|
Monday, August 21, 2006
Gulle: Hezbollah, Iran's pawn?
By Inocentes A. Gulle
Your Business is Our Business
THE ceasefire in Lebanon is by all indications a temporary thing, a mere truce if you may.
You can be sure Hezbollah will not stop finding means to push at Israel despite the presence of ceasefire-monitoring team.
We have seen the same conditions in the past as in the case of the PLO. It could be individual acts of terror like suicide bombers and car bombs.
In any case, it has been the avowed religious mission of militant Muslims to destroy Israel. No less than the President of Iran, Ahmad Ahmadenijad, vowed to stop at nothing to wipe out Israel from the map of the Middle East.
Western intelligence community says that Iran is the chief supporter of international terrorism. It also knows that the Hezbollah attack on Israel was planned long before as it knows that the missiles fired by the latter on July 12 came from Iran. Some 12,000 Katyusha rockets was allegedly sent by Iran, via Damascus and sent on to Lebanon by convoy, on July 11.
Even the missile that hit and killed several personnel in an Israeli ship off the shores of Lebanon was allegedly fired by Iranian consultants/advisers. Clearly Hezbollah is simply the pawn Iran used to serve her purpose.
Observers believe that the Lebanon incident is only Iran's way to test the Western powers' resolve, at the same time, show the rest of the Muslim world that she does not fear the former. Iran must know that the West does not have the will to punish her for it, like they did Hitler back when he went on a rampage in Europe to start World War II.
As we can see, the West has not decisively acted to stop Iran from pursuing its goals -- perfecting her nuclear arms project and now indirectly going to war using Hezbollah as its surrogate fighters.
For all intent and purposes, Iran (and Hezbollah) has gained a lot of prestige at this stage. Even as the secular leaders in the region have become uneasy at Iran's newfound esteem, it is apparent their people felt some pride at what the Hezbollah and Iran have accomplished, so far.
It is also apparent that the United States government, the self-appointed world police, no longer has the will or maybe even the capability to face another problem in Iran, it being preoccupied with Iraq, a proposition that is now sapping its economic and military resources, let alone adverse public opinion back home.
All they have done, Israel and the United States, is to issue stern warnings to Iran for apparently sending Hezbollah against Israel? What more can they do, with most of the world fearing Iran, not only for its bold recklessness but also for the possibility that it can unilaterally disrupt the oil supply the world badly needs, by simply closing its taps.
The biggest fear, however, is that any punitive action against Iran now could escalate into a world war - a possible nuclear catastrophe. So who will stand up to Iran now?
We can now therefore, see a different kind of weather developing in that part of the world, a foreboding one. What can possibly happen when Iran finally gains leadership over the Muslim world? Would Ahmadenijad be content with patting his own back for having gained the adulation of the whole Muslim world? Would he not now fulfill his threat to wipe out Israel from the face of the earth? Maybe his first move would be to cripple the economy of the west by just reducing -- even just to some half of the current requirement -- the oil supply. Such a move can already considerably reduce the West's fighting capability, if ever.
Once the West, particularly Europe, realizes that the pressure of Iran's push would eventually drown them, will they not kick while there is still time and they still have the strength to do so?
What can happen then? Maybe we can go back to the prophecies written by Daniel some 2,500 years ago, some of which have already been fulfilled, and perhaps we can guess the possibilities we are now facing.
For Bisaya stories from General Santos.Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(August 21, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
