Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

1. Who Won? - And what will the people of Lebanon think about it?
2. What did Nasrallah really say? - Even Terrorists have trouble with leakers
3. Islamic "Scholars" in the Media - Terrorism is the fault of the West
4. Alan Dershowitz on Hezbollah and Lebanon

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Who Won?

Tony Snow's news conference at the White House earlier this week included a great interchange on the attempt of both Israel and Hezbollah declaring victory. Declarations of victory are irrelevant. What counts is how this looks in Lebanon.

Play clip.

"What good have they done us", indeed. If only the people of Lebanon can come to the understanding that the actions of Hezbollah are the direct cause of all their suffering, the terrorist group will quickly lose their homeland.

What did Nasrallah really say?

There was a rush to declare victory in the Lebanon incident. While listening to these claims of victory, it is important to understand the context. Everyone is afraid for their very survival. If Hezbollah is perceived by the people of Lebanon as bringing down the death and destruction they have experiences in the last four weeks, their days are numbered. I will play a clip from Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Listen to him complain about media leaks on the disarmament of the "Resistance". Thanks to C-SPAN for the video.

Play clip.

I guess even terrorists have a problem with leakers. And who talks like a piece of wood. You got a problem with wood, buddy?

Islamic "Scholars" in the Media

You have to wonder how the media picks the people who are supposed to represent Muslim thought. At Little Green Footballs, Charles Johnson has noticed that radical spokesman Azzam Tamimi is appearing more and more frequently in the media. First I'm going to play an excerpt from an NPR segment where he sounds almost rational. His ideas are suspect, but his presentation is professional and reasonable people can agree or disagree with him. His primary point is that the policies of the west must change before we will be safe from terrorism. Listen to the clip from August 14. It is described as follows:

Steve Inskeep talks to Azzam Tamimi, director of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought, about the group's stand on British policy.

Play clip.

I disagree with his assessment that the west should retreat and stop offensive operations in the war against Islamic Fascists. That only delays the eventual day of reckoning to after Israel has been driven off the map, and its citizens killed. But you have to admit that Mr. Tamimi sounds like a reasonable fellow. But is he? As Little Green Footballs noticed, he has many faces. Here is a clip of him speaking to British Muslims, presumably out of earshot of his mainstream media buddies. What would he like to do to Israel? Listen and learn.

Play clip.

So reasonable. "we have another language, and we have every right to use that language and time will tell and history will tell." I wonder what that language is? Do you suppose it has a word for liquid explosives?

Alan Dershowitz on Hezbollah and Lebanon

He appeared on Bill Bennett's Morning in America earlier in the week to give his view of the Lebanon war.

Play clip.

Hiding among civilians is a tactic that unfortunately works in our current world. Here is what Human Rights Watch had to say about Hezbollah's methods:

said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Our research shows that Israel’s claim that Hezbollah fighters are hiding among civilians does not explain, let alone justify, Israel’s indiscriminate warfare.” The report is based on extensive interviews with victims and witnesses of attacks, visits to some blast sites, and information obtained from hospitals, humanitarian groups, security forces and government agencies.

Notice that they don't refute the claim that Hezbollah is hiding among Lebanese civilians, only that it does not "justify" the Israeli attacks. The warfare was not indiscriminate. It was fierce but necessary with this enemy. And what kind of research organization asks the victims if they were a military target. What do they expect the "civilians" to say? The Human Rights Watch report goes on:

The Israeli government has blamed Hezbollah for the high civilian casualty toll in Lebanon, insisting that Hezbollah fighters have hidden themselves and their weapons among the civilian population. However, in none of the cases of civilian deaths documented in the report is there evidence to suggest that Hezbollah was operating in or around the area during or prior to the attack. “Hezbollah fighters must not hide behind civilians – that’s an absolute – but the image that Israel has promoted of such shielding as the cause of so high a civilian death toll is wrong,” [Kenneth] Roth [executive director of Human Rights Watch] said. “In the many cases of civilian deaths examined by Human Rights Watch, the location of Hezbollah troops and arms had nothing to do with the deaths because there was no Hezbollah around.”

How this organization can expect to retain credibility when they put out this clearly false report is beyond me. They have sold whatever claim to respectability they once had down the tubes.