Nasrallah Accused of ‘Adventurism’ for Plunging Lebanon Into Costly War: "JEDDAH, 29 August 2006 — With the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah expressing regret Sunday on Lebanese TV for the month-long war in Lebanon in which more than a thousand people died, many people in the Kingdom accused the Hezbollah militia of “adventurism” and being “irresponsible.”
According to Homoud Al-Bader, a Shoura Council member, Hezbollah’s kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers has taken Lebanon back to “square one.”
Describing the actions as “miscalculated” and “provocative” Al Bader said that Lebanon had lost hundreds of lives, its infrastructure had been demolished, and now other governments were helping the country to rebuild.
Jeddah resident Abu Sami said Saudi Arabia was correct when they described the Hezbollah war against Israel as an adventure. “If we look at the situation now, the only thing that Nasrullah gained was scaring Israeli citizens and forcing them to live in bunkers for a month. But let’s be realistic, what did the Lebanese people win? Nothing.”"
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Hezbollah won?
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8 comments:
gotta love the "miscalculated"...
...if they'd "properly calculated"...what?...
they would have killed more Israelis and been able to draw in more muslims to
"finish off the Jews" because
"the time was finally right"?
sadly,Hezbollah succeeded in "surviving".
despite the destructive effect their prescence has had (and continues to have) on the larger community of the Lebanese population,bloodying your opponent's nose and getting three-quarters of your family killed for the satisfaction,counts as a "victory" among the developmentally-challenged in the muslim world.
I think there are Arabs who want to see this kind of constant fighting stop, but their culture is so much about face saving that they can not figure out how to do it.
Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of a change here, only time will tell.
But I can not help but think that after awhile living like that has to get old...unless of course you are one of the fanatical men with guns who does not have to work for a living because life is all about killing Jews.
Terrye, something I've noticed is that a successful arab guy who gets other people to fight for him generally lives pretty well. (Possibly with the exception of bin Laden.) Certainly Sadr doesn't look like he's missing any meals.
Look, I told you right after the ceasefire that Hezbollah lost.
There's more and more proof.
Politically our worries about Nasrallah gaining support inside Lebanon looks to be unfounded. Many of those who were more angry at Israel during the war have turned against Nasrallah after.
Nasrallah has actually said he was sorry. Twice!
Think about it! After declaring victory, he apologized because he had to. He's desparate because he's losing the support of even many of his own people!
He cancelled many of the victory celebrations!
He's spooked by all the talk of disarming him.
I think Iran is angry at him too. All that money and all those missiles sent to him over the years? Gone!
I read a blog report that in Iran many are angry because the rebuilding hasn't even been completed after their earthquake, and yet they are sending millions to Nasrallah to help rebuild southern Lebanon!
Anyway, this doesn't sound like any kind of victory to me.
Only certain elements of the Arab street are still calling him a hero. But they're not in HIS country.
And something else I think important. The Arab leaders are mocking him. That may give little comfort to us, but it should give a great deal of comfort to the Lebanese.
Besides Assad put his foot in it when he called the other Arab leaders 'half men' or somesuch. An insult. Syria will get no help from them if they try to push their way back into Lebanon.
And, no, I don't think the importance of this is sunni/shia. I think it's more geopolitical.
And emotional.
And here's a populist muslim leader who did something really stupid. And they're calling him on it.
Somebody is beginning to grow up just a little.
I think it is interesting that Nasrallah is essentially taking responsibility for the 'whole' adventure.
There were many, myself included, who saw this as an Iranian directed action. Where did that scenario go?
Did things go wrong enough that he has been directed to be the fall guy? Or, is he a big enough man to accept responsibility for his actions, without outside influence?
I actually see more questions than answers. We are facing shrewd, skillful and experienced propaganda player's here. Best to be cautious on making judgment's of recent events.
luther
I see your point, but I'm not quite as cynical. There are definitely layers here and Iran is playing a game of attempting to prove they're really okay on the one hand, and using threatening behavior on the other.
Nasrallah is Lebanese though. (Actually, I think he's from Iraqi extraction somewhere) and the political climate in Lebanon right now is hostile to him.
So take advantage of what we can in the places we can.
Syl
I wrote you (now that it is lost :-)) a very nuanced and perceptive response. It was ate by the Internet goddess.
Here is my second attempt, truly the inferior.
I am, perhaps, the most cynical person you have not met. I have been around the barn a number of times.
I am at the point where the only thing I can believe in, is Action. All else is superfluous.
We are not facing stupid, nor unsophisticated enemies. They have read their history. They know what works. So far they are succeeding.
Nasrallah, I think, is being directed. He is not an independent player. There are no import/export numbers for Hezbolla. Well let me rephrase. There only import is money/weapons, their only export is death.
The game is much deeper than we think.
Apologies for the drama, but that is what I see.
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