Hezb stand risks future
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
Posted on 8/17/2006

HEZBOLLAH’S refusal to withdraw from the Litani region on the premise that Israeli will re-occupy it again is foolish and will put a question mark over the future of Lebanon and its people. Hezbollah is playing this game to please its masters in Syria and Iran. In a recent speech Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad yelled and shouted to catch the attention of the United States in the hope that it will bring him back to the negotiation table with Israel. Al-Assad’s speech indicates he is a confused man with no clue to what is happening in the region.

The Syrian President was not serious about Hezbollah’s so-called resistance and the consequent damage caused to Lebanon. Al-Assad was hoping the United States will be forced to open another battlefront in southern Lebanon and believed it will be afraid to enter into a new war after Iraq. During the speech President Al-Assad resembled a poorly-programmed computer, which cannot produce a better solution. The segment of the media, which supports Iran and Syria, may portray Al-Assad’s speech differently like they have been claiming Hassan Nasrallah is infallible and invincible.

Hezbollah is acting against the demands and wishes of the people of Lebanon and their government by refusing to withdraw from Litani and give the Lebanese government administrative control of the area. Although the Syrian President has been trying to cover-up the wrong doings of Nasrallah, the facts will soon become public. Those who listened to Al-Assad’s speech, which was full of fancy and delusion, must understand the Syrian regime has been isolated by the international community and Al-Assad has no friends except Hezbollah and Iran. So the Syrian President is trying to misuse the name of resistance to advance his wrong policies.

The fact that Al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have given almost simultaneous speeches on the war, which saw the destruction of the infrastructure of Lebanon and death of hundreds of innocent civilians, indicated Syria and Iran are one the side with the US and Israel on the other. The people of Lebanon had no role in this war. These speeches should convince those who justified the war as an effort of Hezbollah that Hezbollah is nothing but a mercenary organization which implements the wild policies of Iran and Syria at the expense of the Lebanese. We must face the facts and understand that the Iran-Syria combine and Hezbollah have lost the war.
We hope Syria and Iran will liberate areas occupied by Israel after the 1967 war — including the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.

However, we know it will be difficult for this defeated alliance to liberate even an inch of these areas. The proof of the defeat of Tehran and Damascus lies in the destruction of southern Lebanon and other parts of that country.
Currently it appears Nasrallah is changing tack. He has been pouncing on the Lebanese government to establish himself as the King of Islamic Lebanon. He knows Hezbollah will be finished for good if the Lebanese government regains its power.

Hezbollah can no longer get the attention of the Lebanese by behaving self-important because its policies have destroyed that country. Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 was not due to Hezbollah. It was a unilateral decision taken by Israel to secure its political and security interests. After Al-Assad’s speech Hezbollah is preparing to take on the Lebanese government. The government of Lebanon should not waste any time in asking for the help of international community to finish off Hezbollah.

e-mail: ahmedjarallah@hotmail.com