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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 .. ............. ... —t SjfiL ™.,*Wm V A w mv *aMj3!t, aaajyjL# -., >,»»xL \ '■ \ • 9 I^»gS 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 wk - -IL JA I Bk * . .. . 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 ~~~* y/ jIIL ;f?y ; 9n " &g|b& ' ■Hf" v w., «in ' I f mm I %^^ffg^s^t^m*s( Xr .. v , >x -x>. -i jpgj|jpp ',| J||||p|p| ' i * s>< *~w> ; I fefi 3HHiilii9__ jEZIJ. The crowd looks on during the event. Iff iw| Wpf %fP M j Family members work at the computers. Moore’s Furniture Solid Wood Bedroom Sale Now’s Your Chance To Save Big On Your Favorite Styles In Stain Or Paint Monday-Saturday 10ani-6pm 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 _L OJL Furniture TijAcic ottCtf (Ac iooA o! exftoiicve 2950 Riverside Drive • Macon, GA 478.474.1340 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 ♦ 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.” NOW OFFERING 12 MONTHS SAME AS CASH 5A Submitted Submitted