The Iranian Connection
Surprise, surprise. Iran is behind Hezbollah. Haaretz reports:
Of course, we also know that Iranian President Ahmadinejad thinks that the only way to achieve a lasting piece in the Middle East is to destroy Israel -- although a cease-fire will do for now. Here's what he said yesterday at the 10th Islamic Summit Conference in Malaysia: "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."
(France, which recently cozied up to Iran, was aghast. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, the one who did the cozying up, said that he "totally condemn(s) these words". Too late, France.)
These missiles may be used to defend Lebanon, as Iran allegedly wishes, but there's a fine line between defence (defending Lebanon) and offence (destroying Israel), isn't there?
Iran is realistic enough to know that Hezbollah, its surrogate, has been weakened and that a cease-fire may be in its short-term interest. But what then? Will Iran continue to supply Hezbollah with ever more dangerous weapons? Is Ahmadinejad all talk, or is he actually serious about destroying Israel? If the former, his rhetoric still has force throughout the region and beyond. If the latter, how far will he go to arm Israel's other enemies, the ones that will be charged with carrying out his wishes?
This isn't about Hezbollah or Lebanon. It's about Israel. It's about the threat to Israel's existence posed by the likes of Iran and Syria. The bloodshed, particularly the killing of innocent civilians, is horrible. There may be no way to justify it beyond simple utilitarian theory. But think what Israel is up against here. Think what its enemies will do to destroy it, now and in future. A cease-fire may be coming, it may be inevitable, but Iran will continue nonetheless to do what it's doing, using surrogates like Hezbollah to wage its war against Israel. And it will only get worse.
If not now, soon enough.
A senior Iranian official admitted for the first time Friday that Tehran did indeed supply long-range Zelzal-2 missiles to Hezbollah.
Of course, we also know that Iranian President Ahmadinejad thinks that the only way to achieve a lasting piece in the Middle East is to destroy Israel -- although a cease-fire will do for now. Here's what he said yesterday at the 10th Islamic Summit Conference in Malaysia: "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."
(France, which recently cozied up to Iran, was aghast. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, the one who did the cozying up, said that he "totally condemn(s) these words". Too late, France.)
These missiles may be used to defend Lebanon, as Iran allegedly wishes, but there's a fine line between defence (defending Lebanon) and offence (destroying Israel), isn't there?
Iran is realistic enough to know that Hezbollah, its surrogate, has been weakened and that a cease-fire may be in its short-term interest. But what then? Will Iran continue to supply Hezbollah with ever more dangerous weapons? Is Ahmadinejad all talk, or is he actually serious about destroying Israel? If the former, his rhetoric still has force throughout the region and beyond. If the latter, how far will he go to arm Israel's other enemies, the ones that will be charged with carrying out his wishes?
This isn't about Hezbollah or Lebanon. It's about Israel. It's about the threat to Israel's existence posed by the likes of Iran and Syria. The bloodshed, particularly the killing of innocent civilians, is horrible. There may be no way to justify it beyond simple utilitarian theory. But think what Israel is up against here. Think what its enemies will do to destroy it, now and in future. A cease-fire may be coming, it may be inevitable, but Iran will continue nonetheless to do what it's doing, using surrogates like Hezbollah to wage its war against Israel. And it will only get worse.
If not now, soon enough.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
12:29 AM
2 Comments:
I don't deny that Israel has razed Lebanon not because it is cruel, but because it thinks it is acting in self defence, that it is acting for its very survival.
When one feels such a grave threat to our survival, one may not always exercise the best judgement for the long run.
If Israel truly wanted to secure its long-term survival, it would not be doing exactly what Hezbollah wants it to do -- given them back their popular support and raison d'etre as a military outfit by moving into Lebanon. They have crushed the still-weak sapling of the cedar revolution, and now instead of a weak state (that was relatively friendly to Israel) they will have a failed state as their neighbor. Two things will happen: either Hezbollah will gain in influence to such a degree that all of Lebanon, instead of just the south, becomes Hezbollahland, or the Syrians will be called in as a bulwark to Hezbollah. And we know how friendly to Israel Syria is.
By
Anonymous, at 1:25 AM
If Israel is going to survive, it is going to have to stop thinking that survival equates to beating the shit out of its neighbors. No choice. Otherwise, Israel will not survive.
By
janinsanfran, at 2:51 PM
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