U.S. tries to counter Hezbollah rebuilding efforts in South Lebanon

(My Headline: "Say What?" The U.S. smugly sat on its hands for weeks while the Israelis bombed Lebanon into the stone age and the Governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan initially tried to say it was Hizbullah's fault. Now, the Israeli papers are full of demands for "a new Marshall Plan for Lebanon" while the "moderate" Saudis pledge truckloads of money. Meanwhile, "senior officials" at the White House are concerneded about losing the "War of Reconstruction" and worry as much about Hizbullah bulldozers as they did about rockets. Excuse me but, weren't you all just....?)

Well said.

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U.S. tries to counter Hezbollah rebuilding efforts in South Lebanon
By Reuters

Concerned that Hezbollah has an early advantage in rebuilding shattered south Lebanon, the Bush administration is trying to speed up aid and encouraging Arab states to step in quickly, United States officials said this week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The U. S. is pushing Arab states like Saudi Arabia to deliver aid rapidly to southern Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has committed half a billion dollars to humanitarian relief and promised another billion for rebuilding.

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

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