But worry not, UN peacekeepers were there: The United Nations
peacekeeping mission in Lebanon today wrapped up a two-day
large-scale disaster response exercise, responding to a
fictitious earthquake in the south of the country. The dry run,
which the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) conducted with
the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), tested the forces’ combined
reaction to an earthquake with a magnitude of six on the Richter
scale. I suppose that for those who might assume (wrongly, in my
opinion) that taking on environmental projects goes beyond
peacekeepers’ responsibilities, stopping a fake earthquake
doesn’t sound too impressive. The difference, of course, is that
a real earthquake, were one to hit Lebanon, would be all too
tangible — and the benefits of peacekeepers’ training all too
apparent. The takeaway from environmental projects may not
always seem as lifesaving, but it’s harder to appreciate their
positive impact because they are preventative measures. Kind of
like, say, preparing to deal with a la