Lebanon

There are two somewhat different takes on the lull in flattening Southern Lebanon (I mean, certainly it is a cease-fire, but I doubt an end to the conflict is near). First, Anthony Shadid reports for the Washington Post that Hezbollah is the whackest relief force since the Rescue Rangers. They're all over the place, busting relief moves, clearing rubble, and getting ready to dole out $150 million from Iran.

The people, they love them their Hezzy relief dudes, and they'll say it LOUD and PROUD. Of course, the presence of Hezbollah fighters playing relief worker during all the interviews made no difference to the answers they gave.

Sure. Hey, nice bulldozer! Nice RPG! We love you guys!

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail managed to get a few interviews out of earshot from the Hezbollah "relief workers." Their piece on the relief effort: Relief gives way to rage for Lebanese villagers. Hmmm

Apparently, there are plenty of southern Lebanese people who question whether Hezbollah was working entirely in their best interests when they drew Israeli fire on the region.

Anger rising, Mr. Arbid launched into a string of unprintable curses aimed at both Israel and Hezbollah.

"For me, Israel and Hezbollah are the same. I just want to live in peace, and to collect some money," he said. Despite Hezbollah's propaganda, there was no victory for the Lebanese people to celebrate, he said. "I can't explain how it feels. I'm so sad, I'm so depressed."

I'm reading quite a bit of Hezbollah triumphalism these days. It's as though the media is uncritically printing somebody's 'talking points.' They would never do that, though, would they?

The expectation was that if Hezbollah put up a decent fight and didn't disintegrate in the face of Israeli arms, it would be a victory for them. So, in doing just that, they must have won, right?

But when you pick a fight with the toughest kid in school and get your butt kicked all over the place, the fact that you still have a tooth in your head is a pyrrhic victory at best. Okay, you took your lumps, but the other pencil-necks on the playground will not be singing your praises if you get their butts kicked as well.

So before we hand Hezbollah the trophy on this one, let's look at the real results - the results the Lebanese people will have to live with for a very long time. Hezbollah became a darling of the Arab world because they fought Israel and because they launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians - even while combating soldiers.

That gives them an open lunch date in Tehran and Cairo and Gaza, but for the human shield that got more than a few dents, I think they'll be less than fully welcome.

I'll believe that the cease-fire has some staying power when the Lebanese Army actually moves into the region, and when Hezbollah moves out. Until then, it's just a breather to re-arm, and all those civilians who rushed back to their broken homes will likely be rushing right back out again.

Hezbollah will not be able to hold back - they'll attack again and Israel will retaliate.