The bloviating, saber rattling, loud mouth leader of Hezbollah is the one who is hiding in a bunker.
Editorial
There’s no untoward development in the Mideast that cannot be blamed on Israel and there’s almost none that eventually isn’t.
From Tahrir Square in Cairo to the alleys of Sanaa in Yemen, from the Libyan deserts to Syria’s townships, embattled autocrats and/or inflamed mobs point fingers at their preferred ubiquitous culprit. Israel has been cast as the permanent villain of the piece and all the evil of the region – factual or fabricated – is conveniently ascribed the Jewish state.
In that sense it was far from surprising that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah knew exactly whom to accuse of the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s ex-premier Rafik Hariri and 22 collateral victims.
Quite predictably, Nasrallah contended that Israel was guilty of the entire plot as well as of the subsequent UN probe that issued indictments against four alleged perpetrators – Mustafa Badreddine, Hassan Oneisa, Salim Ayyah and Assad Sabra – all operatives of the Shi’ite Hezbollah.
Badreddine – brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s tactical mastermind who was killed in Syria in 2008 – is a member of Hezbollah’s advisory council.
Two further lists of indictments are due later this summer and are expected to include the assassination’s planners and organizers. Such findings by a special tribunal set up by the UN Security Council, should in theory be highly discomfiting for Nasrallah.
But at least by his public pronouncements Nasrallah appears unfazed. According to him, Israel targeted Hariri (never mind that this contradicted Israeli interests), then set up the UN tribunal (never mind that Israel is hardly the UN’s favorite) and then dictated its conclusions (never mind that Israel wields no clout in international forums).
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It’s not that the region’s masses have seen the light and no longer instantly identify Israel as the bogeyman. It’s just that Nasrallah and his Hezbollah steadily lose influence along with their patron Assad.
This directly affects Nasrallah’s ability to make trouble for Israel. Hypothetically, his debilitated status might inspire him to launch attacks by way of diverting attention and crystallizing support that might otherwise diminish.
Yet, with Assad existentially threatened, this could backfire disastrously.
Israel shouldn’t belittle Nasrallah’s bluster, but we also mustn’t be overawed. Things aren’t what they were. The more bombastic Nasrallah’s bravado the more it betokens his desperation.
Read the rest – Nasrallah’s Bluster
