Hezbollah: Political strengths and military might

[Violet_Crumble]

Hezbollah, a radical Shiite group in Lebanon that has become embroiled in a deadly dispute with Israel, is a party of paradoxes.


On one hand, Hezbollah has carved out a political foothold for itself and is a participating member of the Lebanese government, having gained support by setting up schools, hospitals and social structure.


But on the other hand, Hezbollah is an armed militant group that refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, and has carried out numerous deadly terrorist attacks and kidnappings that have left hundreds dead.


Most recently, the world's attention has once again zeroed in on Hezbollah after it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, and in the storm of retaliation that has followed, traded rocket attacks with Israel.


So what is the truth about Hezbollah?


Following are some facts on the organization:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060714/hezbollah_background_060714/20060714

I've got a few questions about Hezbollah...

What attacks on civilians has Hezbollah carried out where Hezbollah claimed responsibility and/or there is ample proof to tie them to the attacks?

Has the usual tactic of Hezbollah been to attack military or civilian targets?

Hezbollah is clearly a much more effective and coordinated group than Palestinian groups. What are the options other than military ones which result in the deaths of civilians that can be taken to make them ineffective?

[cali]

1. Let me add

a link to the Council on Foreign Relations to further enlighten folks.

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/

[Violet_Crumble]

2. I was looking for answers to some questions, not a link...

...and I'm hoping one of the more enlightened regulars in the I/P forum like bemildred or the Magistrate may be able to answer :)

[tocqueville]

3. Wikipedia has most of your answers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

[bemildred]

4. Strictly my own impressions ...

What attacks on civilians has Hezbollah carried out where Hezbollah claimed responsibility and/or there is ample proof to tie them to the attacks?

They shoot rockets into Israel. They were an original adopter of the suicide bomb and car bomb.

Has the usual tactic of Hezbollah been to attack military or civilian targets?

They tend more to the military side, because of their nature as a native resistance to occupation. The distinction tends to blur in Lebanon, as elsewhere. Since the Israeli withdrawal, one supposes this may have eroded a bit. One has to consider both Lebanese internal disputes and the argument with Israel. It is not my impression that it is a distinction they pay much attention to. I am thinking of Absynthe.

Hezbollah is clearly a much more effective and coordinated group than Palestinian groups. What are the options other than military ones which result in the deaths of civilians that can be taken to make them ineffective?

I would not know. Pelsar might be a good source, or Sabra. The most important fact about Hiz'bullah IMHO is that they have had a long time to prepare for this, and outside support, unlike Iraq or the Gazans. They will not attempt any large scale conventional resistance, it will all be uncoventional war, mines, IEDs, car bombs, rockets, ambushes, etc. Thus any ground action is likely to be a much bloodier business.

[pelsar]

5. you ask a fair question

What are the options other than military ones which result in the deaths of civilians that can be taken to make them ineffective?

sponsored by iran and syria they run their own little fiefdom in s. lebanon backed by the shiite moslems..loaded with weapons their reason for being is their animosity towards israel. Without that they have nothing.

Which is why even though israel pulled back to the 67 border, they still attack on the pretense of the sheba farms.

they have money, they have weapons, they have their honor, they have their power, they have their pride (the only arabs that pushed israel back) and they have lebanons land and are holding it hostage). And they've been training as a military force without any interference. Advisors from Iran and Syria, real army camps etc, hence their skills and moral are high.

their forces in S. Lebanon are spread out, some as army camps some within civilian areas. In Beruit they have their own neighborhoods, schools, communications etc all seperated from the lebanese......they wont be giving up any of that unless their forced to...and the lebanese army doesnt have the political will/backing (dont know about the ability).

the outcome of what israel is doing as far as i can see is a gamble....a roll of the dice if you will. The status quo of continual attacks since 2000 (if you havent heard about them its because israel didnt retaliate-civilian and military) has run its course with this second kidnapping, the patience has run out. Any local retailiation or semi measure has been tried before in the past in all kinds of variations: up to the litani river, beruit, security zone, etc... (the UN as "neutral" observers" is all that is "allowed" by Hizballas (and they place they're lookout towers next to the UN camps for obvious reasons)

none worked, the rockets kept on coming....so know israel is trying something different....what its outcome will be, no one knows, but the options are few

[Violet_Crumble]

6. Thanks to everyone who replied so far...

And thanks to Cali and Toqueville for the links. I'll take a look at them tomorrow :)

[bloom]

7. "is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel"

It seems fishy to me - if the US and Israel consider them to be a terrorist organization and other countries do not.

It just sounds like propaganda at that point. Or just a matter of perspective. Like anyone who challenges Israel = bad // esp. when the same people promote the idea that anything that Israel does = good.

I'm not convinced.


What would make more sense would be to take the bad concept out of it and just say - Hezbolla supports these people - this is their agenda. We know who Israel supports and what their agenda is. Some people may think that one group has a valid agenda and the other doesn't.

I'm not convinced of that either.

[Violet_Crumble]

8. It's not just the US and Israel though...

If it were, I'd be a bit suspicious as to whether they were using their you-beaut enlarged defiition of terrorism. But the EU has them listed as a terrorist organisation, and the UN has called for Hezbollah to dismantle its military wing (at least that's what Toqueville's link said). Hezbollah does seem a bit contradictory in that they're involved in some really nasty stuff, yet condemn things like Sept 11 and other atrocities...

the thing is that when it comes to valid agendas, Palestinian groups have an agenda of fighting the occupation. The problem for me has always been that they use totally illegitimate means to fight it. But when it comes to Hezbollah, the only agenda I can see is to cause major-league shit. They aren't occupied by Israel like the Palestinians are, and when it comes to provocation, I can't see where there was any recent provocation from Israel to have justified the cross-border raid...