Posted by
L Gravel on Sunday, August 20, 2006 10:25:05 PM
FoxNews/AP reports comments from Lebanon's defense minister Elias Murr:
"We consider that when the resistance (Hezbollah) is committed not to
fire rockets, then any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory
would be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext (for
Israel) to strike," Murr said.
He added that "the Lebanese army will decisively deal with" any attack
on Israel and that anyone arrested for violating the truce "will be
considered by the military tribunal as an agent of the Israeli enemy."
This strikes me as a variant of certain comments making the rounds in
this country after Al Qaeda's attack on Manhattan and Washington, "if
you don't do (some thing I want you to do), then the terrorists will
have won." Only in this case, it's the version intended for
Islamic terrorists, "if you do (some thing I don't want you to do),
then you are in league with the Israelis."
Of course, he is making a very clever distinction between Hezbollah and
combatants who fire rockets. In reality, they are one and the
same. But in the media-political sphere, since Hezbollah would
never tell a lie, then anyone who fires rockets is by definition not
Hezbollah! Therefore the Lebanese army can eliminate such
combatants without starting a civil war with Hezbollah. And
labeling the combatants as Israeli conspirators is icing on the cake,
thus showing the Lebanese army is not doing the bidding of Israel in
cracking down on the rocket-launchers, but actually opposing
Israel. Masterful.
If he backs up his words, then he's the perfect combination of Bill
Clinton and Donald Rumsfeld. Why can't we get a guy like this on
our side?