Why the hurry?

En route home: It is estimated that 900,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. (Reuters)

"Aid, refugees head for southern Lebanon

Aid agencies are struggling along bombed-out roads thronged by refugees returning home to reach people who have been wounded or trapped by war in southern Lebanon.

For the first time since a UN backed truce came into force on Monday, large convoys carrying humanitarian aid have set out from the southern port of Tyre to villages that had been isolated by fighting."

From the ABC

Pete's Points

Whenever I see something like this I have to ask, "What's the hurry?"

Given the situation that must be present on the ground in Southern Lebanon I can think of nothing worse that spending 8-10 hours on the road in really hot weather, in a car, crowded with family and belongings, crawling along at a pace that a toddler would be able to maintain. The air filled with tension about whether or not the cease fire will hold, tension as the Lebanese Army tries to fix the roads, tension as you worry about whether or not you actually have a home to return to and if there is a home, whether it has any of the functioning mod cons necessary for life - like a roof, WATER, electricity and food.

Now if I was worried about the morality of my neighbours and whether or not they would steal whatever was left behind then I guess I would hurry 'home'.

If I was concerned about the well being of my family though, I am not so sure I would rush back into the remnants of a war zone.

I suppose that if I was extremely religious and convinced that the almighty was on my side then I would take the risk on the grounds that "God will provide".

On the other hand, being a pragmatist who gave up believing in the tooth fairy at an early age, I am afraid that I would more likely opt for some caution, security and some idea of where my next meal and drink were coming from - especially as the weather is not exactly cool in that part of the world.

I think people are amazing.

I suspect that the next set of stories we are likely to hear are going to be about people who die from heat exhaustion, lack of water, lack of food, lack of shelter and lack of sanitation.

Naturally, blame for this will probably be laid at the door of the Israelis, America, or some other external cause.

The question is how many people will actually believe this.

An interesting thing about a hand that points the finger at someone else. Have a look at it! You will be amazed to find how many of the fingers of the same hand are pointing back at the person who has pointed the index finger at someone else!