With the exception of the Palestinians, the Arab world appears to be united in blaming Iran and Syria for the fighting in Lebanon. Until last week, Arab political analysts and government officials were reluctant to criticize Hizbollah in public. But now that Hizbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his top aides are in hiding, an anti-Hizbollah coalition is emerging not only in Lebanon, but in several other Arab countries as well.
But the response on the Arab street has been so disappointing for Hizbollah that its leaders are now openly talking about an Arab "conspiracy" to liquidate the Shi'ite organization. The few Hizbullah supporters in Ramallah, the Gaza Strip and some Arab capitals have therefore been directing most of their criticism against the Arab presidents and monarchs, accusing them of serving the interests of the US and Israel.J Post
Unfortunately we must admit that in such a war the only way to get rid of "these irregular phenomena" is what Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community Arab Times Online
It appears that the Arab countries are also tired of the terrorist tactics of Hezbollah and Hamas. They are probably ready for some peace and are willing to leave Israel alone.
I have a sneaky suspicion that the Arab countries and the rest of the world are happy that Israel is doing the dirty work of eliminating the troublesome little buggers. Lebanon, while parts of it are being destroy, must be happy that an infection will at last be taken care of.
For the millions of Christian Lebanese, driven out of our homeland, "Thank you Israel," is the sentiment echoing from around the world. LFP
UPDATE:
Krauthammer has an article up that echoes my thoughts.
But the Arab states know that Hezbollah, a Shiite militia in the service of Persian Iran, is a threat not just to Lebanon but to them as well. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have openly criticized Hezbollah for starting a war on what is essentially Iran's timetable (to distract attention from Iran's pending referral to the Security Council for sanctions over its nuclear program). They are far more worried about Iran and its proxies than about Israel. They are therefore eager to see Hezbollah disarmed and defanged.
Fine. Everyone agrees it must be done. But who to do it? No one. The Lebanese are too weak. The Europeans don't invade anyone. After its bitter experience of 20 years ago, the United States has a Lebanon allergy. And Israel could not act out of the blue because it would immediately have been branded the aggressor and forced to retreat
The world is using Israel and will not critize it. They are going to let Israel continue to move into Lebanon, destroy Hezbollah, and then make sure Israel returns any territory back to Lebanon.
But only one country has the capacity to do the job. That is Israel, now recognized by the world as forced into this fight by Hezbollah's aggression.
This is an opportunity for Israel too. For the cost of eliminating Hezbollah, Israel can negotiate with the Arab countries for recognition and peace. They can even get the Arab countries to do something about the Palestinians.
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