So would I. There was no need to target a dairy manufacturer.
Posted on 09/01/2006 9:12:22 AM PDT by NYer
BEIRUT: A lucrative contract to supply dairy products to United Nations peacekeepers in South Lebanon may have motivated the destruction of Lebanon's largest dairy farm, Liban Lait said Tuesday. The Bekaa-based factory had been providing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with milk and yogurt since it out-bid an Israeli firm in 2001, but has been inoperational since six precision-guided bombs targeted the dairy's processing plant on July 19.
"The Israelis knew the outcome of conflict and they knew that they would be asking for 15,000 troops to be stationed at the border," Liban Lait's marketing manager, Mark Waked, told The Daily Star. Waked estimated the contract to be worth between $2 million and $3 million with a beefed-up UNIFIL contingent in Lebanon.
"It's a worthwhile contract supplying 15,000 troops, and knowing that I'm sure they hit the plant so northern Israel could provide the milk," he said, adding that the Israelis hit a dairy factory in the Gaza Strip as well.
UNIFIL's procurement department said they had not issued any invitations to bid for their dairy contract yet, and refused to specify a future date for the tender. They also declined to divulge which Israeli firm supplied UNIFIL with dairy products in the past.
Nestle would not confirm rumors that its Israel branch held the contract in the past. The Middle East headquarters of Nestle did not return numerous calls from The Daily Star, and in response to an email inquiry, the company's European headquarters said that "we are not in the habit of discussing commercial relationships with any customers in the media."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
UNIFIL's media coordinator, Hassan Saklawi, said a cargo ship has delivered food to the Naqoura harbor every second day from a logistical base in Cyprus since the conflict began. He said UNIFIL no longer gets its milk on the local market, but could not specify the origin and brand of the new supplies.
"You have to call the UN Tender Committee in New York to find out which brands come in, but we are not allowed to bring products from Israel," he said, "all I can tell you my friend is that nothing is written in Hebrew on our items OK."
Liban Lait's cows and some of its utilities were spared from Israeli fire, but the entire processing plant has been burned to the ground. The company was forced to suspend 180 of the plant's estimated 250 workers Monday in what Waked called an "extended vacation."
Waked hopes that Liban Lait - whose products account for 70 percent of the annual dairy consumed in Lebanon - will be able to resume regular processing within two months.
For the time being they are selling fresh milk to other local dairies to be processed, and imports of long-life dairy products are filling the gap. Though no complete estimate of damages to Lebanon's industrial sector have been issued, factories suffered at least $200 million in losses.
Ping!
or store a lot of missles/munitions there...
There is a noticeable LACK of picture evidence. Their pirated-copy of photoshop break down?
The evil Jews cast a spell on my camel . . .
to the victor goes the spoils.......
Considering that they also blew up a Procter & Gamble warehouse, I wouldn't be surprised....
Their military just doesn't seem to be as skilled and trained as it used to be...
Perhaps this will help. The NY Times put together a before and after shot of Beirut.
Yeah .... that's why they use US supplied guided missiles and tanks.
I'd call that fairly precise targeting.
Note well that the HQ building, I mean the mosque, was untouched.
So would I. There was no need to target a dairy manufacturer.
Are you saying that the processing plant couldn't get destroyed by bombs? Heck, even the WTC with all that steel was destroyed by what essentially was a flying bomb. This is one of the reasons why Israel is not popular in Lebanon even by the people who are non-Muslim. Both Israel and Syria have used Lebanon's weak military to destroy industries that compete with them. It's much easier to use a car bomb or guided bomb rather than compete in the market place.
No, I would say that in a modern daily processing plant there are not enough Class A, B or D combustibles for it to "burn to the ground". Specifically, a diary plant is MOSTLY non-combustibles, metal, concrete and aqueous liquids. HArd to support a 'burn to the ground' structural fire.
Obviously it can be bombed to the ground, but that's not what the OWNER of said factory said, per the article.
FWIW, your chain of logic is poor, frankly.
OK, I'll play your game. ...
"since six precision-guided bombs targeted the dairy's processing plant on July 19"
How does the reporter know that six PRECISION GUIDED munitions hit the plant. Did he/she see parts of the guidance systems?
If you are looking to punish the host of a terrorist organization, there's one reason to target local industry.
Perhaps the 'processing plant' held other items of interest.
Maybe the FAC was just stupid and lased the wrong building ... 6 times.
I dunno.
You don't put a pilot and aircraft in harm's way SIX TIMES unless you are hitting what you truly believe to be a high value target. One bomb would have shut down the plant. Six to me means they were after something. IMHO.
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