Hezbollah Balks

Hezbollah is refusing to withdraw from Southern Lebanon unless the Lebanese army promises not to probe for bunkers or weapons caches. The Washington Post reports on negotiations within the Lebanese government.

BEIRUT, Aug. 15 — Hezbollah refused to disarm and withdraw its fighters from the battle-scarred hills along the border with Israel on Tuesday, threatening to delay deployment of the Lebanese army and endangering a fragile cease-fire.

The makings of a compromise emerged from all-day meetings in Beirut, according to senior officials involved in the negotiations, and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora scheduled a cabinet session Wednesday for what he hoped would be formal approval of the deal. Hezbollah indicated it would be willing to pull back its fighters and weapons in exchange for a promise from the army not to probe too carefully for underground bunkers and weapons caches, the officials said.

That isn't a compromise, that is altering the terms of the UN resolution. But never fear, the media can find a way to blame it on the Israelis:

At stake in the standoff was implementation of a crucial provision of the U.N. Security Council cease-fire that went into effect Monday. The accord called for quick deployment of 15,000 Lebanese army troops south of the Litani River along the border with Israel. They were to take up positions under the aegis of a reinforced contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, to form a peacekeeping corps with a total strength of about 30,000.

Hezbollah's reluctance to get its men and arms out of the border zone reflected nervousness over the continuing presence of Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil. But it also demonstrated the militant Shiite Muslim movement's increased assertiveness here after a war of more than a month during which it stood off the Israeli army while Lebanon's national army stood aside. (Emphasis added).

Here is a paragraph that makes me think that things are not exactly going well right now:

Thousands of Lebanese families again filled the roads leading south, heeding a call from Hezbollah that they return immediately to their often-shattered villages. Leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft warned them to stay away, but cars loaded with children and household belongings streamed down the coastal road.

Hezbollah wants its human shields back in place and they are not obeying, or even apparently planning to obey, the terms they agreed to with respect to withdrawing. I am not at all sure this thing is over yet.

UPDATE: From the comment section, Hurricane Harry explains it all.

categories War | Gaius August 15, 2006

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  1. The Right Nation — August 16, 2006 @ 10:31 am

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