Nasrallah's call to psychological war

The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Editorial
23 December 09

The 10-day period of Ashura, in this modern age, is one in which leaders of the Shiite community have ample opportunities and means to address the general public, whether about the past, present or future. The leader of Hizbullah has used this year’s Ashura season to advocate a “psychological war” against Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the effort should counter recent Israeli maneuvers aimed at convincing everyone in the region that the country’s army is invincible.

Nasrallah’s proposal reflects the best of intentions; a psychological war against Israel requires patience and planning, which Hizbullah has exhibited in its military operations over the last few decades. Hizbullah cadres have been busy training, learning and doing, and become skilled at such tasks.

However, Nasrallah’s call to psychological arms appeared to be directed at Lebanon, and not just the supporters of the resistance – if Hizbullah were about to engage in a new psy-ops initiative, odds are that Nasrallah wouldn’t be announcing it in public.

Advocating a psychological war, by Lebanon, brings us back to the issue of the country’s diplomatic-defensive initiative, and the search for tools in this national psychological war. The most important tool here is Lebanon’s Christians, and to get them on board, we must enlist their help in building the Lebanese state, and especially its political-diplomatic presence. We’ve repeatedly called for upcoming sessions of National Dialogue to focus on a diplomatic-defensive initiative, which we need if a psychological war is to have any chance of success.

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