Bomb squad gives Lebanese life

By JEAN WHITE 
North Shore Times
16 November 2007

BOMB DISPOSAL: Holding a fake cluster bomb, Lieutenant Commander Stephen Lenik tells students about their effects.

 A North Shore naval commander's experience in southern Lebanon has provided college students with a graphic lesson about the devastating effects of war.

Lieutenant Commander Stephen Lenik, a Takapuna resident who is based at Devonport naval base, spoke to Rangitoto College social studies students about leading a 10-member defence force team sent to Lebanon for five months to locate and destroy unexploded bombs.

The team worked for 69 days covering 125,000 square metres, picking up 957 different types of bombs.

The bombs are the result of the Israeli-Hizbollah conflict in 2006.

Named the 'Lebanon July War' the conflict began when Hizbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and the Israeli defence force responded by dropping about a million bombs, mainly on southern Lebanon.

Lieutenant Commander Lenik told students a cluster bomb can contain up to 2000 bomblets, which are meant to explode when they hit the ground.

He says the bombs are 'indiscriminate and inaccurate' and don't always explode. They have turned meadows into minefields.

Once on the ground, the bombs rust which makes them fade into the vegetation, making them harder to find and more dangerous.

Aside from the personal danger of collecting and detonating the bombs, Lieutenant Commander Lenik says the other danger was from Islamic terrorists.

"I was in Beirut one weekend shopping.

"I walked out and two hours later the shopping area was destroyed. I feel fortunate to be standing here."

He says the bombs affect the lifestyle of villagers by stopping them from picking crops, raising livestock or plowing fields, and cause mutilating or fatal injuries.

He told the students about a goat herder who was taking a break from the sun under an olive tree when disaster struck.

"A gust of wind caused a cluster bomb to fall from a branch. It killed 14 goats, wiping out the income for his family."

He says the bomb-clearing effort has made a huge difference.

One farmer was 'overwhelmed to be able to get back into his land and start earning his livelihood again'.

It was hoped the clearing of bombs would finish in December but it has been extended for a further year.

Lieutenant Commander Lenik says it will be impossible to know if every one of the million bombs has been destroyed.

"Some are buried underground. It's a near-impossible task."