Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Power Line Blog points to today's David Ignatius Washington Post piece, "Hezbollah's Success."
Power Line takes Ignatius to task both for his acceptance of the invitation to speak at a Hezbollah conference, for his tepid comments and for the fact that such a "sophisticated commentator like Ignatius" comes back with such a pedestrian, "tell us what we don't already know" conclusion. Ignatius:
...This stark assessment makes clear that suicide bombings are part of a very deliberate strategy. They aren't driven by poverty, neglect, irrational fanaticism or the other factors Westerners often cite. They are motivated by a belief that killing Israelis will bring military victory...
Well, sadly, many don't understand that, so it can't hurt to repeat it, but it is a bit funny that it took a trip to Lebanon to find it out.
Ignatius concludes:
...I wish these critical comments reflected the views of the conference as a whole. But the reality is that most delegates probably agree with Hezbollah's analysis: Suicide bombings are working. They have enraged and frightened a powerful adversary. Israel's problem isn't simply the bombs but the long line of people who want to be bombers.
Of course, in many respects, if the bombing is working, if there's a driving force keeping the bombers flowing, Ignatius's paper is partly to blame.
