On 7/27/06, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yoshie Furuhashi quoted:
> <blockquote>Politically they are currently allied to General Michel
> Aoun, the non-sectarian yet Christian heavyweight of Lebanese politics
> who has stood by his Shi'ite allies during their latest confrontation
> with Israel. Aoun's alliance has prevented the Christian street from
> turning against Hezbollah. The Israelis wanted everybody in Lebanon,
> the Christians included, to suffer great loss in human life and
> property so that they would come out and blame Nasrallah for their
> misery.
>
> Because of Aoun that has not happened. Rather, the Christians are
> offering shelter to the Shi'ites whose homes have been destroyed, and
> Christian charity organizations, as well as churches and monasteries,
> are doing their share of humanitarian work to decrease the suffering
> of the Shi'ites. (Sami Moubayed, "Hezbollah Banks on Home-ground
> Advantage," 26 July 2006,
> <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG26Ak01.html>)
I don't believe this one. I think that it puts too much weight on Aoun
and his party. Lebanese of all stripes just don't like having their
country attacked by Israel. Aoun is one of them. And the Israeli
elite decided to attack all of Lebanon (or at least the southern half)
rather than restricting the attack to Hizbullah alone.
Tel Aviv even radicalized Kofi Annan, that's for sure! Very encouraging!
But it's crucial for Hizbullah to have a powerful Christian ally.
Otherwise, a reprise of the Lebanese Civil War, which Tel Aviv and
Washington are hoping for, cannot be ruled out.
--
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>
<http://mrzine.org>
<http://monthlyreview.org/>
