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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hezbollah likes to watch |
| 2008-12-31 |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah guerrilla movement _ widely seen as the Arab world's most effective force against Israel is a staunch Hamas supporter but has so far held its fire as its Palestinian ally faces down Israel's assault in Gaza. Hezbollah possesses a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles that bloodied Israel during a monthlong war between them in 2006, but is constrained by its own domestic political goals and fears of Israeli retaliation. Once considered as just a fighting force backed by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah has seen its political power in Lebanon grow since 2006. With Israel threatening massive retaliation if Hezbollah renews its rocket bombardments, that influence could come into doubt by Lebanese reluctant to be drawn into another war. So Hezbollah is instead calling for protests in Lebanon and across the Middle East to pressure Arab governments to act against Israel. That call hasn't drawn any action for now. Egypt on Tuesday said it would not end its blockade of Gaza as long as Hamas remains in power there, and no Arab government has offered anything stronger than words and humanitarian assistance in response to Israel's assault. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah drew tens of thousands, waving Palestinian, Hezbollah and Lebanese flags, for a rally Monday in his south Beirut stronghold. He professed that Israel's Gaza offensive will ultimately fail. Nasrallah put his men on alert in southern Lebanon in case Israel attacks and claimed he was ready to fight back if provoked. He promised not to abandon Hamas. The Islamic Sunni group is also backed by Hezbollah allies Iran and Syria. But he made no threat to open fire on northern Israel to relieve Gaza _ an act that would certainly provoke another war with Israel. Hezbollah “cannot afford to enter a full-scale war with Israel, which would be devastating for Lebanon," said Paul Salem, Beirut-based director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, an arm of the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #12 The Israelis should study Sherman's March for guidance on how to make sure your opponent NEVER tries again. Beat them until they KNOW and admit they have been beaten. See USA, Germany, Japan. |
| Posted by: A_Rovian_Desciple 2008-12-31 22:13 |
| #11 Hezbollah was crippled by the mass IAF/IDF bombardments. Israel fought with gloves on in 2006; gloves off would finish the Hizbis. |
| Posted by: Slavising de Medici1826 2008-12-31 18:08 |
| #10 perhaps hezbollah got their clock cleaned during their last victorious war against the juices. |
| Posted by: bman 2008-12-31 12:08 |
| #9 yeah i'm sure hezbollah would live up too any secret terms. more like they see the ass whooping hamas is taking from a serious Israeli assault and don't want some of the same |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2008-12-31 10:47 |
| #8 It's also possible that when Hezbollah and Israel had the hugely imbalanced (even by the standard of previous Arab-Israeli exchanges) prisoner exchange of many live terrorists for 2 dead bodies that there were secret terms, one of which might have been Hezbollah holding off rocket fire during a possible future Israel-Hamas conflict. |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2008-12-31 10:30 |
| #7 Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah drew tens of thousands... Nah. I'll bet the big screen with his picture on it drew tens of thousands. His poosy ass is probably so deep underground that he needs ultraviolet light to keep the mushrooms from growing on him. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-12-31 09:39 |
| #6 Another product of Hahvahd, tip. Where else would he have gotten a BA, MA, & PhD, and still be essentially stupid. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-12-31 09:23 |
| #5 Ready to fight to the last Gazan..... Cowards, sheep, men in burqas.... |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2008-12-31 00:47 |
| #4 I think you're right. Typical, they put Paleos on the front line and say "Go get 'em, we've got your back... WAY back, at least 200 miles away (just to be safe)." |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2008-12-31 00:45 |
| #3 Waiting to test the cojones of the BHO adminisration. |
| Posted by: bradeous 2008-12-31 00:43 |
| #2 P>S> - And Iran is probably keeping them from pulling the trigger as well. |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-12-31 00:32 |
| #1 "Hezbollah “cannot afford to enter a full-scale war with Israel, which would be devastating for Lebanon," said Paul Salem, Beirut-based director of the Carnegie Middle East Center" No, Sir, Hezbollah does not give a damn about Lebanon as such. They are afraid that they would be devastated the next time. It is amazing the ignorance (or bias?) shown by these so called "think tanks". I wonder which Eastern elite school this yoyo went to? /s |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-12-31 00:30 |