dinsdag 5 augustus 2008

Hezbollah klaar voor nieuwe confrontatie met Israël

 
Zonder dat Israël nog enig gebied in Libanon bezet, moet Hezbollah zijn legitimiteit als beschermer tegen 'Israëlische agressie' steeds weer bevestigen door dergelijke dreigementen te uiten. De Libanon oorlog was er uiteraard nooit gekomen had Hezbollah geen Israëlische soldaten (op Israëlisch grondgebied) gedood en ontvoerd en raketten op Israëlische doelen afgevuurd, maar wordt nu steeds aangehaald om te 'bewijzen' hoe hard Libanon Hezbollah nodig heeft om het tegen 'Israëlische agressie' te beschermen.
 
Op dezelfde manier zal Hezbollah mogelijk een nieuwe oorlog ontketenen wanneer dat Syrië of Iran uitkomt. Hezbollah's vetorecht in Libanon zorgt er daarbij voor dat Libanese belangen stelselmatig onderschikt worden gemaakt aan die van Syrië en Iran. Toch heeft de internationale gemeenschap niks dan lof voor het Doha Akkoord, waarin Hezbollah dat vetorecht in de wacht sleepte, zoals de internationale gemeenschap ook nog steeds meent dat de UNIFIL vredesmacht goed functioneert en resolutie 1701 nageleefd wordt. Het is soms prettiger in een fantasiewereld te leven dan in een echte.
 
RP
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Exclusive: Hizbollah 'stronger than before' and ready to strike Israel
 
Hizbollah has significantly built up its military arsenal on the Israeli border and is ready to respond with force to any provocation, its senior commander has told the Telegraph.
 
By David Blair in Tyre
The Daily Telegraph (UK)
 
The political and military group's senior commander in southern Lebanon said in a rare interview that Hizbollah was far stronger now than when it fought the Israeli army in a conflict in 2006.

Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, who leads Hizbollah's forces on Lebanon's border with Israel - the crucial battlefront of any future war, was speaking in the port city of Tyre. "The resistance is now stronger than before and this keeps the option of war awake. If we were weak, Israel would not hesitate to start another war," he said. "We are stronger than before and when Hizbollah is strong, our strength stops Israel from starting a new war... We don't seek war, but we must be ready."

Hizbollah, whose missiles killed 43 Israeli civilians during the war of 2006, is considered a terrorist organisation by the US and Britain.

Other sources say Hizbollah has trebled its arsenal in the last two years - from 10,000 missiles to about 30,000. These new weapons have longer ranges and heavier warheads. They include the Zelzal missile, which could strike as far south as Tel Aviv, and the C802 anti-shipping missile, capable of sinking Israeli warships.

Any American strike on Iran, for example, could be the trigger for a Hizbollah attack on Israel.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah's overall leader, started the 2006 conflict with the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers whose corpses were recently returned to Israel.
Mr Kaouk did not deny that Hizbollah was reliant on Iran for military hardware and support. "We are proud of our friendship with Iran and with Syria and every country which helps us to gain our rights," he said. His remarks will be examined closely in Washington as Iran presses ahead with its nuclear programme.
Iran is currently weighing its response to the West's latest offer of incentives to suspend the enrichment of uranium but has signalled that for now it is not about to change its stance.

Asked where Hizbollah's weapons came from, Mr Kaouk said: "All parties in Lebanon are getting weapons. No one asks from where."

Iran is Hizbollah's supplier and paymaster. Tehran's regime and Hizbollah are fellow Shias and their alliance is a crucial power factor in the Middle East. Iran delivers the missiles to southern Lebanon through Syria. Meanwhile, Hizbollah fighters travel to Iran for military training.

If the US attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, Hizbollah could retaliate by firing its missiles into Israel. Hence Iran possesses a vital interest in building this arsenal. Asked how Hizbollah would respond to an attack on Iran, Mr Kaouk replied: "I doubt that Israel will attack Iran because they know the consequences."

Mr Kaouk said the 2006 war, which claimed 1,100 Lebanese lives, had been a success. "Israel didn't achieve any of its goals. The known goal of Israel is 'death to Hizbollah'. Hizbollah is still here."

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