Think The Lebanese Army Can Resist Hezbollah?
Think again…Pajamas has a source inside the Lebanese government who reveals the internal politics behind today’s postponement of the Lebanese cabinet meeting that was to consider the deployment of the army in accordance with UN Resolution 1701:
Yesterday at the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ meeting the following positions were taken:
* Mohammad Fneish (Minister of Energy, and one of two Hezbollah in the cabinet): The position of Hezbollah is NOT TO DISARM in any part of the country until the Shebaa farms are liberated.
* Fneish then challenged both the Government and Lebanese Army to search and destroy Hezbollah’s weapons by force — ‘If you are men!’
* Michel Sleiman (General of Lebanese Army) stated that the Lebanese Army will not deploy one soldier until Hezbollah agrees to the whole political and deployment schedule.
By giving new life to the Shebaa Farms myth (a matter that was considered settled by the UN in 2000), the UN Security Council has implicity allowed Hezbollah to continue to position themselves as resisters of occupation, rather than murdering terrorists. This is what has been accomplished, along with renewed pressure to paint Israel as the aggressor, and, in case you haven’t noticed, the notable absence of the return of the Israeli soldiers whose kidnapping from Israel’s sovereign territory initiated the war.
Don’t tell me that’s victory…
The gamble by Israel is that while they agree to, and honor, a cease-fire, Hezbollah will not and the world will finally see that Israel is the victim and Hezbollah the aggressor. Unfortunately, Israeli’s will die and be injured while Israel learns that a majority of the government’s of the world will never take their side in a quarrel. All that “turn the other cheek” stuff only works in fables.
No, this is not an encouraging sign, but I detect a lot of anger in Fnesh’s comments at the military for not siding with Hezbolla like Fnesh promised it would. Hezbolla clearly sees the Lebanese military as an enemy, and the military leaders know it.
Look, whether the truce was a good idea or not, the question is how to handle this situation going forward. A “long term truce” cuts both ways, and the US should do what it can to assist in the buildup of the Lebanese military while Hezbolla re-arms itself during this “truce.”