Hezbollah is claiming victory over its nemesis in the wake of the recently announced Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire. But wait–Bush says Israel won, and I’m sure we’ll hear the spin from Israel soon enough. Who’s right in claiming victory, who’s wrong?
They’re all wrong.
Israel is wrong because it has suffered a huge loss of face in the Arab world for initiating a war to annihilate Hezbollah and clearly failing to do so while at the same time incurring the condemnation of the rest of the world.
The US is wrong because it shares in Israel’s embarrassment vicariously. Its refusal to call for a cease-fire for many days against the wishes of the rest of the world further eroded US credibility and respect, and gained it nothing in its “war on terror” (which is a war against Al-Qaeda, not Hezbollah).
Hezbollah is wrong because it will face extreme pressure to disarm from all quarters as an international presence moves into Lebanon. It also must contend with the massive damage inflicted against Lebanese society and infrastructure, from which it draws strength.
It’s a bunch of losers and no winners in this nonsensical war, with the biggest losers of all being the many Israeli and Lebanese civilians who lost their lives and livelihoods for no good reason.
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