Hezbollah

Could this be the beginning of the end of Hezbollah? For the first time since its official emergence in 1985, Lebanon's powerful Shiite "Party of God" is feeling nervous about its future as an autonomous and untouchable politico-military organization. It is not a potential war with Israel that is making Hezbollah anxious, though it is doing everything it can to prevent one from happening. Instead, what deeply worries Hezbollah is a string of events that could unfold at home following an expected indictment of the group — or at least rogue elements within it — by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)

Your report on the Israeli strike on missiles in Syria bound for Hezbollah shows how the warmongering nation of Israel continues to use the billions of dollars in military aid it receives from the U.S. every year to wage war against its neighbors - for which we get the blame ("Israel defends strikes in Syria," May 6). Israel has bombed not only Syria, but also Lebanon and Gaza twice, while threatening Iran on a daily basis. In addition, Israel brutally occupies the Palestinians, stealing their land and water.

PHILADELPHIA -- On my office bulletin board hangs a yellowing Newsweek cover from Oct. 3, 1983, with the headline "Lebanon - Is There a Way Out?" The headline refers to getting U.S. troops out of Lebanon, where they were sent by President Ronald Reagan on a humanitarian mission that soon soured. I came to The Inquirer that fall from Beirut, where I had been covering Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath. Scenes of U.S. Marines wading ashore last week to help evacuate Americans made me flash back to the destruction of a Marine barracks by a Hezbollah truck bomber 20 days after that Newsweek cover appeared.

Commentator Ray McGovern charges Israel with using the pretext of alleged Iranian support for terrorism, to "whip up support for war" ("Is Israel fixing the intel? Netanyahu's rhetoric has echoes of Bush administration's justification for the Iraq war," July 31). The day before Mr. McGovern's commentary appeared, The Times of India reported that police in Delhi had concluded that "the suspects involved in the February 13 bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in India's capital were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the nation's military.

Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim group that captured two Israeli soldiers earlier this week, has long been one of the deadliest militant organizations in the Middle East and one of Israel's most potent foes. The group was born in 1982 in reaction to an Israeli invasion of Lebanon that reached Beirut, the Lebanese capital, but the organization now has tentacles that experts say extend well beyond its home base in Lebanon's predominantly Shiite south. Operating freely in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah, "The Party of God," receives financial and material aid from Iran, with many of the weapons being transferred through Syria.

JERUSALEM -- An agreement that had limited fighting in southern Lebanon appears on the verge of collapse after Hezbollah guerrillas shelled northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli attacks in Lebanon.The collapse of the understanding could lead to a large-scale bombardment of Lebanese towns similar to the one Israel carried out in 1993.At least three Lebanese and two Israelis have died since Friday in the tit-for-tat shelling spilling over both sides of the southern Lebanon zone occupied by Israeli troops.

As countries join the United Nations mission meant to bolster the cease-fire in south Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, the European Union continues to block implementation of one of its own counterterrorism programs aimed at breaking official ties with terrorist groups and seizing any European-based terrorist assets. Even in the wake of Hezbollah rocket attacks that killed dozens of Israeli civilians and sent hundreds of thousands into shelters or fleeing northern Israel this summer, the 25-member EU has yet to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

BAALBEK, Lebanon -- The Hezbollah guerrilla chief suspected in the Buenos Aires bomb attack that killed 96 people says he and other Lebanese are "the main victims" of terrorism, not the perpetrators.Sheik Subhi Tufayli said the West has picked the wrong villain in condemning Muslim guerrillas. He said his followers have a "divine right" to oppose steps toward peace with Israel, such as yesterday's opening of a border crossing between Israel and Jordan.Before presiding over that ceremony at the Red Sea, U.S. Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher was in Syria to appeal for curbs on the activities of Sheik Tufayli and the Hezbollah "Party of God."

AARAB SALIM, Lebanon -- The Israeli big guns thunder regularly from the hilltops above this town; the whistle of their artillery shells cuts the air. Sometimes the slow rat-tat of machine gun fire follows.These are warning shots mostly, the huff and puff of prefight threats. At night, the Hezbollah will reply. They emerge from tunnels dug into the hard ground of a nearby hill, steal along the foliage of a babbling stream and launch their small hand-held rockets toward the Israeli posts or beyond, into Israel.

WASHINGTON -- The United States and Israel have launched a diplomatic effort to prevent other countries from helping rearm Hezbollah, warning that a resumption of the weapons flow could ignite new fighting in Lebanon just as the cease-fire begins to take hold. Officials have been pressing major world arms suppliers - notably Russia and China - not to allow their weaponry to find its way to the Lebanese militant group. They have also been urging Turkish officials to prevent any flow of weapons across their land or airspace.

Could this be the beginning of the end of Hezbollah? For the first time since its official emergence in 1985, Lebanon's powerful Shiite "Party of God" is feeling nervous about its future as an autonomous and untouchable politico-military organization. It is not a potential war with Israel that is making Hezbollah anxious, though it is doing everything it can to prevent one from happening. Instead, what deeply worries Hezbollah is a string of events that could unfold at home following an expected indictment of the group — or at least rogue elements within it — by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)

KANNAMACHI, Japan - It seems that whenever Israel responds to violent overtures from groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, leaders of the international community are quick to assign equal condemnation to Israelis and Palestinians regardless of whether one is legitimately acting in self-defense. Whether it is the result of latent anti-Semitism, the desire to avoid inflaming fundamentalist Arab passions or simply an unrealistic belief in equality, world leaders are focusing too much on buzzwords.

WASHINGTON - Rockets launched yesterday into northern Israel from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon heightened fears that the border region is on the verge of a broader new conflict between Israel and Islamic militants. Mideast diplomats rushed to point out that the rockets were launched not by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based radical militia that fought Israel to a bloody standstill in 2006, but by independent Palestinians. Others saw a chilling reminder that events in the volatile region can easily spin out of control and that serious fighting could erupt on Israel's northern border as the violence in Gaza intensifies.

Iran, the ultimate mischief maker with global reach, astounding patience, a shameless marriage to mayhem and terrorism, and interests that fall squarely in opposition to those of the United States, is making major diplomatic inroads under Washington's nose. It's amazing, really. Iran, after all, is regarded by most of the world as an outlaw country. Sanctions are in place on much of its military-industrial complex, and international loan guarantees are virtually impossible to come by. The Iranian economy is in tatters.

The images were jarring: A young woman standing in the embrace of the prime minister of Israel, her outstretched hand placed atop the flag-draped coffin of her soldier husband. A 46-year-old man in fatigues, freed from an Israeli prison, standing proudly beside the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and smiling. Karnit Goldwasser will be a widow longer than she was a wife. Two years after her husband Ehud was abducted in a cross-border raid that started the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, the remains of First Sergeant Goldwasser were returned to her in a black box this week.

Life more complex than any one test As a high school English teacher, I agree with Walt Gardner that teaching to the test is an approach that needs to be fully understood ("Teaching to the test: Good teachers do it," Commentary, May 21). But I'm afraid that others in positions to influence curriculum and instruction might misinterpret his words and use them to support practices that shortchange our students. For instance, if school administrators believe, as Mr. Gardner does, that "it would be irresponsible for a teacher to provide students with practice writing descriptive or narrative essays that aren't the type to be tested," as it would not help them master "persuasive essays - the types of essays that are on the test," then they might limit the curriculum to one particular kind of writing - the kind on the test - at the expense of other forms of expression that might allow students to explore their voices and foster their creativity.

MERJ 'UYUN, Lebanon --Lebanese army soldiers, with the nation's red, white and cedar tree flag waving from trucks and vintage armored personnel carriers, began crossing the Litani River at dawn yesterday in a deployment that was more about symbolism than security. The Lebanese army's move into the southern fiefdom that Hezbollah controlled for nearly two decades marked the potential beginning of a diplomatic way out of the bitter monthlong conflict with Israel, whose vaunted army bogged down against a smaller force of skilled and entrenched guerrillas.

JERUSALEM -- Eight Lebanese civilians were killed yesterday when Israel conducted its first strike against the militant Islamic group Hezbollah since the government accused it of attacking Jewish and Israeli institutions abroad, south Lebanese security sources said.An Israeli Army spokeswoman apologized for what she said was the mistaken bombing of a home in the village of Deir Zaharani.The spokeswoman said that "innocent civilians are not a target," and that the army "expresses sorrow for the casualties."

As the Bush administration sought last week to play down Hezbollah's success in boosting its power and legitimacy in Lebanon, the militant group's rising influence around the world has led some intelligence and counterterrorism officials to ask whether the Iranian-financed organization has grown more dangerous to the United States than al-Qaida. Though few believe Hezbollah would launch an attack in the West, continued hostility between the United States and Iran could significantly raise the threat level here, several former counterterrorism officials and analysts said - especially if the tensions evolve into full-blown conflict.

MENIEH, Lebanon -- After almost a week of street battles that left scores dead and threatened to push the country into open war, long-simmering Sunni-Shiite tensions here have sharply worsened, in an ominous echo of the civil conflict in Iraq. Hezbollah's brief takeover of Beirut led to brutal counterattacks in northern Lebanon, where Sunni Muslims deeply resented the Shiite militant group's display of power. The violence energized radical Sunni factions, including some affiliated with al-Qaida, and extremist Sunni Web sites across the Arab world have been buzzing with calls for a jihad to avenge the wounded pride of Lebanese Sunnis.