Cedars and/or Embers

Lebanon is reeling. Lebanon is tense almost to the point of utter havoc. The warning signs are everywhere, and ordinary people seem defeated by the unassailable reality that the quasi-failed state they inhabit is doomed.

You can see it in the eyes of Sunni shopkeepers in Beiruti neighborhoods like Borj abi Heydar, where the fragile rapport between Lebanese soldiers and local Amal agitators is increasingly attenuated.

You can feel the hatred pulsating from uppercrust, urbanized Lebanese in Jbeil who lament the tendency of the Lebanese masses to follow their respective group leaders. To each his clan-like father figure and to each his right to be a pawn in the civilizational clash in which Lebanon is a central battleground.

You can breathe the gentle country air of the Beqa’a Valley, where Hezbollah radicals in Baalbeck swear never to allow Western imperialists to gain a foothold in their beloved homeland. Anti-Americanism runs high in this part of the country, and the region still suffers from last summer’s war.

Yellow Hezbollah flags contrast with massive images of Rafik Hariri, both affixed to bridges, light posts, office buildings, and apartment buildings across the stunningly attractive yet ravaged nation. The signs of political chaos are juxtaposed among the dazzling array of features of natural beauty that make Lebanon so coveted, so invaluable.

You can also sense how ordinary Lebanese are held hostage by political thugs. Most folks care not to implement this or that ideology or program. Most folks are motivated by material gain or lack thereof and not by some grand scheme to promote Islamist, American, or Communist dominion the world over.




While ideology is powerful and has driven so many people to fight interminably for their sector of society, you get the idea that the struggle for socioeconomic resources is integral to the Lebanese predicament.

Lebanon is an eternal paradox. People take their faith and their ethnic background so seriously. People are willing to take their religion with them to their final resting place if need be. Yet, curiously enough, most Lebanese have changed sides an incredible number of times throughout history. Not only have families been converted, for example, from Maronite to Shiite and back again, but each side in question has switched from being pro-Syrian to pro-Israel to anti-Western innumerable times.

Hatreds last only as long as the trend of which they are a component. Loyalties die hard but are often won over by political promises, international jockeying, and financial bribes. The current political quagmire appears as utter deadlock, but inevitably, the present balance of political forces will give way in due time to a fresh assortment of animosities and allegiances.
Some Shiites who fought with Israel in the 80’s are now the fiercest opponents of the Jewish state. Druze militiamen who swore never to coexist with Christian mountaineers have now made a pact of peace. Michel Aoun, once the most vociferous opponents of the Syrian occupation, is now one of the staunchest and most powerful leaders of the March 8th camp, the anti-Western, pro-Syrian coalition that has been buoyed by Hezbollah’s ongoing campaign against Israel.

The parallel occupations of Lebanon by Syria and Israel reflect an infinitely complex array of ethnic and political arrangements that only seem to become more elaborate and disjointed. The Syrians, in response to growing political agitation by PLO supporters, originally arrived to instill order in a society that was gripped by a legacy of colonial injustice and sectarian strife. The Israelis, in order to protect their northern border from rocket attacks, have invaded Lebanon on three occasions. Shiite militias, namely Hezbollah, have now replaced the Palestinian militants as the iconic rebellious Lebanese faction on the international stage. All the while, the festering Palestinian refugee problem is perhaps the most important long-term problem to address in Lebanon. Without a solution, this aspect of the conflict will continue to afflict peacemakers and elude resolution.

Military checkpoints and security checks are everywhere in Lebanon. After more than a handful of political assassinations in the past two years, the people are afraid. Ideology runs up against the cold reality of livelihood, land, and other scarce resources. Are Lebanese people more driven by blind ideological devotion to sectarian leaders or are they motivated by material want?

These two options are inextricably tied together in Lebanon, a country where the areas most affected by Israeli bombardment are the most impoverished. In addition, Iran and the United States are pumping money into their respective allies, investing in infrastructure, arming factions to the teeth. Yet, are institutions strengthened that can protect ordinary people? It seems ever more true that clever leaders take advantage of gullible citizens in this ongoing chess match.

Lebanon has been the site of countless proxy wars and functions in many ways as a pawn in international rivalries. Even if it be a pawn, the nation is now split more than ever into its eighteen religious denominations and seventeen political groups. While polarized into diametrically opposed camps, ordinary Lebanese people suffer. Some groups promise thorough peace with Lebanon’s southern neighbor, yet others swear to continue the anti-Zionist crusade until the end. Mere mention of the name “Syria” in certain circles will result in harsh rebuke, while particular groups swear by the righteousness of the one-time Lebanese occupier and current Iranian right hand.

In a country where reportedly more Shiites were killed by other Shiites than by any other group and where more Maronites where killed by other Maronite than by any other group, there are many questions and few answers. Lebanon is eternally perplexing, always charming, and incessantly perilous. For the Lebanese diaspora who have fled the political turmoil in their homeland, it is increasingly difficult to observe the rapid disintegration of the national fabric. Accords tend to fade with time in Lebanon, and Lebanese seem to find infinitely more security in communities across the globe than in their embattled heartland. For the one quarter of world Lebanese who remain in Lebanon, Greek Orthodox and Sunni, Druze and Melkite, life is a struggle for identity. The diversity of the country is baffling.

Despite all of the tragedy and the potential for ever more violence, Lebanon awes and Lebanon breathes. She reels, bracing herself for more civil war. Yet, at the end of the day, she prevails; and the Lebanese spirit emerges triumphant from the cedars and embers.

MDA and the Red Crystal

For 57 years, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) was not a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Due to explicit non-recognition by the international community, the lone national aid society with a Jewish symbol faced a thorough rejection of its red Star of David as a valid international first aid emblem.

Since 1930, the Magen David Adom has provided domestic emergency medical assistance, mobile intensive care units, disaster relief, and blood bank service. Yet, the MDA was not recognized under the Geneva Conventions until June 22, 2006. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was admitted on the same day.

MDA and Jews worldwide rejoiced when the Red Crystal was formally sanctioned as the third emblem on January 14, 2007, ensuring MDA’s international integration.

Officially, concerns about symbol proliferation had been predominant amongst many member relief societies, as there was originally supposed to be only one symbol for the entire movement.

Many Arab and Muslim IFRC members had also objected to MDA's admission due to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and due to the fact that the PRCS had also not yet been admitted to the IFRC.

According to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the three official emblems function as "symbols of assistance for the victims of armed conflicts and natural disasters." Thus, any of the three can be used as a protective symbol in conflict zones or as an identifying medical assistance marker.

According to ICRC’s Jerusalem spokesperson Bernard Barrett, “International humanitarian law specifies the use, size, purpose and placing of the emblems, what respect for the emblems entails, and the penalties for misuse."

The Red Cross symbol was created in 1863 as the reverse of the Swiss flag and was not intended to bear religious significance for the relief society during neutral, humanitarian missions. The symbol's recognizability from afar was crucial so that persons, vehicles, or buildings bearing the symbol would not be targeted during wartime.

The Ottomans were the first to employ the Red Crescent, which was officially adopted in 1929, after Muslim nations refused to use a cross emblem that evoked negative memories of the Crusaders.

Red Crystal’s Saving Grace

The formal addition of the Red Crystal to the Geneva Convention mandates that all countries recognize it as equivalent to the other two official emblems. Israel and Eritrea were the first nations to declare their intention to employ the emblem on aid missions.

While Israel made the decision in order to overcome objections to the red Star of David, Eritrea intended to brandish the new neutral icon because of its mixed population of Christians and Muslims.

Israeli international aid missions are slated to use the new logo as early as this summer, according to David Abadi, MDA's international coordinator. Joint training missions with the Sri Lankan and Georgian Red Cross Societies will be the first opportunity for use of the Red Crystal - with the red Star of David inside.

"We've created a way to solve some of the problems we've had in the past,” said Tore Svenning, the Cyprus-based IFRC representative in Israel. “In the future, if similar cases appear, we will have a tool to deal with them."

In large part due to a prolonged campaign by the United States to promote the inclusion of MDA in the movement, the MDA is poised to enter a new era. Having overcome its pariah status, the MDA hope to advertise “the opportunity to use the Crystal along with any other logo inside," according to Abadi.
"One of the greatest accomplishments of the original Red Cross was creating one symbol. However, this broke down," said Abadi.

MDA supporters had long alleged that the exclusion of MDA was evidence of an anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist campaign.

"Adoption of a new sign comes with the correction of a deep injustice," said Olivier Durr, Geneva-based head of the Unit for ICRC Policy.

“This new symbol is the most realistic way for MDA to become a member of the IFRC, but merely to use a symbol is not enough,” countered Nouris al-Khatib, President of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. “MDA must abide by all of the other conventions, with respect to the occupied territories and to the geographic dominion of the PRCS.”

Al-Khatib stated, “Yet, our membership in the IFRC is a symbol of nationhood - just as Israel’s membership is.”

Practical and Symbolic Use

“The adoption of the Red Crystal reaffirms the determination of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to consolidate its universality and thereby to enhance its strength and credibility," according to a January 2007 joint statement by the ICRC and IFRC. The Movement is composed of the ICRC, IFRC, and all of the national aid societies.

The MDA has been expanding ties to the ICRC in recent years, according to Bruce Biber, head of the Division for Cooperation and Coordination within the Movement. "But now, the MDA is at the same level of recognition and is officially one of us."
Biber added, "We welcome and encourage MDA to develop and encourage ties with other national societies. With one of the best emergency response capabilities, MDA has a lot to share. This is a historic chance." Biber hopes that as MDA becomes more active internationally, the Red Crystal will become “more widely known and appreciated."

So far, eighty countries have signed and fourteen have ratified the updated Geneva Convention protocols. While none of the signatories thus far are Arab nations, Biber hopes that “as more countries sign, there will be more of a push for Arab countries to ratify.”

Long-term Changes

"The Red Crystal increases the number of options we have. We could use this emblem in any context where the cross or crescent would be problematic," said Durr, who mentioned the possibility of using the Crystal during Muslim-Christian sectarian violence in African nations.

Biber said, "Israel is the first to adopt the Crystal, and we hope it won't be the last. We consider Israel as a test case for the very long term."

PRCS President al-Khatib agreed: “This is my favorite solution. We are all better off with just one emblem. Yet, it’s not easy to implement. This is not likely to have a serious impact for at least fifty years.”

“We are planning a mega-campaign to popularize this symbol and to afford it the same international status as the Cross and the Crescent,” said Jean-Christophe Sandoz, field coordinator for the ICRC in Jerusalem.

Victory for MDA

This "third protocol emblem" of the ICRC is hailed as a truly universal emblem - free of ethnic, religious, or political connotation. On abroad missions, the MDA can use the red square frame tilted at a 45 degree angle alone or can incorporate it with the red Star of David, depending on the situation in the host country.

MDA is still permitted to use the red Star as its sole emblem for indicative purposes within Israel. However, MDA plans to place the crystal alongside the Jewish star on ambulances as early as 2008, according to David Abadi, MDA's international coordinator.

Abadi’s office has already obtained flags, workshirts, and vests with the new combination emblem - but is still waiting on patches and other necessary supplies.

“However, according to international humanitarian law, countries still must give their consent in order for a national society to provide aid,” reiterated Erab al-Fuqaha, spokesperson for the PRCS.

Therefore, countries may still reject MDA’s disaster relief teams.

"Regardless, this is a compromise idea that's good for everybody, and no one is fighting it," Abadi said. "At the field level, it takes time to be recognized. For this symbol to be seen as the equal of the others, it could take 5, 10, 20 years. We've got patience."

“Yet, personally, I wish that this could be the sole emblem for all first aid societies," Abadi added.

"We hope that the other societies within the Movement will become full partners with MDA, opening doors for all," said Barrett, the ICRC spokesperson. He added, "Everyone was happy to bring in MDA and the PCRS at the same time."

PRCS President al-Khatib concluded, “In general, people must cooperate to save life. Yet, at the end of the day, it’s in the hands of politicians to ensure adhesion to humanitarian doctrines.”

Ratio - Their Deaths:Our Deaths

The inspiration for this blog entry is the disparity between death and death. By that, I mean the multiple by which we multiply the number of Western deaths to determine the number of enemy deaths that we demand to avenge the quantity of our deaths. Sometimes the ratio is approximately 4:1 when calculating the Israeli and Palestinian deaths during the height of the intifada. During much of the looming wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the ratio is perhaps 10:1. If one were to calculate the number of deaths on September 11th and subsequently the number that have been the direct result of subsequent American military agitation, the ratio would approach 30:1 A similar number might arise when assessing death tolls during American intervention in Southeast Asia one generation ago.

History tells us that the winners end up recording their version of the action. The thin red line between justice and atrocity easily disappears amidst the fog of war. What is patently obvious about American military superiority during this ostensibly unipolar era is that military planners exact justice based on some premeditated multiple. I cannot be sure of who performs these calculations, but it's obvious that some defense hawk must be churning out stats that justify a hugely disproportionate number of civilian casualties on the other side. Determinists might have you believe that more Iraqis die because of the Arab culture of death. Because Arab Muslims, as faithful followers of Allah, must believe that jihad is the path to salvation. That life is not worth living unless it is sacrified for divine justice and the pursuit of holy struggle. Is this the real reason why more Arabs die in Iraq than Americans? Or, is it because America demands submission to its awesome power and exacts justice based on supposed supremacy and military might, rather than based on liberal democratic principles of human equality and fairness.

For what reason does the arbiter of global legal balance and harmony create a system in which the world cop and superpower kills far more than is deserved? This ratio derives from an intuitive understanding about true global hierarchies and relations of power. Liberal internationalism is a myth in a world order where cops and robbers are interchangeable. Cowboys commit highway robbery of the Indians, all the while masquerading as warriors of God. Crusaders abiding by sacred creeds delude themselves into thinking that they are entitled to kill by a certain multiple of their own dead. Perhaps this ratio is computed by figuring out an acceptable economic value for their own losses.

By this logic, it would seem that perhaps there is some way to measure how much a single human being is worth to his/her society. Given the reality that Western societies have achieved a relatively high standard of living (GDP per capita) as compared with the rest of the world, maybe Western society values human lives more merely as a result of their earning potential. Is this commensurable value the true source of the supposedly advanced Western code of morality? Did the West not value humans as much when per capita lifetime earning potential was so much less? I would say NO - societies did not value individual human lives when life was naturally ended so much easier and faster. Before the advent of complex Western medicine and the strictures of predictable Western society, it could not be guaranteed that one human life would produce a predetermined amount of economic value for his/her society. However, given the developed state of the Western world today, we readily supply a numerical figure for how much is lost when a person dies. This value is understood in explicit terms by military planners, estate attorneys, life insurance assessors, and politicians. Military and civilian deaths have a specific economic variable attached to them that is a function of individual productivity and lifespan. Though I am not terribly knowledgeable about the life insurance business, it seems that such computations are essential in that arena.

Therefore, I can safely conclude that America values a single human life more than a much poorer country due to the fact that an average American has a relatively high productive capacity across his lifespan. This earning potential amounts to approximately $30,000(per year)x40years=$1,200,000. This is about 19 times the lifetime earning potential of an average citizen of Iraq, where the yearly earning potential and GDP per capita are about 1/16 those of America and where life expectancy is indeed a few years less. $1,800(per year)x35years=$63,000. 1.2 million is 19 times this Iraqi lifetime individual earning potential. Thus, perhaps it follows that the death ratio in wartime is around 19:1.

I am not at all advocating this sytem of death ratio computation. I myself do not adhere to brutish and reductionist systems of value that do not account for true human, ecological, and cultural costs. The numbers above are mere observations about perceived differences in the death tolls on both sides of various international conflicts. I cannot prove the origin of these explicit comparisons in the cloistered bunkers of military planners. However, these disparities are real and are a function of perceived differences in military supremacy and also, I believe, of disparities in the realizable economic value of individual human lives. Thus, such numbers appear evidence of my cynical attitude about power projection upon the rest of the world. However, these death ratios have a solid basis in military history and will surely continue to characterize military relations for the foreseeable future.

The War on Carbon

Either you're with us or you're against us. This is a battle to the death between good and evil. The simple binarisms carry over beautifully into this campaign. This is another war on a noun, but it is brought to you by rather different folks who inculcated you in the other wars on nouns. This war hath no clear beginning nor end. That is, unless the first act of war was the commencement of the Industrial Revolution...and then the endgame would be the day when the earth turns into an overheated hellhouse where we all burn up and die. The War on Carbon is upon us. Aiding or abetting in the conspiracy to commit acts of Carbonism are punishable by death. Carbonism is a crime tantamount to treason.

A Convenient Truth: Carbonism is akin to Communism


Essentially, committing Carbonism entails the decision to perfidiously turn against one's country. All Carbonist offenses are deemed sinful, unAmerican, and thoroughly unpatriotic. Such disregard for the national wellbeing will not be tolerated in a society where full-blooded patriots and God-fearing folk must swear allegiance to the anti-Carbonist crusade and root out any Carbonist who hides among us. In fact, your neighbor might be harboring Carbonists. Your next door neighbor might be the most unrepentant Carbonist ever to step foot on American soil. If you see something, say something! You shall report your neighbor to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that this traitor is doomed to a life of misery for Carbonist crimes against the environment and thus against humanity. Failure to abide by Western civilization's environmental creed is something only illegal aliens or lesser races would consider. Carbonists have pledged their loyalties to the God of pollution, waste, and profligacy. Even some holy roller figures have recently been implicated in Carbonist scandals that involved homosexual prostitution, crank, and illicit conspiracy to destroy the moral fabric of the nation.

The Axis of Carbon

Carbonism in all its forms has been decreed to violate the principles behind our Constitution. Carbonism that relates to either power plants, motor vehicles, or domiciles can never be differentiated. Carbonist-related activity, especially if it initiated in a state-sponsored Carbonist network, must be rooted out once and for all. Once a Carbonist, always a Carbonist. Carbonism is beyond unconstitutional. It's subhuman, for God's sake! Never again will we tolerate such levels of Carbon in our stratosphere! The time has come for us to realize that the current clash of civilizations between Carbonists and true Westerners must be won before it is lost! Carbonist agitation has reached dangerously high levels. Although all of us once consented to the funding of Carbonist infrastructures in a number of societies, we've reached a national consensus that this support for fundamentalist Carbonism was a mistake. We allied with the Carbonists back then merely to ensure victory over the last noun that we summarily defeated.
Carbonism Threatens Your Children!

Carbonists deserve to be stripped of their citizenship, civil liberties, and financial assets. In the event that any vacancies arise at Guantanamo Bay, Carbonists ought to serve out their life sentences amongst the most vile convicts of other wars on nouns. Carbonists are the worst type of enemy combatant. They deserve no legal representation and certainly no right to habeas corpus. Carbonists and all Carbonist sympathizers deserve to be stripped fully of their dignity, for they have attempted to ensure that the Axis of Carbon will triumph over freedom and democracy.

Carbo-Fascism is Primitive and non-Western

All fundamentalist Carbonists attempt to overthrow the Western belief in the rule of law. They actually value death more than life. Indeed, they believe that engaging in lifelong pursuit of maximum carbon emission will result in one's ascendance to heaven, where there will be hordes of virgins waiting to please even the most extremist Carbonist. Carbo-Fascism is the work of the heathen who has forsaken the tenets of Western ideology in favor of a fundamentalist crusade to overheat this earth, in effect turning our planet into a greenhouse.

Greenism is the Antidote to Carbonism

Greenists will soon defeat all Carbonist insurgents and their allies. Carbonists have been reported to threaten a number of capitals in certain regions of the world. However, the true will of the people shall prevail. The Western way of life will triumph over this demonstrable evil. Carbonist regimes will be punished to the fullest, and unrepentant Carbonists will pay the price for their willful destruction of our habitats and our sanity. This earth cannot bear the brunt of Carbonist bombings and brutality. Carbonist supporters claim to follow an elite of freedom fighters. However, no rational human being actually wants to live in a society run by Carbonist crusaders, but the debased Carbo-Fascists continue to swindle ordinary people into supporting their evil deeds. End the reign of Carbon before it's too late! Behold, the doctrine of Carbonism is the most dire threat this civilization has ever faced. The Carbon menace is upon us, and the time is now to take up arms against anyone suspected of being involved in Carbonist-related behavior. Anti-Carbonists of the world, unite! The Carbonists shall not be allowed to take from us our freedom and our way of life. We will win the War on Carbon no matter the cost. Set their Carbonist smokestacks ablaze, and usurp their Carbonist fuels. Carbonism has been on the rise for far too long. We must reverse the tide of Carbonist expansion to ensure that our children enjoy freedom from Carbonist oppression. The War on Carbon must be fought on all fronts. The Carbonist hates you because he knows he's up against truth and morality. Fear not, we will not cease the War on Carbon until each and every last Carbonist is brought to justice.

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