Jewish World Review May 31 , 2000 / 26 Iyar, 5760
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
RETREAT IS HARD TO DIGNIFY. And Israel's very
wise decision to withdraw its forces from
southern Lebanon had its moments of
indignity, even chaos.
Yet in the end, it was carried out efficiently,
without sacrificing Israel's principles or its Christian allies in
Lebanon, many of whom have now received refuge in Israel. In
the end, the Israeli military presence was just too costly, not
entirely efficient, and most Israelis especially the mothers and
fathers of army-aged young people wanted out.
Some Israeli right-wingers are moaning. So are some Syrian Army
officers who fear a cutback in the size of their presence in
Lebanon and therefore a cut in the bribes they can squeeze out
of Lebanese businessmen, smugglers and terrorists.
The problem now is that the Lebanese government is still not the
master of its own land. Iran has major influence, as well as
revolutionary militias that control much of Lebanon's mountains
and valleys. Syria's army and functionaries even in diminished
numbers control much of the rest of Lebanon like an
omnipresent Big Brother.
Worse yet, say senior Mideast intelligence sources I've spoken
with, since last May, large quantities of clandestine weapons have
been finding their way into Palestinian refugee camps in southern
Lebanon, especially the Ain Al-Hilwe camp near Sa'ida a
notorious bombshell in itself.
As you might guess, the source of these clandestine arms is Iran,
and the transfer is being coordinated by a dangerous new military
command in Lebanon established by Hezbollah the
Iranian-backed Islamic terrorist army together with seven other
Islamic and secular terrorist organizations opposed to any
Arab-Israeli peace.
The plan is to use the arms to train a new military force of
Palestinian refugees loyal to the new terrorist command.
The blood-drenched groups involved in this horrific scheme
number among the Mideast's worst thugs. In addition to
Hezbollah, they include the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas,
Al-Saiqa and veteran terrorist Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (General Command), the group that many
experts are still convinced had something to do with the downing
of Pan Am 103.
What Hezbollah and its sinister pals hope to do is deepen their
penetration of the Palestinian refugee camps and strengthen their
control over its inhabitants, especially the increasingly desperate
young.
The aims are to enhance the unrealistic determination of many of
the Palestinians in Lebanon to achieve the right of return to what is
now Israel, erode political support for Palestinian mainstream
leader Yasser Arafat and blow up any hope of Mideast peace by
launching new terrorist attacks against Israel from Lebanon.
My sources say the decision to form this joint operational
framework was formed at an emergency secret meeting in Tehran
this year, soon after it became clear that Israel was intent on
withdrawing from Lebanon.
There is one important hitch. Any and all operations of the new
guerilla army are going to require approval from both Iran and
Syria. The fanatic Iranians, who control Hezbollah, always seem
ready to attack Israel. But the Syrians like to play a more delicate
hand. In fact, ailing Syrian dictator Hafez Assad is thought to
believe that only selective use of the terrorist card in Lebanon will
help pressure Israel to hand back the Golan Heights.
Assad and his Iranian buddies are playing a dangerous game.
Having decided to withdraw from Lebanon, Israel did just that.
But Prime Minister Ehud Barak also has made it clear that neither
he nor the Israel Defense Forces will take kindly to any renewed
attacks from the territory of their neighbor to the north. If it comes,
Iran, Syria and Lebanon will have to prepare for some heavy
visiting from the sky by Israel's air force.
The United States, France and other nations that have some
influence in Syria should warn Assad not to push the terror
envelope and everything should be done to try and make
Lebanon as truly self-determining as possible. Now that Israel is
gone, it's time for the world to demand that Syria and Iran go
home as
By Richard Z. Chesnoff
JWR contributor and veteran journalist
Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News
And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News. His latest book is Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe
Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History.
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