Agony of Victory

Nasrallah has reared his ugly mug in public for the first time in weeks at a rally in Beirut proclaiming Hizbullah's victory in its war with Israel. If victory for Hizbullah means billions of dollars of infrastructure destroyed, hundreds of its thugs killed, weapons caches destroyed, and UN forces now patrolling the border ostensibly to thwart smuggling of arms and personnel into Lebanon to replace its losses, I'd love to see what Nasrallah would consider Hizbullah's defeat.

The Jerusalem Post notes that hundreds of thousands of Hizbullah supporters packed a field awaiting Nasrallah to speak to them on the group's future.

Nasrallah will deliver a "landmark historic speech" about his group's weapons, Hizbullah spokesman Hussein Rahhal said. Nasrallah will outline "prospects for the next stage in Lebanon" and address international calls for his group's disarmament, as well as the deployment of UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, which for years has been controlled by the militant group, Rahhal told The Associated Press.

The UN-brokered cease-fire that ended fighting between the guerrillas and Israel on August 14 calls for Hizbullah to eventually be stripped of its weapons, but Nasrallah has so far been defiant.

Meanwhile, Deputy-General Guy of the Givati Brigades currently patrolling southern Lebanon said Friday morning that even if Nasrallah attended the Hizbullah victory rally later that day, the IDF would not attempt to assassinate him.

"I don't think it is the correct thing to do, certainly not to the masses of people attending the rally who, although support Hizbullah, do not deserve to die," he said, adding that the IDF was unmoved by the victory march.

Hizbullah sources indicated that Nasrallah intended to attend the rally planned to showcase the group's insistence it won't disarm, Army Radio reported.

What is left unmentioned is that if Nasrallah and Hizbullah refuse to disarm, it is up to the UN and Lebanese government to disarm the terror group under the terms of UN SCR 1701, 1559, 426, and 425. Their failure or inability to disarm Hizbullah, by force if necessary, would undermine the legitimacy of the Lebanese government.

UPDATE:
So, Nasrallah's claiming that they still have 20,000 rockets at their disposal in Lebanon. Well, that gives the UNIFIL a nice round number to shoot for in their disarmament of the terror group as per UN SCR 1701.