The Cost of War

So here's a productive argument: On Thursday, Hizballah officials claimed that the Lebanese government is overestimating the cost of damage caused by last summer's war with Israel.

The government has estimated the Jewish state bombed Lebanon $2.8 billion into the red. Hizballah said the war cost a mere $1.5 billion. It accused the government of purposely exaggerating the costs of the war in order to embarrass the Islamic resistance group.

Perhaps that's true. I'm actually inclined to believe that Hizballah's corps of engineers and accountants have kept better track of the task at hand than the government.

But, excuse me, before the penny-pinchers at the Party of God start pointing fingers, don't they have some explaining to do? Like why the country get sucked into a war with the region's most advanced military-state in the first place?

If Hizballah apologizes for unilaterally kidnapping those Israeli solders -- the covert operation that started the war -- then they might sound more credible when quibbling about the price tag. And if the damage was over a billion less than the government claimed, Hizballah should have no problem paying the country back, right?

--Andrew Lee Butters/Beirut