SwiftVets.com

[homesteader]

Wejh or "face" is a Middle Eastern concept little understood by us in the
West yet vitally important to understand when dealing with Middle Easteners (even Israelis). Understanding this concept would help our State Dept. turn the current mess in Lebanon into an opprotunity to make real the "longer lasting" solution they seek.

It was after the Egyptian "victory" during the '73 Yom Kippur War that Sadat had the "wejh" (in his own mind and in the mind of the Egyptians) to face Israel as an equal and make peace. Never mind that his Army was surrounded and starving on his own land. He had pulled a quick one on the once untouchable Israeli's and in his mind, had the US not poured a new air force and mountains of supplies into Israel, Israel would have had to sue for peace from a defensive position.

As things stand now in Lebanon, Hizballah has gained a lot of wejh to build on their claim that they forced Israel to withdraw from its occupation of South Lebanon begun in '82. If the US and Israel can bear to let the Lebanese think they fought Israel with valor and honor, give Lebanon back the useless hunk of land called the Shebaa Farms and recognize a permanent border, this recent crisis in Lebanon could result in a permanent peace deal like Israel has with Egypt and Jordan.

Like it or not Hizballah is now an integral part of Lebanese life. It is not going away. Letting them claim that they were able to restore all Lebanese territory may well divert their fixation on "the Zionist entity" to the gains they can make in Lebanese politics and society. (BTW, Israel did not take the Shebaa Farms from Lebanon but from Syria in '67. Prior to that it was the Lebanese and Syrains who argued over control.)

[docford]

I'm not convinced of that this is a valid argument. Regardless of the military outcome, all sides can spin the result to their own audience. For instance, if Israel decides that the buffer zone is wide enough and stops the offensive, Hezbollah will declare that it halted the Israelis in their tracks. And, the Arab world will buy into that interpretation. It does not matter what is the real motive. Both will claim victory. The only losers are the Lebanese people, because its government was too weak and afraid to deal with Hezbollah (the dinner guest that refuses to leave).
_________________
Doc Ford
HMC (SW) USN

[docford]

The only long term solution is for Hezbollah to be militarily castrated, and then summarily destroyed.
_________________
Doc Ford
HMC (SW) USN

[homesteader]

As nice as the militarty castration and destruction of Hizballah would be, it is not going to happen militarily. As for both sides claiming victory.....that is the whole point. Hizballah will only disarm when it becomes more to their advantage to do so in order to gain status and influence within the Lebanese system. Right now they gain face and stature by standing up to Israel on behalf of the Lebanese. And the Israelis are playing right into their game not only raising their face value in Lebanon and the Arab world but in the entire Muslim world. (Elements of The Mouse That Roared).

We have read lots recently about the new dimension of warfare with the coming of nonstate combatants. Back in the good old days wars were ended with the destruction of one side. That is not going to happen here or in Kashmir or Sri Lanka or Sudan or Somalia, or Chechnia or the Congo as it didn't happen in Northern Ireland. The end of conflict will not come at a ceremony on the deck of a battleship followed by an exchange of prisoners. Additionally, when one side in the conflict is willing to martyr themselves through suicide, the other side can not make conditions bad enough (short of genocide) to force capitulation.

Arab pride is an element that can be exploited. The Israelis watch in amusement as each year the Egyptians parade and celebrate the great victory of '73. They let them celebrate and have their fun and in return, the Israelis for years have not had the Egyptian Army to worry about. They both know they won.

I spent many years as an advisor to various Arab militaries. Their "face" made them reluctant to accept most of what I would recommend but many were the days when I would drive home smirking because one of them had just come to me and suggested that we try something he had just thought of.

We are not going to get a solution in Lebanon if each sides insists that the other admit defeat. Yet I see great potential that Hizballah can be manipulated into turning its sights on increased stature for the, until now, third class status of Shiites in Lebanon. That will not happen if they are pounded back into the arms of madmen like Ahmadinijad.

[DADESID]

I have to wonder.....

Are the Arab Shiites Arabs first?... or Shiites first? After all, it was Iraqi Arab Shiites who bore the brunt of the war against the Iranians (also Shiites).

The Iraqi Shiites weren't particularly Saddam (Sunni) lovers, but they composed the vast majority of the Iraqi army's enlisted ranks.

If religion trumps ethnicity in that region, I have to wonder why the Iraqi Shiites fought so hard against Iran.

[jwb7605]