Hezbollah's victory--the flip side
Mahmood Elahi Ottawa, Canada
Prof. Karim Makdisi, lecturer in the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut, and Timur Goksel, former advisor for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, recently wrote: "Indeed, Hezbollah has emerged politically stronger within Lebanon and the Arab region for resisting Israel and restoring pride to Arabs so used to military defeat and political submission; while Syria and Iran have gained from Hezbollah's success." But they failed to mention that the Shiite party of Hezbollah has won a propaganda victory at the expense of Lebanon. While Hezbollah fired rocket after rocket on Israel without suffering much casualties, the Israeli air force completely destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure and Lebanon's fragile recovery after years of civil strife has come to an end.The question remains: Why Hezbollah provoked a war by kidnapping and killing some Israeli soldiers at a time when Israel was thinking about withdrawing from parts of the West Bank? The answer seems to be that Hezbollah carried out the attack at the bidding of Iran and Syria. Makdisi and Goksel are right when they say that "Syria and Iran have also gained from Hezbollah's success." Only that their gain was Lebanon's loss. And they will continue to gain if another confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel erupts. Hezbollah might once again restore pride among the Arabs, but Lebanon's economy and infrastructure will again be the victim. The Israeli forces must withdraw and the UN peacekeepers must accept the responsibility for stopping Hezbollah from lobbing rockets across the border. Otherwise, the war will resume and Lebanon will pay the price.
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