Hizbullah: What were they thinking?

The scenes being shown from Lebanon around the world these last few weeks are reminiscent of the civil war only this time, we have a much bigger problem on our hands. Hizbullah, the state-within-a–state has taken it upon themselves to start a war with Israel from Lebanon. In fact, the leader of Hizbullah Hassan Nasrallah has appeared on television many times to declare that Hizbullah is ready for “open war”. Really? That’s great for them but what about the rest of the Lebanese populace who are just now settling into life post-Syria. They most assuredly did not want this war or the ensuing mayhem and destruction that has come with it.

One has to ask, what were they thinking? What exactly was Hizbullah thinking when they made the stupidest move in a century? Were they thinking it would be ok? Were they thinking that it would be the usual thrust and parry between them and Israel? Or were they thinking that it would both please their puppet masters in Iran and Syria and keep them relevant? The last is the most likely. Hizbullah has long had ties to Iran and has been a supporter of Syria since before the death of The Hariri. In fact, Hizbullah stayed supportive of Syria even when a million people marched to get Syria out of Lebanon. They have stayed true to their puppet masters even to the point of self-annihilation in the Lebanese public opinion. Support for Hizbullah had been steadily dropping since the death of Rafic Al Hariri and their subsequent support for Syria even though it is obvious who pulled the strings in the murder of Hariri and over 20 others. One cannot discount Hizbullah’s need to stay relevant coming to the foreground in this mess. With no Israeli occupation to fight, the pressure has been on to disarm Hizbullah under UN resolution 1559 and they have felt threatened by this resolution right from day 1. Instead of grasping the opportunity to become a relevant political force, they chose to split, stay part militia and part political force. That was a great miscalculation on their part as they are now faced with a mess of gargantuan proportions.

Not only should both Hizbullah and Israel be held accountable for the massive loss of human life in Lebanon, they should also be held accountable for the destruction of an entire country. Hizbullah has yet to present a comprehensive rebuilding plan and they have yet to present a way to pay for the damages they inflicted on Lebanon by starting a war we did not need, want, ask for and certainly cannot afford. One can only ask: what were they thinking?