Morocco's view of the outcome of the war in Lebanon

No war against an Arab country is likely to be popular in any Arab country. One that involves a large number of civilian deaths and casualties is even less likely to have much support. So it comes as little surprise that the failure of the Israelis to achieve their objectives is seen as a win for Lebanon and Hezbollah.

Here is a reasonably moderate example that was published as editorial opinion in the online Morocco Times. The author is Gwynne Dyer, a well respected freelance journalist, columnist, historian, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs.

Here is an excerpt. A link to the original article is included below. The View from Fez would like to thank the Morocco Times.

Common sense has prevailed. Most of the Israeli troops who were sent into south Lebanon last weekend have already retreated, and the last thousand or two will be back inside the Israeli frontier by next weekend. They are not waiting for the Lebanese army and the promised international peacekeeping force to come in and "disarm Hezbollah." They are getting the hell out.

The last-minute decision to airlift Israeli troops deep into the four hundred square miles (1,000 sq. km.) of Lebanon south of the Litani river made good sense politically. That way, Israel didn't have to fight its way in and take the inevitable heavy asualties. It just exploited its total control of the air to fly its troops into areas not actively defended by Hezbollah just before the ceasefire, in order to create the impression that it had defeated the guerilla organisation and established control over southern Lebanon.

However, those isolated packets of troops actually controlled nothing of value, and they were surrounded by undefeated Hezbollah fighters on almost every side. Hezbollah could not have resisted for long the temptation to attack the more exposed Israeli units, perhaps even forcing some to surrender. So the Israeli troops are coming out now, in order to give Hezbollah no easy targets.

General Dan Halutz, the Israeli chief of staff, was right to make this decision, but it removes the last remote possibility that Israel can extract any political gains from the military stalemate in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah says it has no intention of disarming, and Lebanese defence minister Elias Murr says that his army will not try to disarm Hezbollah. The French, who are supposed to lead the greatly expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in the area, say that they will not commit their troops until Hezbollah is disarmed.

There will probably be some kind of fudge in the end that allows at least token numbers of Lebanese army troops and a somewhat expanded UN force to operate in southern Lebanon, but Hezbollah is staying put and so are its weapons. Over a thousand people killed, much of Lebanon's infrastructure destroyed, significant damage in northern Israel as well, and at the end of this "war of choice" Israel has achieved none of its objectives.

The Israeli armed forces have effectively been fought to a standstill by a lightly armed but highly trained and disciplined guerilla force, and there will be major repercussions at home and abroad.

Israel's humiliation might be a blessing in disguise if it persuaded enough Israeli voters that exclusive reliance on military force to smash and subdue their Arab neighbours is a political dead-end, but there is little chance of that. The Israeli politician likeliest to benefit from this mess is Binyamin Netanyahu, hardest of hard-liners, who flamboyantly quit the Likud Party last year in protest at former prime minister Ariel Sharon's policy of pulling out of the occupied Gaza Strip.

Much graver, in the long run, is the erosion of Israel's myth of military invincibility. It is always more economical to frighten your enemies into submission than to fight them, but Arabs have been losing their fear of Israel for some years now. This defeat will greatly accelerate the process, and there are a lot more Arabs than there are Israelis.

See the the complete article here: War on Lebanon: Israel has achieved none of its objectives.

Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news