Israel and Hezbollah Both Declare Victory
James Joyner

An AP report on Israel begining its troop pullout from Lebanon includes this passage several paragraphs in:

On Monday, both Israel and its main backer, the United States, portrayed Hezbollah as the loser — and by extension, its main backers, Iran and Syria. “There’s going to be a new power in the south of Lebanon,” Bush said.

But Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, claimed a “strategic, historic victory.” Much of the Arab and Muslim worlds would agree. Hezbollah’s ability to withstand the vastly superior Israeli military — and hit back with deadly ambushes and cross-border rocket volleys — has given it heroic stature. In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad said the region has changed “because of the achievements” of Hezbollah, and U.S.-supported political changes were “an illusion.”

[Read the whole thing]

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Nasrallah on disarmament: Not really feeling it right now
Allahpundit

They’ll disarm — eventually. But they can’t right now, or else who’ll defend Lebanon the next time Israel strikes? The Lebanese army? It’s too weak.

Ask him again in a year or two, though. Maybe it’ll be the right time then.

The same Lebanese army that’s too weak to defend Lebanon is planning to deploy to the south within the next 48 hours, with some anti-Syrian members of parliament stating they expect Hezbollah to hand over its heavy weaponry when they get there. Debka claims jihadi reinforcements are already being moved south to prepare for a possible confrontation.

Nasrallah’s addressed this subject before:

[Read the whole thing.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 15, 2006 at 09:31 AM | Permalink

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