September 22, 2006

Hezbollah Chief Nasrallah Leads "Victory Rally" in Beirut

Today, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah made his first public appearance since July 12, when Hezbollah terrorists crossed the Lebanese border into Israel, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. That deadly, unprovoked raid sparked an understandably fierce Israeli response and led to a 34-day war.

Although the war was badly mismanaged by the Israeli government and military brass, and cannot be called a clear victory for the Israelis by any means, it did succeed in killing more than 500 Hezbollah fighters and setting back Hezbollah’s military capabilities, including its long-range missile threat.

Still, many say the only clear-cut winner in this summer's war was Nasrallah. To hear the Arab street tell it, he stood up to the Israelis like no Arab leader since Nasser, fighting them to a virtual standstill. His admirers conveniently leave out the fact that Nasrallah spent the entire war holed up in a fortified bunker someplace, unable to show his face in public lest he be assassinated by the Israelis.

They also gloss over the aforementioned Hezbollah casualties and the destruction of much of Lebanon's infrastructure, all of which happened due to Nasrallah's decision to conduct a murdeous cross-border raid into northern Israel.

At any rate, Nasrallah finally reemerged in public today, speaking at a Hezbollah "victory rally" in Beirut. Hundreds of thousands of his supporters waved yellow Hezbollah flags as he delivered a fiery address. Here's more, from AP: 

Hundreds of hardcore Hezbollah supporters have marched since Thursday to Beirut from villages in southern Lebanon, wearing the yellow T-shirts of Hezbollah and caps marked "Divine Victory."

With Hezbollah and Lebanese national flags tagged onto their antennas, cars, buses and tractors loaded with families converged on the capital's Shiite southern suburbs where the rally was due to start at 1330 GMT.

"We are expecting hundreds of thousands to join the rally. There are no more chairs in Lebanon" to rent out, a Hezbollah spokesman told AFP.

Tens of thousands filled endless rows of chairs placed in a huge open plot, cleared by Hezbollah, near areas battered by the Israeli air force.

"This is a historical day for all the Arabs, we are ready to go to war again," said a Hezbollah follower wearing a t-shirt printed with Nasrallah's portrait. "We are proud of our chief, the symbol of a whole generation."

Yes, it sounds like that cease fire will hold just fine.