Dar Al Hayat: "Hezbollah, A Superpower…Domestically!"

Very interesting:

Secretary General of Hezbollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, during his interview with Al-Manar Television Tuesday night, repeated his claim that Lebanon had turned into an important regional power after the victory of the Resistance in the face of the Israeli war on Lebanon in July and August. He said in his speech at the Victory Festival on September 22 that Lebanon had turned into a regional superpower after its success at putting the breaks on one of the most powerful armies present, that is, the Israeli army, thanks to the losses inflicted in its ranks by the Resistance.

The fact is, and this is indisputable, that by achieving these results in the face of Israel, the Resistance gave an example of how Israel can be defeated, contrary to the slackening and submission of the Arabs in the face of Israel, as a result of their repeated defeats in their wars with Israel. Of course, this is in almost complete harmony with what the US wants from the Arabs in their long-standing conflict with what is an alien entity in the region.

This fact is reflected in that, at the very least, Hezbollah achieved something positive despite the tremendous losses to the party and to the country. This is undeniable, even by those who tend to only talk about the major losses brought on by Hezbollah in this war. That is, the incalculable damage that struck Lebanon, which many describe as a cataclysmic disaster.

Perhaps this is what takes us toward understanding the meaning of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had to say: Lebanon has become a regional superpower, since pride among the Resistance fighters and the Arab and Lebanese citizenry makes such a conclusion natural. They have every right to be proud of the Resistance's ability to defeat Israel. This is particularly true if factor the tremendous popularity Nasrallah has come to enjoy from the Atlantic to the Gulf. He has become the primary symbol of steadfastness against the demeaning policies pursued by the US and Israel against the Arabs. This definitely reinforces the sense of grandness with the victory that was achieved.

But it is also certain that Sayyed Nasrallah used this expression, "Lebanon is a regional superpower", in the metaphorical sense. It was intended to highlight the importance of the victory over Israel in the face of those who downplay the importance of the sacrifices made by the party and the ill effects left by the enemy on the country. He realizes that the specifications of being a superpower differ from the specifications enjoyed by the State of Lebanon. These specifications, starting with the economy and history, include the factors of culture and scientific capability and social structure, before ending in military capabilities. Lebanon is a fragile State, despite its people's exceptional dynamism, and despite the conviction of its Arab neighbors for the need to continue supporting Lebanon so that it does not to fall. Despite this, the fact is that one of the factors of its fragility, its diversity, was one of the very factors that maintained the legitimacy of the Resistance and allowed Hezbollah to continue to bear arms, specifically to spare the Lebanese mosaic from cracking.

More appropriately, it should be said that it is Hezbollah that is a regional superpower, not Lebanon. The party is more coherent and united at the cultural, scientific, military, political, and even financial levels than the Lebanese State, not to mention its alliance with a country that can truly be described as a regional superpower, Iran, and with a pivotal Arab country in the region, Syria. This becomes even truer if you take into account its regional achievements against Israel.

In his interview with Al-Manar, the Secretary General of Hezbollah transferred the state of being a regional superpower from his party to the domestic Lebanese situation, speaking to thousands of Lebanese from this stance. He took a tone full of threats and commands, while also adopting a language of compromise, willing to accept the participation of others in the resolution and that Fouad Siniora remain head of government.

Such projections of regional grandeur from the party to the internal Lebanese makeup can result in nothing but destructive lapses, since the true regional superpower, when it imposed its 'grandness' on this internal makeup, lapsed in a way that had disastrous consequences. The matter will become destructive if the party tries to transfer its state of being a superpower to its sect, much as was the case with the Maronite leadership in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They turned their sect into a superpower and reaped what they sowed. Maybe this is the danger that Speaker Nabih Berry senses in his attempt to objectively place himself at the centre of Lebanon's contradictions.

The General Secretary had on previous occasions responded to the 'boyish' remarks made by some of the representatives of the majority that the party has been weakened by the Israeli war on Lebanon. These remarks were also made by American officials, and Hassan Nasrallah considered that those few Lebanese who had come out with that conclusion were 'stupid' (he said this in his interview with Al-Jazeera following the end of the war).

The results of projecting the party's regional power, thanks to the victory over Israel, onto the Lebanese internal makeup become even more destructive if it becomes mixed with this feeling that others are trying to belittle the party; that is, what took place when these irresponsible remarks were made. This lethal mixture gives birth to contradictory and uncongenial conduct.

In that case, who is going to be able to convince the other sects and their leaders, when Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warns and threatens, the he will not bolster himself with the 20,000 rockets he has left over? This is in spite his reassurances that he will not use these weapons against the domestic situation.

Tags: Israel, Lebanon, Nasrallah, Hizbullah