As a fragile ceasefire teeters in Lebanon, a broad consensus among Western analysts has emerged with the view that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the main regional victor of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Certainly the fact that Hezbollah survived Israel’s one-month assault has brought strategic and public relations dividends to Iran (and to a lesser extent Syria), given that the Islamic Republic is Hezbollah’s major financial and military backer. Yet what is the nature of this declared Iranian success and what are its implications? If Iran has enhanced its strategic viability and increased its regional popularity, then [...]
An article that was published in this space on Sept. 1, 2006, analyzing the late-August attacks in Istanbul, Marmaris and Antalya, Turkey, did not correctly report the likely origin of those attacks. Rather than “Islamic extremists,” as the piece had stated, the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks, reportedly an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Kurdistan Workers Party is a Kurdish nationalist and Marxist-Leninist group and has little in common with Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda. Because information about the origin of the attacks was reported prior to the publication of the story, World Politics Review [...]
I just returned from a short trip to Beirut — my first since the ceasefire was implemented on Aug. 13, 2006. Apart from the roads and bridges damaged by Israel on the Damascus-Beirut road, everything seemed fine and normal in Lebanon. Malls were busy, offering 60 percent discounts, and so were clubs, casinos, hotels, and restaurants. Commercial billboards, usually reserved for advertising, were all booked by Hezbollah and showed signs praising the Lebanese resistance and its leader Hasan Nasrallah. One notable billboard showed a huge picture of Israeli troops carrying the coffin of a slain soldier, draped with the Israeli [...]
