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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
The aftermath: Hezbollah
facing a looming loss
Israel’s and Hezbollah’s
War of the Rockets has
entered a new phase:
the War of the Wallets, the
race to gain political capi
tal by rebuilding southern
Lebanon.
Diplomats and military
analysts continue to debate
The War of the Rockets. The
conventional wisdom - or
more accurately, the wisdom
of first impressions - said
Israel lost the military war
and Hezbollah won by sur
viving.
But the emerging “big pic
ture” suggests the War of
the Rockets physically pun
ished and politically dam
aged Hezbollah, despite its
media touts of victory.
On the other hand, Israel
cannot claim a victory - at
least, not yet.
What did Hezbollah lose?
The Israel-Hezbollah war
began with Lebanon as a
“hijacked nation state.”
Hezbollah (supported by
Iran and Syria) controlled
southern Lebanon and
Lebanon’s southern border,
which put the area in a geo
political limbo. Southern
Lebanon was not fully sov
ereign Lebanese territory.
At the moment, Israel
exerts more control over
Lebanon’s southern border
than Hezbollah, U.N. peace
keepers or the Lebanese
government. That may not
be an Israeli win, but it is no
victory laurel for Hezbollah’s
leader, Hassan Nasrullah.
Hezbollah still dominates
swaths of southern Lebanon
and in those areas retains
the ability to intimidate
Lebanese locals and fire rock
ets at various current and
potential adversaries - Israel
for sure, but also U.N. peace
keepers and the Lebanese
Army. However, positioning
Lebanese government forces
and U.N. peacekeepers in
south Lebanon could slowly
diminish Hezbollah’s mili
tary and political capacities.
Yes, peacekeepers could
end up protecting Hezbollah.
However, if the United
Tiger beetles potent weapon against pests
By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
About 50 men and women
crowded around University
of Georgia entomologist Kris
Braman as she demonstrat
ed how quickly a pair of tiger
beetles attack and devour
an armyworm. The group’s
attraction wasn’t just mor
bid curiosity.
Georgia golf course and
landscape industry profes
sionals spend millions of
dollars each year controlling
armyworms and other cater
pillars, so they were rooting
for the beetle.
A UGA College
of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences
professor, Braman was one
of 19 UGA scientists who
shared their latest findings
with more than 900 visitors
at the 2006 Turfgrass Field
Day held Aug. 14 on the
college’s campus in Griffin.
Braman’s research focuses
on controlling insects that
feed on Georgia turfgrasses
and ornamental plants. Her
subjects include fall army
worms, Japanese beetles,
chinch bugs and two-lined
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Nations’ military Rules of
Engagement (ROE) are
robust, Hezbollah’s abil
ity to act will be very cir
cumscribed. The United
Nations’ 1995 failure to pro
tect Srbrenica, Bosnia, is a
huge stain that aggressive
policing in south Lebanon
would help remove.
I f
Turkish
troops are
part of the
U.N. con
tingent,
Hezbollah
will face
even stiff
er political
and mili
tary con
straints.
Turkey
wants
-5E
Austin Bay
Military Affairs
Creators Syndicate
to make the case that its
confrontation with the
Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) in northern Iraq is
analogous to the one Israel
faces with Hezbollah. A
Turkish U.N. contingent
would be a tough Muslim
opponent for Hezbollah.
Hezbollah isn’t poised to
win The War of the Wallets,
either. Using Iranian cash,
Hezbollah has bought influ
ence in Lebanon by funding
social services. Hezbollah
announced it will provide
funds to rebuild homes
destroyed in the war.
But the U.S. government
has countered with its own
“green” strategy, as in green
backs to rebuild the whole
of Lebanon. Amir Taheri,
in an Aug. 25 Wall Street
Journal essay, has made
the most cogent argument
that Hezbollah has actually
lost the war. Strategy Page.
com (which carries this col
umn) and its editor, James
E Dunnigan, started mak
ing the case for Hezbollah’s
looming defeat in late July.
Taheri argues that
Hezbollah is on the edge of a
huge political defeat within
Lebanon. “The leaders of
the March 14 movement,”
Taheri writes, “which has
% " i
Dr. Kris Braman
Insects, like the tiger bee
tle, are being used for what
they do naturally - eat other
insects. By using these
beneficial insects to con
trol insect pests, landscap
ers and greenhouse grow
ers reduce their pesticide
usage.
spittle bugs.
Using a predator, like the
tiger beetle, to control a pest
is called biological control.
This method allows farmers
and home owners to control
insect pests without spray
ing insecticides.
“Tiger beetles are very
common in landscape beds,”
Braman said. “They are
very ferocious predators. I
wouldn’t want to run into
one my size.”
a majority in the Lebanese
Parliament and govern
ment, have demanded an
investigation into the cir
cumstances that led to the
war, a roundabout way of
accusing Hezbollah of hav
ing provoked the tragedy.”
StrategyPage.com noted
Hezbollah’s political and mil
itary failure as it occurred.
Strategy Page wrote on July
26: “Hezbollah knows, how
ever, that as long as they can
launch at least one rocket a
day, they can claim victory.
This is because Arabs no
longer expect to ... defeat
Israel militarily, so that if
the Arab force is still fight
ing, it is considered a victory.
While ludicrous, this atti
tude has been widely accept
ed throughout the Middle
East. However, this twisted
logic is beginning to fray,
and an increasing number
of Arabs are questioning it.
But in the short term, it still
works.”
Strategy Page is arguing
that what happens on the
battlefield, in the neigh
borhood and on the street
eventually trumps “media
perception” generated by
propagandists and the sen
sationalist press.
Most presciently,
Strategy Page noted on July
25: “While Hezbollah has
been able to muster public
support throughout Lebanon
and the Arab world, they
know that in the aftermath
of all this, despite declaring
a victory, they are already
being blamed for causing a
disaster, and will suffer sub
stantial losses in the after
math of this war.”
We’re in the aftermath.
Hezbollah experienced a
moment of media glory, but
that glory has faded. For
Hezbollah, the “continuing
aftermath” is anything but
promising.
To find out more about
Austin Bay, and read features
by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit
the Creators Syndicate Web
page at www.creators.com.
Over the next four years,
Braman will monitor how
well the tiger beetles keep
armyworm and Japanese
beetle grub populations
down in her research plots.
“These beetles aren’t being
used much in this way, but
they are very abundant in
nature,” she said. “We have
been finding them more and
more in our insect pitfall
traps.”
Using beneficial insects
isn’t a new concept to the
greenhouse and field crop
industries, but it is new to
the turfgrass industry.
“The (beneficial insects)
that are commercially avail
able are not widely used in
turf,” Braman said. “We’re
finding that the ones used
in greenhouses do occur in
turf.”
Many greenhouse grow
ers buy beneficial insects to
control pests on their plants.
One of the most popular, the
minute pirate bug, feeds on
insect eggs, caterpillar eggs,
thrips, mites and small lar
vae, Braman said.
Savile Row ...
A detailed, elegant bed
design overflowing with
special touches-rope twist
accents, deeply recessed
solid panels, fluted pilasters,
\ carved moldings and much
. more.
LOCAL
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* . .. .
Special to the Journal
Ryan Raffield, Kindergartener in Victoria Washington’s class, enjoys a hot dog with
his Mimi (aka grandmother), Heidi Conner.
Parkwood PTO holds annual
‘Hot Dog We’re Reading’
Special to the Jouma
The Parkwood Elementary
School PTO sponsored its
fourth annual “Hot Dog
We’re Reading” event Aug.
24.
One of the event goals,
according to a release, was
to help build “excitement
about reading at home.”
To that end, Teri Dalton,
second-grade teacher,
shared information that
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The crowd looks on during the event.
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Family members work at the computers.
Moore’s Furniture
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emphasized the suc
cess of students who read
and are read to at home.
After the program, stu
dents and parents visited
the Scholastic Book Fair.
Read alouds were presented
by Elgin Mayfield, assistant
principal, Eva Haynes, first
grade teacher and Carmen
Manson, special education
teacher. Students and staff
presented reader’s theater,
Moores
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literacy games and litera
ture-based websites to those
in attendance.
Parkwood families
“enjoyed not only a busy,
fun filled night focused on
reading, but a hot dog din
ner served to them by the
teachers. Once again the
Parkwood Elementary com
munity of more than 500
people helped the evening
to be very successful.”
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