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The human story

As I sit in my office, I still feel the shivers Clancy Chassay's firsthand account of the Israeli air strikes in Lebanon ("Human story behind the headlines," Aug. 16) sent down my spine. So many newspapers published the photograph. And there was this reporter who actually put the pieces of the picture together, an effort very few are capable of or even think of making. All of us sitting in our cosy homes should realise what the Lebanese went through for one month. An instance of true journalism!

Preeti Syal,
Gurgaon, Haryana

What one could see in the picture, baby Waad lying cuddled in Selwa's arms, and what one could not, the bodies of Selwa's two sons who died clinging to her, were heart-rending. We do not know how long we will carry the heavy burden in our hearts. All the dreams of the Ali family were reduced to dust in a few minutes. Are such losses worth the objectives of Israel and Hizbollah?

Sivakumar Balasubramanian,
Chennai

The photograph of the cold arms of Selwa cradling the body of baby Waad should haunt the conscience of the world for a long time to come. The apologists for the Israeli attack may view the death of Selwa and her family as statistics in collateral damage. But as Clancy Chassay so viscerally portrays, the Israeli missiles killed much more than the Ali family; they killed a small but beautiful civilisation!

B. Sasisekhar,
Madurai, T.N.

In what way is the killing of Selwa's family different from the inhuman acts of terrorists around the world? The U.S., which declared war on terror after 9/11, seems to have given Israel the licence to perpetrate acts of terror. In these days when even schoolteachers are banned from giving corporal punishment to erring students, how can Israel's act of punishing a nation be acceptable to the world? All leading members of the U.N. should give up their membership and do everything possible to stop Israel.

V. Suresh Kumar,
Moondradaippu, T.N.

What is even more distressing than the human misery inflicted on the people of Lebanon was the fact that the rest of the world remained mute spectators to state terrorism. Alienation of certain nations by the rest of the international community breeds hostility, as manifested in the 9\11 and 7/7 bombings.

Meenakshi Shaktawat,
New Delhi

The world is arguing over who won the present round of conflict played out in Lebanon in the series of global war against terrorism. A guerrilla group, described as terrorist by the U.S. and its allies, has exposed the U.S. and Israel's might. A generation's hard work has vanished in Lebanon. The present war will give birth to a new breed of terrorists. Tyrant U.S. and its allies must be contained in order to stop this from happening again.

Anish Sebastian,
Muvattupuzha, Kerala

Israel launched two wars, one on Hizbollah and the other on Lebanese civilians. While it won the war against the civilians without contest and heroically killed almost 1000 civilians with its latest weaponry, there is no doubt it lost the war against Hizbollah and did not achieve any of the objectives with which it set out. No peace treaty now or in future will wipe the blood off Israel's hands or erase the memory of children who died in their mothers' arms.

M.B. Shiras,
Bangalore

For one month, we have seen many articles written on the West Asia crisis. Many people have argued that Israel's response to Hizbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers was disproportionate. It is difficult to understand the logic. One should condemn violence in whatever form it is. A sovereign state cannot ignore terrorism.

R. Sanjeeva Reddy,
Hyderabad

This is with reference to the article "The camera can lie — sometimes" (OP-ED, Aug. 14). One cannot blame the camera for what photographer Adnan Hajj did to dramatise the impact of Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. In industries such as advertising, almost all photographs are subjected to post production scrutiny and enhancements are rendered to improve their look.

By adding two flares to the Israeli fighter aircraft, Mr. Hajj put himself in the seat of the fighter pilot or the commander who ordered the strike! The article is an eye-opener. The next time we see a child's toy in a bombed out place, we will wonder where it came from.

Peter J. Asirvatham,
Chennai

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