Nasrallah's mea culpa
By Claude Salhani
Published August 31, 2006
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It's a rare event when a leader in the Arab world openly admits to having been wrong. And it's even rarer when that leader goes on international television to confess his mistakes. Blunders in this part of the world have a tendency to be blamed on others, and usually with dire consequences for the ones being blamed. But strange things sometimes happen in the Middle East. This one counts among them.
Indeed, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah surprised many people when he apologized during a television interview Sunday, taking full blame for inciting Israel to unleash its fury on Lebanon during 34 days of war. It was Sheik Nasrallah's community, the Shi'ites, who were the hardest hit.
Speaking to the Lebanese news station NTV Sunday, Sheik Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers -- Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev -- and the killing of three others had he known the ferocity of Israel's response.
"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture (of the two soldiers) would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude," said Sheik Nasrallah. "You ask me, if I had known on July 11... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not."
However, Sheik Nasrallah went on to say that had the war not started when it did on July 12, "in any case Israel would have attacked in October." He did not elaborate, nor did he explain how or why he believed an Israeli raid was imminent in the fall. But intelligence sources have told United Press International that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had sought the blessing of the White House to go after Hezbollah -- and obtained it -- during a visit to Washington in the spring.
The leader of the Lebanese Shi'ite group -- which figures on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list -- told his interviewer he did not believe Israel would try for another round of fighting.
"The current Israeli situation tells us that we are not heading to another round," he said. Sheik Nasrallah was referring to the political storm in which the Israeli government finds itself today after being accused of mismanaging the war against Hezbollah, a war in which 150 Israelis were killed, most of them soldiers.
Sheik Nasrallah -- and his Syrian and Iranian backers -- were quick to declare victory at the end of the 34-day war in which much of the Lebanese infrastructure was devastated, the multi-million dollar tourist industry frightened away and more than 1,000 people killed, 3,500 injured and, and, and. ...
Sheik Nasrallah's mea culpa, and in public no less, is raising questions from Washington to Paris to capitals across the Middle East. Why? Why would he appear so humble? Especially given that he must have known that Israel would jump at the chance to slam Hezbollah and to turn Sheik Nasrallah's "victory" into a defeat.
"He's beginning to feel the pinch and knew he was going to be held accountable," Hisham Melhem, An-Nahar correspondent in Washington told UPI.
Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv said that the sheik's admission shows that he realizes he did not win the war. Another official said this was proof that Israel had regained its deterrence. "If he... had he known what the consequences would have been, he wouldn't have kidnapped the soldiers," Israeli officials are saying. This "indicates Israel has dissuaded him from doing it again."
Sheik Nasrallah's comments may be attributed to an internal political debate currently taking place in Lebanon involving all Lebanese political parties and most likely, the forum of much of Hezbollah's recent critics. Mr. Melhem told UPI that Sheik Nasrallah must have come under very heavy pressure from his own constituents as well as from other Lebanese political parties.
Another analyst who requested anonymity said that "the interview serves nothing and changes nothing." As for Israel saying this proves Hezbollah did not win the war, the same analyst points out that "it is in Israel's interest to say such things.
"Israel's action was like the man who wants to swat a mosquito on a young boy's face but ends up slamming the boy with a baseball bat on the head. He kills the boy but misses the mosquito," said the analyst.
But Sheik Nasrallah is not in the habit of speaking for the sake of speaking. The fact that he gave the interview to a television station other than his own, Hezbollah's al-Manar, indicates that first and foremost he wanted to address the Lebanese community at large, rather than just his fellow Shi'ites.
With the fighting phase over, many Lebanese feel they can now speak out against the mayhem caused by the sheik's misadventure.
Says Hisham Melhem, who sees in Sheik Nasrallah someone who was looking out for Iran's interests: "He was trying to turn Beirut into Tehran on the Mediterranean."
The 34-day war -- along with the death and destruction it brought -- has changed the perception many Lebanese had of Hezbollah, including some in Sheik Nasrallah's own community. This might offer one explanation for his act of contrition.
Claude Salhani is international editor of United Press International.
By Claude Salhani
Published August 31, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's a rare event when a leader in the Arab world openly admits to having been wrong. And it's even rarer when that leader goes on international television to confess his mistakes. Blunders in this part of the world have a tendency to be blamed on others, and usually with dire consequences for the ones being blamed. But strange things sometimes happen in the Middle East. This one counts among them.
Indeed, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah surprised many people when he apologized during a television interview Sunday, taking full blame for inciting Israel to unleash its fury on Lebanon during 34 days of war. It was Sheik Nasrallah's community, the Shi'ites, who were the hardest hit.
Speaking to the Lebanese news station NTV Sunday, Sheik Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers -- Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev -- and the killing of three others had he known the ferocity of Israel's response.
"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture (of the two soldiers) would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude," said Sheik Nasrallah. "You ask me, if I had known on July 11... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not."
However, Sheik Nasrallah went on to say that had the war not started when it did on July 12, "in any case Israel would have attacked in October." He did not elaborate, nor did he explain how or why he believed an Israeli raid was imminent in the fall. But intelligence sources have told United Press International that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had sought the blessing of the White House to go after Hezbollah -- and obtained it -- during a visit to Washington in the spring.
The leader of the Lebanese Shi'ite group -- which figures on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list -- told his interviewer he did not believe Israel would try for another round of fighting.
"The current Israeli situation tells us that we are not heading to another round," he said. Sheik Nasrallah was referring to the political storm in which the Israeli government finds itself today after being accused of mismanaging the war against Hezbollah, a war in which 150 Israelis were killed, most of them soldiers.
Sheik Nasrallah -- and his Syrian and Iranian backers -- were quick to declare victory at the end of the 34-day war in which much of the Lebanese infrastructure was devastated, the multi-million dollar tourist industry frightened away and more than 1,000 people killed, 3,500 injured and, and, and. ...
Sheik Nasrallah's mea culpa, and in public no less, is raising questions from Washington to Paris to capitals across the Middle East. Why? Why would he appear so humble? Especially given that he must have known that Israel would jump at the chance to slam Hezbollah and to turn Sheik Nasrallah's "victory" into a defeat.
"He's beginning to feel the pinch and knew he was going to be held accountable," Hisham Melhem, An-Nahar correspondent in Washington told UPI.
Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv said that the sheik's admission shows that he realizes he did not win the war. Another official said this was proof that Israel had regained its deterrence. "If he... had he known what the consequences would have been, he wouldn't have kidnapped the soldiers," Israeli officials are saying. This "indicates Israel has dissuaded him from doing it again."
Sheik Nasrallah's comments may be attributed to an internal political debate currently taking place in Lebanon involving all Lebanese political parties and most likely, the forum of much of Hezbollah's recent critics. Mr. Melhem told UPI that Sheik Nasrallah must have come under very heavy pressure from his own constituents as well as from other Lebanese political parties.
Another analyst who requested anonymity said that "the interview serves nothing and changes nothing." As for Israel saying this proves Hezbollah did not win the war, the same analyst points out that "it is in Israel's interest to say such things.
"Israel's action was like the man who wants to swat a mosquito on a young boy's face but ends up slamming the boy with a baseball bat on the head. He kills the boy but misses the mosquito," said the analyst.
But Sheik Nasrallah is not in the habit of speaking for the sake of speaking. The fact that he gave the interview to a television station other than his own, Hezbollah's al-Manar, indicates that first and foremost he wanted to address the Lebanese community at large, rather than just his fellow Shi'ites.
With the fighting phase over, many Lebanese feel they can now speak out against the mayhem caused by the sheik's misadventure.
Says Hisham Melhem, who sees in Sheik Nasrallah someone who was looking out for Iran's interests: "He was trying to turn Beirut into Tehran on the Mediterranean."
The 34-day war -- along with the death and destruction it brought -- has changed the perception many Lebanese had of Hezbollah, including some in Sheik Nasrallah's own community. This might offer one explanation for his act of contrition.
Claude Salhani is international editor of United Press International.
