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> > Robert Fisk - For Lebanon, Read Vietnam > > > > The Palestinians used to promise that Lebanon > > would be Israel's Vietnam. The Israelis laughed at > > this, invaded Lebanon in 1982 (for the second time > > in four years), drove the PLO from Beirut and - by > > the sheer ferocity of their assault - created > > Hizbollah. And Hizbollah has now fulfilled the > > Palestinian prediction. Not only has Israel lost the > > Lebanon war - it has been comprehensively > > defeated by one of the world's most professional > > guerrilla armies - but America's ally in the Middle > > East does not frighten the Lebanese any more. > > > > Last week, it was an Israeli colonel and two of his > > soldiers who were killed in occupied southern > > Lebanon; this week it is a general and three of his > > soldiers, all ambushed inside an area which the > > Israelis still, incredibly, call their "security zone". > > And what was the Israeli response? The same > > rhetoric from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin > > Netanyahu, about "striking at terrorism" that the > > Lebanese have been hearing for more than 20 > > years. > > > > The vacuity of Israel's much trumpeted "revenge" > > was all too evident in the name it chose for its latest > > retaliation into Lebanon: "Operation Land, Sea and > > Air." The pitiful truth is that not a single Israeli > > soldier dare any longer stray outside the occupation > > zone; not one Israeli soldier will advance on foot or > > even with tanks to attack Hizbollah guerrillas. So > > much for the "land" element of the operation. There > > will be no armoured land assault. The usual artillery > > bombardments will be fired into Lebanon and in the > > past 48 hours, we've witnessed the usual air attacks > > - around 23 raids, bringing the total number of air > > strikes on Lebanon in the past 12 months to close > > on 1,400. And the little Hetz-class gunboat banging > > away at the old Palestinian camp at Nahme south of > > Beirut - at a target that has not the slightest > > connection with Hizbollah - is not going to worry > > the men who are destroying the Israeli army in > > southern Lebanon. > > > > Needless to say, the Americans - for the 23rd time > > in 20 years, by my count - have called on both > > sides "to exercise restraint". And, as usual, Israel's > > friends have been telling the story from Israel's point > > of view. CNN told its viewers of the Israeli civilians > > close to the Lebanese border who had to spend the > > night in bomb shelters for fear of a Hizbollah attack > > that never came. There was, of course, no report of > > the Lebanese civilians who had to spend the night > > under real Israeli attack. > > > > In reality, Hizbollah has assiduously copied Israel's > > old tactics - and turned them against the Israeli > > army. When Israel began using analogue-system > > detonation for bombs hidden in rocks to ambush > > Hizbollah, the guerrillas duplicated the Israeli > > technology and added booby traps of their own. > > When the Israelis dressed their great Merkava > > tanks in armour to prevent rocket attacks, Hizbollah > > learned to fire missiles between the plating. When > > the Israelis boasted of their intelligence prowess in > > southern Lebanon, Hizbollah suborned or > > blackmailed Israel's Lebanese collaborators and > > forced them to betray the Israelis. > > > > The two most recent ambushes - like the > > destruction of an Israeli commando unit at > > Aansariyeh last year (itself on an ambush mission) - > > were all set up by Hizbollah with the help of men > > inside Israel's occupation zone, some of them > > members of Israel's own proxy South Lebanon > > Army gunmen. This was the very ramshackle militia > > to which General Erez Gerstein, Israel's latest victim > > in southern Lebanon, was the liaison officer - so no > > wonder Hizbollah knew his route and the time of his > > arrival. Some of the bombs which killed him were > > even hanging from the branches of trees, just like > > the explosives which killed the Israelis at > > Aansariyeh. > > > > But Hizbollah has copied another, far more > > devastating tactic of the Israelis. In the past, it was > > Israeli policy to make the Lebanese civilian > > population pay for the presence of guerrillas in > > southern Lebanon. The idea was simple: so greatly > > would the civilians suffer that they would force the > > Lebanese government to disarm the guerrillas - and > > save Israel the hard fighting involved in crushing the > > guerrillas themselves. But now it is Hizbollah that is > > threatening to fire salvoes of rockets into Israel if > > the Israelis do not cease their attacks. And it is the > > Israelis who are pleading with their government - to > > withdraw Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. > > > > And here lies the beauty of the whole morass for > > the Lebanese and for Hizbollah's Syrian and Iranian > > allies. Syria wants the return of the occupied Golan > > Heights; and the continuation of Hizbollah's war > > against the occupation of southern Lebanon is the > > one bloody pressure that Damascus can apply on > > Israel to leave Golan. Israel, say the Lebanese, can > > withdraw from southern Lebanon under UN > > Security Council resolution 425 of 1978 which it > > has flouted for 21 years. When Mr Netanyahu lists > > his own conditions for a retreat - which include > > absorbing his old SLA collaborators into the > > Lebanese security forces - he is told to get lost. > > Obey the > > > > UN resolution, he is told, which calls for "total and > > unconditional withdrawal". But the Lebanese are in > > no hurry to see the Israelis go, because the Syrians > > are prepared to watch Hizbollah keep killing the > > Israelis for staying. > > > > Desperately, Israel is trying to find a way of > > minimising its military presence in southern > > Lebanon. Gun batteries which should contain a > > minimum of 10 Israeli soldiers often contain only > > four or five. So fearful are they of roadside bombs > > and missiles that can even penetrate Merkava tanks > > that Israeli soldiers now walk home on leave to the > > Israeli frontier at night, up to 12 miles of rough > > hiking across the open countryside of southern > > Lebanon. The Israelis are planning the possible > > abandonment of the finger of mountain territory they > > control up to the town of Jezzine above Sidon; a > > withdrawal here would reduce casualties on the > > single road connecting Marjayoun with Jezzine on > > which more than 30 Israelis have been killed. But > > this would also allow Hizbollah to concentrate their > > attacks onto a smaller area of southern Lebanon. > > > > Of course, the Vietnam parallels can be taken too > > far. The war in southern Lebanon is not on the > > awesome scale of the conflict in South-east Asia. > > Deaths on both sides are running at a maximum of > > only a dozen a week. Israelis are not deserting en > > masse in order to avoid soldiering in southern > > Lebanon. And Hizbollah is not going to pour over > > the border into Israel in the event of an Israeli > > retreat. > > > > The similarities are closer to Shimon Peres's > > torment three years ago. Anxious to prove he was > > "tough on terrorism" before an Israeli election, he > > launched a bombardment against Hizbollah in which > > Israeli artillerymen massacred 106 refugees in a UN > > camp in a bloodbath at Qana and which brought > > down more rockets in retaliation on northern Israel > > than the total in the last 40 years. > > > > Mr Netanyahu now also faces an election in 10 > > weeks and also wants to prove that he is "tough on > > terrorism". Already he is speaking of revenge for > > "the criminal attacks on our towns and villages" - a > > meretricious statement (unchallenged, of course, by > > CNN) that totally avoids the truth: that the Israeli > > general and his comrades were killed not in Israel > > but in Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon. > > > > But the Israeli public is not so easily fooled. The > > growing movement of Israeli mothers demanding an > > end to this pointless, hopeless occupation is larger > > now than it was when Peres was prime minister. > > Will Mr Netanyahu listen to these voices? Or will > > he stick to the old, brutal policies pursued with such > > ferocity almost two decades ago by his current > > foreign minister, Ariel Sharon. An eye for an eye, a > > tooth for a tooth, Israeli leaders use to threaten. > > Now, however, that is Hizbollah's motto. > > ********************************************************************** --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl