Some thoughts on the recent turns that the war in the Middle East has taken
With the killing of Nasrallah announced earlier today, and all the events of the last year in that region of the world, here are some musings.
Of course, Israelis detested Nasrallah. But I wonder how many Arabs felt the same way and are happy that Israel managed to take him out. He was an agent of Iran, which after all isn’t part of the Arab world, and had been responsible for the death of many Arabs, too. And although the vast majority of the Arabs of Gaza and the West Bank (or Judah and Sumeria) are highly invested in the perpetual war to destroy Israel, I wonder how many others in the region would just like the Palestinians and Iranians to cease and desist. For example, the Lebanese might recall the days when their country was a very pleasant place in which to live, and might want some of that back again. The Palestinians have stirred up trouble and bloodshed wherever they’ve gone. And the same for the Iranian mullahtocracy.
But even if it’s correct that many Arabs would like the wars to stop and could live with the existence of the state of Israel, will it matter? Because the billion dollar question is: what will Iran do?
One of the brilliant things Netanyahu has done is to make the message very clear: we can find you and kill you wherever you are. And although the higher-ups speak of the glory of martyrdom, I doubt they’re extremely eager for it themselves. It’s hard to know how well such deterrence would work for people who believe that martyrdom is the best way to paradise, but these people also seem to crave and enjoy having power on earth.
Speaking of Iran, one of the men taken out in that Beirut strike was Abbas Nilforoushan, Iran’s big man in Lebanon:
Nilforoushan, Hezbollah’s key Iranian advisor, was behind the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran. He appears to be second-in-command when it comes to military operations. In a 2020 article, the Israeli news website YNET identified him as the Islamic “Guard’s deputy commander for operations.”
Israel’s latest operations against Hezbollah have had an extraordinary boldness and must strike at least some fear into the hearts of Iran’s proxies and the Iranians themselves. I don’t think they saw anything like this coming and to me it seems to represent a sea change. First the utter shock and science-fiction quality of the exploding pagers, then the walkie-talkies, and then a whole series of targeted killings on the mid-level leaders. Then the higher-ups were obliterated while in a bunker-like headquarters where they were conferring, and my strong suspicious is that it was highly fortified. And yet they’re gone, killed in a place where they probably felt the safest, assembling in person because their other communications were either dismantled or seemed too dangerous to use.
Apparently, Khamenei has now been moved to a “secure” location. But is any location secure?
And to top it all off, the big blast occurred when Netanyahu was addressing the General Assembly of the UN and giving that body a piece of his mind.
NOTE: Joe Biden has come through with a pretty decent statement on the killing of Nasrallah. Then again, it’s being reported that Biden is none too pleased at having been kept out of the information loop and that his ceasefire plans didn’t work out. Harris’ statement starts out fine and then pivots to the usual blah-blah about the need for diplomacy. I think diplomacy has been tried for a long long time in the region, and has utterly failed when dealing with terrorists.
I’m glad the grim beepers were the opening round in a massive attack and very successful destruction of Hezbola and not a one-off
Touring around YouTube there seems to-be a great deal of happiness in the Christian community. Meanwhile the MSM in its scummy way seems to be sad that the mass murderer and his gang have beeb eliminated. They don’t come out and say it but their demeanor gives it away.
I wonder if the Christians will try to reclaim Lebanon? Or if they even have the capability?
“Iranian embassy in Beirut warns attack on Hezbollah HQ ‘changes rules of the game’”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/iranian-embassy-in-beirut-warns-attack-on-hezbollah-hq-changes-rules-of-the-game/
It does but not in the way that the Iranian leadership thinks. The ‘change’ is on the Israeli side. Netanyahu has finally decided that Israel will no longer pull its punches. Israel is bringing the war to the jihadist leadership. The Oct 7th atrocity gave Netanyahu the moral support to do so. Hate always plants the seeds of its own destruction.
Yes the media are decidedly on the oher side
Yes they bombed the israeliembassy in buenos aires 30 years ago checks notes
For me, I wish I had invested in baklava futures in Syria and Lebanon — it seems there, they are passing out sweets to celebrate. Hezballah in those countries was like Oct. 7 but lasting years. Now, let’s get Sinwar and find the Hamas held hostages or their remains.
Yes, diplomacy has provided nothing more than respites for the Muslim Brotherhood’s various jihadi groups.
How do you conduct diplomacy with a bunch of religious fanatics? Until the fundamentalist Muslims give up their intolerance of infidels, they will keep on murdering people in the name of their religion. When are the leaders in the West going to accept that? This isn’t a tiff between two ethnic groups vying fora piece of land. It’s a jihad that has been going on, off and on, since the days of Mohammed.
When will the West understand that when the Iranians shout, “Death to America, death to Israel,” they mean it.
Obviously, Obama is blind to this and has convinced his acolytes in our government that a grand deal can be made. Why he believes this is unclear. It seems to me that his policy could be that of an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood trying to destroy us from within. A terrible conclusion, but there it is.
Paul In Boston
They no longer have the capability. They have been less than 50% of Lebanon’s population for years, due to differing fertility rates and emigration.
J.J.
The US is trying with “diplomacy” to enforce UN Resolution 1701, which keeps Hezbollah north of the Litani River. UN Resolution 1701 dates from 2006. The US is trying with “diplomacy” to enforce a diplomatic agreement that Hezbollah has never followed. Is that stupid or what?
For the last 18 years, it is painfully obvious that Resolution 1701 has been honored more in the breach than in the observance. If Hezbollah is unwilling to stop firing rockets at Israel, it is obvious that it has no intention of withdrawing to north of the Litani River.
If the US/UN/France object to Israel’s destroying Hezbollah armaments south of the Litani, and driving Hebollah’s army north of the Litani, Israel should reply that it is merely trying to enforce UN Resolution 1701. 🙂
For those who object to Israel’s “escalation,” the reply is that Hezbollah “escalated” in 2023 with the rocket attacks.
Diplomacy? In a pig’s eye.
Ayatollah Khamenei has a life expectancy of about 5.5 years. He’d undertaken to place Ebrahim Raisi in the president’s chair. The man had some claim to being a cleric and thus perhaps a candidate for Khamenei’s current post. Then a helicopter crash intervened. The current president is a retired surgeon.