A Year Removed From the Hizbullah War

One year ago, Hizbullah began a devastating war against Israel - devastating mostly for Lebanon, which still suffers from the destruction of infrastructure by Israeli forces determined to root out Hizbullah.

The problem is that Hizbullah is still there, and itching for another fight. They've been rearmed by Iran, and while much of South Lebanon remains damaged, Hizbullah's will to fight hasn't.

A year after the Second Lebanon War, in the villages of south Lebanon the destruction is apparent everywhere. Life has not yet returned to normal, the water supply to some of the houses is cut off, and the power supply is also interrupted.

Hizbullah's fighters, on the other hand, have made a full recovery and are prepared for a potential future confrontation with the IDF. The sophisticated weapons provided by Iran since the ceasefires are ready to go into use.

At least 70 percent of the residents of Bint Jbeil, the Shiites' capital, have left the village. Despite the dozens of Hizbullah flags that are hung throughout the village and hundreds of posters proclaiming victory placed along the South's roads, one can not detect overt Hizbullah presence; no armed men on the streets, only top leaders of the organization know the whereabouts of the weapon depots.

Yet, Hizbullah is keeping an eye on every suspicious move. Young men on motorcycles roam the streets of Bint Jbeil. Several residents claim they are Hizbullah and that the UN Resolution will not stop them.

"We are Hizbullah. Israelis don't understand that our warriors are the residents of the area. They are farmers working their olive and tobacco fields. Over the years they realized that Israel is the enemy of the Lebanese people.

Hizbullah is the enemy of the Lebanese people, and they are entirely responsible for dragging the country into a disasterous war. Israel did not initiate that conflict; Hizbullah did by invading Israel to capture Israeli soldiers - Goldwasser and Regev - and killed and wounded several other Israeli soldiers. Israel's response was to recover those soldiers, and to deal Hizbullah a fatah blow. UNIFIL failed to do its job under UN SCR 1559, which required disarmament of all militias operating in Lebanon and securing Lebanon's territorial integrity, and it continues to fail as Hizbullah has rearmed despite the claims that UNIFIL is disarming them.

UPDATE:
As though you didn't need another reminder that UNIFIL is useless and Hizbullah was rearming to a strength not seen since last year's war, we have this (Hat Tip: Charles at LGF):

A poster that shows Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with Arabic writing reading: ‘more than twenty thousand missile,’ is seen on a displayed armored vehicle in the southern village of Qassimiyeh, Lebanon Wednesday, July 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)