The defeat of the regional superpower could yet open the way to a wider settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
As the smoke clears from the battlefield of the 34-day war in Lebanon, it would be a mistake to count the cost only in fallen masonry and fresh graves. All is changed, changed utterly, by the defeat that the whole of Israel is now debating, from the cabinet through the lively press to the embittered reservists at the falafel stall. Practically the only person in the world who claims Israel won the war is George Bush - and we all know his definition of the words "mission accomplished".
Reports that the Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, expressed regret this week at having underestimated Israel's reponse to the capture of two of its soldiers were misleading. In fact, Nasrallah thanked God that the attack came when the resistance movement was prepared, as he was convinced Israel would have otherwise invaded later in the year at a time of its choosing.
If the fierce thicket of the Iraqi resistance stopped the Bush war spreading to Syria then the extraordinary Hizbullah victory has surely made the world think again about an attack on Iran. But the main - and maybe the most welcome - shift in the 40-year-old paradigm of the Israeli-Arab conflict is the puncturing of the belief in a permanent and unchallengeable Israeli military superiority over its neighbours and the hubris this has induced in Israeli leaders - from the sleek Shimon Peres through the roughhouse of Binyamin Netanyahu to the stumbling Mr Magoo premiership of Ehud Olmert.
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Victory ?
After Hizbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers on July 12, Israel started bombing Lebanon's civilian infrastructure in a one-month war which displaced more than 900,000 people.
Israeli attacks killed close to 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and did damage worth billions of dollars. Israel lost 157 people, mostly soldiers inside Lebanon. "Frankly we were surprised by the great size (of the Israeli response) and by this serious attack."
I beleave this tells who won !
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I don't know WHERE people get the notion that Hezbolah won! Doesn't look like a victory to me! Not when they get the hell bombed out of them and they lost more people than Israel did.
A battle lost does not mean a war won. Hezbolah absolutley did win this latest 4,000 year old family feud. Why? Because almost every of the 1 billion in Islam infested nations believe they won. That is all.Originally Posted by meyou123
Hizbullah won because they are still around. They more popular in many parts of the world including Lebanon. Israel failed in all their goals unless you are saying destroying the infrastrure and killing civilians was their goal.
Just believing a LIE does not make it come true!
Well I did not see Hezbolah marching through the streets of Israel either, so I don't thinik you are correct. And all we know is what reporters tell us....we may never know how many hezbolah or israeli soldiers were killed.
And How did Israel fail in all ther goals? Their goal was NOT to occupy lebanon again, which is what it will take if they wanted to completly destroy hezbolah, they DID take city afer city though on the border! And you want to call THAT defeat? Sorry, but my terms of defeat and yours are two different things.
Victory? Victory you say? Master Obe Wan...not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen...begun, this World War III has...
Well, their goals included eliminating Hezbollah as a threat to Israeli security, trying to force the Lebanese government to enforce the relevant UN agreements calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed (how ironic it is for Israel of all countries, to go to war to enforce UN agreements - considering its been in violation of one for almost 40 years and half a dozen since), recover her kidnapped soldiers (doubly ironic for Israel, a serial kidnapper of Palestinians and Lebanese) and defend her territory against incursions (with this, irony loses all meaning - the occupier of Palestinian territory for 40 years, Lebanese territory for 20 etc...becomes the defender of the concept of sovereignty of the nation state).And How did Israel fail in all ther goals? Their goal was NOT to occupy lebanon again, which is what it will take if they wanted to completly destroy hezbolah, they DID take city afer city though on the border! And you want to call THAT defeat? Sorry, but my terms of defeat and yours are two different things.
On at least three (arguably all) of these goals, they failed miserably. Hezbollah may have been (temporarily) pushed out of operating from the south (although, considering Hezbollah are a grass-roots movement who have arisen from within the people, its hard to see how they can be 'pushed out' permanently) but as compensation they've gained enormous credence throughout the region for actually staying on the battlefield with Israel for almost a month - something that entire coalitions of Arab states havent managed in the past. In doing so, theyve strengthened their future prospects as a national force (support for Hezbollah against the Israeli's was as high as 80% across all ethnicities in Lebanon), a regional force (witness: Hezbollah flags on the streets of Baghdad) as well as shattered the myth of invulnerability that Israel had built up through her succession of routs over the years. By betting so many chips and having their bluff called, Israel has potentially made it *more* likely that incursions on her territory will be conducted in the future. At the very least, theyve given a shot in the arm to collective Arab morale. As for the soldiers, Israel will negotiate to have them returned in exchange for some Hezbollah/Lebanese nationals - ie. exactly what Hezbollah was demanding to begin with.
I agree with you, this isnt a defeat for Israel...its a catastrophe for her.
Why do so many refuse to accept the fact that we are at war against an enemy that wants to kill us all, International Terrorism ?
Hezbollah engages in terrorism -- the deliberate targeting of Jewish civilians and others -- to achieve its goals. For the past month, Hezbollah has rained down thousands of rockets on Israel, deliberately maiming and killing innocent Israeli civilians. Hezbollah uses Lebanese civilians as human shields when it places its rockets in civilian areas, and is therefore responsible for many Lebanese casualties.
You here none of this in the Mainstream Media, where is the crys for all the Isreali civilians killed ? Wise up people, or one day this will be in YOUR back yard.
Wake up don_webb, it's already in "our backyard"! Terrorists are global now. They are not just in Iraq & few other countries. Pres. Bush would have you believe, winning in Iraq will be victory over terrorists! If you agree with Bush, you're nuts. We need to spend more resources here, more so than to go to other country like Iraq & win a war. If you can't take care of your own, nobody wins actually!!!
Sigh, you have a greater chance of being hit by lightning than being killed by a terrorist act, real or false flag. In the US anyways.
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Benjamin Franklin
funny how ppl look at it as killing ppl in war leads to victory.or the main reason for this war was to kill innocent people.
"Hands down your pants"
And its funny how ppl look at killing innocents is wrong when terrorists hide behind them...
Maybe we should just throw away the whole Geneva Conventions...you know...where it says CIVILIZED countries, when at war, will have UNIFORMED personel.
The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.
So we stoop to their level? O wait, we're already there. We did throw the Geneva Conventions away. Torture is ok though right? I mean we have to torture and humiliate our enemies for our freedoms, which they so dearly hate. I for one feel safer knowing this great country tortures prisoners and rapes little girls. O IM PROUD TO AN AMERICAN, WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW IM FREE! *Gag*
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Benjamin Franklin
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