Nasrallah's Surprise

A Warning from Beirut's No Bluff Zone

By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch

"......From the Israeli and American perspective, as well as from the same Arab states, there is still a score to settle. As previously mentioned, the next war is more likely to be started from within, at the hands of extremist Sunni groups deliberately brought into Lebanon by the current government. If this plan fails, or even if it does not, Israel is no doubt contemplating another assault, thinking it can learn from previous mistakes and amend its strategy.

So what will be Nasrallah's "surprise"?......

Could it be more sophisticated weaponry, a new guidance system, or a longer-range missile? Possibly. But Nasrallah in his speech, broadcast to throngs gathered in the dahiyah, said it would "change the fate of the war and the region."

Should Israel be foolish enough to attack, might Nasrallah again unite Shia and Sunni, this time on an ever wider scale, against intervention and occupation? Or demonstrate how a popular resistance movement can defeat, time and time again, a militarized nation? He has already helped people believe they have the power to reject the authority of corrupt governments which pretend to defend their interests but instead defend those of the United States and Israel. And if these same regimes should again watch passively as Israel ravages Lebanon, the citizens of those countries may even decide to take matters into their own hands. All these events would change the Middle East landscape as we know it.

Regardless what it is, Nasrallah's surprise will only come as one to those who believe he is bluffing. As history has shown, that is something he does not do."