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Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.
“Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it,” he said in an interview on Lebanese TV.
He added that neither side was “heading towards a second round” of fighting.
What a curious thing to say. Is he appologising to the people of Lebanon, or is he trying to make peace with Isreal? :-s
Yes I read this one today and thought it was a little bit strange. Given that the whole thing was carefully planned in advance, and Hezbollah ‘fighters’ had stocked themselves up with literally thousands of missiles and prepared vast underground storage and shelter facilities, surely they knew that Israel would retaliate massively.
Maybe this is yet another round in the propaganda war which is being fought so successfully by Hezbollah in the (largely sympathetic) Western press.
I think it was aimed internally at the Lebanese people who suffered disproportionately during this invasion and externally aimed at Western media and governments to show Hizbollah in a thoughtful, compassionate and peaceful way.
And in some ways, it worked….Israel continues to make aggressive statements about a return to conflict and Hizbollah are now all sweetness and light. Not rocket science but clever none the less
I agree with Slayer. Anyway, the war was a massive over-reaction and the only way the prisoners will be released will be by a prisoner swap which is what Hizbollah wanted in the first place. The war was stupid and nobody gained anything from it, but it’s the Israeli way to shoot first and ask questions later. Just think of all the hassle that could have been saved if Olmert had just gone for a political solution instead of a military one.
Notwithstanding Israel’s over-response to the Hezbollah situation, he disregards the fact that Hezbollah started lobbing missiles into Israel and that probably had a bigger effect omn bringing about the war than the kidnap of the soldiers did.
Hezbollah might have seen sense and that might have an effect on Iran’s behaviour, but it will not have much effect on Al Qaeda, which is from the rival camp of fundamentalism.
The missiles didn’t start raining down on Israel until Israeli warplanes started bombing Beirut and other parts of Lebanon along with the imposition of the blockade. Anyway, Israel thinks nothing of going into the West Bank or Gaza and abducting Palestinians (they have around 10,000 detainees). So why should Israelis spit the dummy out when 3 soldiers are taken captive? Typical hypocrisy and self-righteousness from Israel.
@bassingbourne55 wrote:
Notwithstanding Israel’s over-response to the Hezbollah situation, he disregards the fact that Hezbollah started lobbing missiles into Israel and that probably had a bigger effect omn bringing about the war than the kidnap of the soldiers did.
Hezbollah might have seen sense and that might have an effect on Iran’s behaviour, but it will not have much effect on Al Qaeda, which is from the rival camp of fundamentalism.
I don’t believe a direct analogy, other than terrorism, between Hizbollah (or Hamas) and Al Qaeda is really possible- Hizbollah are a regional Middle Eastern group directly intwined in the state of Lebanon, as Hamas are with Palestine. Al Qaeda are a worldwide anarchic organisation whose extremist views it wishes to enforce on all peoples, whether Muslim, Christian or Jew…and death to those who disagree!
In a wider sense, the Hizbollah interview was suprising in it’s openness to admit weakness and a failure to understand the implications of it’s actions. Suprising when you consider Iran and Syria are the two main sponsors of Hizbollah, therefore the words of Hizbollah should be seen as in accord with Iran and Syria (although of course internally the 2 governments of Iran and Syria could never be seen to hold these views) current external position.
There is much political manoeuvering which happens behind closed dooors which we plebs never see. Maybe this statement is part of a wider scheme by Iran to maintain openness and honesty with the West when dealing with its nuclear programme!
Either way, I welcome the Hizbollah interview as a step in the right direction and hope Israel will follow suit.
@slayer wrote:
Maybe this statement is part of a wider scheme by Iran to maintain openness and honesty with the West when dealing with its nuclear programme!
I think you have somethin there Slayer.
@slayer wrote:
Either way, I welcome the Hizbollah interview as a step in the right direction and hope Israel will follow suit.
wot Slayer sed 8)
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