Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Why Hizb'allah Now?

Two interesting analyses about why Israel is currently limiting the attack to Hizb'allah and parts of Lebanon.

At the American Thinker James Lewis provides an answer as to why Israel is limited its strike just now only to Hizb'allah in Lebanon.
[T]here are two signs for the world to see: Israeli freedom to act as it wants, and the impotence of Syria and Iran to protect their proxies on the borders of Israel.

The IDF is attacking at a time and place of its choosing. If a country the size of Israel is going to tackle Iran, with ten times its population, it must first protect its own rear. The IDF cannot afford to have more than 10 thousand short-range rockets aimed at Israel’s population, all in the hands of Iran’s terror proxy, Hezbollah. For strategic reasons alone, therefore, it is imperative to clean out the threat to the rear before making any direct move again Tehran.

That does not mean the IDF is now committed to attack Bushehr and Natanz, the two most likely nuclear targets in Iran. But if it can cripple the threat from Hezbollah and Hamas for some time to come, it is clearing a strategic space to strike at Iran itself.


As always, Lebanon.Profile has valuable commentary. This time from Syria, a country where he is now a refugee. He points out, that unlike Lebanon, Syria is 100% united behind Hizb'allah:
the Syrian people seem unhappy that their government has not joined the fight. They are calling this, "The Final Battle." It's rather apocalyptic.

There are Hezbollah, Syrian, and Palestinian flags flying all over Damascus. In the old city, there are large Israeli flags taped to the narrow walkways forcing all pedestrians to trample on it. The Syrian people want the destruction of Israel and see now as the time to do it...

In the battle between Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah, Hezbollah is the weakest link. Lebanese political analysts for months have been arguing that Syria was weakest and connected all of the above named factions to one another. This was the thinking in mid-2005.

The Syrians were smart. They waited it out. They made it impossible for a coup...

The irony is that the Lebanese people, by and large, support the Western agenda. There is little positive sentiment for the Iranian or Syrian regimes and for Hamas. This is the diametric opposite of the Syrian people who fully support the destruction of Israel.

The Lebanese were trying to get rid of Hezbollah. They were not given the time it takes in this region to get anything done. Sadly, the West does not have time to wait. Iran refuses to cooperate, and Lebanon suffers.

posted by Alcibiades @ 2:40 PM