George Galloway: Hizbullah's victory has transformed the Middle East

[muriel_volestrangler]

As the smoke clears from the battlefield of the 34-day war in Lebanon, it would be a mistake to count the cost only in fallen masonry and fresh graves. All is changed, changed utterly, by the defeat that the whole of Israel is now debating, from the cabinet through the lively press to the embittered reservists at the falafel stall. Practically the only person in the world who claims Israel won the war is George Bush - and we all know his definition of the words "mission accomplished".

Reports that the Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, expressed regret this week at having underestimated Israel's reponse to the capture of two of its soldiers were misleading. In fact, Nasrallah thanked God that the attack came when the resistance movement was prepared, as he was convinced Israel would have otherwise invaded later in the year at a time of its choosing.

If the fierce thicket of the Iraqi resistance stopped the Bush war spreading to Syria then the extraordinary Hizbullah victory has surely made the world think again about an attack on Iran. But the main - and maybe the most welcome - shift in the 40-year-old paradigm of the Israeli-Arab conflict is the puncturing of the belief in a permanent and unchallengeable Israeli military superiority over its neighbours and the hubris this has induced in Israeli leaders - from the sleek Shimon Peres through the roughhouse of Binyamin Netanyahu to the stumbling Mr Magoo premiership of Ehud Olmert.

The myth of invincibility is a souffle that cannot rise twice. Over the past week I have picked my way through the rubble of Dahia in downtown Beirut, now resembling London's East End at the height of the blitz, and across the south of Lebanon in towns such as Bint Jbeil whose centres look as if they have been hit by an earthquake. Here the litter of banned weapons lies like a legal time bomb - evidence of war crimes alleged by the UN and Amnesty International that in a genuine system of international justice would put Israel in the dock at The Hague. This, together with the beating Israel has received in international public opinion, is the collateral damage suffered alongside military humiliation.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1861527,00.html

Not that I necessarily agree with him, but I know he's popular with a lot of DU, so I thought an article by him would be of interest.

[endarkenment]

1. popcorn anyone? nt.

[dipsydoodle]

3. ditto

Doubtless this inspire another load of bilge from the USA whoopee brigade.

[bemildred]

6. With salt, and butter.

:popcorn:

[orwell]

2. If Galloway thinks...

...that this "victory" will in any way deter the Cheney cabal he has sadly misjudged the insanity of King George and his cronies.

Galloway's hyperventilations aside, nobody has won anything. The paradigm has not changed. Many, especially those in power, still see violence as the ultimate political solution. Many are dead, even more injured, and the Lebanese infrastructure is badly damaged. What were thriving marketplaces are now somber graveyards.

The whole situation is tragic...

[endarkenment]

4. One of the features of a paradigm shift ...

Some are riding the wave, some are getting crushed by it, and others have simply missed it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Actually, in a bizarre way, he may be right.

The paradigm has changed - we have yet to see how the change will play out. Israel's peace with Egypt, which has lasted for 30 years, got its kick start when Egypt fought Israel to a draw. No longer being the defeated enemy, but a nation of equal standing, Egypt had the cover it needed to negotiate a true, and lasting, peace. As long as Israel kept defeating it on the battlefield, as in '48, '56, '67, Egypt found it necessary to stand in opposition to Israel, otherwise it would appear to the world it was being dictated to by a conquerer.

Of course, Hizbollah is not a nation-state, so this is far more complicated, but if this can be spun to Hizbollah being a part of the Lebanese government, and a proxy for Lebanon, then it is possible that a similar result could happen with Lebanon. That would depend, of course, upon Hizbollah being more Lebanese than Syrian or Iranian. That's a real big 'depend'.

[Dhalgren]

5. I hope that Galloway is right:

"There is still time to choose peace." Someone, somewhere, has to "choose peace"...they just have to...

[peacetalksforall]

8. I watched a program on link or fstv showing the devastation of the

buildings in Lebanon - I have yet to see photos of the bridges, runways, port, and road destruction.

Anyone who thinks Israel and the U.S. are pure or humanitarian needs to go back to bed and get up again.

What Israel and the U.S. did to Lebanon is an atrocity that tops many other atrocities.

And the reports of of use of phosphorus keep coming?

Cluster bombs?

Who won? Who lost? US citizens can't say because there are news blackouts in this country going on.

Until we know more, logic tells us that the end result probably doesn't meet the expectations that Israel and the U.S. had for the war that now seems to be called the '34 day war'. Regrettably, the title doesn't do justice to the inhumanity of the intentions of Israel and the U.S. Until I know more, it makes sense that the people of the ME who have watched Palestinians being treated like slaves and criminals would consider that Israel and the U.S. 'didn't win' - ANYTHING EXCEPT MORE DEATHS. RUINED FAMILIES, RUINED BODIES, RUINED HOMES, RUINED BUSINESSES, RUINED COUNTRY! JUST LIKE IN IRAQ and soon IRAN and SYRIA.

I, as a U.S. citizen, am outraged and filled with horror.

Yes, I feel bad about the deaths in Israel. All the deaths were unnecessary.

[flordehinojos]

9. what is it about truth that people like to spit on it,crown it with thorns

crucify it, give it hemlock. galloway is the newest gadfly re: the middle east and so many already discount him, deny him, rename him madman.