Word: syria
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Heisbourg, a special adviser to the French Foreign Ministry, stresses, "I have absolutely no problem with the Bush Administration stepping up and saying, 'Hizballah is a pawn of Syria and Iran. It's a threat to Israel. And, yes, this isn't just about punishing Hizballah but also punishing Iran for the trouble it causes.' That would be the kind of strategically coherent, longer-term vision we've seen in the past. But the Bush Administration isn't saying that. It is calling it all part of the war on global terrorism, which is nonsense. And that, in turn...
...peace in the Middle East is a Rubik's Cube whose every piece has to align properly to arrive at a solution, the puzzle posed by Hizballah seems to have more than six colors for six sides. The Shi'ite militia has skillful fighters, powerful patrons in Iran and Syria and roots so deep in Lebanon that it has become a state within a state. Israel couldn't beat it during 18 years of occupying Lebanon and last week had to withdraw its troops from the border village of Bint Jbeil, a Hizballah stronghold, after sustaining heavy losses. Yet unless...
...outside force can pacify Hizballah, what's the chance it will choose to restrain itself? Fighting Israel is the core of its politics, key not only to its self-definition but also to the arms, money and backing it gets from Syria and Iran and the support it gets inside Lebanon and elsewhere in the Arab world. "There's not enough money in the world for them to disarm, because it means giving up their major philosophy," says Miller. As part of efforts to normalize Lebanon earlier this year, Hizballah was engaging in a national dialogue with other parties...
Indirect pressure is another tack to try, but in this case, neither Iran, which supplies Hizballah's weapons, nor Syria, which transships them into Lebanon, is very susceptible to urging. Iran already faces the possibility of sanctions from the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program and may well be grateful to Hizballah for diverting the attention of world powers through this major conflagration. Syria is close to being Washington's least favorite country: the U.S. has withdrawn its ambassador and permitted only low-level contacts since a U.N. report last year implicated top Syrian officials in the 2005 assassination...
...possibly Israel's agreement to turn over maps of the land mines it left during the occupation. Rice is also encouraging Lebanon and Israel to work out a deal on the so-called Shebaa Farms problem. This tiny patch of territory is occupied by Israel. Historically it belonged to Syria, but Lebanon and Syria now assert that it is Lebanese--providing a pretext for further resistance to the "occupier." If Shebaa is resolved, possibly by Israel delivering it into the hands of the multinational force, Hizballah will be able to claim a proud if insubstantial victory but will have...