Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Nassrallah's questions...

Nassrallah has been asking why several Arab states have asked their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, he wonders why they have taken such harsh measures! The answer is simple Mr. Nassrallah, after threating with open war with Israel and spreading chaos and violence in the streets, who in his right mind will come to Lebanon...

Then he goes into a long convoluted and quasi-philosophical exploration of why Israel will be destroyed soon, claiming that his victory in 2006 is the herald of that end. Then in defense of his upcoming "open war" with Israel, in retaliation of its assassination of Imad Mughnieh, he claims that there was no official cease fire yet (only a cessation of hostilities) therefore the war did not end and this only another act in a long play. So, excuse me Mr. Nassrallah but how can you claim to win a war that has not ended yet?

Meanwhile, Nassrallah can jump to conclusion and immediately accuse Israel of killing Mughnieh, with not a single shred of evidence. But when 14 March blame Syria for an assassination it is an unforgivable act of betrayal and immediately rejected and replaced by complicated conspiracy theories. Ah the lovely double standards of Hezbollah!

Finally, it is interesting to observe how Nassrallah treat the Lebanese army compared to his dealings with Syria's regime. When last month riots, erupted in Beirut southern suburb and seven people were killed, Nassrallah demanded an immediate and swift investigation and gave the army an ultimatum of one week to wrap up its investigation.

On the other hand Mughnieh is skilled in Syria and two weeks later no results or indications has been published yet. Meanwhile, Nassrallah expresses his content and admiration of the high professionalism of the Syrian investigation. But I am not surprised. Why would it be different, an underling can only follow his orders and keep silent....

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A hammering blow to Hezbollah!

Imad Mughnieh, the elusive fox, the enigmatic top Hezbollah-Iranian revolutionary Guard officials, who some say is the master mind behind Hezbollah’s performance in the 2006 war with Israel, has been killed in Damascus, out of all places in the world.

The killing in itself is a strong message to Hezbollah and Iran. Israel, whom I assume is behind the assassination, is settling its score with Hezbollah, flexing its muscles and polishing the cracked halo of deterrence and power.

Where the assassination occurred is another message, in the middle of Damascus, in an upbeat neighborhood, close to the Syrian Intelligence HQ and to some Iranian facilities. The Israeli message is simple: we can get you wherever you are, whenever we want. Bashar Assad (President of Syria) must be really uncomfortable today…

Moreover, Bashar Assad must be really trying his best to reassure Hezbollah and their bosses (the Iranian) that he had absolutely nothing, and I stress, nothing to do with the assassination, and that he offered all the possible protection to Mughnieh.

Mughnieh was a key figure and his killing will have deep implications to Hezbollah and Iran. A responsible, or a scapegoat, will have to suffer the consequences of this assassination. Assad will try his best to shift the blame from him to Israel or some underlings, for he cannot suffer the wrath of Iran, not at this moment when the Persian wannabe-super-regional-power is his only strong ally.

Finally, let us hope that the anger and blame of Hezbollah and their patron will not fall once again on our country, especially if the party of god launch another war on Israel…