Hardly even making the headlines anymore. Meanwhile, the level of violence there is worse than at any time since the US invasion of 2001. This headline notes the suicide attack on a government target, but little information is given about the mass abduction (by whom exactly? what "gunmen"?) of villagers in Khost. From Reuters, July 17:

Suicide bomber hits Afghan government compound

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber killed a justice department chief in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Monday and gunmen kidnapped 40 villagers near the Pakistani border, officials said.

Another heroic blow by the Iraqi "insurgents"... against Shi'ite civilians. From AP, July 17:

Iraqi oil official kidnapped; 26 die in bombing

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber detonated explosives yesterday inside a cafe packed with Shias in northern Iraq, killing 26 people and injuring 22, an Iraqi general said. And gunmen seized a top Oil Ministry official, the second major kidnapping in as many days.

With all eyes on the horrific and escalating Lebanon crisis, Gaza has been forgotten. But things aren't looking too good there. From Reuters, July 17:

Aid agencies express concern about humanitarian crisis facing Gaza
Christian Aid, Oxfam International and Save the Children UK fear that escalating violence in Gaza will lead to a humanitarian crisis for over 1.3 million Palestinians.

Received by email from Indymedia Beirut:

URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH LEBANESE CIVIL SOCIETY
The Israeli offensive against Lebanon is an act of aggression against the whole Lebanese people. The IDF claims to be attacking an "infrastructure of terror," but the attacks on bridges, roads, airports and ships are cutting the country into pieces, threatening to create a disastrous situation by impeding the transportation of food and medicines, and terrorizing everyone. Besides the hundreds killed and injured, thousands of people are fleeing the country, and thousands of people are fleeing from the areas where the bombing is heaviest into central Beirut. Even here in the "safe" parts of the city we can hear the bombs throughout the day and night, and electrical and water supplies are tenuous.

More sacrifices for the American way of life. From Newsday, July 14:

Crash van driver had suspended license

The ambulette driver who crashed into a tree on Broad Channel in Queens killing five passengers from an adult home had sped off just beforehand after drifting into another lane and nearly striking a woman in a silver car, a police source said Thursday.

It is heartening that in this paranoid age even the Coptic Christians of Egypt see US-backed conspiracies in the challenges which are emerging to their own orthodoxy. As we recently noted, neocon groups like the Henry Jackson Society have been seeking to exploit the Copts, who face persecution from the Muslim majority, as ideological cannon fodder in their propaganda war against Islamic extremism and the Islamic nations generally. The suspicions expressed here (note highlighted text below) would suggest they have a long way to go. Also interesting that the orthodox Copts' complaint of US meddling mirrors that of their Islamic fundamentalist oppressors: the yankees are backing modernizers who are eroding core tenets of the faith. First, this short clip from Egypt's Middle East Times, July 12:

OK, here's the big-ticket question. Is Lebanon a mere pawn in an Iran-Israel proxy war? Sound off, readers. Ori Nir writes for The Forward, July 14:

Israel Seeks To Eliminate Iran's Hezbollah Option
WASHINGTON — In addition to securing the release of its captured soldiers and stopping the ongoing wave of missile attacks, a major goal of Israel's current operation is to strengthen its hand in dealing with Iran.

From AP, July 15:

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Thousands of demonstrators demanding the return of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched to Haiti's National Palace on Saturday, pushing past riot police in a dramatic show of support for the exiled former leader.