August 4, 2006
WHOLLY CONTAINED WITHIN MARGINS, LIKE A STATE:
'Hizbullah pressured, not desperate' (David Horovitz, Aug. 4, 2006, THE JERUSALEM POST)
Hizbullah is hurting under the impact of Israel's military action, but it is not yet showing signs of desperation, according to Uri Lubrani, an adviser to the defense minister and formerly Israel's longtime coordinator of activities in Lebanon. [...][A] good barometer of the Hizbullah mindset, Lubrani suggested, would be the degree to which its backers press at the United Nations for an urgent cease-fire. "I would consider a real sign of desperation if their supporters starting putting on frantic pressure at the UN for a cease-fire," he said. And that might happen, he posited without elaboration, "if they fear that we are about to go further."
Lubrani stressed that stability in Lebanon, and for Israel, required the maximal marginalizing of Hizbullah and its Iranian backers.
Marginilization is the goal of the Lebanese Shi'ites too and is destabilizing--since it obviously leads to their getting their own state--but is the ideal solution. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 4, 2006 8:38 AM
Hezbollah doesn't want a new, small state, Nasrallah and his supporters want to control Lebanon (on behalf of a greater Shiite empire) and destroy Israel. Your ideal solution is something no one is seeking.
Posted by: pj at August 4, 2006 9:08 AMIt doesn't matter what a few leaders want--their people want it, so will have it. Arafat was hoist on the same petard.
Posted by: oj at August 4, 2006 9:18 AMThe actual ideal situation would be for moderate Moslems in Lebanon and Iraq (and Afghanistan, etc.) to do something about the extremists in their midst. Until then the "innocent civilians" are guilty too.
Posted by: Bartman at August 4, 2006 10:09 AMModerates don't build great nations.
Posted by: oj at August 4, 2006 10:18 AMis "maximal marginalization" the new "extreme prejudice"?
Posted by: Bob Hawkins at August 4, 2006 11:20 AMoj: I'm not talking about nation building. My point was that the moderates are just as much to blame as the extremists because they refuse to do anything about all this.
My other point was that I have NO sympathy for collateral damage over there. Root the Hezbollah out or suffer the consequences. The same goes for Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Baathists.
Posted by: Bartman at August 4, 2006 7:26 PMExcept that the Shi'a are nothing like those three.
Moderates never do anything when it matters--they're useful when everything's quiet.
Posted by: oj at August 4, 2006 7:30 PMPoint taken.
Posted by: Bartman at August 5, 2006 5:25 PM