The 33 Day War: Israel's war on Hezbollah in Lebanon and its aftermath. Gilbert Achcar with Michel Warschawski Sagi Books 2007 €12.99 Reviewed by Piers Mostyn THE RECENT damning report by the Israeli commission of inquiry into the debacle of the Lebanon war hardly came as a surprise. But criticism was restricted to the ill-judged military strategy and poor preparation as causes of the failure.
The Zionist state is not keen to examine the political factors that underlay the outcome. But this is exactly what Achcar and Warshawski - two seasoned commentators from the respective countries - set out to do.
The main reason for the profound humiliation felt by the Israeli state is the destruction of the myth of its "deterrent power", described by Warshawski as a "colonial arrogance"
The authors demonstrate that the offensive was premeditated even if, due to Zionist hubris, it was
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The desire to reassert Israeli power after the 2000 withdrawal forced by Hezbollah combined with a renewed strategic focus on Iran.
What had previously held Israel back was an understanding that, post-Iraq, conducting an offensive war was politically impossi ble without international support.
It was Washington's corralling of Western governments into backing the invasion that opened the door.
This in turn stemmed from Bush's new war drive against Iran, as the Iraq quagmire deepened, in a desperate attempt to alter the regional balance of forces.
Hopes for strengthening the pro-Western Lebanese government of Prime Minister Finora in the aftermath of the assassination of former PM Rafic Harriri had been dashed.
Mobilisations in the country and international pressure forced Syria to
withdraw. But all that did
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was create a political vacuum exposing the government's political weakness. The result was a strengthening of Hezbollah. Add to this, Hamas's January 2006 election victory in the Palestinian Parliament and Bush was only too willing to urge the Israeli military on - using Hezbollah's kidnap of two Israeli soldiers as an excuse. Having denounced Syria as an external power interfering with Lebanon's democracy and carrying out political assassinations -imperialism sponsored an external intervention that slaughtered over The Zionist 1,000 civilians state is not in a bid to alter
the balance of
keen to forces in that examine the same country.
Achcar critipolitical factors cises
Hezbollah's that underlay
hostage-taking its failure in as "ill-conceived
and wrongly
Lebanon.
timed", but nonetheless describes it as a "legitimate resistance action". He points out that the organisation had only two years earlier secured the liberation of 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners The 33LM flict written by noted experts from the two countries. Israel, whilst offering their assessments of future
for one Israeli soldier. The Lebanese resistance was also able to contain the aggression to the degree that Israel's error in calculation proved far more serious than Hezbollah's. Hezbollah reluctantly accepted the ceasefire terms on the basis of UN resolution 1701, criticised as containing "major time bombs". Both authors argue that a re-run of the war is likely in the short term. This is due to the ceasefire terms which treated Lebanon as the aggressor (!) and placed NATO states in control, combined with Israel's domestic politics with the Zionist establishment haunted by defeat. Having said that, the overall conclusion is that the neo-con vision of global military interventionism may have reached a dead end. The 33 day war was a spectacular failure for Washington's regional bid to sow Shia/Sunni sectarian splits in the Middle East. This was symbolised by the immense popularity of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah even (humiliatingly for the Saudi regime among preachers in the Saudi kingdom. New book by Gilbert Achcar and Michel Warschawski THE 33-DAY WAR Israel's War on Hezbollah in Lebanon and Its Aftermath This is a timely, incisive and richly informed assessment of the recent Israel-Lebanon conThey analyse the regional roles of Syria, Iran and Hamas as well as the politics of the US and Europe. They dissect the political background behind recent actions taken by SPECIAL OFFER £10 including post and packing, Trom Socialist Resistance, PO Box 1109 London N4 9DU.
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17, and distributed at the end of that week. reviews and local news are also welcome. The next issue of Socialist Resistance will be produced on June 16The deadline for feature articles and for letters (which are welcome on any topic, up to 400 words) will be Monday June 11. Diary items,