Ball Bearings

We admit we almost missed it. The PowerPoint presentation on the damage in Haifa caused by Hizballah rockets was produced by one “LennyM” and sent by a friend. At first the photos were just buildings wrecked by the attack. Comparable to the damage done in Lebanon by Israel, maybe. The cement construction is similar, the furnishings not too different.

We admit we almost missed it. The PowerPoint presentation on the damage in Haifa caused by Hizballah rockets was produced by one “LennyM” and sent by a friend. At first the photos were just buildings wrecked by the attack. Comparable to the damage done in Lebanon by Israel, maybe. The cement construction is similar, the furnishings not too different.

We were, in fact, struck by the odd damage done to the facade of the buildings – little round scoring marks in the cement. Then, small holes in the windshields of cars. Then, holes in the metal bodies of the cars – each one neat and round. What could make round holes in car bodies? Ball bearings – shown in the later photos.

This should ring a bell. Palestinian suicide bombers put ball bearings and nails in their explosives to increase the lethality of the bombs. Sometimes they were coated with anti-coagulants to increase the internal bleeding of the victims; sometimes with Hepatitis-C in a crude attempt to create “biological” weapons. Ball bearings in a rocket are not a military weapon – they are a terrorist weapon used simply to increase the suffering of civilians. It tells you something truly awful.

This has to be contrasted with Israel’s attempts to limit the damage in Lebanon.

• For all you read about Israel bombing the Beirut Airport, a symbol of Lebanese sovereignty, only the runways were taken out – not the control towers or the terminals – because, we were told, “The Lebanese will need it again.”
• Bridges south of Beirut have been taken out to keep Hizballah from moving its longer range missiles closer to the border – but there has been no blanket bombing of villages. The bombs in Beirut proper are in the “Forbidden Quarter,” where Hizballah command and control facilities share space with the families of their senior officers.
• There is a naval blockade to keep Iran and Syria from reinforcing Hizballah from the sea, but the American and French rescue ships move in and out safely.
• Roads from Lebanon to Syria have been bombed to prevent reinforcements entering for Hizballah, but one road in the north remains open to allow civilians (and maybe some terrorists) to escape.
• Even the Lebanese soldiers in the radar stations Israel bombed after they were used to guide the Hizballah missile that struck the Israeli ship were warned to leave – one group remained and suffered 10 deaths, the others evacuated their stations and were not harmed.

Israel has, as it always has, tried to strike a balance between its primary obligation to protect its citizens from attack and a self-imposed obligation to do as little harm to innocents in enemy territory as possible. Would that it was the standard on both sides.