The Dark Genius of Hizbullah - Jonathan Kay
The 2006 Lebanon War will be remembered as an important milestone in the long war between the West and militant Islam. While the Taliban and al-Qaeda are alienating their would-be followers with nihilistic violence, Hizbullah has developed a strategy that combines terrorism with sophisticated guerilla warfare, state-of-the-art weaponry, savvy public relations, charismatic leadership and state sponsorship. The group's surprisingly strong effort a year ago highlighted at least a half-dozen important innovations in Islamist war-making.
The 2006 Lebanon War will be remembered as an important milestone in the long war between the West and militant Islam. While the Taliban and al-Qaeda are alienating their would-be followers with nihilistic violence, Hizbullah has developed a strategy that combines terrorism with sophisticated guerilla warfare, state-of-the-art weaponry, savvy public relations, charismatic leadership and state sponsorship. The group's surprisingly strong effort a year ago highlighted at least a half-dozen important innovations in Islamist war-making.
In public relations, al-Qaeda and the Taliban are shadowy organizations that occasionally emit videos full of rambling apocalyptic speechifying. Hizbullah, on the other hand, operates a professional satellite channel, Al-Manar television. When Israeli bombs went astray and killed civilians, Hizbullah media handlers quickly descended on the scene to manage the coverage.
(National Post-Canada)
(National Post-Canada)
1 comment:
Quite a picture you chose there! I am impressed by your own ability to weave the world of Harry Potter into your own mideast soundbites tapestry.
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