what we still don't understand

[Bosco 1]

Link to article

What we still don't understand about Hizbollah

This week, world terrorism expert Robert Pape will share with the FBI the findings of his remarkable study of 462 suicide bombings. He concludes that such acts have little to do with religious extremism and that the West must engage politically to halt the relentless slaughter

Sunday August 6, 2006

The Observer

Israel has finally conceded that air power alone will not defeat Hizbollah. Over the coming weeks, it will learn that ground power won't work either. The problem is not that the Israelis have insufficient military might, but that they misunderstand the nature of the enemy.

In terms of structure and hierarchy, it is less comparable with, say, a religious cult such as the Taliban than to the multi-dimensional American civil rights movement of the 1960s. What made its rise so rapid, and will make it impossible to defeat militarily, was not its international support but the fact that it evolved from a reorientation of pre-existing Lebanese social groups.

Evidence of the broad nature of Hizbollah's resistance to Israeli occupation can be seen in the identity of its suicide attackers. Hizbollah conducted a broad campaign of suicide bombings against American, French and Israeli targets from 1982 to 1986. Altogether, these attacks, which included the infamous bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, involved 41 suicide terrorists.

Researching my book, which covered all 462 suicide bombings around the globe, I had colleagues scour Lebanese sources to collect martyr videos, pictures and testimonials and biographies of the Hizbollah bombers. Of the 41, we identified the names, birth places and other personal data for 38. We were shocked to find that only eight were Islamic fundamentalists; 27 were from leftist political groups such as the Lebanese Communist Party and the Arab Socialist Union; three were Christians, including a female secondary school teacher with a college degree. All were born in Lebanon.

What these suicide attackers - and their heirs today - shared was not a religious or political ideology but simply a commitment to resisting a foreign occupation. Nearly two decades of Israeli military presence did not root out Hizbollah. The only thing that has proven to end suicide attacks, in Lebanon and elsewhere, is withdrawal by the occupying force.

Previous analyses of suicide terrorism have not had the benefit of a complete survey of all suicide terrorist attacks worldwide. The lack of complete data, together with the fact that many such attacks, including all those against Americans, have been committed by Muslims, has led many in the US to assume that Islamic fundamentalism must be the underlying main cause. This, in turn, has fuelled a belief that anti-American terrorism can be stopped only by wholesale transformation of Muslim societies, which helped create public support of the invasion of Iraq. But study of the phenomenon of suicide terrorism shows that the presumed connection to Islamic fundamentalism is misleading.

There is not the close connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism that many people think. Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist campaigns have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.

Religion is rarely the root cause, although it is often used as a tool by terrorist organisations in recruiting and in other efforts in service of the broader strategic objective. Most often, it is a response to foreign occupation.

Understanding that suicide terrorism is not a product of Islamic fundamentalism has important implications for how the US and its allies should conduct the war on terrorism. Spreading democracy across the Persian Gulf is not likely to be a panacea as long as foreign troops remain on the Arabian peninsula. The obvious solution might well be simply to abandon the region altogether. Isolationism, however, is not possible; America needs a new strategy that pursues its vital interest in oil but does not stimulate the rise of a new generation of suicide terrorists. The same is true of Israel now.

The new Israeli land offensive may take ground and destroy weapons, but it has little chance of destroying Hizbollah. In fact, in the wake of the bombings of civilians, the incursion will probably aid Hizbollah's recruiting.

Equally important, Israel's incursion is also squandering the goodwill it had initially earned from so-called moderate Arab states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The countries are the court of opinion that matters because, while Israel cannot crush Hizbollah, it could achieve a more limited goal: ending Hizbollah's acquisition of more missiles through Syria.

Given Syria's total control of its border with Lebanon, stemming the flow of weapons is a job for diplomacy, not force. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, Sunni-led nations that want stability in the region, are motivated to stop the rise of Hizbollah. Under the right conditions, the US might be able to help assemble an ad hoc coalition of Syria's neighbours to entice and bully it to prevent Iranian, Chinese or other foreign missiles from entering Lebanon. It could also offer to begin talks over the future of the Golan Heights.

But Israel must take the initiative. Unless it calls off the offensive and accepts a genuine ceasefire, there are likely to be many, many dead Israelis in the coming weeks - and a much stronger Hizbollah.

· Robert Pape is professor of political studies at the University of Chicago. His book, Dying to Win: Why Suicide Terrorists Do It, will be published in the UK by Gibson Square this month, £18.99

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon rejects a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to end 26 days of fighting because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday.

Slamming the French-U.S. draft as biased, Berri said it ignored a seven-point plan presented by Lebanon that calls for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of all displaced civilians among other things.

"Lebanon, and all of Lebanon, rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points," said Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hizbollah guerrillas.

"Their resolution will either drop Lebanon into internal strife or will be impossible to implement," he told a news conference.

The draft resolution, which the Security Council is expected to vote on either Monday or Tuesday, calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

A senior Israeli government official said the Jewish state views the draft favorably, because it allows Israel to respond to Hizbollah attacks once a truce takes effect and did not order Israel to withdraw its 10,000 soldiers from southern Lebanon.

Israel wants its troops to remain until an international force mandated by the United Nations can take over.

Berri said that there could be no peace while Israeli soldiers remained on Lebanese soil.

"What was agreed is not in Lebanon's interests but against them. This will open the door to never-ending war," he said.

"There will be operations against this army that is not on its own soil, that is occupying here. The result is the Israelis will bomb again so we will reach neither a next stage nor the deployment of the (Lebanese) army nor UNIFIL nor international forces."

Berri also said the wording of the resolution was loaded against Lebanon.

He complained that an international force that would be established by a second U.N. resolution, following an initial resolution establishing a truce, would come under Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter, which authorizes the use of force, but would not necessarily be answerable to the world body.

France is seen as the potential leader of such a force.

Berri said the resolution would put Lebanon back in the same position it was in before May 2000, when Israeli troops occupied a broad swathe of southern Lebanon for 22 years.

Israel withdrew from the area amid constant attack by Hizbollah guerrillas.

Hizbollah leaders have sworn to fight as long as Israeli soldiers remain on Lebanese soil. Israeli troops are trying to drive Hizbollah back from the border area, from where the group has fired barrages of rockets into the Jewish state.

story

in short, lebanon wants to return to status quo ante bellum which does nothing to resolve the missile attacks into israel. the above would stop the carnage but lebanon is too concerned about having israeli troops on their land for a bit longer - and rejecting the proposal means guess what - they still have israeli troops on their land. duh!

[mawilson 2,133]

Of the 41 [suicide bombers], we identified the names, birth places and other personal data for 38. We were shocked to find that only eight were Islamic fundamentalists; 27 were from leftist political groups such as the Lebanese Communist Party and the Arab Socialist Union; three were Christians, including a female secondary school teacher with a college degree. All were born in Lebanon.[/b]

So the terrorists are not only Islamists, but also Commies and Socialists? Shocking!

[desert_fox 32]

all wars have their roots in religious differences.....(WWI and WWII Im not sure.)

These people have hated each other for a 1000 years and will still hate each other 1000 years from now if the world still exists then.....it may not!

[Identity 0]

all wars have their roots in religious differences.....(WWI and WWII Im not sure.)

These people have hated each other for a 1000 years and will still hate each other 1000 years from now if the world still exists then.....it may not!

"All Wars"??? Desert, your illiteracy makes me shudder. Your posts would gain more credibility if you avoid the use of absolute terms such as "all".

Wars are fought for many reasons, among them: clash of civilisations, struggle for scarce resources, egos, etc.

[Fuzzness 2]

actually, I agree with desert fox...

[Identity 0]

actually, I agree with desert fox...

Actually, religion is a red-herring for what's really going on in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. This is alot to do with land.

[dalegg 143]

all wars have their roots in religious differences.....(WWI and WWII Im not sure.)

These people have hated each other for a 1000 years and will still hate each other 1000 years from now if the world still exists then.....it may not!

"All Wars"??? Desert, your illiteracy makes me shudder. Your posts would gain more credibility if you avoid the use of absolute terms such as "all".

Wars are fought for many reasons, among them: clash of civilisations, struggle for scarce resources, egos, etc.

I'm also not sure what religious differences the North Koreans had with the South Koreans and the US, or how religion played into Vietnam, unless communism is a religion

[tnh9479 1]

Religion is the easy answer. However, like any conflict, there is so much more...economics, natural resources, etc.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It should perhaps be mentioned that one group of Islamic extremists is not necessarily the same as another.

[*Robert* 2]

all wars have their roots in religious differences.....(WWI and WWII Im not sure.)

These people have hated each other for a 1000 years and will still hate each other 1000 years from now if the world still exists then.....it may not!

"All Wars"??? Desert, your illiteracy makes me shudder. Your posts would gain more credibility if you avoid the use of absolute terms such as "all".

Wars are fought for many reasons, among them: clash of civilisations, struggle for scarce resources, egos, etc.

This is true. Many wars are over religion, or supposedly in the name of religion, but certainly not "all". WWII for example, was brought about mostly due to Germany's anger over paying war reparations handed down from the Reparations Committee after the "Great War". Hitler used the reparations as a rallying mechanism.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The point that gets missed most of the time is that religion is rarely the cause of these things, but rather the excuse. It's easier to justify your position if God is on your side - or I should say - if God appears to be on your side.

[lostinlove228 0]

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon rejects a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to end 26 days of fighting because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday.

Slamming the French-U.S. draft as biased, Berri said it ignored a seven-point plan presented by Lebanon that calls for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of all displaced civilians among other things.

"Lebanon, and all of Lebanon, rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points," said Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hizbollah guerrillas.

"Their resolution will either drop Lebanon into internal strife or will be impossible to implement," he told a news conference.

The draft resolution, which the Security Council is expected to vote on either Monday or Tuesday, calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

A senior Israeli government official said the Jewish state views the draft favorably, because it allows Israel to respond to Hizbollah attacks once a truce takes effect and did not order Israel to withdraw its 10,000 soldiers from southern Lebanon.

Israel wants its troops to remain until an international force mandated by the United Nations can take over.

Berri said that there could be no peace while Israeli soldiers remained on Lebanese soil.

"What was agreed is not in Lebanon's interests but against them. This will open the door to never-ending war," he said.

"There will be operations against this army that is not on its own soil, that is occupying here. The result is the Israelis will bomb again so we will reach neither a next stage nor the deployment of the (Lebanese) army nor UNIFIL nor international forces."

Berri also said the wording of the resolution was loaded against Lebanon.

He complained that an international force that would be established by a second U.N. resolution, following an initial resolution establishing a truce, would come under Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter, which authorizes the use of force, but would not necessarily be answerable to the world body.

France is seen as the potential leader of such a force.

Berri said the resolution would put Lebanon back in the same position it was in before May 2000, when Israeli troops occupied a broad swathe of southern Lebanon for 22 years.

Israel withdrew from the area amid constant attack by Hizbollah guerrillas.

Hizbollah leaders have sworn to fight as long as Israeli soldiers remain on Lebanese soil. Israeli troops are trying to drive Hizbollah back from the border area, from where the group has fired barrages of rockets into the Jewish state.

story

in short, lebanon wants to return to status quo ante bellum which does nothing to resolve the missile attacks into israel. the above would stop the carnage but lebanon is too concerned about having israeli troops on their land for a bit longer - and rejecting the proposal means guess what - they still have israeli troops on their land. duh!

No actually. Lebanon wants every israely out of lebanon including Shabaa farms, All the lebanese prisoners held in Iraels jails out, and the maps to mines that Isreal planted when it occupied lebanon between 82 and 2000. This resolution that was drawn up was isrealy demands and no comprimise. It is not aduptable. It will never work. It is racist and biased and we are nobody's b*tch.

[mawilson 2,133]

Lebanon wants ... All the lebanese prisoners held in Israels jails out

Huh?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Lebanon wants ... All the lebanese prisoners held in Israels jails out

Huh?

Yeah, this guy Samir Kuntar seems to be really popular with (at least some of) the Lebanese. There's a real hero for you that is worth getting into a fcuking war over. They should have just smashed his freaken skull years ago i/o affording him a trial...