Hezbollah Comes Close to Admitting Kidnapping Was a Mistake

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah come close but stopped just short of admitting that Kidnapping two Israeli soldiers was a mistake. Hassan did say that had he thought the capture would lead to such a war he would not have done it. He also said he does not see an up start in new hostilities soon. Analysts are saying that the remarks of Hassan are to defuse anger in Lebanon over the destruction of the war. It has also been said that Hassan may now be trying to move from a military organization to a political one. The Israelis have acknowledge that the Israeli prisoner issue is headed for negotiations.



My first thought to this was that it sounded pretty encouraging. Perhaps war is not any longer sought after by Hezbollah. If that is the case then any further kidnaping or capture of Israeli citizens will not any longer be advantages. But in the past there have been very large numbers of Lebanese traded for very few numbers of Israelis, so time will tell if that will still be happening. I still don't see Hezbollah dis arming. Even if that is what the leader of Hezbollah decides I doubt the members will go along with it. But just admitting that the capture would not have been done if they had known this would happen is defiantly a step in the right direction.

Related News Links:
www.forbes.com
www.ynetnews.com
www.gulf-daily-news.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
politics.abovetopsecret.com...
Op/Ed: A Staged War And Precursor To Pre-emptive Strike On Iran

A step in the right direction? What do you mean by that? His remarks look like nothing more than political posturing.

Well lets see, there are no rockets being fired into Israel by Hezbollah at current and noone is being kidnapped. I would say that is a step in the right direction, political posturing or not.

I would think Hezbollah's current military inactivity is due more to fear of IDF reprisals than a desire to start stepping in another direction. The comments reflect a concern of Hezbollah's rejection by the Lebanese people (to one extent or another) for instigating the recent hostilities, ergo they are political posturing.

Hmmmmmm this is strange even thing seem to going to smoothly and right around mid-term elections, convenient isn't it.

Ahhhh! see! this right here proves Israel and the USA were right in pursuing these terrorist militarily. you bloody their noses a bit and they wont want to kidnap people or fire rockets into your country anymore.


It is truly sad that the only motivation for terrorists to stop their activities is to see many of their countrymen suffering.

Originally posted by Astronomer70
A step in the right direction? What do you mean by that? His remarks look like nothing more than political posturing.

Yes the remarks are setting for political posturing, but at least he is not indicating that they want to start another war. To me that seems to be the right direction. Specily as a political party should not be armed, but that it seems is not going to happen in this case.

Hezbollah has been trying to mutate into a political party for ten years, this is not a result of the Israeli attack.

If anything, they've slowed down the process.

Bad timing too, considering Syrian troops had just left the country.

While I agree Hezbollah does now face more pressure to abandon it's military role, it seems like they were attempting to do that beforehand. Meanwhile, as a political entity, they've gained ground in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Israel has totally alienated moderates in Lebanon:

(MSNBC:)
Annan and Israeli officials said they hoped that truce would lead to a full peace accord between Israel and Lebanon.

However, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in Beirut that Lebanon “will be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel.”

And meanwhile Israel's captured soldiers aren't going anywhere unless the Israelis make some kind of deal with Hezbollah:

And a Hezbollah minister in the Lebanese Cabinet said that the guerrilla group will not unconditionally release two Israeli soldiers whose capture set off the conflict, saying they would only be freed in a prisoner exchange.

“There will be no unconditional release. This is not possible,” Minister of Energy and Hydraulic Resources Mohammed Fneish said in Beirut. “There should be an exchange through indirect negotiations. This is the principle to which Hezbollah and the resistance are adhering.”

[edit on 8/30/06 by xmotex]

Originally posted by xmotex

While I agree Hezbollah does now face more pressure to abandon it's military role, it seems like they were attempting to do that beforehand. Meanwhile, as a political entity, they've gained ground in Lebanon.

I would agree that Hezbollah has gained political ground in Lebanon; however, I cannot agree that Hezbollah was attempting to abandon its military role. The sheer number of rocket attacks against Israel during the war, the extrordinary dispersal of Hezbollah troops, supplies and facilities within the general Lebanese population, the capture? of two Israeli soldiers to precipitate the war and the continual attempts to rearm since the hostilities ended all argue strongly otherwise.

Meanwhile, Israel has totally alienated moderates in Lebanon:

I don't know about totally, but they sure didn't do anything to endear themselves to the Lebanese.

Originally posted by Astronomer70

I would agree that Hezbollah has gained political ground in Lebanon; however, I cannot agree that Hezbollah was attempting to abandon its military role. The sheer number of rocket attacks against Israel during the war, the extrordinary dispersal of Hezbollah troops, supplies and facilities within the general Lebanese population, the capture? of two Israeli soldiers to precipitate the war and the continual attempts to rearm since the hostilities ended all argue strongly otherwise.

Astronomer,
I do think that this will bring some change in the political standing of Hezbollah. They will keep some political power in Lebonan, but how much might be hard to say. And there is some intrist in the disarment. For a little bit more information on what was hapening at the end of the conflict look hear.