Hezbollah Strengthens Its Grip in Lebanon

Winning Israel's release of a notorious killer gives the militant group a key success

August 4, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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Freed Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar (C) hugs his nephews at the family home while celebrating his release from an Israeli jail in his mountain village of Aabay, outside of Beirut, Lebanon.

Freed Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar (C) hugs his nephews while celebrating his release from an Israeli jail.

For its part, the Israeli public, which at first strongly supported the prisoner swap, seems to have entered into a 'buyer's remorse' phase, realizing its humanitarian desire to bring home the remains of two soldiers has handed its enemies a huge symbolic victory.And almost immediately the Israelis hinted that they planned to kill both Kuntar and Nasrallah as legitimate terrorist targets. Kuntar may have more reason to worry, at least in the near term, given that Nasrallah for years has dodged Israeli attempts to get him.

But Israel threats won't change the facts on the ground in Lebanon—notably, Hezbollah's political ascendancy. It now controls all cabinet decisions through a veto, controls the largest and strongest military force in the country, justified the 2006 war to its political base, and now seems to enjoy the protection of President Suleiman, who as army commander refused to use the military to stop the group's incursion into West Beirut in May.

Hezbollah has been busy rearming since the war, despite a United Nations resolution calling for the disarming of all militias. Now, Hezbollah is using its political strength to get government declaration that essentially permits Hezbollah to keep its weapons in order to continue its "resistance," a reference to its fight over a small area of disputed land captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

After a tense and sometimes violent spring, Lebanon seems to be accepting its fate and relaxing in time for the critical summer tourist season. "Hezbollah runs Lebanon, who cares!" shouts Fady, an expatriate Lebanese Christian as he drinks a Mojito in one of Beirut's trendier cafes. "If they try and stop us from drinking, I'll just go home to Brazil!"

"It's good for business and Lebanon," adds Fares Fares, who runs a Beirut taxi service. "Does Hezbollah run my country? Yes. Can I stop them? No. And the tourists are back. Yes. So I am happy."

Tags:: national security terrorism and the military,; Hezbollah,; Lebanon,; Israel,; terrorism

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Hi.
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Allan Svensson, Sweden
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Allan Svensson of 12:37PM October 18, 2008

Do the Lebanes population trust Hizbullah?
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah is seeking to promote his organization's legitimacy as a Lebanese patriotic movement. One way to do so is to carry out an operation that would appear to be strictly in the interest of Lebanon as a sovereign state. Hizbullah has become a stronger political force in Lebanon since the end of the war two summers ago, winning enough representation in the Cabinet to veto any major decisions. As to the Lebanes population, they do not trust Hizbullah as an organization loyal to Lebanon. More about Hizbullah and Lebanon at : http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2008/06/hezbollahs-dangerous-gamble.html

Robert Bernier 2:53AM September 19, 2008

Extract from: “The Truth and the Light Regarding the Christian and Islam Faiths”, by Ivan Erickson, author of the spiritual novel, “Song of the Storm Winds”, available via direct links to amazon.com on my website, http://www.ivan-erickson.com - Other discourses are also available for viewing and comments on my site.
I have in the past sent email attachments on this complete discourse, requesting a reply, to Ann Holmes Redding, Pamela K. Taylor, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, and to Aman Amir Abdul-Matin, and have not as yet received a reply regarding my premises, as of August 15, 2008. I can only conclude that these beloved people have found the words of the One True God to be irrefutable!
The following is the second of six total premises from the above discourse, “The Truth and the Light Regarding the Christian and Islam Faiths”, of which the rational person will find irrefutable. Please know that I love all people of all faiths and ethnicities of whom God loves, and this is the reason why I continuously toil to bring the Truth and the Light to all those who are seeking:
“The second premise to address is the Islam belief that Jesus Christ was only a prophet – that He was not deity or the only Son of God. In 1 John, 2:18-23 we read: “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the holy one, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.”i In 1 John 4, 1-3 we read: “Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.”ii
Also, Jesus Christ professed many times in the Gospel that He is the Messiah, the only Son of God the Father. If the Islam faithful sincerely believes that Jesus was a prophet, how can they at the same time not believe that He was God’s Son? – For a prophet is one who speaks the Truth for God, you see”. May the One True God Who Lives bless each of you, always.

Ivan Erickson of WA 3:05AM August 27, 2008

Hezbollah Strengthens Its Grip in Lebanon

Winning Israel's release of a notorious killer gives the militant group a key success

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Hezbollah Strengthens Its Grip in Lebanon

Winning Israel's release of a notorious killer gives the militant group a key success

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