Friday, August 04, 2006

...his only achievements have been causing the destruction of Lebanon

Arab Times editorial: "In what he calls “Beyond Haifa,” Nasrallah says his fighters will begin rocket attacks deeper into Israel, south of Haifa. We wonder if Nasrallah took any time to review his achievements in the first phase of the war against the enemy before thinking about the next. So far his only achievements have been causing the destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure and killing of innocent Lebanese. If he begins the second phase the only result will be wiping out of whatever remains of Lebanon’s infrastructure and killing of the rest of the Lebanese.

Dictatorial decisions taken by a single man like Nasrallah, who gets instructions from foreign countries, will always lead to sorrow. The ongoing war in Lebanon is a clash between Israel and the United States on the one side, and Iran and Syria on the other. Although each party in the war wants to demonstrate its power in Lebanon, none of them wants its role to be recognized. "

14 comments:

Unknown said...

There is truth in this.

gumshoe said...

"Although each party in the war wants to demonstrate its power in Lebanon, none of them wants its role to be recognized."

regardless of who in the Arab world examines and comments on the
State of Israel and her trials,
to my knowledge only Jordan and Egypt officially recognize Israel's rights to existence and (theoretically)self-defense....

and under "the right conditions"
I don't doubt the contents of those peace treaties would evaporate.

the likely owners of Arab Times are Saudi,if I don't miss my guess.

and on the valid theory that there
are "two terror trees"
one Wahhabist and one Khomenist,
this article pretends to be a an objective,disinterested bystander.

and on that score,it's pap,
pretending they don't have a stake
(or a hand) in the outcome of these events.

vnjagvet said...

STY:

It is great to see someone criticizing someone other than the US and Israel.

After today's show rallys in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, etc., and the apparent ascendency of the lefty Dems on many fronts, this provides some counterpoint.

Every time there is a rough patch in a very difficult fight, immediately there is a well calculated attack on those charged with fighting this war. That attack is just as effective as if it were coordinated from without, but it is not. It comes from within.

The criticism has never been constructive or private. It is always destructive and public and designed to achieve political power. And so damn cynical, because it is steady and corrosive.

I wonder how many folks are getting so tired of this pissing contest that in order to get some "peace" they are now resigned to allow Murtha, Nancy, Harry, John and their happy gang to take over.

After all, they are so much smarter and more moral than anyone else. After all, just read Kos and other netroots anyone who disagrees with them is not just stupid, but a moral leper.

Aren't they?

When a group like this is willing to paint a Joe Lieberman with such a brush, where does it stop?

cf said...

It's Kuwaiti..And yes , it has a Saudi slant, but it is a peek into the minds of those in Arabia who are not batshit crazies and a reminder that scimitared thugs share the area with some folks with more normal objectives--

Syl said...

gumshoe

and on the valid theory that there
are "two terror trees"
one Wahhabist and one Khomenist,
this article pretends to be a an objective,disinterested bystander.

and on that score,it's pap,
pretending they don't have a stake
(or a hand) in the outcome of these events.


A little harsh, maybe. ISTM that the Arab world is a bit alarmed by Iran and instead of criticizing any Arab criticism of Nasrallah or Hezbollah, we should be co-opting them. At least during this period.

Who knows what events are coming, but if the Arab world is forced to confront the Persian, it will be better for relations with Israel.

There's nothing like the internal conflict of support for a foe because you're more afraid of your foe's foe (kind of the inverse of the enemy of my enemy) to cause a bit of re-think.

It may be, and probably is, only temporary. But temporarily we can certainly use it.

Barry Dauphin said...

All the caution expressed here (especially terrye's sensible posts) about getting too far ahead of ourselves (by suggesting Israel is losing, criticizing their war plan, etc.) has been wise. Talk about the fog of war. I don't know what the heck is happening.

Krauthamer is tearing Olmert apart, and many Arab muslims want Hezzbollah to disappear from the face of the earth (and, yes, I have some inkling of this being a Sunni-Shia kind of thing, but Israel is their first enemy). This situation is very hard to read, even though I want to know how it's going to turn out and read a lot. We have to wait and hope and deal with the media noise. As frustrating as dealing with that is, it's better than having a couple hundred Hezzbollah bombs fall on American cities every day.

Dan Henninger has an interesting column in today's WSJ about watching the war on TV and how this affects people. One of the local stations had a report that was nothing more than people dead from bombing. There is no attempt to understand the war itself (e.g., strategy, tactics, goals) and no attempt by the average American journalist to even hint that Hezzbollah is a terrorist organization. Geez, even parts of the Arab press seem to get something about that.

Unknown said...

vnjagvet:

I dunno. It seems to me that a lot of folks are just sick of the bitching. One woman told me the whole debate and all the back and forth etc had just worn her out.

I would say, it could go either way. But I think something is happening that the media and the left did not think about. I think people have just started tuning it out.

I read over at Iraq the Model that Sadr was going for a million people for his Death to America parade and could not get anywhere near that, not even in Sadr city...he had to ship people in by bus. I bet he paid them too. Or perhaps I should say his sugar mullah paid them. Maybe the people over there are thinking that they are getting tired of all this. After all look at what Sadr and Nasrallah have done for them. Death Death Death.

Unknown said...

barry:

I have heard several reporters mention that Hezbellah has ties to Iran and that they killed hundreds of Marines 20 years ago. To be truthful, I think that when people hear that it makes a difference. People are getting sick of war, but they are sick of terrorists too.

As for demonstrations, these idiots have demonstrations and riots over cartoons, korans in the john, and I forget what all the flaming Renaults in Paris were about. After awhile the rest of the world starts thinking how peaceful it would be if some of these folks just got a grip.

BTW, I think Krauthammer needs to remember that he is not the guy calling the shots in Israel. Too many experts out there. I heard Olmert's approval rating in Israel is 75%, so why should he care what Charles says?

vnjagvet said...

Thanks, Terrye.

Instant gratification is not the kind of thing that is going to win this thing.

I understand that and believe it. My problem is listening to the HRC's and jfk's of this world who should know better and are more interested in the Presidency in 08 than getting a war behind us and then campaingning.

It is the constant carping from within and the instant experts that annoy the hell out of me.

But then I look at the Civil War and wonder how we got through it. This is very similar in the intensity of opinion, I guess. Lincoln didn't make it through two terms, after all. But at least the war was over when he left the scene.

gumshoe said...

Olmert may not be Moshe Dayan,
but he's the man in the hot seat right now.

i wish him the very best.

some people still think this is a video game.

Anonymous said...

vnjagvet:

But then I look at the Civil War and wonder how we got through it. This is very similar in the intensity of opinion, I guess.

But it shouldn't be. This should be like the Cold War, except that one party doesn't have a Scoop Jackson or a Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

They are busy spinning in their graves.

Rick Ballard said...

Olmert doesn't have a long option list. He's going to have to get over worrying about world opinion - and I think he will.

I don't care for Olmert but he there's nothing left in the store to give away. All the truly stupid mistakes have been made - and not by him.

vnjagvet said...

Skook:

You are right. And Harry Truman, Sam Nunn, Richard Russell, Carl Vinson, Sam Rayburn, etc. etc.

And on the other side Dirkson, Martin, Vandenberg, etc.

vnjagvet said...

The SAMs sound like wishful thinking for the Hezzies. Unless they are MANPADS, getting them from Iran to Lebanon over those bombed out roads might be a stretch.

Especially with Israel watching for them.