DAMASCUS, Syria, July 27 - At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight.
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And so they did. And while I generally agree with my pal Gord, now was not the time to "kick Hezbollah's ass up around its ears". No love for Hezbollah on my part but:
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Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.
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I mean, isn't this the place we're trying to transform into a democracy? Trying to 'win the hearts and minds' of the population. All we seem to be doing is making more enemies and putting out new slogans. While I don't say we should shy away from a fight if somebody brings it to us, making more enemies by allowing our supposed allies to open another front in the 'War on Terra' at this delicate time (remember how well the Occupation of Iraq is going?) is counterproductive to a 'sustainable peace' we claim to want so badly.
Gilliard puts it succinctly, in a way even the neocons and the Israelis can understand:
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Hezbollah has trained for this, they have trained to take on the IDF in enclosed spaces and that tunnel network is out of Cu Chi. The IDF has no clue what they're facing.
This will not be finished quickly.
Now I'm late.
Update:
Chris Dickey of Newsweek via Digby:
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The bottom line: Hizbullah is winning. That's the hideous truth about the direction this war is taking, not in spite of the way the Israelis have waged their counterattack, but precisely because of it. As my source Mr. Frankly put it, "Hizbullah is eating their lunch."
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Update:
This is even turning Jews off.
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