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Richard PiattThousands of miles away from the fighting, in Utah there's intense interest in what's happening in Lebanon. To put it simply, people find this latest middle east violence scary. It's especially difficult for the owner of a Salt Lake City restaurant who grew up in Lebanon and still has family there.
Ali Sabbah loves talking to his customers at his middle-eastern restaurant, Mazza. On the walls are old, romantic pictures of his native land, Lebanon. They're scenes that make pictures of today's bombing all that more disturbing and sad.
Ali Sabbah, Grew up in Lebanon: "I feel a sense of tragedy unfolding and happening every day and hour, unfolding in front of our eyes. It affected people who had nothing to do with the conflict, and people who did not want anything to do with it."
That includes Sabbah's close relatives. People across Utah and the US are uneasy about the violence, too, according to a Survey USA poll of 1200 people. Specifically about the latest Hezbollah-Israeli violence, there are strong opinions.
63 percent of the group says the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers is an act of war. 66 percent fear the conflict will escalate to other countries. But 84 per cent say the US military should not get involved, at least not now.
Middle East Expert Ibrahim Karawan watches the latest on the situation on the Lebanese network, Al-Mustaqban--The Future. While the danger of a greater regional conflict is great, he says Hezbollah is actually generating criticism from countries like Saudi Arabia.
Ibrahim Karawan, U of U Middle East Center: "It's saying that this is an irresponsible effort by Hezbollah to escalate this, and my sense is Egypt has a similar position."
The Hezbollah-Israeli conflict is ages old, but somehow, this seems different. To a Lebanese Utah man, it seems a lot different.
Ali Sabbah, Grew Up In Lebanon: "It happened so quickly and escalated so dramatically that it makes you wonder if there's any good will left among the parties of the Middle East."
