dispatches from the new world of work

The Human Face of Global Conflict

A remarkable thing is happening in the blogging community (please don't make me say blogosphere ... yuck) in Beirut and Northern Israel. First-hand accounts of a humanitarian crisis, painfully real, are being posted to the web in real time.

While most blogs are written by "citizen journalists," I have become addicted to the Yahoo News Sponsored blog by Kevin Sites titled "Hot Zone." I have been reading it ever since he posted on a clinic my organization helps fund on the Thai-Myanmar border. Kevin has been on a mission to report from every war zone in the world in one year, and he's currently posting from Lebanon.

His mission is to put a human face on global conflict by telling the personal stories of citizens/families caught in the crossfire ... powerful stuff ... and well written with photographs and video.

He has been posting from Lebanon for two days, and while most of the blog comments (around 600 total so far for his first post from the region) take sides in the conflict and place blame, my thoughts are with the children ...

James Hathaway posted this on 07/25/06.

Comments

Thanks James - children indeed & le Satan Hamas/Hezbollah target civilians/kids as easily as you and I target in Frisbee Golf.

Posted by sean at July 25, 2006 8:47 AM

James - thanks for taking the time to remind us what is really important. If I look at my one year old Grandson Sebastian I ask myself - what has he ever done wrong? and the parents and Grandparents in those troubled areas must ask themselves the same question. Thank you again James and good luck with your work at Clear Path.

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 25, 2006 9:19 AM

Blogging Rox!!! the more...the merrier...my heartfelt condolences to all people who suffered (and are suffering) the inhuman attacks at Lebanon. As always in war, innocent lives are always lost for no reason.

Posted by K.Sriram at July 25, 2006 7:05 PM

Tom:

I concur with you. Why are we not stopping to think more about the children in this world, particularly those in conflict areas? As a father of two young girls, I am reminded constantly of the need for all cultures to put our children's needs higher on the list. They after all will be here when we are gone and it would be nice to think we left the world a better place for them.

Greg Timpany

Posted by Greg Timpany at July 26, 2006 4:15 PM

"No government, however tyrannical, can long survive without the cooperation--direct or tacit--of the citizens."

Harry S. Truman

(quoted from memory, so probably paraphrased)

So, are there innocents in war? Children, yes, but nobody else.

Posted by Mike at July 27, 2006 2:12 PM

I thought Kevin's blog was extraordinarily moving, and given the subject matter, dispassionate. It was sad though to see that every one of his posts had prompted feverish hate-filled rantings from supporters of both sides in this conflict. Even here someone seems to be taking the opportunity to accuse one side only of immoral behaviour.

Posted by Robin Cole-Hamilton at August 3, 2006 4:38 AM