Thursday, June 26, 2008

Hamas and Hezbollah Gain, Almost Hand in Hand

Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani

"CAIRO, Jun 26 (IPS) - Hezbollah's dramatic seizure of Beirut last month stunned observers and dealt a heavy blow to Washington's Lebanese allies. In Cairo, analysts compared the episode to last year's takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, noting that both actions were pre-emptive -- rather than offensive -- in nature......

"Gaza and Beirut confirmed the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East," Thabet told IPS. "Hamas and Hezbollah have proven themselves forces to be reckoned with -- extremely organised, militarily competent and enormously popular."

This opinion was supported in a Jun. 4 editorial by Palestinian-U.S. political analyst Ramzy Baroud.

"The failures of US/Israeli policies in Lebanon and Palestine seem to have brought an end -- for now -- to the chaos agenda once espoused with such enthusiasm," Baroud wrote in the Dubai-based Khaleej Times. "Lebanon has not completely succumbed to civil strife, and Palestinians in Gaza are still not willing to unconditionally submit to Israel's political diktats." "

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