It's often interesting to look back in history and take a look at how a group has developed. I did a quick search for Hezbollah of the New York Times archives, and here's part of what I found (links not included since access to any articles requires payment):
- The oldest mention of Hezbollah in the Times was on April 10, 1984. The title of the article: GARBAGE CAN BOMB KILLS 3 IN BEIRUT. Here's a snippet: The armed youths were from the Amal force and a fundamentalist offshoot, Hezbollah. Most of them were lightly bearded and had ammunition pouches strapped over their imported jeans. Militia Forces Stay on Alert
- Now, fast forward to May 7, 1990, and you find this article: Freed Hostage Describes His Ordeal: "Frank Herbert Reed, the American hostage freed last week after more than three years in captivity, said today that he had been savagely beaten in the face, ribs and feet after he tried twice to escape. ''Thank God they didn't kill me,'' said the former hostage, who had been the American director of the Lebanese International School in Beirut. He was kidnapped in September 1986." (Me: did you catch that? Mr. Reed was the director of a school, and Hezbollah saw fit to kidnap and beat him.)
- Onward to October 18, 1995: Israel Denounces Iran and Syria Over Attack in Lebanon: "The Israeli Government blasted Syria and Iran today for their support of the Party of God guerrillas in southern Lebanon who killed nine Israeli soldiers in the last week, but it appeared that Israel did not intend to launch a major retaliatory attack. And even as Israel buried the six soldiers killed in the attack Sunday in emotional funerals around the country, there were questions whether the Israeli Army still needed to maintain the buffer zone inside Lebanon that it established 10 years ago against Palestinian attacks" (Me: how does that read with 20/20 hindsight?)
- Onward to August 10, 2000: Lebanese Security Force Moves into South: "Hezbollah, the de facto force on the ground for more than two months, has pledged not to interfere with the government authorities. Its forces, with a hard core of about 500 fighters, have reverted to civilian clothes and are not carrying weapons in public, although they are planning to keep them hidden away. But a drive along some of the remote back roads near the border found Hezbollah fighters in casual clothes with binoculars and walkie-talkies still maintaining checkpoints and observation posts. Indeed, at Border Post 14, near the village of Rumaysh, where a United Nations detail from Nepal was originally posted, the only force visible on the Lebanese side consisted of five young Hezbollah guerrillas lounging in an old guard post. One of them, a tall, bearded young man in a baseball cap and track suit, showed the way up a road to what had been a major crossing point into Israel, now a tangled wreck of corrugated metal and old beams. Just ahead of where the pale blue United Nations flag still flew near an abandoned pile of sandbags, an Israeli backhoe was busily digging for a new border fence."
- Onward to September 19, 2001: The Mideast Is Also Changed: "Even Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, learned not to rely on attacks that blatantly conflict with international standards of behavior by causing large-scale civilian casualties. As it focused primarily on Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil rather than on Israeli civilians, both the international opposition to its operations and the Israeli will to fight them diminished. When Israel ultimately withdrew last year, it was not because of any terrorism but because the moral weakness of its occupation had been made nakedly clear."
BTW, my search of the New York Times archives for Hezbollah, returned a list of 1,406 entries.
Center right blogging on this war: Macsmind: BDS - "It's Bush's Fault"! , Hugh Hewitt: The Return of Appeasement?, Captain's Quarters: Israel: Return Soldiers And Move Hezbollah Away From Border, Michelle Malkin: "STOP DOING THIS *^&%".
Technorati tags: Islamism, MSM, Hezbollah, History, Terrorism, Iran
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