Hezbollah Triumphant in South Lebanon Polls

The Bush administration decided that, once there was no hope of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the justification of the war against the Saddamite regime would be spreading democracy in the Middle East. “Democracy is on the march” the White House claims. Well, in South Lebanon, where ballot counting finished in the second of a four-stage national election, Hezbollah and its Amal movement allies won 23 out of 23 seats. When the supporters of Islamic fundamentalism vote, they seem to vote for Islamic fundamentalists. Is that, somehow, what Americans are dying for in Iraq?

So, what does one do when the people in the great sacrament of democracy vote for a terrorist organization? Waffling and blustering seem to be the order of the day. Scott McClellan, the Bush administration spokesman, said, “In terms of Hezbollah, I think our views are well known and they remain unchanged. You have a security council resolution which calls for the disarming of groups like Hezbollah, and that remains our view."

And disarming is the last thing the organization intends to do. Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, told Reuters, “The win . . . is the decisive expression of our people's rejection of resolution 1559,” the resolution to which Mr. McClellan mentioned. Mr. Raad also said, "It is an expression of our people's commitment to protect the path, choice and weapons of the resistance." And just why does Hezbollah think it needs weapons? Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who also heads the Amal movement, explained in the same Reuters story, "The resistance is the natural result of Israel's aggression and its wars and massacres against Lebanon." The Israelis occupied the south of Lebanon, where the voting just took place, for 22 years.

What do the Israelis have to say? Mark Regev of the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated, "Hezbollah is unfortunately a heavily armed terrorist organization. The solution to Lebanon's problems will begin with the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarming of Hezbollah."

Except that Hezbollah just won every parliamentary seat in south Lebanon. Clearly, the people of that region, who voted 80% for it and Amal, back the idea of armed resistance to Israeli policies. That support, validated by the democratic sacrament of voting, makes it less likely that the guns will go away any time soon. When the people vote for war, there is no hope for peace. Someone in Washington needs to learn that. Democracy is no better than the common people who engage in it.



© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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