Hezbollah, be careful what you wish for

With Qana, which is beginning to look remarkably like a staged event, not an Israeli massacre of children, Hezbollah managed to switch wavering world sympathy to its side (not too hard a task, considering world hostility to Israel).  Lee Smith, writing for the Week Standard, suggests that Hezbollah might have ended up with too much of a good thing:

Clearly Hezbollah, like the Palestinian groups, uses human shields. We do not know precisely what happened at Qana and may never know for sure, but it is likely that we have reached a stage where the IDF believes itself damned regardless of how it regards civilian life, which makes things worse for Lebanese civilians, easier for Israeli troops, and will likely have no effect at all on the international media campaign that Israel has already lost.

I think that’s a wonderful observation.  I’ve thought it myself, but was unable to phrase it as elegantly as Smith did.  I’d been working on a laborious metaphor about Israel as the nerd, desperately, and unsuccessfully, trying to get in with the most popular kids in school (i.e., the UN, Europe and the American MSM).  Once you accept your nerd-like status, you’re free!

In any event, I recommend reading Smith’s whole article, which points to high Israeli morale (you go, guys!) and the fact that Hezbollah, for all the moral support it’s getting worldwide, may have bitten off more than it can chew.