wants to see the Shebaa Farms neutralized as a space of confrontation; Hizbullah has said that whatever solution is found in the farms area, the resistance will continue. Israel's actions have bolstered those who support the second option, in the same way that its inflexibility on releasing Palestinian prisoners has bolstered those Palestinians who argue that the best way to resolve that issue is to kidnap or kill Israelis, then haggle over them or their body parts.

The Hizbullah-Israel swap on Wednesday was surrounded by substantial hypocrisy. March 14 and Siniora lustily applauded an exchange that they knew was to their disadvantage. Jumblatt, faced with Samir Kontar's release, decided it was best to co-opt the released prisoner as best he could, because he had no alternative as paramount Druze leader but to welcome his coreligionist, but also to avoid Kontar's being used against him politically by Hizbullah. However, in the Sunni and Christian neighborhoods, as in the Druze mountains, few danced in the "national wedding" that Hizbullah celebrated. Many could plainly see that what the party had gained, they had lost.

Who can blame them, coming only two days after Bashar Assad was the darling of Paris - thanks to the efforts of the former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, who handled the media aspect of Assad's trip, and to the French government, so indecently eager to wipe the Syrian president's slate clean. To the narcissistic Nicolas Sarkozy, a man willing to trade in the essential for the limelight, it was also a good weekend. He may not have gotten a single serious concession out of Assad, but at least he showed he was different than Jacques Chirac, an obsession of his, by trashing the former president's diplomatic achievements in Lebanon.

After the fanfare in Paris, the Syrians quietly explained that an exchange of embassies between Beirut and Damascus might actually take more time than expected. In Assad's meeting with President Michel Sleiman, the Syrian president didn't even mention delimiting the Syrian-Lebanese border. The reality is that the Assad regime has not budged one iota in its policy toward Lebanon since 2005. Indeed, it has very likely not given up on physically returning its army to the country, even if this is more difficult than it sounds, and those who suggest that Damascus only seeks influence in Beirut might want to consider why this is unconvincing.

The Syrian regime doesn't want the Shebaa Farms imbroglio resolved because it seeks to tie in any settlement over the Golan Heights to one in Lebanon. Without this linkage, Syria fears that a prior solution on the Lebanese track would block Hizbullah's ability to attack Israel from South Lebanon, which Syria wishes to use as leverage in its negotiations over the Golan. But for Syria to have real control of the Hizbullah card - an essential ingredient in strengthening its credibility in talks with Israel - it must also prove that it has the means to restrain the party. And Assad can only do that if his army is physically present in Lebanon.

Why would Hizbullah go along with this? Because it understands that such a strategy allows it to undermine Resolution 1701, which is also a Syrian priority. But also because a renewed Syrian military presence in Lebanon would shield Hizbullah against that majority of Lebanese that seeks its disarmament. In addition, the party's leadership is wagering that Syria is more interested in a process of negotiation with Israel than in a final settlement; and, most tellingly, Hizbullah seems confident that, even if a final settlement does eventually come, Syria will not have the military capability, let alone the will, to stifle the resistance.

How will the UN respond to defend Resolution 1701? Let's try not to laugh. France knows very well that Syria has violated all UN resolutions on Lebanon since 2004, particularly Resolution 1701. The French also happen to provide an important contingent to UNIFIL, which is there to implement Resolution 1701, a contingent with large Leclerc tanks that will occasionally fire shells into the empty sea. But Syrian behavior hasn't prevented Sarkozy from obstinately pursuing Assad. If you were Syria or Hizbullah, therefore, would you fear a French reaction, or that of other European states, to your efforts to emasculate UN resolutions?

Even in the halls of the European Parliament, Hizbullah's weight is being felt. An effort by some European parliamentarians to encourage the European Union to place Hizbullah on its terrorism list is now being actively opposed by Socialist representatives. Two of them recently sent out an e-mail to their comrades urging them not to vote in favor of the decision, as the issue was "sensitive" and the European Parliament "has stressed the importance to find a political solution on the Lebanese internal conflict and the agreement between all the Lebanese political parties, including Hezbollah, has been considered as a positive step."

What the e-mail did not say is that the European contingents in Lebanon are now hostages to Syria and Hizbullah rather than enforcers of the Security Council's writ. The UN needs an open channel to Hizbullah, which is why many in Europe oppose the terrorism designation. But with Israel doing everything it can to strengthen Syria's hand in Lebanon, and indirectly that of Hizbullah; with the collapse of the European position on Lebanese sovereignty and UN resolutions; and with the US utterly absent from Lebanon as its presidential election nears, we have to be realistic. The independence intifada is over and Syria has entered a new phase in its effort to re-create in Lebanon what it was made to surrender in 2005.

7-16-08

The National Assembly on Wednesday authorized extending the deployment of Korean soldiers in Lebanon. With the decision Korea's Dongmyeong Unit will consist of 359 soldiers and continue its peacekeeping operation in Tyre, about 80 km south of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The Korean troops have been working with the United Nations for the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Middle Eastern country for nearly a year among other civil-military missions. The UN requested the Korean government for more contribution to its peacekeeping operations due to the nation's economic success.

Arirang News

7-16-08

Two people were killed and seven others, including two Lebanese army soldiers, were wounded in an overnight shootout in east Lebanon's city of Baalbek, security sources said.

They said the shooting was triggered by a "personal quarrel" in al-Ain near Baalbek in which Raifeh Saleh, 52, was killed and three other people were wounded, including the town's mayor, Youssef Jaafar, 47.

The sources said a military vehicle which was transporting the wounded to hospital came under fire near the town of Nabi Othman on the road leading to Baalbek, prompting Lebanese troops to return fire.

A man was killed and four people, including two soldiers, were wounded in the exchange of fire, according to the sources.

Beirut, 01 Jul 08, 09:32

When the rogue Khomeini regime returned to Iran from Paris and eventually took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979, the Carter administration had basically no intelligence on the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini or the radical fundamentalist agenda. President Carter viewed Khomeini as a religious man who had to be better than the shah of Iran, even though the shah represented the cornerstone of our Persian Gulf security policy.

The conventional wisdom then in the Carter administration was that the one institution that would survive the regime change in Iran would be the military. We could use our close relationship with the Iranian military leadership to build a new relationship with the Khomeini regime. In fact, President Carter in January 1979 sent Gen. Robert Huyser, deputy commander in chief of the United States European Command as his personal envoy to intercede with the Iranian military leadership not to interfere with the regime change. This sophomoric analysis abruptly halted when the Khomeini regime put a bullet into the back of the head of the Iranian military leadership.

At the time of our embassy takeover, our military options were somewhat limited, but we certainly had the capability to capture and hold Kharg Island, Iran's main fuel export depot, which would have given us leverage in freeing our diplomats and retaking our embassy.

During the Reagan administration, certain key players still did not understand the extent of the radical Islamic fundamentalist agenda. Some still thought it to be more a law enforcement than a military problem. The U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut Oct. 23, 1983, never had to happen. The National Security Agency (NSA) had the information almost four weeks before the attack that the Iranian Ambassador in Damascus, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipoor, acting on orders received from the Foreign Ministry, called in the leader of the Islamic Amal (which later evolved into Hezbollah) and gave him instructions to concentrate his attacks on the Multi-National Force (MNF), but to take a "spectacular" action against the U.S. Marines.

As deputy chief of naval operations, I never got to see that message until two days after the attack. By way of background, the Islamic Amal had taken over the Lebanese Army barracks above Baalbeck on Sept. 16, 1983. Had we a pro-active, pre-emptive strategy in place, the Islamic Amal could have been eliminated prior to the bombing. Of course other options could also have been implemented.

Iran has continued to wage war against the United States by using proxies for the last 29 years. Since November 1979, we have failed to attack the problem. We have let Iran continue their war against the United States with impunity. Iran proper has been a sanctuary.

Our combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are combating Shi'ite militia that are funded, trained and armed by Iran. Compounding the problem are the weapons and ammunitions the Chinese provide Iran that are then passed to the Shi'ite militias in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Surface-to-air missiles (Manpads of Chinese origin), Chinese-made large-caliber sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have been so deadly to our troops have been convoyed from Iran into Iraq and to the Taliban in Afghanistan. China's objectives are quite clear - keep the U.S. bogged down in the Middle East while they expand their objectives and influence in the Western Pacific.

The limited economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States have not had any significant impact on changing Iran's behavior or their drive to achieve a nuclear weapon capability. Most recently, Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, warned that Iran is prepared to take drastic steps and unspecified moves that the West would regret in response to economic, political and military pressure being brought against Iran. However, one economic sanction that could convey the seriousness of the United Nations and European Union would be to deny Iranian airline access to Europe because they are unsafe and do not meet ICAO standards. Other international carriers could curtail their flights to Iran as part of this sanction.

I believe we have reached a point where the U.S. needs to make its position quite clear. We need to declare that:

• Any attack against U.S. Naval forces will be viewed as an attack against the continental United States and the full force of our military capabilities will be brought to bear.

• Unless there is an immediate cessation to train, arm and supplying various weapons, including IEDs, to Iraq Shi'ite militias and the Taliban, then those training facilities, weapon factories including the IED factory, will be subject to attack. This could be part of an all-inclusive attack to eliminate their missile and nuclear complexes.

Underpinning the above actions would be a declaration of a U.S. pro-active, pre-emptive strategy to defeat radical Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. It is based on the premise that you cannot wait until the terrorist strike. Obviously, we have to have the intelligence to prevent the cowardly act from happening.

It is unconscionable that we have tolerated a declaration of war by Iran against the United States for the last 29 years, which has given rise to the radical fundamentalist terrorism we face today. This is not the legacy we want to leave for our future generations.

James Lyons, U.S. Navy retired admiral, was commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, senior U.S. military representative to the United Nations, and deputy chief of naval operations, where he was principal adviser on all Joint Chiefs of Staff matters.

Jarrah, in an interview with Naharnet, said "we have no confidence in them (Hezbollah) anymore ... but we trust the Lebanese army, even if it had failed."

"Despite the lack of confidence we stretched our hand anew through the Lebanese army that had promised us to supervise reconciliation," Jarah said.

"But if aggressions persisted and if they maintained, just maintained and not used, their heavy weapons in the hills of Saadnayel and Taalabaya and if they maintained the deployment of a large number of gunmen brought in from other areas, friction would renew and tension would persist," he added.

Jarrah said "we were very clear with the army. We informed the army that there is no need for such heavy weapons in the hills."

He accused Hezbollah of "deceiving the army. They had told the army that heavy weapons and gunmen had been fully pulled out, but it was evident that this is not true."

Jarrah warned that the "citizens of Saadnayel and Taalabaya would not be left alone (if attacked by Hezbollah once again). Citizens of the central, western and even northern Bekaa would rush to their aid."

That, according to the Mustaqbal Bloc member, would expose "Hezbollah's role in a Syrian intelligence scheme to spark inter-factional clashes in the Bekaa."

He explained that Hezbollah has been targeting the Saadnayel-Taalabaya sector because it commands the road that leads from its stronghold in Baalbek to south Lebanon.

Jarrah emphasized that "we do not have a militia, we don't have weapons and capabilities to protect our people."

"It is the army's duty and responsibility to protect the citizens. The Army Command pledged that as of Tuesday its troops would be in charge of security, and anyone who opens fire, from any side, would be punished," Jarrah said.

The Clashes, according to Jarrah, were an "attempt by Hezbollah to target President Michel Suleiman's term as well as the state and its institutions.

Hezbollah leader targeted the president the same day he moved to the Republican Palace."

"Hezbollah has its own army and its own state and has no interest in supporting the state of Lebanon," he concluded.

The Doha Accord, According to Jarrah, is made up of two chapters "The security chapter is being blocked and the political chapter that is also being blocked by obstructing the cabinet formation."

Hezbollah "went to Doha not to achieve an agreement, but to blame what had happened on the majority and then resume implementing its scheme. But Arab and international pressures forced Hezbollah to Facilitate President Suleiman's election," he concluded.

LEBANON REMAINS BATTLEGROUND FOR THOSE SEEKING TO DESTABILIZE REGION IN EFFORT

TO ESTABLISH DOMINANCE, SPECIAL ENVOY TELLS SECURITY COUNCIL

No Tangible Progress towards Implementation

Of Resolution 1559 (2004), Roed-Larsen Reports in Briefing on Middle East

MAY 8, 2008
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9326.doc.htm

August 2, 2006

COOPER: And good morning from the Israel/Lebanon border. It is a morning of lots of activity. It is just 6:00 a.m. here. The sun has just come up. The Israeli artillery units behind me have been relatively quiet this evening.

But the action inside Lebanon has been fast and furious. There is fighting in the south of Lebanon to talk about. Three Israeli soldiers and more than 25 Israeli soldiers are wounded, three Israeli soldiers killed in the last 24 hours. But in the last several minutes we have learned the results of ongoing operation in Baalbeck in the north of Lebanon. A commando raid, a daring commando raid, several militants seized from a hospital, brought here to Israel, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

We are now just getting a report as well from Reuters. Also based on Lebanese military sources, saying that 15, what they say are civilians, have been killed in Israeli air strike in the town of Baalbeck. We are trying to gather the information as we get it and bring it to you.

Joining me right now, John Roberts is elsewhere along this border here, on the Israeli side of the border, and CNN's Michael Ware is in Beirut.

Let's start with Michael Ware.

Michael, at this point, what do we know and what don't we know about what's happening very close to the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, what we've seen overnight here in Lebanon is a daring addition to the Israeli Defense Forces' campaign against Hezbollah.

Airborne troops were dispatched more than 60 miles north of the Israeli border to strike deep into the heart of Hezbollah domain in the Bekaa Valley.

In the town of Baalbeck they struck a hospital operated by Hezbollah where there was what's said to be by Lebanese security forces some fighting. The Israeli troops entered the hospital, checking the identification papers of all the staff, the medical teams, and the patients. What we're now hearing out of Israel is that that group of Israeli troops have now been extracted from this snatch and grab operation and have returned to Israel without casualty.

However, we're being told that they did take with them Hezbollah prisoners. Reports conflict as to who these prisoners are and the nature of them. Some say they're low ranking, some are suggesting otherwise.

As Beirut is now waking up to this news, we can only hope to learn more in the coming hours -- Anderson.

COOPER: And as Michael Ware knows from all the coverage he has done in Iraq, often these early reports are conflicting and often don't bear out over the long term. So we're being very cautious in what we're actually trying to say and what we actually know.

So far the Israeli Defense Forces have told us that they have taken some militants and brought them back here. Again, there's a lot we don't know at this hour.

Let's check in with John Roberts who has been really for the last 24 hours or so moving all along the Israel/Lebanon border, watching growing military activity along that border.

John, what's happening now?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the Baalbeck front, Anderson, I just spoke with officials from the Israeli Defense Forces who say that they are not going to release the names of the militants that they quote, "arrested," until a little bit later on today. But it would seem clear that by engaging in this operation, what they're looking for are bargaining chips.

So far the only bargaining chips they have are the bodies of some six Hezbollah guerillas who were brought back to Israel from the fighting in Bint Jbeil.

And while Israel has negotiated for the release of bodies, that's not the high quality bargaining chip that they would be looking for in order to try to engage in some negotiation with Hezbollah.

It would seem as well that the Israelis would not have launched such a daring raid, deep into Lebanese territory unless they were after some fairly high-value targets. So we're looking toward the time that we get the names of those Hezbollah officials and also what value they may be to the Israelis as they try to find a way out of this crisis that leaves Hezbollah dramatically weakened from the way that it was before.

We spent all day along the border today traveling between Metullah at the very tip of the Galilee Peninsula, to an area about 15 miles to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. A lot of heavy fighting going on in a number of different areas, a number of towns and villages on the Lebanese side of the border. And growing evidence that Israel is about to launch a major ground campaign, a major expansion of their ground campaign into southern Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) Hezbullah Fakes ambulance videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXy6q4cH4pw by Anderson Cooper in Lebanon

ROBERTS (voice-over): From a hilltop right on the Lebanese border we watched the Israeli military pound positions in a town they say is a Hezbollah base. It is just two miles from where two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped July 12, the incident that touched off this war.

(On camera): This is where the heaviest of the fighting is right now. This is Aita al-Shaab. You can see that the Israeli Air Force dropped what appears to be a 500-pound bomb on this village. It has been shelled all day and there is heavy fighting in the city streets. The Israeli army is in there with a lot of ground forces. There is close quarters fighting. Very, very heavy combat.

(Voice-over): The battle has been costly for the Israeli military. Three soldiers killed so far, 25 wounded. Israel claims it killed at least 20 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon in the past 48 hours.

We stay on the hilltop watching the battle until soldiers arrive and tell us there are snipers in the village and it is far too dangerous to be here.

We move to another location along the border route pock marked with Katyusha rocket hits and evidence that...

Editor's note: The Library who posted this article charges for the rest of it.
Sorry, I won't be going to a local library to pay for an article by CNN.

The News

July War
Written by Lebanon Today

JULY WAR '06

Live coverage archive: July 19 and 20. 2006

Thursday, July 20 2006

> 23h30: Israel targets a small bridge in Baabda central area, no injuries reported.
> 23h28: Israel launches several attacks in different regions of Lebanon, targeting Nabatiyeh, Aytaroun, South Beirut and Baalbeck. In Naameh, it targeted a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction base. Israeli jets raid the base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in Naameh
> 23h17: Nasrallah promises new surprises in the coming battles.
> 23h16: South Suburbs of Beirut targeted again by Israerli planes.
> 23h11: Israeli planes launch strikes on Naameh.
> 23h10: Lebanese Defense Minister, Elias Murr: The Lebanese Army is ready to engage in the battle if Israel launches a ground attack.
> 23h05: Nasrallah: Hizbullah is still facing the attacks, and did assimilate the first attack and is moving to the initiative phase.
> 23h04: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: I do not fight for the "Ouma" but loss or victory in this battle will reflect on the "Ouma". ("Ouma" refers to the Islamic or Arab world as a one nation.)
> 23h03: Nasrallah tells Al-Jazeera TV that the two captured Israeli soldiers would only be freed in the "context of an exchange" of prisoners.
> 23h01: Shakira, the International singer with Lebanese roots, is holding a campaign for peace in Lebanon.
> 23h00: Nasrallah denies Israeli claims that it destroyed 50% of Hizbullah strength.
> 22h59: Russian deputyFM visits Beirut onFriday.
> 22h58: Hundreds march inSyria in support for Lebanon.
> 22h57: Saudi FM criticize Israeli position.
> 22h56: Saniora: Washington encourages Israeli attack.
> 22h50: A Katyusha rocket hits North Galilee.
> 22h04: Israeli Air Force planes over Hermel.
> 21h55: Arz(Cedar)-Aynata road targeted.
> 21h45: Bombing from Israeli warship over Kasmiyeh in South Lebanon.
> 21h43: French FM tomorrow in Beirut.
> 21h40: Raids on extreme North of Lebanon.
> 21h39: Omr Moussa after talks with Solana: As long as there is land occupation, there will be resistance.
> 21h37: Israeli raid on Baalbeck and planes over the notrth.
> 21h36: Israeli TV: More than 9000 military plane take off since the start of the war.
> 21h17: Israeli planes over Baalbeck.
> 21h09: New Israeli raid on the Southern Suburb of Beirut.
> 21h07: Media reports: 9 Israeli soldiers trapped in Maroun al-Ras village and subjected to heavy Hizbullah pounding.
> 21h02: Hizbullah: We destroyed 2 Mirkava tanks on the border.
> 20h55: 4 Israeli soldiers dead in Maroun el Ras Clashes.
> 20h45: Lebanese police say that two British TV journalists thought abducted by Hizbullah in Beirut were in fact briefly detained by officers and released.
> 20h39: Reuters: Olmert allows the transport of Humanitarian aid into Lebanon. Mainly from Cyprus.
> 20h06: Closed session at the UN Security Council.> 19h57: Israeli General: The Israeli public is getting tired and wishes the war to end as soon as possible.
> 19h51: Hizbullah announces the destruction of a Israeli Mirkava tank in the Zareit barraks. Three of their crew are supposed to be wounded.
> 19h49: Israeli TV: The Israeli army was not yet able to retrieve the wounded soldiers from the battle ground.
> 19h43: 3 Israeli soldiers killed and 10 injured till now in clashes near Maroun el Ras.
> 19h29: Thousands protest in Haifa and Galilee to end the war and releasing the soldiers.
> 19h18: Hizbullah announced killing 2 Israeli soldiers and injuring 6 in Maroun el Ras.
> 10h09: Haaretz: 8 soldiers injured in border clashes with Hizbullah.
> 19h07: Hizbullah: An Israeli helicopter has been hit in Maroun el Ras near the border.
> 19h05: Security Source: Heavy bombing of Maroun el Ras following reports about an Israeli troops incursion.
> 18h50: Annan calls for an international conference to develop "precise timelines" for a speedy implementation of UN resolutions, notably regarding the disarming of Hizbullah.
> 18h45: Annan urges the Security Council to take "firm action" toward ensuring peace and stability in the Middle East.
> 18h40: Annan condemns Hizbullah for triggering the latest outbreak of violence in Lebanon but also slams Israel's "excessive use of force" in response.
> 18h30: UN chief Kofi Annan calls for an "immediate cessation of hostilities" in strife-torn Lebanon as he briefed the Security Council on UN mediation efforts.
> 18h26: 6 injuries in rockets fired on North Israel.
> 18h20: Israel accepts that it suffered big losses in clashes with Hizbullah.
> 18h15: The White House denies pressuring Israel to stopits attacks.
> 18h14: US: Hizbullah went far in holding south Lebanon as an Hostage.
> 18h09: Prody after meeting Saad Hariri: Italy will try its best to reach a solution in the Middle East.
> 18h07: Israeli ambassador to Moscow: Our target is destroying the terrorist infrastructure of Hizbullah.
> 18h03: The relations with Spain did deteriorate due to Zapatero declarations.
> 17h51: An Israeli raid on the Southern suburb of Beirut.
> 17h49: Lebanese ONG and other citizens are protesting in Central Beirut.
> 17h39: New raids on Khiyam in the South.
> 17h37: Israeli Foreign Ministry: It is time to go back to the German mediation in order to liberate the kidnapped soldiers.
> 17h33: Hizbullah launches new missiles toward Haifa.
> 17h25: Israeli raids on areas in the South and a bridge. And other planes fly over Akkar.
> 17h17: Israeli TV declares that an Israeli helicopter was hit in clashes with Hizbullah.
> 17h14: US embassador meets with Saniora away from the media.
> 17h00: Israeli air force targets Khiam and Marjeyoun.
> 16h29: Fierce battle underway in Maroun el Ras near the border..
> 16h20: Israeli planes over many Lebanese regions mainly the South and the North.
> 16h16: Hizbullah targets Safed military HQ.
> 16h15: First French airplane carrying humanitarian aid leaves Paris.
> 16h12: Big battle in process in Maroun el Ras village in south Lebanon.
> 15h59: Israeli reinforcement on the borders.
> 15h43: New Clashes between IDF and Hizbullah in Maroun el Ras.
> 15h42: US Congress votes on Thursday on the possibility of supporting the Israeli attack on Lebanon.
> 15h26: Israeli Defense Minister, Peretz, does not dismiss a large scale invasion of Lebanon.
> 14h58: Raids targeting several bridges in South Lebanon.
> 14h34: Alert sirens blow again in Haifa and other areas of North Israel.
> 14h07: Hizbullah declares targeting the Northern Army Command region in Safad.
> 14h05: An exceptional Maronite Bishop meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
> Maronite Patriarch: The Americans are interested in Lebanon and look forward for a cease-fire with acceptable conditions.
> 13h55: Russia: Israeli Attack is way beyond an anti-terrorism operation.
> 13h50: Hizbullah announce targeting Safad, Tabaryia and Kiryat Shmona with missiles.
> 13h40: About 500 French citizens have been evacuated from the South of Lebanon.
> 13h38: Australia: Israeli ban and attacks are delaying our evacuation plans.
> 13h30: The US citizen have been evacuated to USS Nashville. While US State Secretary warns Americans about dangers of travelling to Israel.
> 13h17: Clashes Between "IDF" and Hizbullah in several location along the borders.
> 13h14: US Marines are evacuating US nationals from Dbayyeh port.
> 13h09: Intense bombing of Srifa in South Lebanon.
> 13h02: Israeli Army fears a long campaign.
> 13h01: Israeli Source: Israel has several plans to invade Lebanon.
> 12h48: Israeli TV: Clashes with Hizbullah similar to Vietnam fights.
> 12h41: Hizbullah says all its leaders are safe and the party is ready to any eventuality.
> 12h31: LBC: Saniora declares to an Italian newspaper "Hizbullah made a state inside the state and should be disarmed".
> 12h31: Yediot Ahront: A huge fire in Kiryat Shmona due to a Hizbullah missile.
> 12h27: Hizbullah launches missiles at Safad, Carmiel, Tiberias and North Commandement HQ in Safad.
> 12h25: Israeli raids on several regions in the South of Lebanon.
> 12h19: Israeli Justice Minister: We are fighting a fierxw battle against well trained fighters and this costs us a lot of losses.
> 12h17: The US Marines are back to Beirut after 24 years in a rescue Mission.
> 12h15: A protest in Beirut Central District against the Israeli attack.
> 12h11: Israeli helicopters are patrolling in Kafra, Yater and Tibnin regions.
> Israeli Colonel: The Attack on Hizbullah was planned since long time.
> 12h04: Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Sfeir, reaches Bkirki.
> 11h44: 2 more israeli soldiers wounded in new clashes with Hizbullah fighters between Maroun el Ras and Aitaroun.
> 11h42: US Marines troops are helping in the evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon.
> 11h39: Israeli air force raids regions next to Tyr.
> 11h37: Hizbullah fighting with Israelis that entered inside Ayta el Chaeb.
> 11h29: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir arrived to Awkar, north of Beirut, on board of an American Helicopter.
> 11h21: Israel targets a Plastic factory south of Saida.
> 11h11: Hermel raid targeted the building site of the company building the Hermel dam.
> 11h02: Hizbullah Katyusha missiles hit Galilée and Carmiel.
> 10h59: Israeli soldier badly hit in clashes with Hizbullah fighters.
> 10h52: Hizbullah missiles hit north Galilee and Tabaryia.
> 10h40: Haaretz: Sirens sound in Tabaryia.
> 10h28: Raids on roads linking Hermel to Syria and on Al Manar TV broadcast antenna.
> 10h24: Raid on Khiam prison (famously used during the Israeli occupation of the Lebanese South).
> 10h18: Hizbullah repels Israeli trials to pull back one of the 2 destroyed tanks in Maroun el Ras.
> 10h17: Israeli Radio: Israel answers US demands to stop bombing Lebanese infrastructure. (one would wonder: was there anything left?)
> 10h07: Heavy raids on Ayta el Chaab in south Lebanon.
> 09h38: An Israeli raid near Justice Court in Baalbeck.
> 09h35: Israeli Planes flying over Keserwan, north of Beirut.
> 09h31: Successive raids on Hermel.
> 09h27: Israeli raid on Baalbeck.
> 09h26: UNIFIL tries to access Safraya where a massacre has reportedly happened, 20 town residents have been killed.
> 09h24: Israeli strikes on Khiyam plain.
> 07h45: Hizbullah destroys 2 Israeli near Maroun el Ras.
> 07h44: Clashes between Hizbullah and Israel on the borders.
> 05h47: Air Strike on the Hizbullah HQ stronghold Souh of Beirut.
> 04h10: Israeli planes over the Bekaa and Beirut.
> 03h40: Isareli shelling on Wadi Kfour near Nabatiyeh.
> 03h30: Israeli planes over South Beirut again.
> 03h00: Raids on Saida neigborhood.
> 02h41: Heavy Israeli flights over South Beirut.
> 01h40: Israeli raid on Akkar killing 2 civilians.
> 01h30: Conflicting reports about who was in the bombed bunker south of Beirut. Hizbullah says it was empty, Israel claims Nasrallah was inside.
> 01h11: UNICEF: 150.000 Lebanese left Lebanon to foreign destinations in the last few days.
> 01h08: Clashes between Hizbullah and the Israeli army in Aytaroun and Kfarkala.
> 01h55: An Israeli Raid on Litani river near Arzai village.
> 00h55: Israeli Air Force is targeting Akkar in North Lebanon.
> 00h50: Israel declares that 23 Tonnes of Bombs was launched at locations suspected to be Hizbullah positions.
> 00h40: Israeli Air Force claims it did target a post used by Hizbullah leaders in Southern Suburb of Beirut.
> 00h30: Pentagon: 9 US Military ships heading to Lebanon, in order to help US nationals evacuate Lebanon.
> 00h10: MK planes flying over Baalbeck.
> 00h07: Hizbullah aborts an Israeli attack between Deir el Zahrani, Houmin in direction of Namiriyeh and Kfour.
> 00h05: Israelis attacks on Akkar cut the phone Lines.

Wednesday, July 19 2006

> 23h03: Israeli raids continue in many Lebanese areas. > 22h55: Israeli airplanes over Baalbeck. > 22h53: Today casualities amount to 65 killed and many more killed by the Israeli attacks. While on the Israeli side, 74 Israeli were injured by Hizbullah attacks.
> 22h47: An Israeli F16 crashed after taking off, according to the Israeli Army.
> 22h44: Missiles target Nahariya north of Israel.
> 22h35: Hariri accuses Syria of using Lebanon to wage war on Israel. (AFP)
> 22h20: Several Israeli raids in North, South and Bekaa Valley.
> 21h58: Israel carries out a raid on the region stretching between the villages of Kbayyet and Andkit in Akkar.
> 21h06: Israeli raid targets a mosque in Burj el Brajneh.
> 20h57: Helicopter raid on the north regionof Tayr Deba.
> 20h52: Israeli Expert: Israel does not have the proper bombs to target Hizbullah leaders locations.
> 20h49: 7 Killed and 6 injured in the latest raids on South Lebanon.
> 20h45: A meeting scheduled Thursday, between Rice and Solana, to discuss the Lebanese crisis.
> 20h40: The White House describes the Israeli offensive as part of the War on Terror.
> 20h30: Israel: We will continue the land offensive, despite the losses.
> 19h53: Hizbullah fires Raad2 missiles targeting Haifa.
> 19h48: Israel moves Inflammable Chemical Substances out of Haifa.
> 19h44: France invites the UN to discuss a cease-fire in lebanon.
> 19h23: Saniora calls for an immediate halt to Israel's offensive and requests urgent international humanitarian aid. He also claimed that the International Community did not help the government in reinforcing its authority on all the country. And says that the true solution is the end of occupation.
> 19h02: Raid between Aalman and Rmeileh north of Saida, targeting a bridge.
> 18h52: Raid on Shkif Fortress near Nabatiyeh.
> 18h48: Russian FM aid, Sultanov, in Syria to help end crisis.
> 18h42: New air strike on Arnoun near Nabatiyeh.
> 18h32: New missiles hit Nahariya.
> 18h27: Hizbullah says that he killed 6 Israeli soldiers and destroyed 3 tanks in Aytaroun clashes, while Israel declares losing 2 soldiers and 9 others wounded.
> 18h22: Israeli police denies Tel Aviv bombing.
> 18h03: Siniora, Lebanese PM, who was welcomed few weeks ago in the White House and many other capitals says: International community is not making efforts to stop the attacks on Lebanon.
> 17h55: Security Sources: An explosion in a mall in Tel Aviv, Israel.
> 17h48: Hizbullah destroys a third Israeli tank in clashes near Aytaroun.
> 17h47: Lebanese Security Forces post in Bint Jbeil targeted by Israeli army. Security chief has been wounded along with 8 soldiers.
> 17h42: Hizbullah missiles hit Nahariya and other Israeli settlements in North Israel.
> 17h32: Russian PM, Primakov: Lebanon is under an occupation threat, similar to 1982.
> 17h30: UNIFIL: UN peacekeepers monitoring the southern border said one of their positions came under direct Israeli fire but nobody was hurt.
> Middle East Airlines will start operating out of Damascus as of Friday.
> A cruise liner carrying 1,059 Americans left Beirut bound for Cyprus.
> 17h29: 3 Israeli dead in a missile attack on Nazareth.
> 17h20: More than 20 people arrested on charges of collaborating with Israel.
> 17h10: Two missiles targeted the northern runway in Beirut airport.
> 17h08: Saad Hariri: wondering about the US stance concerning the attack on Lebanon.
> 17h00: Blair: No cease-fire before releasing the 2 soldiers.
> 16h59: Israel targets Hadi Nasrallah bridge in Southern Suburb of Beirut.
> 16h58: Hizbullah destroys 2 Israeli tanks in clashes near Aytarun.
> 16h58: Israeli TV declares that Hizbullah fighters are superior in the land fights.
> 16h53: Hizbullah targeted Many Israeli Colonies in the north of Israel.
> 16h46: Israeli Airforce is heavily flying over Beirut and southern suburb.
> 16h44: A big fire has errupted in an Israeli airbase, the fire is hard to extinguish.
> 16h37: New raids on the fuel tanks and runways in the Beirut airport.
> 16h35: Peretz: Israel won't allow Hizbullah to redeploy on the border positions.
> 16h25: Hizbullah targets an ammunition and vehicule depot base in Ain Zapteem.
> 16h22: One Hizbullah fighter and 3 Israeli soldiers dead in the clashes opposing the two sides on the border.
> 16h20: Raid on Beirut airport targets fuel tanks.
> 16h12: Airstrikes on the Western landing strip.
> 15h36: Israel is trying to enter to the lebanese territory for Bustan locality in western region.
> 15h19: UNIFIL confirms 3 attempts by Israeli Army to penetrate into Lebanon in Aytaroun, Aalma el Chaeb and Bustan.
> 15h18: An Israeli raid on the Beirut International Airport landing strip.
> 15h18: Hizbullah targets an Israeli base used as ammunition depot.
> 15h16: Hizbullah targets an Isareli Airbase.
> 14h48: The clashes continue on the border between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the frontier.
> 14h44: Israeli raids on Delafa bridge, Kfarshouba and Kfarham while Hebariyeh and Rashaya el Fokhar are being bombed.
> 14h32: Chirac to send a rescue plane to Lebanon.
> 14h30: Clashes between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli Army on the borders.
> 14h20: Multiple air raids on several lebanese regions near Abbassiya.
> 13h51: For the first time, Missiles reached Kiriyat Taroun south of Haifa.
> 13h36: Haifa hit by a number of missiles. Several fires reported.
> 13h35: Hizbullah declares launching a new set of Katyusha missiles on Nahariya.
> 13h26: Several Israeli raids on Ras Baalbeck region.
> 13h09: Explosion blast in Tel Aviv, apparently linked to a car explosion.
> 12h56: Media reports: 2 Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hizbullah fighters along the border.
> 12h45: Continous bombing of Marjeiyoun in South Lebanon.
> 12h44: Multiple raids on Taaneyel and Chtoura in the bekaa valley.
> 12h33: Hizbullah announces that it has enough rockets to hit Israel for months.
> Helicopters are transporting western nationals from Dbayyeh Marina.
> 12h19: Clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli borders in South Lebanon, between Hizbullah and the Israeli Army.
> 11h50: Special UN delegation to the region proposes the spread of UN and Lebanese forces on the border and an International reconstruction of Lebanese infrastructure.
> 11h42: Olmert: The international community agrees on disarming Hizbullah.
> 11h41: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Sultanov arrives to Damascus.
> 11h24: A parking in Baabda, next to Saint Antonios Church, has been targeted.
> Israel's security cabinet decides that the country's twin offensives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon would continue with no time limit.
> 11h19: Israeli warplanes raid a base for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in Sultan Yaacoub.
> 11h11: Ashrafiyeh neighborhood targeted again in the same location. Israel strikes water drilling equipment in the residential Ashrafiyeh neighborhood for the second time.
> 11h02: Chamoun Road targeted in Hadath.
> 10h37: It looks like the trucks hit in Ashrafiyeh were diging material, unoperational for few months. A second bomb exploded in what is believed to be a time delayed bombs.
> 10h35: Israel strikes trucks or building machinery in the residential Ashrafiyeh neighborhood for the first time.
> Israel drops leaflets in the south warning Lebanese against using trucks which it says are now military targets.
> Israeli airstrikes destroy dozens of houses in the Bekaa and the south burying their residents under the rubble.
> 10h35: A missile hits Haifa, injuries reported.
> 10h34: Israeli reprted to attack a truck in Achrafieh region, Abed el Wahab el Inglizi street.
> 10H32: Patriarch Sfeir to AlHurra TV: Implementing the 1559 by force leads to massacres in the country.
> 10h28: New raids on Hizbullah HQ region.
> 09h30: Air raid near the city of Zahleh.
> 09h15: Several raids are targeting Lebanese villages and Hizbullah buildings. 5 civilians reported dead near Baalbeck.
> 07h35: Israeli Air raid on Western Bekaa valley.
> 06h48: Air Raid on Rmeileh.
> 06h15: Many raids on different Lebanese regions. Casualities reported, at least 5 dead and 35 wounded.
> 05h51: New raid on Choueifat, near Beirut.
> 05h40: New raids on Hizbullah HQ region.
> 04h29: Hizbullah HQ is being bombed with a very high intensity.
> 04h15: Hadi Nasrallah Avenue is targeted ina new raid.
> 04h05: New raids on Hizbullah HQ region, and Israeli planes over Beirut.
> 04h00: New Strike on Beirut southern suburb.
> 03h19: Rice meets with Abu Gheit and Maronite Patriarch Sfeir, and confirms her visit to the region "in the appropriate time".
> 02h59: Raid on Saida.
> 02h25: US Senate takes a resolution accusing Syria and Iran for their support to Hizbullah.
> 02h19: Air raids and big explosions in the Airport area.
> 02h15: The raid on Hadath targeted a group of trucks.
> 02h00: Israeli raids on Hadath, Choueifat and Beirut Airport area. Resulting in a big fire in Gallery Semaan area.
> 01h52: An Israli Raid targets Choueifat.
> 01h50: An anxious calm is surrounding all th Lebanese regions.
> 00h47: A meeting tomorrow in the Elysée Palace in Paris to discuss the Lebanese situation.
> 00h35: Washington is pressuring Syria and Iran to constrain Hizbullah power.
> 00h33: After a brief calm in the Israeli offensive, new Israeli raids in the Tyr region. Phosphorus bombs used.
> 00h30: Bush: It is important for the Lebanese Governement to overcome the current Middle East crisis.
> 00h28: Olmert: The kidnapping happened in coordination with Iran.
> 00h23: Riot attempt in Roumieh prison.
> 00h18: Lebanese in Sweden, USA and in Greece are rallying against the Israeli war on Lebanon.

By Israel Insider staff and partners August 19, 2006 Ynet reports that the commando unit of the super-elite Sayeret Matkal completed its mission and returned from the Baalbek area with two Hezbollah prisoners. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a green light for the mission, despite the risk of causing a violation of the UN ceasefire.

While the real purpose of the mission remains shrouded in secrecy, it apparently was not a simple interdiction of weapons from Syria as was publicly claimed by Israeli officials, including its Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Peretz said Saturday evening that the operation didn't breach the UN-brokered ceasefire. "It is an essential operation to prevent the rearmament of Hezbollah," Peretz said.

Peretz said he "applauds the soldiers who achieved the aims of this daring operation" and send condolences to the family of the officer killed in the raid.

The IDF refuted Lebanese reports that the operation was aimed at kidnapping or killing senior Hizbullah officials, saying the operation is part of efforts to curtail Hizbullah's smuggling of weapons from Syrian.

The top-secret operation was approved by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Peretz and IDF Chief of Staff Lit.-Gen. Dan Halutz. The mission continued even after IAF reconnaisance aircraft were apparently detected.

Despite the official denials, it seemed, a routine arms interdiction effort would not have required the high-level approvals or the top-level secrecy. Rather, it seems, it was an attempt to snatch senior Hezbollah officials to use as bargaining chips for the release of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. There was no indication as to the identities of the prisoners taken, and no confirmation by Hezbollah that prisoners were taken.

The IDF reported that the mission was accomplished in full before the commandos, dressed in Lebanese army uniforms, were discovered on their way back to transport helicopters.

Israel warned that the raid against Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon, its first since a cease-fire went into effect, may not be its last. With Europe moving slowly to provide troops for an international monitoring force, Israel said it would act on its own to enforce the truce's arms embargo on the Lebanese guerrilla group.

In Saturday's raid, Israeli commandos struck near the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, deep inside Lebanon and far from the Israeli border, in a mission the army said was aimed at halting arms shipments. Lebanon's prime minister, Fuad Saniora, accused Israel of violating the cease-fire and said he would take the issue up with the United Nations. But Israeli officials rejected the criticism, saying the operation was defensive in nature, in line with the truce's ban on the sales and supplies of arms to Hezbollah.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said such incursions may continue until the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force laid out in the truce is in control of the Syrian border to enforce the arms ban.

"In the interim, of course, we can't have a situation where endless amounts of weaponry arrive for Hezbollah, so we are forced to act in response to this violation," he said. "Had there been that presence there already, the Israeli operation would have been superfluous."

In a boost for Israel, the U.S. declined to criticize the Israeli campaign, noting the U.N. resolution's arms ban on Hezbollah.

"The incident underscores the importance of quickly deploying the enhanced UNIFIL," White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said, referring to the U.N. monitoring force.

Lebanon threatened on Saturday to halt troop deployments to the south of the country after the commando raid. Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora accused Israel of a "flagrant violation of the cessation of hostilities announced by the Security Council," and said he would take the issue up with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Defense Minister Elias Murr threatened to halt deployment of Lebanese troops if the United Nations did not intervene against Israel.

After an evening meeting with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, Murr said the U.N. official was traveling to Israel and would discuss the matter there.

"We have put the matter forward in a serious manner and the U.N. delegation was understanding of the seriousness of the situation," he told reporters. "We are awaiting an answer."

"If there are no clear answers forthcoming on this issue, I might be forced to recommend to the Cabinet early next week the halt of the army deployment in the south," he said.

Last week's U.N. cease-fire resolution authorized up to 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army extend its authority to south Lebanon, which has been controlled by Hezbollah. The United Nations wants 3,500 troops on the ground by Aug. 28, and the entire force in place in three months.

But European nations, expected to lead the multinational force, have been hesitant about committing troops, apparently because of questions about whether the force will be called on to disarm Hezbollah fighters. The Lebanese government already has said it does not plan on disarming the guerrilla group.

France, which commands UNIFIL's current 2,000-strong force, had been expected to make a significant new contribution that would form the backbone of the expanded force.

But French President Jacques Chirac disappointed the United Nations and others by announcing Thursday that France would add just 200 combat engineers to its current 200-member contingent in Lebanon. Some 50 French troops landed in Lebanon on Saturday, the first reinforcements.

Other European nations have offered even less. Only Italy and Finland have promised troops, but Italy has not committed to specific numbers and Finland's 250-member contingent will arrive only in November. Spain and Bulgaria are considering sending troops, while Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland have made no offer at all.

At a meeting this week of 49 potential contributing nations, the only countries to offer mechanized infantry battalions, which will be the front line of the expanded force, were three Muslim countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel -- Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia -- and Nepal, which is predominantly Hindu.

Many countries said they wanted to study the operational plans for the force and the rules of engagement before making any decisions. They include several European countries, U.N. diplomats said.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown stressed that more European nations would be needed to balance commitments from Muslim countries so that Israel and Lebanon will view the troops as legitimate.

Cristina Gallach, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, dismissed suggestions that the failure of European nations to send troops could have triggered the Israeli raid.

"Nobody expected the deployment to be this week anyway," she said in a telephone interview. She noted that although the United Nations is working very hard to find units for UNIFIL, most candidate countries had to get parliamentary approval for their troops to be sent overseas.

"It's therefore logical that they want to know the details of the mandate, the rules of engagement, and how the military can apply these," Gallach said/

BY

REPORTER/PRODUCER
David Lewis

Two thousand years ago, Julius Caesar ordered the construction of the largest temple in the Roman empire -- a monument to the god Jupiter -- in what is now Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria. The temple ruins are spectacular, but as he wanders through the site, FRONTLINE/World reporter David Lewis finds himself almost alone. Tourists avoid these ancient ruins because nearby the militant Islamic group, Hezbollah, once trained its fighters.

The Bekaa valley is outlaw territory, long known as a haven for terrorists, counterfeiting and drug smuggling. Syrian soldiers -- who intervened in Lebanon's civil war years ago and never left -- still dominate the region. Accompanied by a local Lebanese reporter, Hikmat Sharif, who works for Agence France-Presse, Lewis enters the town of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold. Posters of Hezbollah "martyrs," or suicide bombers, line the streets of the city. A souvenir store sells videos of Hezbollah guerrillas attacking Israeli soldiers, alongside shelves of Hezbollah hats and postcards. They even market a Hezbollah scent called "perfume of the martyrs."

Founded in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah -- "Party of God" in Arabic -- based its ideology on the 1979 Iranian revolution and the teachings of Ayatollah Khomeini. Lewis spots the old castle where Iranian Revolutionary Guards came in 1981 and later trained Hezbollah recruits. He also sees where Hezbollah held Western hostages they kidnapped in the 1980s during Lebanon's long civil war. He even spots a notorious airplane hijacker who is living quietly in Baalbek.

Hijackings, bombings, a brutal civil war between Christians and Muslims -- that's what Lebanon was known for in the 1970s and 1980s, especially the capital, Beirut, which was reduced to rubble. But Lewis discovers that Beirut is largely peaceful today and much restored, eager to reclaim its old reputation as "the Paris of the Middle East." He sees American fast food restaurants, fancy cafes, belly dancers, even a luxury car show hosted by Miss Lebanon and prosperous businessmen seeking to attract foreign investment.

But as a tourist from Bahrain tells him, "Lebanon has no middle class. It's like India, where you can find very rich people who can afford to spend as much as you can think of, and poor who can't even afford to eat."

Not far from the prosperous Westernized center of Beirut, Lewis enters the Palestinian refugee camps, where rightwing Christian militias allied with Israel once massacred hundreds of Palestinians. Here, among the poor and disenfranchised -- and in the Lebanese Shiite neighborhoods -- Hezbollah took root. Lewis manages to get into a local Hezbollah rally in honor of the Iranian revolution. Under the watchful eye of a large Ayatollah Khomeini poster, the crowd sings, "Death, death, death to Israel!" And Hezbollah's charismatic secretary-general, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, inveighs against the United States, urging his Shiite followers to resist the Americans in Iraq.

America and Hezbollah have a bloody history. When the United States intervened in Lebanon's civil war, Hezbollah bombed the U.S. embassy twice and attacked a military barracks, killing 241 Marines. Some in Washington want to avenge these suicide bombings.

"Hezbollah may be the A-team of terrorists and maybe Al Qaeda is actually the B-team," argues Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. "They're on the list and their time will come. There is no question about it. They have a blood debt to us and we're not going to forget it. It's all in good time."

Ironically, in Lebanon, Hezbollah has been remaking itself as a mainstream political organization. They operate a satellite television channel (Al Manar), a radio station and a Web site. They have 11 members in the Lebanese parliament. Lewis also visits a modern Hezbollah-run hospital -- "one of the best in Beirut" -- as well as one of the group's many schools.

"America is a great country with a lot of good people," a Hezbollah MP, Amar Mussawi, tells Lewis. Representing the "moderate" public face of Hezbollah, Mussawi denounces the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. He argues that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization, but a Lebanese resistance movement.

Hezbollah is so entrenched in Lebanon's political system that few Lebanese dare to criticize it openly. But attorney and human rights activist Muhammad Mugrabi tells Lewis that Hezbollah's presence "is a recipe for trouble for Lebanon ...They are not subject to the rule of law." Hezbollah is "untouchable" because Syria -- with 20,000 troops in Lebanon -- still backs Hezbollah and holds sway over Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud.

Attending Lebanon's annual independence day celebrations, Lewis discovers "a strange exercise in political theater." The public is not invited -- only political and military leaders and the press. "The parade had a make-believe quality," says Lewis. "For its closing number the band played a familiar song, the theme from Monty Python."

Heading south to Lebanon's border with Israel, Lewis enters an area where the Lebanese army has little authority -- this is Hezbollah country, in which Hezbollah acts as a surrogate army for its patrons, Iran and Syria. A thin blue line of U.N. peacekeepers stands guard along the border, but here Hezbollah claims its greatest triumph -- compelling Israeli soldiers to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000.

The border is quiet now. Syria, Iran and Hezbollah held their fire during the U.S. war in Iraq. But Hezbollah refuses to withdraw from the border. At its annual Jerusalem Day march, Hezbollah flexes its muscle, showing off its soldiers and restating its official position: Israel has no right to exist.

Back in Beirut, Lewis interviews the man widely considered to be Hezbollah's spiritual advisor, Grand Ayatollah Sayeed Hassan Fadlallah, who also denounces Israel and the United States. But in an otherwise uncompromising interview, Fadlallah, at one point, seems to leave the door open for an end to the conflict with Israel. "I am sure that if Israel withdrew," Fadlallah tells Lewis, "that not a single Palestinian would commit any suicide attack."

But in public, Hezbollah maintains a hardline. At another rally, Lewis hears Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Nasrallah, condemn the United States for trying to control the region and redraw the political map of the Middle East "with Israel's interests in mind." Then Lewis spots the Hezbollah member of parliament he had interviewed earlier, Amar Mussawi, and recalls that, in private conversation, Mussawi offered some small measure of hope that Hezbollah may be willing to accept a Palestinian peace settlement with Israel. But Mussawi makes clear that if the United States decides to go after Hezbollah, "Be sure that we will defend ourselves with all our might."

Lebanon Photo: Becharri view with the gorge. The terrain protected the town over the ages

LEBANON PHOTOS - AMAZING - SEE THEM ALL

ROMAN BATHS UNCOVERED IN BEIRUT, LEBANON

The Mystery of the Stones at Baalbek

By Alan F. Alford
Author of 'Gods of the New Millennium', 'The Phoenix Solution' and 'When The Gods Came Down'

Lebanese Dancers doing the Dabke

Copyright Notice
This article below is the copyright of Eridu Books 2004. The images and diagrams are the copyright of Alan Alford or of other photographers, where indicated. Eridu Books welcomes the reproduction and dissemination of these pages, in original, unaltered form, for non-commercial purposes, but permission must be sought for any other usage, other than 'fair dealing' quotations.

Reprinted with permission

Large photos added by Dee from Habeeb.com for clarity of vision.

---

The mysterious ruins of Baalbek. One of the great Power Places of the ancient world. For thousands of years its secrets have been shrouded in darkness, or bathed in an artificial light by those who would offer us a simplistic solution to its mysteries.

You are looking at the columns of the Temple of Jupiter - the grandest temple that the Romans ever built - one of the wonders of the ancient world. To this remote location in the Bekaa Valley of modern-day Lebanon, Roman emperors would travel 1,500 miles to make offerings to their gods and receive oracles on the destiny of their empire.

Much has changed in two thousand years. The magnificent temple is ruined, its gods abandoned, its secrets forgotten. Even the ruins have been neglected, wiped off the tourist map by twenty years of terrorism, war, hostages and hijackings.

TEMPLE OF JUPITER IN THE EVENING

MORE PHOTOS OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER

Some archaeologists might well wish that Baalbek had been buried forever. For it is here that we find the largest dressed stone block in the world - the infamous Stone of the South, lying in its quarry just ten minutes walk from the temple acropolis. This huge stone weighs approximately 1,000 tons - almost as heavy as three Boeing 747 aircraft.[1]

Back at the temple acropolis, three stones not much smaller than this, weighing 800 tons each, have been miraculously fitted together in a wall, forming a Trilithon at a height of 20 feet.

I personally seized the opportunity to visit Baalbek in May 1995, shortly after tourists began returning to the bombed-out ruins of Lebanon. This e-tour will mirror my real life tour, which climaxed at the mighty Trilithon and the Stone of the South. In due course I will attempt to provide some personal insights into the enormous scale of this construction and the motivations of its builders.

First, however, I offer you the rare opportunity to see the entire Baalbek, of which the mighty Trilithon is only a part. As we progress through our e-tour, reflect on the glorious splendour that was once here and ask yourself "why here?". What was it that caused the original sanctity of this remote site? What was it that prompted the Romans to quarry, move and erect literally millions of stone blocks?

We begin at the main acropolis by considering first this bird's eye view of how it might have looked in Roman times, before its fortification by the Muslims. A monumental staircase leads up to the entrance or Propylaea, beyond which we find the Hexagonal Courtyard, the Great Courtyard, the Temple of Jupiter, the smaller Temple of Bacchus, and the much smaller Temple of Venus. Note the unusual fact that the acropolis of Baalbek is not aligned to the cardinal points of the compass.

The Temple of Venus can be dealt with briefly. Situated in what is now a field of rubble, its former elegance can no longer be seen, and only four of its ten columns remain standing. Being outside the fortified acropolis, this temple was swallowed up by an Arab town, to such an extent that the German Archaeological Mission had to remove five metres of debris to clear the first step of the monumental staircase at its entrance. The remains of the temple were dismantled and re-erected in the early 1930s, but they now threaten to collapse again.

We now enter the main acropolis via the Propylaea - what we see here is a reconstruction by the German archaeological expedition in 1905. The original staircase was destroyed by the Arabs to fortify the site and they dismantled the 12 granite columns which they re-used for defensive purposes. Only the bases of those columns survived, and they bore inscriptions identifying their Roman origin.

Having come through the entrance, we find ourselves in the middle of the impressive Hexagonal Courtyard, which is a unique feature for a temple of this period (it may well have been a concession by the Romans to local customs and traditions). Roman inscriptions are found here in abundance, but the purpose of the Hexagonal Courtyard remains unknown.

We now proceed into the Great Courtyard...

We now proceed into the Great Courtyard - an immense square court, thought to have housed the statues of the pantheon of the twelve Great Gods. The photograph shows the remains of the Altar of Sacrifice. Although constructed by the Romans, it apparently supersedes a much earlier altar which was dedicated to the god Baal-Hadad, and is built over a natural crevice some 150 feet deep, at the bottom of which is a small rock-cut altar. There are few tourists around to provide a comparative scale of measurement, but such a person would in fact be no taller than the base of this altar.

Behind the Altar we can see the foundation of the Great Tower, which was an even more impressive structure, 50 feet high, with two independent flights of stairs. Both the Altar and Tower were destroyed by the Christians who erected a basilica here. In 1934-5 it was decided to tear down the basilica which was hindering archaeological excavation. Only then were the ancient Altar and Tower rediscovered. The Great Tower which once stood here was not a Roman tradition, but probably a concession to local traditions of worship in 'high places'. Note the excavations to the left of this picture. The dig uncovered middle bronze age houses, from the 2nd millennium BC and evidence of earlier occupation back to 2900 BC.[2]

On the other side of the Great Courtyard lies a truly monumental staircase leading up to a raised platform on which the Temple of Jupiter once stood.

This is a biblical symbol. Were these Romans Christians?
See two references below:

Psalm 74:4

1We ^(A)give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks,
For Your name is ^(B)near;
Men declare ^(C)Your wondrous works.
2"When I select an ^(D)appointed time,
It is I who ^(E)judge with equity.
3"The ^(F)earth and all who dwell in it ^[a]melt;
It is I who have firmly set its ^(G)pillars. Selah.
4"I said to the boastful, 'Do not boast,'
And to the wicked, '^(H)Do not lift up the horn;
5Do not lift up your horn on high,
^(I)Do not speak with insolent pride.'"
6For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the ^(J)desert comes exaltation;
7But ^(K)God is the Judge;
He ^(L)puts down one and exalts another.
8For a ^(M)cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams;
It is ^(N)well mixed, and He pours out of this;
Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and ^(O)drink down its dregs.
9But as for me, I will ^(P)declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10And all the ^(Q)horns of the wicked He will cut off,
But ^(R)the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

Zechariah 1:18-21 (New American Standard Bible)

18 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.
19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "What are these?" And he answered me,
"These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."
20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.
21 I said, "What are these coming to do?" And he said, "These are the horns which have
scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify
them, to throw down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land
of Judah in order to scatter it.

NOTE: The clockwise Swastika is East-going, and positive, an ancient symbol of "good luck." In the Bible, these are the four "smiths" or "carpenters" who have thrown down the four horns that have scattered the nations. The smith/carpenter refers to the tool used by craftsmen, the right-angled square, the "L" shape. Four of them, one from each quarter, form a Swastika.

In this picture we can see the bases of the now fallen columns - the bases alone are 8 feet high. If we wished, we could climb these stairs and stand in awe beneath the six remaining columns, which rise to a spectacular height of 66 feet. But the best view of these columns comes not from this angle but from the nearby Temple of Bacchus.

This is the Temple of Bacchus, and it is undoubtedly the best preserved Roman temple in the world. Its 46 columns included 15 on each side and 8 on the ends, most of which are intact in this picture, although the eastern end here is clearly missing a few.

The southern side of the Temple of Bacchus, in contrast, has suffered badly. Here I am setting the scale of the infamous leaning column - a tourist favourite - which was probably felled by the earthquake of 1759. This massive column, formed of three parts, stands 60 feet high including the base and the capital. Incidentally, the drums are held together by dowels made of bronze, embedded in lead.

Look ma, I am holding it up

THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS

Let's now enter the Temple of Bacchus...

We now climb 33 steps to the Temple of Bacchus.

TEMPLE STAIRS

BROKEN COLUMNS ABOVE THE STAIRWAY

We enter a large court with an imposing doorway 40 feet high. Note the slipped keystone which was once propped up by a crude tower of bricks, but has now been properly renovated.

Proceeding through the doorway, we are surrounded by further columns and niches which once housed the pantheon of the gods. At the far end, nothing remains of the beautiful shrine which once stood against this far wall and housed the statue of the god Bacchus.

Bacchus - The Roman God of Wine Known by the Greeks as Dionysus He was also known as Bacchus and the frenzy he induces, bakcheia. He is the patron deity of agriculture and the theatre. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the living and the dead. Dionysus or Dionysos was the god of wine and inspired madness, and a major figure of Greek mythology. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. The geographical origins of his cult were unknown, but almost all myths depicted him as having "foreign" (i.e. non-Greek) origins. In Greek mythology Dionysus is made to be a son of Zeus and Semele; other versions of the myth contend that he is a son of Zeus and Persephone. He is described as being womanly or "man-womanish". Dionysus had an unusual birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his father Zeus, the king of the gods. Zeus's wife, Hera, a jealous and vain goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, cannot look upon a god without dying, and she perished. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus, however, by sewing him into his thigh.

The main temple of Baalbek, however, was reserved for the chief deity himself - Iovi Optimo Maximo Heliopolitano 'Jupiter the Most High, the Most Great'. This is the view of what remains from the staircase we saw earlier. The destruction of this magnificent temple is thought to have begun with the earthquake of 526 or 551. Curiously, the chronicler Michael the Syrian records the popular belief that the temple was destroyed by fire from the sky.[3] Historians assume this is a misunderstanding and think that the fire was a consequence of the earthquake.

Following that 6th century earthquake and fire, Byzantine and Arab occupants ravaged the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, using its stone as building material elsewhere on the acropolis. Further earthquakes, such as in 1158, 1203, and 1664 increased the devastation.

The last really big quake in 1759 brought down three columns, leaving only the six that we see here. The Temple was so utterly destroyed that it has never been possible to accurately reconstruct its ground plan, and little can be gleaned from visiting the site.

We do know that 58 columns once graced this Temple, 19 down each side and 10 at each end, enclosing an area twice as large as the Temple of Bacchus. Each column soared to a height of 66 feet, built on a platform which was raised 26 feet higher than the surrounding buildings.

Here was a building which stretched to the limit the ingenuity of man, in which ancient man literally reached out to the heavens and communicated to the gods. To imagine the pride felt by those who took part in this magnificent achievement, even down to the humblest workman, is to recognise a greatness that is rarely found in modern society.

However, as magnificent as the Temple of Jupiter certainly was, it stood on a terrace of colossal stones which was, and still is, even more impressive. If you look carefully at the photograph above you will see me, 6 foot one inch in height, standing on a block which measures approximately 33 by 14 by 10 feet, and weighing an incredible 300 tons. There are nine such blocks visible in this wall.

The Climax of Baalbek

It is now time to experience the climax of Baalbek, and this requires retracing our steps to the entrance, and skirting around the outer walls of the acropolis. On the way we see the stark contrast between more 300-ton megaliths and the much smaller fortifications of the Arabs.

At last we turn a corner and see, in the western (strictly south-western) wall of the platform, the great Trilithon.

The Trilithon is the lighter-coloured course in the wall and comprises three granite stones beautifully fitted together at a height of 20 feet above present ground level.

The angle of this photograph - compromised by the fence and woods which now obstruct the view of this wall, hardly does justice to the huge size of these blocks, which are 14 feet 6 inches in height, 12 feet thick, and a staggering 64 feet in length (on average).

These three stones are slightly smaller than the Stone of the South, which we saw earlier, and are estimated to weigh approximately 800 tons each.

Now feast your eyes once again on the awesome 1000-ton Stone of the South, which weighs approximately as much as three Boeing 747 aircraft:

Give your imagination a little exercise by mentally trimming this 1,000 ton megalith into an 800-ton block - that is four fifths of this size - and now, keeping that image in your mind, take another look at three such stones in the Trilithon. Can it be true? Are these stones really there? Yes, sir. I have seen it with my own eyes.

The locals call this the 'Miracle of the Three Stones'. I, on the other hand, prefer to call it 'the Archaeologist's Nightmare', for our minds immediately begin to reel with questions - who built this megalithic wall, when did they build it, how did they build it, and, more importantly, why did they build it in the way that they did?

This is one of the most amazing sights in the ancient world - the three 800-ton blocks of the mighty Trilithon (the lighter-coloured course), situated in a wall of the great acropolis of Baalbek in Lebanon.

Michel Alouf, the former curator of the ruins, once wrote of the Trilithon:

'... in spite of their immense size, they [the Trilithon stones] are so accurately placed in position and so carefully joined, that it is almost impossible to insert a needle between them. No description will give an exact idea of the bewildering and stupefying effect of these tremendous blocks on the spectator'. [4]

Analysis of the Baalbek Platform

Observe in the above photograph the impressive platform of stones which underpins the Trilithon. Each of these stone blocks (the fifth visible layer of the wall) measures 33 by 14 by 10 feet and thus, according to my calculations, weighs approximately 300 tons. Note the outward tapering of these blocks. In my view this was once the platform's uppermost layer, with the Trilithon being a later addition.

Observe, too, the supporting layers beneath the 300-ton blocks - at least four layers of carefully constructed smaller stones.

Now look closely at the adjoining wall, i.e. the south-eastern wall of the acropolis.

Here we see another row of 300-ton megaliths, measuring 33 feet in length and 14 feet in height. This layer of megaliths is quite ill-matched; some blocks are tapered, others are not, and the cut of the tapering does not match, even on adjacent blocks. It is as if this south-eastern side of the platform (perhaps the uppermost layer of the original platform) has at one time sustained serious damage and been subsequently reconstructed.

The significant fact, which is not readily apparent without a visit to Baalbek, is this: the rows of 300-ton blocks in the adjoining south-western and south-eastern walls are at exactly the same level - in other words, the Trilithon layer rises above any of the other megalithic stones and does not form part of a level terrace. This fact has led me to a conclusion which is shared by some conventional researchers - that the Baalbek platform as it stands is incomplete, perhaps being part of an unfinished defensive wall.

Such a conclusion is supported by the Stone of the South, which is still attached to the rocky floor of the quarry. Whilst it is possible that the block was considered faulty, it is perhaps more likely that the Stone of the South was abandoned when the project as a whole was suddenly cancelled.

How was Baalbek built?

This view from the quarry shows that the distance to the Baalbek acropolis is not huge - no more than a third of a mile. Nor is the elevation very different between the two points. Although we do not know the topography of the site at the time the wall was constructed, it does seem feasible that the stones might have been dragged up a ramp to the position where they now lie. Theoretically, then, the lifting of the stones would have been limited only to positional adjustments.

Nevertheless, when we consider the size and weight of the Baalbek stones and the fact that the route to the acropolis is not entirely flat, transportation via non-technological means would have presented the builders with formidable problems.

So, how was the job done? How were three 800-ton stones cut, moved and erected in the Baalbek acropolis?

This is a question which must be tackled with great caution, for it is not at all clear who the builders of Baalbek actually were.

If you ask an archaeologist, he will tell you that the Romans built the temples of Baalbek and he or she might well point out that there are work gang inscriptions which date the construction of the Temple of Jupiter to the 1st century ad, i.e. to the Roman era. The archaeologist might also point out to you that the Romans did know how to move and lift heavy stones; after all, we know that they transported a large number of multi-hundred ton obelisks to Rome from Egypt, and that was no mean feat two thousand years ago.

The archaeologist will thus suppose that the platform of Baalbek, on which the Roman temples stand, must also belong to the Roman era. And he or she will thus explain the construction of the Trilithon by reciting what is known about Roman construction techniques. Thus the explanation involves the erection of the Trilithon by push-and-shove methods, with the Romans probably using nothing more than wooden rollers, ropes, wooden lifting frames and human muscle power.

Archaeologists typically overlook the fact that experiments with stones much lighter than 800 tons have crushed the wooden rollers. And even if such a method was feasible, it would, by one estimate, have required the combined pulling power of 40,000 men to move the Stone of the South.[5] Incredible indeed.

Is there any evidence that the Romans built the platform of Baalbek as well as the temples upon it? One text book assures us that: 'Part of a [Roman] drum or column similar to those found in the Temple of Jupiter was used as a block in the foundation under the Trilithon'.[6] But where is the evidence for this Roman drum? I myself have been to Baalbek and I can show you dozens of photographs of the foundation walls, but I cannot show you the alleged Roman drum. It seems to have vanished into thin air.

A good counter argument lies in the fact that the Baalbek platform is out of all proportion to the temples which stand upon it, being thus suggestive of two different phases in construction.[7] This same observation was made by Professor Daniel Krencker of the German archaeological mission, although it led him to the conclusion that the Temple of Jupiter was originally planned on the same colossal scale as these foundations.[8] In other words, Krencker believed that the Roman builders must have had a change of mind. (How many times have we heard this before? Call me a sceptic but it seems to me that 'a change of mind' is archaeologist-speak for anything which the archaeologist cannot comprehend!)

In the absence of any proof as to who built the platform of Baalbek, it becomes very difficult to draw any firm conclusions as to the construction methods used. What we can do, however, is demonstrate the scale of the job by explaining how the Trilithon would be erected using today's technology.

The Baldwins Challenge

In 1996, I posed the problem of the Baalbek stones to Baldwins Industrial Services - one of the leading crane hire companies in Britain. I asked them how they might attempt to move the 1,000-ton Stone of the South and place it at the same height as the Trilithon.

Although it is sometimes claimed that modern cranes cannot lift stones as heavy as 800-tons,[9] this is actually incorrect. Bob MacGrain, the Technical Director of Baldwins, confirmed that there were several mobile cranes that could lift and place the 1,000-ton stone on a support structure 20 feet high. Baldwins themselves operate a 1,200 ton capacity Gottwald AK912 strut jib crane,[10] whilst other companies operate cranes which can lift 2,000 tons. Unfortunately, however, these cranes do not have the capability to actually move whilst carrying such heavy loads.

How, then, might we transport the Stone of the South to the Baalbek acropolis?

Baldwins suggested two possibilities. The first would use a 1,000-ton capacity crane fitted with crawler tracks. The disadvantage of this method would be the need for massive ground preparation works - to provide a solid, level roadway for the crane to move.

The alternative to a crane would be a series of modular hydraulic trailers, combined to create a massive load carrying platform. These trailers raise and lower their loads using hydraulic cylinders built into their suspension. The initial lift at the quarry would be achieved by the use of a cut-out section beneath the stone, which the trailer would drive into. The final positioning in the wall, at a height of 20 feet, would be achieved by using an earth ramp.

This is all very interesting, and gives us some feel for the scale of the engineering challenge, but there is, of course, one slight problem with the Baldwins scenario, namely that none of this twentieth century technology was supposedly available when Baalbek was built.

 

The Puzzle of Baalbek

Here is a fascinating question. Why did the builders of the Trilithon struggle with 800-ton weights when it would hatones rather than a cumbersome 800-tonner?

According to my engineer-friends, it was very risky to use 800-ton blocks in the way seen at Baalbek. This is because any vertical defects running lengthwise through the stone might have led to a critical structural weakness. In contrast, a similar fault in a smaller block would not have affected the overall construction. Either the builder was incompetent and just plain lucky or he was competent and supremely confident in his materials.

Whichever way we look at it, however, it makes no sense to imagine tens of thousands of men struggling to move and erect three of these monstrous 800-ton stones.

So the question is "why did they not split the stones?".

One possible answer to this puzzle is that the builders moved the stones in huge sizes simply because they could. In other words, it might have been the case that, with a high technology available, the builders found it more expeditious to cut and move one large stone rather than several smaller ones. This presupposes the kind of high-tech 'lost civilisation' which has been mooted by writers such as Bauval, Hancock and West, or the more plausible 'lost race' as advocated by myself in 'The Phoenix Solution' (1998).[11]

Large stone. It is amazing how they ancients moved such stones to build the temples

The Megalomaniac Theory

What possible motive could there have been for the Romans to drag three shapeless stone blocks, weighing 800-tons each, and place them into the wall of a structure in a remote region of the Roman empire?

Here is a possible scenario. Let us imagine that the distant Roman empire wished to stamp its authority on one of the most sacred sites of the Near East. Let's say an instruction was issued from the central bureaucracy to erect the world's largest temple. An over-zealous Roman governor at Baalbek then conceived a temple plan on an unimaginable scale and ordered the local people to comply. Thousands of workers were drafted in from all around the Bekaa Valley. Then, as the platform neared completion, even bigger stones were dragged to the site. The workers became exhausted, time and resources became a problem, and the megalithic layer was abandoned. A new official then arrived and blew the whistle, stopped the brutality and brought a sense of realism to the enterprise; the order was thus given for a massive down-grading of the yet-to-be-built temples.

This is a purely hypothetical and imaginative scenario, and there is a problem with it, because there is no historical evidence for it. Where, for example, is the record of a megalomaniac Roman governor at Baalbek? Surely such a man would have been notorious for one of the greatest acts of folly ever witnessed. And yet we find no recollection of this mad dictator among the Romans and no recollection where we would most expect to find it - in the legends of the local people...

The Local Legends of Baalbek

Curiously, it would seem that not one Roman emperor ever claimed credit for the Baalbek temple complex or for the construction of its massive foundations.[12]

Similarly, we find no evidence for Roman construction among the local people. What we do find instead are legends which suggest that Baalbek was built by super-human powers in an epoch long before human civilisation began.

The Arabs believed that Baalbek once belonged to the legendary Nimrod, who ruled this area of Lebanon. According to an Arabic manuscript, Nimrod sent giants to rebuild Baalbek after the Flood. Another legend states that Nimrod rebelled against Yahweh and built the Tower of Babel here, in order to ascend to Heaven and attack his God. According to one version of this legend, Nimrod ascended to the top of the Tower but found himself as far from his objective (Heaven) as when he had begun; after the Tower collapsed, Nimrod attempted to scale the heavens in a carriage drawn by four strong birds, but the carriage, after wandering for a long time in space, eventually crashed on Mount Hermon, thus killing Nimrod. Earlier in this tale, Nimrod had been visited by Abraham, who came as a messenger of God to warn Nimrod of punishment for his sins. But Nimrod, vexed by these threats, had cast Abraham into a blazing furnace (from which the latter somehow emerged unscathed).[13]

The local Muslims believed that it was beyond the capability of humans to move the enormous stones of Baalbek. Instead of giants, however, they credited the work to demons or djinn. Muslim tradition states that Baalbek was once the home of Abraham, and later of Solomon. It is also suggested that the prophet Elijah was taken into Heaven from Baalbek - upon a steed of fire.[14]

Other legends associated Baalbek with the Biblical figure of Cain - the son of Adam - claiming that he built it as a refuge after his god Yahweh had cursed him. According to Estfan Doweihi, the Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon: 'Tradition states that the fortress of Baalbek... is the most ancient building in the world. Cain, the son of Adam, built it in the year 133 of the creation, during a fit of raving madness. He gave it the name of his son Enoch and peopled it with giants who were punished for their iniquities by the flood.'[15]

 

Modern Theories of Baalbek

Few modern writers have dared to tackle the enigma of Baalbek, perhaps because Lebanon was off-limits to tourists during the troubled decades at the close of the second millennium.

One writer to take an interest is Andrew Collins, whose articles suggest the possibility that Baalbek was some kind of astronomical observatory.[16]

The best known 'alternative' theory, however, is that of ancient astronaut writer Zecharia Sitchin, who asserted that Baalbek was a space centre, built by a visiting race of 'Anunnaki' gods as a launching pad for their space rockets.[17] An intriguing aspect of Sitchin's theory was the connection between Baalbek-Heliopolis - the City of the Sun - and the ancient legend of the Sun-god who used to park his chariot at Baalbek. This rather appealing theory is, however, sunk (in my mind at least) by the revelations in my book 'When The Gods Came Down' (April 2000). In this book I revealed that the Sun-god and the Anunnaki had nothing whatsoever to do with ancient astronauts.[18]

To close with an amusing anecdote, the prize for the most imaginative theory of Baalbek must undoubtedly be awarded to the English traveller, David Urquhart, who suggested that the builders of Baalbek had used mastodons - huge extinct elephant-like mammals - as mobile cranes to help them move the stones![19]

 

Conclusions

Why did successive Roman emperors travel thousands of miles to Baalbek to receive oracles? Why did the Romans build the grandest of all their temples so far away from Rome? What motivated them to ship red granite columns all the way from Aswan in Egypt to the port of Tripoli, and from there to Baalbek via Homs, a detour which, in order to circumnavigate the mountains, required a journey of 200 kilometres? This was certainly a most inconvenient place to erect the greatest Roman temple in the world, so why did it have to happen here, in the Bekaa Valley, of all places?

If we can answer this question, we can perhaps solve the mystery of Baalbek. As one authority on Baalbek commented, however, 'nowhere is it clearly stated to what cause the religious importance of this town is attributed'.[20]

Ultimately, one suspects that the answer to the sanctity of Baalbek lies in a decoding of its ancient religion, for it is religion which has been the driving force at Baalbek since time immemorial.

The sanctity of Baalbek in Roman times has already been mentioned and one's attention is drawn inevitably to the trinity of gods who were worshipped here: Venus, Bacchus and the mighty Jupiter. The latter - equivalent to the Greek god Zeus - embodied all the symbolism of the archetypal Storm God. The fifth century writer Macrobius described the statue of Jupiter as follows:

'The statue of the god is of gold, representing a person without a beard, who holds in his right hand a whip, charioteer-like, and in his left a thunderbolt with ears of corn.' [21]

What was the meaning of this Storm-God with thunderbolt? To modern scholars, Jupiter was a god of thunder and lightning and nothing but thunder and lightning. If modern scholars are to be believed, our quest for religious meaning at Baalbek culminates anti-climactically in the primitive worship of mundane weather-gods.

However, readers of my book 'When The Gods Came Down' will recognise in the statue described by Macrobius a crucial esoteric meaning in the connection between the thunderbolt and the 'ears of corn'.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the Roman gods are only part of the answer to the sanctity of Baalbek, for the town was in fact named after Baal, the Storm-God of the Canaanites/Phoenicians. And the legends of the god Baal provide numerous fascinating parallels to the gods of the ancient Mesopotamian exploded planet cults (as decoded in my books). Indeed, my own private research suggests that the Canaanite/Phoenician religion could itself be described as an exploded planet cult.

Inevitably, then, we must ask whether the importance of Baalbek might have resulted from a celestial event - perhaps the impact of a meteorite - during the pre-literate era. Might a meteorite be the key to the importance of Baalbek - the northern 'Heliopolis' - just as the meteorite called 'the Benben Stone' was the key to the importance of Annu - the southern 'Heliopolis' in ancient Egypt?

And what about those gigantic stones in the Trilithon? Were they constructed deliberately, perhaps to evoke the idea of the meteorites - the giant seeds of life - lying embedded in the foundations (or Womb) of Mother Earth? Or were they simply the remains of an unfinished defensive wall?

Perhaps we will never know the answer to this question or to the question of how the stones of the Trilithon were moved. The problem is that everyone sees at Baalbek what they want to see, based on their own preconceptions and their own paradigm. Perhaps it will always be so.

One final thought to close. If the mysterious stones of Baalbek are impelling us to exercise our minds, then perhaps the ancient builders are partly achieving their objectives. But in order for us to pass, as initiates, the Test of the Trilithon, it is necessary for us to do something more than merely exercise our minds. It is necessary first to challenge everything that we have ever been taught about the meaning and origins of religion...

Detail of the famous Lion's Head. The Lion's Head is in the front of the Temple of Jupiter

Lion Head close up - you can see right into his mouth!

How long would it take to carve stone like this?

---

Footnotes

[1] A Boeing 747 aircraft weighs in at 337,840 kg.
[2] N. Jidejian, 'Baalbek Heliopolis, City of the Sun', Dar El-Machreq, Beirut, 1975, p. 15.
[3] N. Jidejian, 'Baalbek Heliopolis, City of the Sun', op. cit., p. 67.
[4] M. Alouf, 'History of Baalbek', 25th edition, p. 92.
[5] Estimate by Monsieur F. Caignart de Saulcy, cited in M. Alouf, op. cit., p. 101.
[6] N. Jidejian, 'Baalbek Heliopolis, City of the Sun', op. cit., p. 24.
[7] This factor persuaded both the French scholar Louis Felicien de Saulcy and the French archaeologist Ernest Renan that the platform walls were pre-Roman.
[8] Professor Daniel Krencker, German Archaeological Mission, cited in Alouf, op. cit., p. 80.
[9] G. Hancock, 'Fingerprints of the Gods', Mandarin, 1995, chapter 39, p. 362. Also Z. Sitchin, 'The Stairway to Heaven', Avon Books, 1980, chapter IX, p. 179.
[10] The Gottwald AK912 crane uses a 10.7-metre square outrigger base, a 35 metre maxiboom, a 43 metre maximast, a 117-ton upper counterweight and a 400-ton maxi-counterweight.
[11] A.F. Alford, 'The Phoenix Solution', Hodder & Stoughton, 1998.
[12] That is to say that there is no contemporary Roman inscription. There is, however, a 7th century manuscript ('Chronographia') in which John Malalas of Antioch credits the Temple of Jupiter to the Roman emperor Antonius the Pius. See M. Alouf, op. cit., p. 43.
[13] M. Alouf, op. cit., pp. 26-28.
[14] N. Jidejian, 'Baalbek Heliopolis, City of the Sun', op. cit., p. 7. Also M. Alouf, op. cit., pp. 26-28.
[15] M. Alouf, op. cit., p. 26.
[16] A. Collins 'Baalebk: Lebanon's Sacred Fortress' in New Dawn Issue Nos. 43 & 44 (1997).
[17] Z. Sitchin, 'The Stairway to Heaven', op. cit., chapters IX, XII.
[18] A.F. Alford, 'When The Gods Came Down', Hodder & Stoughton, 2000.
[19] D. Urquhart, The Lebanon Diary, cited in M. Alouf, op. cit., p. 26.
[20]M. Alouf, op. cit., p. 32.
[21] N. Jidejian, 'Baalbek Heliopolis, City of the Sun', op. cit., p. 17. Also M. Alouf, op. cit., pp. 35-36.

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THE BIBLICAL TYRE

PHOTOS OF THE CEDARS OF LEBANON

Related Links:

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_2_1.htm
www.theforgottentechnology.com
www.stonehengetheanswer.com
Video clip of Gordon's Method
BAALBECK INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
MOT Photobase: Baalbeck, Bekaa
Baalbak - Historic Photos
Unfinished Obelisk - from Nova
STONE TECHNOLOGY
Ancient Stone Technology
Professor Davidovits
www.theforgottentechnology.com

www.stonehengetheanswer.com
Video clip of Gordon's Method
Athena and Eve
http://www.eridu.co.uk/Author/Mysteries_of_the_World/Baalbek/baalbek2.html

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BOOKS by Alan Alford
PYRAMID OF SECRETS The Architecture
of the Great Pyramid Reconsidered (US) | UK
The Atlantis Secret (US) | UK
When the Gods Came Down (UK only)
The Phoenix Solution (US) | UK
Gods of the New Millennium (US) | UK
http://www.world-mysteries.com/pex_1.htm#Bibliography Levitation and technology
Myths and megaliths

The megalithic structures found at many sites around the world have generated endless controversy as to how they were built. Conventional archaeologists, who dismiss the possibility of highly advanced civilizations in the remote past, insist that they were built solely with the use of primitive tools and brute force. Some of the structures, or parts of them,

could have been built in this way. However, a number of engineers have stated that some features would be difficult if not impossible to duplicate today, even using the most advanced technology. The sheer weight and size of some of the stone blocks have prompted several researchers to wonder whether the ancient builders had mastered some form of levitation technology.*

*The acoustic and magnetic levitation techniques currently under development by mainstream scientists create a physical lifting force stronger than the force of gravity and do not modify gravity or generate an antigravitational force.

The pre-Incan fortresses at Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuaman in the Peruvian Andes consist of cyclopean walls constructed from tight-fitting polygonal stone blocks, some weighing 120 tonnes or more. The blocks used at Ollantaytambo were somehow transported from a quarry located on another mountaintop 11 km away, the descent from which was impeded by a river canyon with 305-metre vertical rock walls. The ruins of Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia include blocks weighing around 100 tonnes, which were transported from quarries 50 km away.

¹ According to the local Aymara Indians, the complex was built at the ‘beginning of time’ by the founder-god Viracocha and his followers, who caused the stones to be ‘carried through the air to the sound of a trumpet’. An alternative theme is that they created a ‘heavenly fire’ that consumed the stones and enabled large blocks to be lifted by hand ‘as if they were cork’. According to a Mayan legend, the temple complex of Uxmal in the Yucatan Peninsula was built by a race of dwarfs who were able to move heavy rocks into place by whistling.²

Legends of occult power being employed to lift and transport stone blocks are in fact universal. For example, according to tradition the megalithic city of Nan Madol on the Micronesian island of Pohnpei was built by the god-kings Olosopa and Olosipa, who used magic spells to make the huge stones ‘fly through the air like birds’.

³ Legends about the huge stone statues or moai on Easter Island, many of which are as high as a three-storey building, tell how magicians or priests used mana, or mind power, to make them ‘walk’, or float through the air.⁴

According to early Greek historians, the walls of the ancient city of Thebes were built by Amphion, a son of Jupiter, who moved the large stones ‘to the music of his harp’ while his ‘songs drew even stones and beasts after him’. Another version claims that when he played ‘loud and clear on his golden lyre, rock twice as large followed in his footsteps’. The 10th-century Arab historian Mas’di wrote that, to build the pyramids, the ancient Egyptians inserted papyri inscribed with certain characters beneath the stone blocks; they were then struck by an instrument, producing a sound which caused them to rise into the air and travel for a distance of over 86 metres.5

The achievements of the ancient Egyptian builders have caused even some fairly orthodox investigators to wonder whether levitation might have been employed.

⁶ For instance the roof of the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid, 200 feet up, consists of huge granite beams weighing up to 70 tonnes. What’s more, the major temples on the Giza plateau – the two next to the Sphinx and those besides the Second and Third Pyramids – contain colossal limestone blocks weighing between 50 and 200 tonnes and placed on top of one another. The largest are 9 metres long, 3.6 metres wide and 3.6 metres high. It is interesting to note that there are only a few cranes in the world today capable of lifting objects weighing 200 tonnes or more.⁷

The largest blocks used in any known man-made structure are found in the ancient platform beneath the Roman Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek in Lebanon.

⁸ The foundation platform is enclosed by a cyclopean retaining wall; in the western side, on the fifth level, at a height of 10 metres, there are three colossal stones known as the Trilithon, each measuring about 19.5 metres long, 4.5 metres high and 3.5 metres deep, and weighing a staggering 1000 tonnes. The stones fit together perfectly and not even a knife blade can be pushed between them. At the quarry, half a kilometre away, there remains a fourth, even larger block, weighing as much as 1200 tonnes, the lower part of its base still attached to the bedrock. The course beneath the Trilithon contains seven mammoth stones weighing about 450 tonnes each.

There are no traces of a roadbed leading from the quarry and no traces of any ramp. Nor are there any written records as to how the platform was built. According to local Arab legend, Baalbek’s first citadel was built before the Flood, and rebuilt afterwards by a race of giants. The Phoenician historian Sanchoniatho stated that Lebanon’s first city was Byblos, founded by the god Ouranus, who designed cyclopean structures and was able to make stones move as if they had a life of their own.

Fig. 5.1 The massive Trilithon at Baalbek.⁹
(The silhouetted two-storey house has been inserted for scale.)

Fig. 5.2 Another view of the Trilithon.

 

Fig. 5.3 The ‘Stone of the South’ still in the quarry at Baalbek.¹⁰

Related Links:

http://www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_2_1.htm

www.theforgottentechnology.com
www.stonehengetheanswer.com
Video clip of Gordon's Method

BAALBECK INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

MOT Photobase: Baalbeck, Bekaa

Baalbak - Historic Photos
Unfinished Obelisk - from Nova
STONE TECHNOLOGY
Ancient Stone Technology
Professor Davidovits
www.theforgottentechnology.com
www.stonehengetheanswer.com
Video clip of Gordon's Method
Athena and Eve
http://www.eridu.co.uk/Author/Mysteries_of_the_World/Baalbek/baalbek2.html
BOOKS by Alan Alford
PYRAMID OF SECRETS The Architecture
of the Great Pyramid Reconsidered (US) | UK
The Atlantis Secret (US) | UK
When the Gods Came Down (UK only)
The Phoenix Solution (US) | UK
Gods of the New Millennium (US) | UK
http://www.world-mysteries.com/pex_1.htm#Bibliography

LEBANON DATABASE ON THIS SITE

HEZBOLLAH DATABASE ON THIS SITE

ISRAEL DATABASE ON THIS SITE

RELIGION DATABASE ON THIS SITE

BIBLE DATABASE ON THIS SITE

HEBREW DATABASE ON THIS SITE

WAR DATABASE ON THIS SITE

WW III DATABASE ON THIS SITE

DREAMS OF THE GREAT EARTHCHANGES - MAIN INDEX

1. Political parties in Lebanon

   www.greatdreams.com/blog-2012/lebanon.htmlCached

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   Lebanon is mentioned 9 times in the Bible as either part of the Promised Land or ...... the baalbeck distortion. also spelled baalbek. detailed map of the area in ...
   

2. Dee Finney's blog May 7, 2012 page 215 EXTREME PREJUDICE ...

   www.greatdreams.com/blog-2012-2/dee-blog215.htmlCached

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   May 7, 2012 – www.greatdreams.com/lebanon/baalbeck.htm Cached - Similar. You +1'd this publicly. Undo. They were later delivered to an army camp in ...
   

3. Dee Finney'd blog - December 9, 2011 - page 79 - BOOK KOF RULES

   www.greatdreams.com/blog/dee-blog79.htmlCached

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   Dec 9, 2011 – THE BAALBECK DISTORTION - DREAMS OF THE GREAT EARTH CHANGES ... www.greatdreams.com/lebanon/baalbeck.htm - Cached ...
   

this blog continues on page 221