Hezbollah Declares Victory, Clueless Inhabitants Celebrate Amidst the Ruins
Published August 16, 2006
As should come as no surprise to anyone, Hassan Nasrallah, head honcho of Hezbollah, has declared himself and his band of Jew-hating terrorists the victors in their unprovoked war against Israel. It seems ironic, then, if not actually paradoxical, that the leader of the victors of the glorious struggle is still unable to show his face in public for fear of being kidnapped or killed by those who, according to him, were so historically and ignobly defeated.
But such is the nature of things in this volatile and logic-challenged region of the world. Another good example of the seemingly contradictory nature of things over there can be seen in the following excerpt from an article that appeared in the Gulf Times in Qatar:
BEIRUT: His home and business had been flattened, but Hilal Hashem said it didn't matter as he surveyed the devastation wreaked by Israeli air raids on his suburb. "We'll come back and rebuild. All this destruction is a sign of victory," he said.
You have to be fascinated — as well as appalled, horrified and disheartened — by the circular logic so often used in the Middle East. The terrorist group Hezbollah claims that its main purpose — other than the ultimate and long hoped for destruction of Israel — is to provide resistance against Israeli aggression into Lebanon. But as anyone with a brain knows, the only reason Israel would ever set foot in Lebanon would be because it was either attacked or threatened by terrorists hiding out on Lebanese soil.
So along comes Hezbollah on July 12 and starts a senseless, unprovoked war with Israel. During the course of that month or so of war, southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut are devastated. The war finally ends through a UN cease-fire arrangement that calls for the disarming of Hezbollah (however absurd that may be).
Hezbollah quickly declares victory over the "Zionist aggressors" and thousands of inhabitants of southern Lebanon return to the rubble of their homes and villages and declare their undying love and admiration for the terrorist entity. "Thank you, Hezbollah, for standing up to the Zionist aggressors," many of them say.
Only the Zionists weren't the aggressors, Hezbollah was. Therefore, thanking Hezbollah is an example of the kind of jaw-dropping stupidity that defies human comprehension — or at least the comprehension of humans who reside outside the Middle East — but is rampant throughout that basket-case region.
The admirers of Hezbollah have, in effect, thanked the terrorists for getting their country wrecked for them. If not for Hezbollah, there would have been no war, no "Zionist aggression," no destruction in the first place. There would have only been people going about the daily business of their lives without threat from outside. Hezbollah brought senseless destruction upon the people of Lebanon, and they're being thanked for it.
- Hezbollah Declares Victory, Clueless Inhabitants Celebrate Amidst the Ruins
- Published: August 16, 2006
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: War and Terrorism
- Writer: Greg Strange
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- Greg Strange's personal site
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Q. How far can a 60-ton tank go after it comes within range of an anti-tank missile?
A. Not far.
This conflict was not decided by air power as expected.
It was decided by anti-tank missiles.
Greg,
You stand all on its head. Maybe you are shell-shocked by all the news.
You state that Hezbollah started this war. They did only a small deed that Israel does as a matter of course in much greater magnitude.
Israel claims to have the right, and does indeed, kidnap across boarders at will. They do this only because they think they have the brute force to get away with it.
What Israel does routinely, on a large scale, raises horror and indignation when it is done on a small scale, to them.
The kidnapping of two Israeli solders is not what started this war. It was not even when Israel started the air strikes against Lebanon.
How could anyone consider such retaliation a war? All good people in the region basically said 'you kick the bully, you goin' toget the livin' shit beat out of you. That's that'.
So, what's there left to do? Lick your wounds, humiliate yourself by begging forgiveness and promising not to let anyone say or do bad things again?
How dare Hezbollah, after the bully made its bloody point, step up and strike back after that? To stand up to a bully is terror. The nerve!
What Hezbollah did was not in the cards, but it is precisely what needs to be done to a bully.
You take on a bully and you might get hurt, but if you don't the bully will feel free to attack you at will without retaliation.
Now the bully is licking his wounds and crying. The people in Lebanon know they been in a fight, they too are wounded, but rightly proud. The bully is not invincible after all.
This IS a historic defeat for Israel and a victory for those that have suffered Israel for all these decades.
Les
We should start a betting pool on how many days it will be before hezbullah starts gratuitously launching missile at civilians again.
The question, ladies and gentlemen, is not whether HizbAllah will launch rockets or missiles at Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Lod Airport. The question is when.
This is pendant upon what were HizbAllah's actual losses in this war. That is not yet clear.
Hizbullah has achieved what Arab states only dreamed of
The sixth Arab-Israeli war, as some have called it, has ended in the first real setback for Israel's deterrent power
David Hirst Thursday August 17, 2006 guardian.co.uk
*David Hirst reported from the Middle East for the Guardian from 1963 to 2001
#6 Gazelle--
"Hizbullah has achieved what Arab states only dreamed of."
Again, it did it by taking advantage of Israel's inherent moral decency and its reluctance to inflict too high a cost on civilians. Terrorists have figured that out. Ultimately, though, when Israel's very survival is at stake, it will have no choice but to do whatever is necessary. When that happens, civilians will unavoidably pay a very high price and it will be because of the terrorists' insane obsession with Israel's destruction. We'll see how many local inhabitants praise the terrorists then.
If the irrational belief in this chimerical victory can help Lebanon's civilians gather together the resolve to rebuild their civilian infrastructure, so much the better for everyone.
If it leads to additional armed confrontations with Israel, so much the worse for everyone.
Greg has the truth of it. Nobody won this round.
It was revealed that the military chief of staff, Dan Halutz, had made a major sale of shares in between back-to-back meetings on the day the conflict began. The sale was seen as evidence of corruption from an official who would be in control of the conduct of the war and the resulting knock-on effects on the Israeli stock market.
Opinion polls had little good news for prime minister Ehud Olmert's government. A poll by TNS-Teleseker found support for Mr Olmert dropping to 40% from 78% in the early weeks of the war, while Mr Peretz's approval ratings fell from 61% to 28%.
A second poll by the Dahaf Research Institute found that 57% believed Mr Peretz should resign and 70% opposed a ceasefire that did not provide for the return of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah which sparked the war."
What else will it do but lead to additional armed confrontations?
#7 Greg
I think if israel used even more force than it has it would surely surely surely hasten its own moral demise. the current moral-morale defeat is already great despite the 'restraint'.
survival at the annihilation of everyone else ("terrorists") is even greater terror - and hardly a guaranty of military or moral victory.
despite all the hype, israel is hardly hardly hardly in any danger of "being wiped of" - that being the PR for expansion and greater control of the ME, a fantasy that has just turned bitter for both the US and Israel, which are least tolerant of political rivals.
as if resistance is futile. it is not.
At the start of the hostlities, Amir Peretz had boasted that Nasrullah will not be able to forget his name, Amir Peretz. It looks like it is Amir Peretz who will not be able forget the name Nasrullah. :/
best
I work with a Syrian and it is incredible how they can avoid agreeing that ALL children should not live in fear of war...but yet she can only lament for the lebonese children. Try the above first statement on anyone from the middle east and watch them ignore it. Incredible.
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Well done! You won't convince the anti-Israelites and anti-Semites, but sometimes you just have to speak the truth!
In Jameson Veritas