Yet after bombarding Lebanon for five days, and causing pain to ordinary civilians unseen since the civil war ended 15 years ago, the international outcry is surprisingly muted. If anything, as the conflict has intensified and the regional stakes have risen, Israel has found a degree of international sympathy, or at least understanding.
Lebanon has become the battleground between pro-western and radical Islamic forces. Few governments, even Arab states, want to see Hizbollah win the contest.
[...]
Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader who had been a strong foe of Israel during the civil war but then became a powerful critic of Syria, summed up the situation as follows: "The war is no longer Lebanon's … it is an Iranian war. Iran is telling the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear programme? I will hit you at home, in Israel."
[...]
One may debate how strongly the extremist elements co-ordinate their actions, but they certainly feed and support each other.
Anton La Guardia concluded by asking the question what the result of this war will be for the war against terrorism and more specifically against Hezbollah: will Hezbollah lose popular support in lebanon (and in the Middle-East) for dragging Lebanon into a unnecessary and unwinnable war or will she gain popularity for 'standing up against Israel'?
As Anton put it;
The outcome of that debate may determine who wins the war, and decide the course of the Middle East for years to come.
It is of the utmost importance that the majority of the Western population will finally realize the obvious: the current crisis isn't simply a clash or a war between Israel on the one side and Hezbollah / Hamas on the other. Instead, it's part of the global war against Muslim terrorists and those (regimes) who support them.
If Israel is once again forced by the International Community to back off too early, if the IC doesn't support Israel in this, we, in the West, will feel the results because of it as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment