Word: lebanons
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...invasion of Iraq, arguing the removal of Saddam Hussein would strike a blow in favor of humanitarian principles. Upon becoming France's head diplomat, Kouchner listed greater French interest in Iraq as one of his priorities, alongside a more active role in conflicts in Darfur, Kosovo and Lebanon. Finally, Kouchner's visit began on the fourth anniversary of the truck bombing of the United Nation's Baghdad headquarters that killed the U.N.'s special envoy and Kouchner's personal friend, Sergio Viera de Mello, and in the wake of a recent U.N. resolution to widen its mandate in Iraq...
...could be so divisive in Israel that no Prime Minister, especially one as embattled as Ehud Olmert, would risk it. Olmert won the March 2006 election in part by vowing to remove large numbers of settlements. But public opinion shifted against him after last summer's bungled war in Lebanon, and now he is too unpopular to try uprooting thousands of angry Jewish settlers, even though Israel's withdrawal is regarded as vital to any lasting accord with the Palestinians...
...Besides diagrams of the latest in Iranian and Russian anti-tank rocketry, and an ultra-violent Hizballah special forces video game, the most impressive display is a plaque listing every single Israeli warplane that bombed Lebanon during the war along with their squadron ID and home bases. Not only did Hizballah survive the bombardment, but its observers still had the presence of mind to keep score. Not bad for 3,000 regular fighters up against a regional superpower...
...Plus, the cease-fire that took effect one year ago yesterday left Hizballah vulnerable. There are now some 13,000 United Nations soldiers enforcing the peace in southern Lebanon, making it difficult for the group to rearm on its favorite turf. Moreover, a U.N. investigation into a series of political assassinations in Lebanon is closing in on Hizballah's patron-state, Syria, and there's talk of deploying U.N. troops along the border with Syria to prevent arms smuggling to Hizballah. To top it off, Israeli hawks say it's just a matter of time before their army returns...
...only thing more dangerous than a victorious Hizballah is a weakened Hizballah. If the U.N. soldiers in Lebanon ever started to seriously cramp Hizballah's style, the peacekeeping force would be toast. Lebanese history is littered with examples of foreign armies meeting their fate in this fractious hill country. Hizballah itself was born from the carnage of the disastrous 1982 Israeli invasion. A massive new invasion would only bring a pyrrhic victory at best. If Israel leveled half of Lebanon, some new danger would emerge from the rubble. "If you, the Zionists, are considering attacking Lebanon, I am reserving...