The Franchising of Hezbollah

 Avi Davis

25 December 2002      

Arutz Sheva: Those seeking to identify a date for the commencement of
the pitiless Muslim extremist campaign against America, should forget
September 11, 2001. There is a far better candidate for that
distinction. October 23, 1983 stands as America´s first post-World
War II day of infamy. That was the morning Hezbollah guerillas ended
the lives of 241 Marines and over 70 French soldiers at the Beirut
barracks of the multi-national peace-keeping forces in Beirut. The
event claims its mark on history on two counts.
It was the first time a Muslim extremist group had caused mass
casualties against a U. S. target. It was also the first time since
the Second World War that a U.S. military force had failed to seek
retribution for a mass attack against American servicemen. Acting
under a cautious warning from Caspar Weinberg, Ronald Reagan's
Secretary of Defense, the Administration rejected retaliation against
Hezbollah, so as not to threaten a shaky relationship with Saudi
Arabia. Instead, American forces were quickly recalled from Lebanon.
The failure to launch any significant reprisal against this slaughter
of American peace keepers, coupled with the hasty retreat, was to
have catastrophic repercussions. Emboldened by its success,
Hezbollah´s power and prestige in southern Lebanon was greatly
enhanced. In the next five years, it consolidated its political
control over southern Lebanon and took pride in the harassment of the
Israeli forces lodged in the 14 mile deep security zone the Israelis
had created following their 1982 invasion. From 1983 through 1992,
the Israelis suffered 49 suicide attacks by Hezbollah guerillas.
Israel´s hasty withdrawal in May 2000, mimicking the earlier U.S.
retreat, only confirmed what many Muslim extremists had concluded 17
years earlier: neither the Israeli nor American military machines had
the stomach for mass losses or for combating the threat of suicide
bombing.
For the past twenty years Hezbollah, strengthened by support from the
Iranian Mullahs and given freedom of movement by the nominal rulers
of Lebanon in Syria, became the virtual government of southern
Lebanon. In doing so, it began the development of an international
network of financiers and fund raising operations that created a
steady flow of both arms and cash into southern Lebanon. Quietly,
Hezbollah became the model and inspiration for all extremist Muslim
factions - Sunni and Shi´ite alike.
It should therefore come as little surprise that investigations into
the Paradise Hotel bombing and the attack on the Arkia plane in
Mombassa are pointing to the likelihood of collusion between
Hezbollah and al-Qaida. In fact, a clear pattern is emerging that
suggests Hezbollah is actively cooperating with al-Qaida. Western
intelligence has now revealed a high level of cooperation between Bin
Laden and Imad Muganiyeh, the Hezbullah terrorist who masterminded
some of Hezbollah´s most spectacular atrocities and kidnappings in
Lebanon. Reports have Muganiyeh first meeting with Bin Laden as early
as 1995 and those meetings have continued regularly ever since. More
than this, since al-Qaida fled Afghanistan at the end of last year,
the Sunday Telegraph reports, between 80 and 100 al- Qaida fighters
were provided with false passports by Hezbollah before being
relocated to southern Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The same
report acknowledges that Hezbollah, working hand in hand with al-
Qaida, has set up cells in the Far East - including Indonesia,
Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. It is well known
that Hezbollah has operated in Gaza and the West Bank for years, but
the recent revelation by the Shin Bet in Israel - that al-Qaida has
now also joined them there - is chilling evidence of a new level of
cooperation previously unsuspected.
Therefore, in a post-Saddam world, bringing down Hezbollah, whose
headquarters and whereabouts is no secret, should become the American
military´s number one priority. Operating in conjunction with the
IDF, the Hezbollah operation in Southern Lebanon must be brought to
its knees, its operatives throughout the world identified and
eliminated, its financial network dismantled. Syria and Iran must be
threatened with reprisals for their continued financial and strategic
support of Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia should be made to pay the
diplomatic price for its double-faced attitude to the war on terror.
Pursuing al-Qaida may well slake a justified American thirst for
revenge, but eliminating that organization´s progenitor and model
may, in the meantime, be just as effective in conveying a message to
the purveyors of terror. It is a message that the U.S. government
failed, so critically, to deliver 19 years ago.

*Avi Davis is the senior fellow of the Freeman Center for Strategic
Studies in Los Angeles.