Snatching Defeat

Scroll for update -- After agreeing to U.N. cease-fire, Hezbollah declares victory.

From FoxNews: Israeli, Hezbollah Forces Battle as Diplomats Seek End to Conflict.

Attempts to draw a cease-fire blueprint came down to a test between a step-by-step proposal backed by Washington and Lebanon's insistence — supported by Arab allies — that nothing can happen before Israeli soldiers leave. In New York, Arab envoys and U.N. Security Council members tried to hammer out a compromise. ...

The original proposal, drafted by the United States and France, demanded a "full cessation of hostilities" on both sides and a buffer zone patrolled by Lebanese forces and U.N. troops. But the plan did not specifically call for an Israeli withdrawal. Critics said it would give room for Israeli defensive operations. ...

Washington and Paris were expected to circulate a new draft in response to amendments proposed by Qatar, the only Arab nation on the 15-nation Security Council, and other members, diplomats said. ...

The proposed changes include a call for Israeli forces to pull out of Lebanon once the fighting stops and hand over their positions to U.N. peacekeepers.

What would it mean if Israel ceases fire before Hezbollah is defeated? Nasrallah has already told us. From AP on July 23: Survival May Equal Victory for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah acknowledges that Israeli troops can sweep across south Lebanon. But if he and his militants can survive and keep fighting, he will cement his image as the unlikely new hero of Arab nationalism. ...

Anticipating the ground assault, Nasrallah sought to ensure his group's survival and safeguard its widening base of support in Lebanon and abroad by lowering the bar for what would constitute victory.

In a television interview broadcast Friday, he defined victory as a successful defense.

And he acknowledges the gravity of defeat.

"A defeat in Lebanon will end the region's resistance movements, the Palestinian cause and impose Israel's conditions for a settlement," he warned.

LGF noted this week that in a recent meeting, Nasrallah implored Arab leaders to "stop this aggression against Lebanon". A cease fire only benefits Hezbollah.

The U.S. should not only stop insisting on a cease-fire, we should join Israel in completely destroying and disbanding Hezbollah. Keep in mind, not only is Hezbollah responsible for deadly attacks against Americans, but Nasrallah himself has raised a war cry against us. In this documentary trailer, watch Nasrallah lead a Lebanese crowd in a chant of "Death to America": Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West.

UPDATE I -- Aug. 10: From Muslim World Today: The Cease-fire by Tashbih Sayyed. (via LGF)

The latest flare-up in a 59 years long war to wipe the Jewish state off the map of the world is fast approaching its expected closure. Israel is once again being forced to leave the job of eliminating the Islamist threat unfinished. The world's powers, blinded by their anti-Semitism, politico-commercial considerations, and regional agendas, want Israel to stop pursuing its legitimate campaign to secure itself by eradicating the Islamist threat from its door steps: they want an immediate cease-fire.

They are not ready to accept that in case of political Islam, cease-fires are nothing but tactical pauses which are used as tools to gain time in order to recoup losses, re-arm forces, and rebuild terrorist infrastructure. For example, the world thought that the Oslo Accord was a step in the right direction - peace. But for Yasser Arafat who signed it on September 13, 1993, it was just a tactical cease-fire "Hudna" that could be broken at any time. ...

Those who understand the Islamist ethos know that for political Islam, disengagement, a cease-fire, or a pull back on the part of the "enemy" is a sign of its weakness. No one has more experience with this treacherous mindset than the Israelis. ...

There is no doubt in my mind that the cease-fire at this stage when Hezbollah is still seems to posses enough rockets and other armament to continue to terrorize the Israeli civilians for some time, will be perceived as a total victory of Hezbollah by the Muslim world. The terrorist group will be transformed instantly into a standard bearer of global jihad and Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah will certainly become a leader worth emulation.

From Ynet News: Proposal: Hizbullah disarmament will wait.

Sources in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office expressed cautious optimism early Friday regarding the possibility that the latest American diplomatic maneuver will in fact lead to a ceasefire. The proposal will call for Hizbullah’s disarmament in accordance with UN Resolution 1559, but this will not be declared a precondition for reaching a ceasefire.

And as if on cue: Hizbullah declares victory.

Hizbullah did not wait for the official UN Security Council announcement on a ceasefire and launched its own media campaign declaring it had 'won the war against Israel.' In the latest video aired on Al-Manar TV the terror group says it “defeated the invincible army” and “July-August 2006: Legend shattered.” The new video clips show thousands of supporters waving Hizbullah and Lebanon flags.

UPDATE II -- Aug. 12: From Jerusalem Post: Nasrallah: We will abide by cease-fire (via Euphoric Reality)

Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, which continues to broadcast despite repeated IAF attack on its studios and transmitters, declared "victory" over the weekend, saying that the IDF had failed to score military achievements.

The broadcasts are being aired under the banner of: "We won!"; "We have defeated the invincible army"; and "July-August 2006 - the shattering of the myth [of the mighty Israeli army]." The station has also been airing video clips showing thousands of Lebanese hoisting Lebanese flags and chanting slogans in support of Hizbullah.

Like several other Arab television stations, Al-Manar has been repeatedly reminding viewers that this was the second "defeat" for Israel, coming after the IDF's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon.

Arab commentators and journalists were almost unanimous in saying that Hizbullah had won the war.

UDPATE III -- Aug. 13: From AFP: Lebanon war a 'total defeat' for Israel: Iran.

The war in Lebanon has resulted in "total defeat" for Israel, Iran said.

"After one month of war, the Zionist regime has faced a total defeat and the Lebanese resistance and Hezbollah have achieved total victory," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Sunday.

"In addition to its human, military and economic losses the Zionist regime has also become completely isolated on the international level," he added. "The myth of the invincibility of the Zionist regime was destroyed and hatred against it has reached an apex."

UDPATE IV -- Aug. 14: From FoxNews: Hezbollah Leader Declares Victory for His Guerrillas.

The Middle East's fragile cease-fire, not yet a day old, was rattled Monday when Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah took to the airwaves to declare that his guerrillas had won a "strategic, historic victory" against Israel.

"We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated (before)," the bearded, black-turbaned radical cleric said.

Posted by Forkum at August 8, 2006 05:10 PM