Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How I erred [Leftist Aluf Benn love letter to Nasrallah backfires]
Haaretz ^ | 7/21/6 | Aluf Benn

Posted on 07/20/2006 3:47:04 PM PDT by SmithL

I was mistaken.

Two weeks ago, I wrote here that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hates Israel but behaves responsibly, and that since he took control of south Lebanon, a stable balance of deterrence has been created on both sides of the border. "His behavior is rational and reasonably predictable. Under the present conditions, that's the best there is. Hezbollah is preserving quiet in the Galilee better than did the pro-Israeli South Lebanese Army," I wrote. But Nasrallah hastened to prove that his behavior is not predictable, when he gave instructions to attack an Israel Defense Forces patrol near Moshav Zarit and kill and kidnap its soldiers.

The mistake in my assessment stemmed, as always, from the idee fixe that what was is what will be. I believed that if Israel and Hezbollah had learned to live according to the "rules of the game" that had developed along their common border, they would be interested in maintaining the balance of power rather than violating it. The IDF, the intelligence services and the government, who have at at their disposal much better sources of information than mine, thought the same. Fact: They lowered the alert level in the north a few days before the attack in Zarit; that means that they expected quiet. But although I was in good company, the responsibility for the mistake is entirely mine.

But Nasrallah made a bigger mistake, and his mistakes are lethal. Not only because he had the same idee fixe and expected Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to behave like his predecessors, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon - in other words, to tolerate the incident in order avoid a second front in the north.

(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2006israelwar; israelileft

1 posted on 07/20/2006 3:47:05 PM PDT by SmithL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SmithL

After admitting he had poor judgement and completely misassessed the situation, he tells us with confidence what the best course of action is.

Who is going to listen to him now?


2 posted on 07/20/2006 3:51:47 PM PDT by Mount Athos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

When liberals make mistakes a lot of people die.


3 posted on 07/20/2006 3:52:05 PM PDT by samadams2000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
Here's an alternate title:

"I'm an Idiot, and Idiots Believe Idiotic Things"

4 posted on 07/20/2006 3:52:52 PM PDT by Steely Tom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: samadams2000

It seems without fail liberals do not understand human nature.


5 posted on 07/20/2006 3:55:48 PM PDT by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
Israel's chattering classes will never admit they were wrong just as they will never admit Oslo was a gigantic mistake. The last decade and a half has seen an Israeli loss of national will and toughness that led the Arabs to believe that with one last shove, Israel could finally be destroyed. And the cowardice and stupidity of Israel's leaders did much to encourage them in that assumption. Hezbollah's chief Saed Nasrallah had every reason to believe Israel's new Prime Minister Olmert would be as much of a pushover as his predecessors, if only to keep the illusion peace was at hand alive.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em, Down Hezbullies.)

6 posted on 07/20/2006 4:08:21 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
But Nasrallah made a bigger mistake,

The only mistake that Nasrallah thinks he makes is when not enough Jews are killed.

7 posted on 07/20/2006 4:10:08 PM PDT by feedback doctor (Liberalism is like a religion....islam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL
I believed that if Israel and Hezbollah had learned to live according to the "rules of the game" that had developed along their common border, they would be interested in maintaining the balance of power rather than violating it.

I suggest you read the Koran and Hadiths. You dumb Infidel. - tom

8 posted on 07/20/2006 4:15:40 PM PDT by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mount Athos
After admitting he had poor judgement and completely misassessed the situation, he tells us with confidence what the best course of action is... Who is going to listen to him now?

Howard Dean

9 posted on 07/20/2006 4:21:56 PM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

When is the American Left going to admit it has misread this little thing we like to call the "WAR ON TERROR"?


10 posted on 07/20/2006 4:44:44 PM PDT by chrismich2610 (murha to run with hugo chavez)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

When is the American Left going to admit it has misread this little thing we like to call the "WAR ON TERROR"?


11 posted on 07/20/2006 4:45:24 PM PDT by chrismich2610 (murha to run with hugo chavez)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: I still care

It seems without fail liberals do not understand human nature.

I just want to quibble here a little bit.

It is not precisely human nature that liberals do not understand in this instance (altho it is true, liberals have a very incomplete understanding of human nature).

It is ISLAM and the worship of mohammed that liberals and a lot of other folks, including folks in this site, do not understand.

There is no compromise in islam, no discussion, no reasoning, no meeting of the minds. Those are at best tactics, used to gain ground in obliterating all infidels.

islam is a barabaric, evil, criminal mentality. It is cunning, yes, but it is also primitive and appeals to the worst of human nature.

Until the West begins to see the worship of mohammed for what it is, we are asking for the death and destruction islam fully intends to give us.

12 posted on 07/20/2006 4:55:51 PM PDT by Urbane_Guerilla
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson