The last month in the Middle East certainly has been fascinating. Remember the gold old days when you went to war? Someone was right and someone was a megalomaniac. It was clear back in those days. Along came the Korean and Vietnam wars - the concept of liberating oppressed people. Well, people who happened to live under communist regimes. We had an oil war that also sported a megalomaniac, and then a couple of wars that got back to the liberation theme with a terrorism twist.

But the recent stoush between Israel and Hezbollah was something different. There was no oil at stake (not for the directly involved parties) and there was no oppressive regime. There were hostages and rockets and widespread destruction, oh my! But did anyone actually win? Well, yes… and no.

Hezbollah
Let’s not mince words here: Hezbollah are a terrorist organisation. Whether their viewpoint is justified is not in question. Their methodology is. They are a militia within southern Lebanon and do not act in the interests of Lebanon. But nonetheless, they took on the military powerhouse of the region and came away intact, still holding the hostages that started this saga. While their arsenal of missles is largely depleted (???) and were tactically ineffective, this has been a public relations bonanza bigger than Boonie, even with the widescale destruction suffered by the people of Lebanon.

Israel
Israel won on several fronts. They killed more Hezbollah soldiers than lost their own. Their continued struggle with Hezbollah was forced from being a regional conflict and thrust onto the international stage, bringing the UN Security Council (for what it’s worth) in to mediate the conflict. Southern Lebanon will be, for the time being, patrolled by an international peacekeeping force, giving Israelis much respite.

Unfortunately, the fact remains they did not retrieve the kidnapped soldiers. I thought that was the whole point of this incursion, at least officially. What about a public relations perspective? A complete distaster. The havok wreaked upon the major cities of Lebanon can only be seen to be believed, with the civilian death toll seemingly outweighing Israeli success. While Israel may have been justified in taking the fight to Hezbollah, their clumsy bombardment of ’suspected’ terrorist hideouts left the international community wondering when they were going to put the ‘intelligence’ back into the Mossad.

Iran
While on a technicality Iran was not involved, their exposure as a backer of Hezbollah (by way of training and weaponry) gave further credence to the concerns of Iran’s terrorist leanings. The conflict did produce a couple of positive outcomes though. As yet, the UN Security Council has not addressed sanctions against Iran for the continuation of its ‘civilian’ nuclear program. In conjunction, Iran has sent a strong message to the western powers that seek to control it: ‘don’t fuck with us. We have the capability to strike back at you.’

Lebanon