"Lucky that we are dealing with Hezbollah today, and not in another two or three years." Ehud Olmert
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Hezbollah (hezb allah or the party of "god") is a pristine example of radical Islamic fundamentalism. When I travelled thru the region years ago, my preconceived notions of Israeli oppression and occupation of a poor minority was quickly shattered by the reality that they live in hornets nest and *have* to do the things that they do. To take a softer approach in any way would quickly translate into the death of the Israeli nation.
Islam, like other strict monotheistic religions, torture the human spirit and trample on freedom. The difference being, it is much worse than the others. The most cruel branch of Islam is the Shi'a, which include most Iranians, Hezbollah, and yes, the majority of Iraqis (but we will save that for another day).
Israels rapid and underplanned withdrawal from southern Lebanon was followed not by a reward of peace, but a blistering series of attacks from a suddenly confident Hezbollah. Instead of securing the peace, they planned for war. With the help of their Iranian masters (the so called Syrian connection is somewhat dubious), there was a huge stockpiling of weapons and tactical training. As a result, Israel is getting barraged by over a hundred rockets everyday, some of which are technologically advanced (they struck the very ship with a radar guided missile that fired a shells trying to kill their leader for instance). Add to this the series of tunnels, IEDs, and fortifications, and it becomes clear why Israel is having such a difficult time making any serious inroads in its campaign.
Still, as quoted by Olmert above, in a few years time, there is little doubt that their fortifications would be even more extensive (including infiltration tunnels on par with the ones connecting Egypt and Gaza), their training would be much more thorough, and their weaponry quite advanced (like the Fajr-5, which could hit anywhere in Israel). To secure the peace for a nation that preserves real freedoms, Hezbollah must be crushed, completely, and irrevocably.
