Lebanon PM Has a Plan - Israel Will Stop Defending Itself, and Then Hezbollah Will Be Disarmed By the Make Believe Army that Exists Only in His Mind. Brilliant!
Just as the Robin Williams declares about Aladdin, Israel has managed to prove that leaders of even the densest Arab countries can be taught!
Hizbullah has created a "state within a state" in Lebanon and must be disarmed, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in an interview published Thursday in an Italian daily. Saniora told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Shi'ite group has been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran, and that it can only be disarmed with the help of the international community and once a cease-fire has been achieved in the current Middle East fighting.
"It's not a mystery that Hizbullah answers to the political agendas of Teheran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying by Corriere. "The entire world must help us disarm Hizbullah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."
First of all, and this is just pure snark, Hezbollah's connection to Tehran does actually seem to be a mystery to that shining star of British journalism, the Guardian. But more importantly...
What's this talk about a ceasefire? Does Saniora think that a well-maintained Hezbollah militia will be easier to disarm than one that's been leveled by the IDF? And if he does, does he have an idea of who in "the entire world" is going to do his dirty work for him? Even if they were willing to risk another dust-up in Lebanon (which they're not), the US isn't going to move troops from Iraq to Lebanon. Russia has warmer ties with Syria and Iran than they do with Lebanon, so they're out. Usually we'd suggest that the valiant French army would help out, but they're going to be busy invading Israel. And besides, let's be honest: Europe, armed forces - discuss. So that's not going to work. Hey, maybe China's available to help.
Saniora knows that nobody but Israel is going to take on Hezbollah. So when he says "Israel should declare a ceasefire and other people should take on Hezbollah", what he actually means is "Israel should declare a ceasefire". Suddenly, this deal doesn't sound so great any more.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
UPDATE: Opps... Siniora is taking it back:
The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Thursday denied a report in the Milan-based daily "Corriere della Sera" that quoted him calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah. Siniora`s office said in a statement that his words were distorted in translation from Italian to English. "What the prime minister said is that the international community has not given the Lebanese government an opportunity to deal with the problem of Hezbollah`s arms, since the continuing presence of the Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms is the reason for the weapons' location."
He doesn't even have the diplomatic manuevering room to pretend that he wants to disarm Hezbollah.
Hizbullah has created a "state within a state" in Lebanon and must be disarmed, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in an interview published Thursday in an Italian daily. Saniora told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Shi'ite group has been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran, and that it can only be disarmed with the help of the international community and once a cease-fire has been achieved in the current Middle East fighting.
"It's not a mystery that Hizbullah answers to the political agendas of Teheran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying by Corriere. "The entire world must help us disarm Hizbullah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."
First of all, and this is just pure snark, Hezbollah's connection to Tehran does actually seem to be a mystery to that shining star of British journalism, the Guardian. But more importantly...
What's this talk about a ceasefire? Does Saniora think that a well-maintained Hezbollah militia will be easier to disarm than one that's been leveled by the IDF? And if he does, does he have an idea of who in "the entire world" is going to do his dirty work for him? Even if they were willing to risk another dust-up in Lebanon (which they're not), the US isn't going to move troops from Iraq to Lebanon. Russia has warmer ties with Syria and Iran than they do with Lebanon, so they're out. Usually we'd suggest that the valiant French army would help out, but they're going to be busy invading Israel. And besides, let's be honest: Europe, armed forces - discuss. So that's not going to work. Hey, maybe China's available to help.
Saniora knows that nobody but Israel is going to take on Hezbollah. So when he says "Israel should declare a ceasefire and other people should take on Hezbollah", what he actually means is "Israel should declare a ceasefire". Suddenly, this deal doesn't sound so great any more.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
UPDATE: Opps... Siniora is taking it back:
The office of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora on Thursday denied a report in the Milan-based daily "Corriere della Sera" that quoted him calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah. Siniora`s office said in a statement that his words were distorted in translation from Italian to English. "What the prime minister said is that the international community has not given the Lebanese government an opportunity to deal with the problem of Hezbollah`s arms, since the continuing presence of the Israeli occupation of Shebaa Farms is the reason for the weapons' location."
He doesn't even have the diplomatic manuevering room to pretend that he wants to disarm Hezbollah.
