[rightinthemiddle]

You are a great American, JV.

[jeremiah]

The only way to defeat an Islamic enemy, is to crush their belief in Allah.

[elhombrelibre]

JV, you're Lebanese, right?

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Very well put jveritas. Good job.

[sinanju]

Old rule: if the insurgent doesn't lose, he wins.

In a few months, they will be rearmed, replenished and rarin' to go.

And Israel?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Nice article!

[jeltz25]

great post. some much needed reality

[msnimje]

There are a lot of simple minded, armchair Prime Ministers on Free Republic and around the world who disagree with you.

I am not one of them. I am sure there is more to this than meets the eye and a great deal we observers do not know. I also can't help but wonder if Israel had to divert its attention from Hezbullah to prepare for what is coming from another direction in the near future.

[Anti-Bubba182]

The Hezbollah claim to winning the war was predictable. Islamists turn mere survival into victory. They have to, that is all they can get.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"Israel Won"

Definitely.

[HAL9000]

It's amazing how many people are willing to swallow Hezbollah's "victory" propaganda - hook, line and sinker.

[karnage]

Thanks so much for this, JV. It offers a fresh and thoughtful perspective, and accomplished a key goal: cheering me up!

[reagan_fanatic]

Thank You for your thoughtful and concise article.

[OldFriend]

Thank you sir. You spoke my mind.

I, too, feel so badly for the Lebanese people who worked so hard to restore their country only to have it undermined by these terrorists.

What did they win.......and what will the promised $10,000 do for families in the devestated area. NOTHING. Too bad our MSM is praising the efforts of hezbollah. What foolishness. Too bad our own so called right wing talkers are so uninformed.

[Falconspeed]

Lebanon lost 3 billions dollars in infrastructure, and another 7 billions dollars in economy, where the whole summer tourism season is gone.

True. Very well said.

[shield]

Great article...and you'd understand this more than others... Thanks ;o)

[TSchmereL]

It is an interesting perspective but I don't think it is correct. The Lebanese Army has no intention of confronting, much less disarming Hezbollah.

On the other hand, it is a victory for Israel in this sense. I think the Israelis learned a valuable lesson about the character of leaders Israel requires. I think Olmert will be replaced as a result of his failure. He should have been a long time ago. If Olmert had actually achieved any success, he would have used it to make even more concessions to Hamas. The fact that most everyone believes Olmert failed miserably will prevent Olmert from making more dangerous concessions.

Whether Israel has achieved victory will depend on what happens to Olmert and who replaces him.

[bornacatholic]

Very interesting take, brother. I am sorry what has happened to your country and I, sadly, agree with your last paragraph.

I also want to thank you publicly for all you have done for America. Your reputation is stellar, and justly so.

I can't remember exactly where I read it, but someone I read made some interesting comparisons twixt the Weimar Republic being taken over by the Nazis and Lebanon being taken over by Hezbollah.

Have you read anything similar? Your thoughts even if you haven't.

[dennisw]

reading

[jazusamo]

Excellent piece jveritas, thank you for writing and posting it. I believe it is an extremely accurate assessment of what has taken place thus far.