So let me see if I understand this correctly...
1. Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills another in the process.
2. Israel begins an offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
3. Hezbollah's puppet masters, Iran and Syria, repeatedly call for a ceasefire due to mounting Lebanese casualties.
4. Israel, after taking a few weeks to bomb the area into the stone age, eventually agrees to ceasefire.
5. Hezbollah, Iran and Syria declare victory.
Taking kind of a loose definition of "victory" here, aren't we? I mean, it wasn't exactly a route by Israel because they didn't send in the ground forces from the get go, but what has Hezbollah gained here other than a ceasefire? Israel hasn't ceded any territory. Hezbollah's infrastructure, along with just about everything else in southern Lebanon, is in ruins. Anywhere between a third to a half of their rockets have been destroyed. Their leader is giving his victory speech while still in hiding. The victory? Israel stopped bombing? Wait a week. Olmert won't make the same mistake twice. They're just lucky Sharon wasn't around to conduct this war. No one has more experience when it comes to invading Lebanon on a whim than that guy.
2. Israel begins an offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
3. Hezbollah's puppet masters, Iran and Syria, repeatedly call for a ceasefire due to mounting Lebanese casualties.
4. Israel, after taking a few weeks to bomb the area into the stone age, eventually agrees to ceasefire.
5. Hezbollah, Iran and Syria declare victory.
Taking kind of a loose definition of "victory" here, aren't we? I mean, it wasn't exactly a route by Israel because they didn't send in the ground forces from the get go, but what has Hezbollah gained here other than a ceasefire? Israel hasn't ceded any territory. Hezbollah's infrastructure, along with just about everything else in southern Lebanon, is in ruins. Anywhere between a third to a half of their rockets have been destroyed. Their leader is giving his victory speech while still in hiding. The victory? Israel stopped bombing? Wait a week. Olmert won't make the same mistake twice. They're just lucky Sharon wasn't around to conduct this war. No one has more experience when it comes to invading Lebanon on a whim than that guy.
posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood Clark Bar at 8/15/2006 11:57:00 PM
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5 Comments:
There are two things that Hezbollah received: 1) International sympathy. All media reports on Hezbollah would mention that they are merely a political group that does social work and occasionally violent acts. Plus, everyone seemed to be against Israel and it's level of self defense. 2) Hezbollah also got a ceasefire. To normal countries, this means stop and hold their positions. To a terrorist group like Hezbollah, it means, "Stop bombing us for awhile, we need to go rearm and start this again."
Watching this whole thing made me think back to being a little kid, when my little brother would hit me, I'd hit him back, but because I was bigger and stronger, I'd get grounded and yelled at. And my little brother would get the encouragement to do it again because he had learned that there are no real consequences to picking a fight. Not too far from what we have here, except that this little brother wants to see big brother wiped off the planet, and so do all little brothers friends. And they just might have the means to do it.
I get that they've won popular support in the Muslim world, but that doesn't translate into victory in my book. They've lost infrastructure. If everyone plays their part under the terms of the ceasefire, then they'll also lose much of their autonomy.
I don't think that this is a victory for Israel either. The war was poorly executed and the IDF fell short of its objective.
So, folks in the Arab world are pissed at Israel? Wow, ground breaking. Look, I get that Isreal didn't get the soldiers back, but I'm with you on this one--Hezbollah lost a lot more.
Of course, anyone can declare victory. Mission Accomplished, right? :)
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