In a recent interview, Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal discussed how Israel's summer 2006 war against Hezbollah changed both the West's vision of Arabs and the Arabs' vision of themselves (al-Quds al-Arabi, July 13). Rahhal claims that the Arabs now see themselves as "capable of action," and no longer as a people "who cannot do anything in the face of an advanced Western machine [the Israeli military] that is supported with a lifeline from the West." He argued that the West now sees the Arab as one with the "will of steadfastness, confrontation and dedication, as well as the capability of fighting…who can be a match for the Israeli, who has 60 years of technical and financial support from the West…We have forced the West to look at us as equals." Rahhal also analyzed the changed perception that Israelis have of themselves in the wake of the war. "There is a feeling of disappointment and failure [among Israelis]," he said. "This is because he has reached a conviction that if the Arabs had a will to fight, they cannot win. They are reassessing the situation with regard to all Arab armies. This is extremely important, and it is a strategic change that involves the Arab and Israeli individuals."
Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Focus, July 17, 2007 - Volume IV, Issue 23
This reminds me of all the time Saddam Hussein spent explaining why 1991 was actually a win for him. These guys must be magna cum laude graduates of the Karl Rove Academy of Positive Spin
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