Hizballah Rebuilds and Regroups

[Kitap Tozu]

Rebuilding and Regrouping

As Lebanese dig themselves out of the rubble, Hizballah's shift from fighting to politicking is reinforcing its support.

The phones in Abu Ahmed's office just wouldn't stop. As the 45-year-old Lebanese businessman pored over the huge map of south Beirut sprawled across his desk, he held a cell phone at each ear. The map in front of him showed dozens of buildings marked red. "Those are the buildings that are completely demolished," he says, as an aide brings in yet another phone for him to answer.

Abu Ahmed is one of Hizballah's point men in the reconstruction of the dahiye, the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital that housed Hizballah's offices and TV station that were hit hardest by the Israeli attacks of recent weeks. Outside his office, many neighborhood residents have lined up with deeds and other official papers to request compensation. Abu Ahmed claims that Hizbullah is paying out an average of $12,000 dollars, roughly equivalent to one years' rent in the neighborhood, to families who lost their homes during the monthlong war. The next phase of activity will focus on shops and businesses that have been damaged.

As the ceasefire with Israel takes a tentative hold, Hizballah's political moves are proving as skillful as the military strategy that denied the legendary Israeli Army a decisive victory. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah moved swiftly to take control of the reconstruction process—or at least create that impression. In a victory speech Monday night, he offered the rent and furniture money to any Lebanese who lost their homes in the war. With disciplined supporters fanning out through Beirut and into the battered south to start the rebuilding, the move was certain to bolster the group's support among Lebanese who already admire its resistance to Israel and its strong network of social services. "The issue now for Hizballah is to prove they are as efficient at peace as they were in war," says Patrick Haenni, an analyst from the International Crisis Group.

Already, Hizballah has spearheaded the reconstruction efforts in the bombed-out Shiite areas of south Beirut. Huge cranes and jackhammers clear mangled concrete from roadways. Volunteers with red T shirts and hats that read VICTORY FROM GOD sweep away rubble in residential areas. At one intersection, a volunteer poured buckets of shattered glass out of the second story window of a shop called Yukon. Many crushed buildings in the neighborhood have been marked with a banner made from plastic sheeting. The banner notes which regional office the owner should go to for compensation, the opening hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and is signed: HIZBALLAH

Source: Newsweek

[il_bilge]

I read the article itself... Well, the rebuilding and restructuring of Hizballah won't stop and/or slow down. You know after the 9/11 attacks, president Bush declared that the war on terrorism would be fought not just against al-Qaeda but also against "every terrorist group of global reach". According to United States, Hizballah can certainly be said to fit in that category. The USA wants to constrain these groups, Hizballah, or the Palestinian Islamist Organization Hamas...etc. They threaten its ally Israel. Hizballah was formed in 1982 as most people know. The solid aim was to resist Israel's occupation of Lebanon.

Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah's arranging for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers led to these tragic events. I don't believe that Hizballah is as highly dangereous terrorist group as USA puts them in the way. They believe that Hizballah has the same mind-set and agenda as the global jihadis of al-Qaeda and its imitator groups. But they are not the same. Hizballah's military mission is principally to defend Lebanon from Israeli intrusion and secondarily to destroy the Jewish State. They have to struggle in both military and poltical ways...