'We are just hit-and-run guerrillas'

[bemildred]

Interesting interview.

---

ATol: But still, you are an organization. Israel is a state. There is surely no match?

Bilal: But the question is, who has better control over the battlefield? I accept Hezbollah is not a conventional army. We are just hit-and-run guerrillas. Israel is trying to get into Lebanon with its 30,000 men equipped with the best war equipment. Has it achieved anything? No. Its achievement is zero because it has failed to inflict any serious losses on Hezbollah. I swear to you, Israel has only one edge on us, and that is its air force.

Were the air force removed from over our heads, we would go deep inside Israel and liberate Palestine. The whole Israeli activity is a brutal bombardment of civilians and on the infrastructure. But when they finish with their spray of guns and expect a free walkway into south Lebanon and go for a military push, we will catch them in the middle and force them to retreat. In about a month of war they have not even established exactly where we are based and how and from where we confront them.

---

ATol: Hamas and Islamic Jihad also believe in Salafi Islam, like al-Qaeda. Yet Hezbollah is close with them.

Bilal: We have one thing in common, and that is Islam. And because of that we support them. And another aspect is the liberation of Palestine, which is central to all Muslims. We do not care whether they are Salafis or not. We are committed to the Palestinian cause, and for that we can go to any lengths.

You want to know what this war is all about? We understood that after the abduction of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, Israel was ready to raze Gaza. And then we came into the picture and diverted all their attention to us . This forced Israel to disengage from taking on the weak Palestinians and engage our forces.

Asia Times

[Robbien]

1. But they haven't disengaged from Gaza

Gaza is being bombed and raided at the same time bombs keep going off over Lebanon.

The reports are that only 29 Hezbollah soldiers have been killed so far. Since there are tens of thousands of people in the Hezbollah military I would say this campaign has been a total bust.

[sgxnk]

2. considering

that hezbollah does not issue dog tags, id cards, and does not wear uniforms... NOBODY knows how many hezbollah 'soldiers' have been killed

[Robbien]

4. The UK Independent feels they do

Toll of a war that shames the world
It is 28 days since Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, prompting a ground and air assault on Lebanon by the Israeli army. In that time, 932 people have been killed in Lebanon, with 75 missing, presumed dead.
Published: 08 August 2006

29 Lebanese Army soldiers have been killed. 3,293 Lebanese have been wounded. 45 per cent of the casualties have been children. 913,000 Lebanese have been displaced (300,000 of whom are children). 94 Israelis have been killed and 1,867 wounded.

10,000 Israeli soldiers are currently fighting Hizbollah in southern Lebanon. 3,000 rockets have been fired at Israel by Hizbollah. The average number of rockets fired daily by Hizbollah in the first week of the conflict was 90. Over the past five days, it has been 169.

Israel has flown 8,700 bombing sorties, destroying 146 bridges and 72 roads. Damage caused to Lebanon's infrastructure is estimated at $2bn. Up to 30,000 tons of oil have spilled into the Mediterranean since an Israeli air strike on Jieh power station.

The international community (apart from Britain and the US) has called for an immediate ceasefire. As yet, the number of UN resolutions: 0

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1217588.ece

[sgxnk]

5. robbien , you misread it. try again .. hezbollah =/= lebanese army

the independant said that 29 LEBANESE ARMY SOLDIERS had been killed

*you* said (go back and read your post) that 29 HEZBOLLAH had been killed

the lebanese army =/= hezbollah

do you understand the distinction

you just proved my point in your last post

the idependant identified 29 LEBANESE army, then you posted about 29 HEZBOLLAH

and i called you on it.

they are two completely different entities.

and lebanese army kills ARE (generally) identifiable for the reasons i mentioned that hezbollah are NOT

hth

[bemildred]

3. Yeah. They do seem to have attracted attention away from Gaza though.

And resources.

I don't think anybody has a clue about how many dead Hezbullah there are, except maybe Hezbullah, and they won't be brandishing around the truth about such important tactical information.

I think it's clear it's a bust so far.

[sgxnk]

6. you are correct

the independent reported 29 LEBANESE army killed

the OP then said that 29 HEZBOLLAH had been killed

either that's a typo, or he doesn't understand the distinction

[bemildred]

7. That is post #1 that mentions that.

The OP says nothing. However, as I explained, I pay little or no attention to such numbers, whatever the source, and the same applies to figures for the IDF. In the case of IDF casualties, I treat the reported figures as a sort of lower bound. In the case of Hezbullah, I suppose one could take a similar position, i.e. that what they report is a lower bound; although one could conceive of situations where one might want to inflate them.

[sgxnk]

8. correct. it was "robbien" in the second post

that was the post, not the OP. correct

he claimed that the article said 29 hezbollah had been killed

i called him on it

he clearly either misread, misstated, or does not understand the distinction between hezbollah and lebanese army

i would appreciate some intellectual honesty from him'her in admitting same...

but this is the internet so i won't hold my breath

[bemildred]

9. If I may ask, why are you annoying me about it? nt

[megatherium]

10. It probably is a bust so far, and worse for Israel, a huge

political disaster. But for this reason, the war will get more intense, because the Israelis will not stop until it is clear that they have badly hurt Hezbollah. Because Hezbollah can run and hide, it will be difficult for Israel to accomplish this without inflicting much greater destruction on Lebanon. Also, Hezbollah has had some success manipulating the press to make the toll on civilians seem worse than it actually is, a modest weapon it has that they have used to very good effect. Conversely, it is logical to assume that Hezbollah has or will cover up its true losses, to prevent the Israelis from claiming any success. Thus I much doubt that Hezbollah's losses are only 29 fighters. Multiply by at least 10.