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Mideast War Sparks Financial Observance

As the world watched Israel retaliate for the ?acts of war? committed by Hezbollah, a party that both sits in the Lebanese parliament, in the Lebanese Cabinet, and maintains its own private army and ?state within a state?, financial observers all around the world have been watching closely market indices for signs of any imminent financial catastrophe. For the moment, Israel allowed Syria and Iran to sit on the sidelines, though any signs that the war will widen will likely lead to a drop in markets worldwide.

The Arab League, already enforcing to varying degrees a boycott of businesses that work with Israel, might meet over the crisis and decide on a full-strength boycott in response to Israel?s reprisals in Lebanon. How this will affect certain Arab countries that have, in public at least, had to stop adhering to the boycott in order to enter the WTO (this was a condition set by the United States Congress). It could be, of course, that as past wars in the region have demonstrated, hostilities last shorter than anyone elsewhere would expect.

Even so, Lebanon is facing millions of dollars in damage, but many in the West and in Israel say that Beirut, by flagrantly violating UN Security Council resolutions that called on the government to disarm Hezbollah and take over control of the country?s borders in the south, brought this situation on itself. Whenever the situation fizzles itself out, the Arab world and France will likely come to the aid of Lebanon to help rebuild.