The Result of the Latest Israeli-Hezbollah Conflict

Thirty-three days of battle; 1,500 dead; 4,000 wounded, millions of dollars in infrastructure damage.

If we look beyond those numbers, what is the result of the latest Israeli-Hezbollah conflict? According to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the result is a Hezbollah victory.

Ahmadinejad proclaimed that Hezbollah "hoisted the banner of victory" and that "God’s promises have come true. On one side, it’s corrupt powers of the criminal U.S. and Britain and the Zionists ... with modern bombs and planes. And on the other side is a group of pious youth relying on God."

Syria's Bashar al-Assad declared, "This resistance is a medal to pin on the chest of every Arab citizen, not only Syria," adding that the Shia fighters had "shattered the myth of an invincible army."

Hassan Nasrallah asserted, "We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated [before]."

Of course, Israel has also claimed victory. So who is right?

Let's take a closer look at the above casualty numbers. Of the approximately 1,500 dead and 4,000 wounded, only about 170 of the dead and about 650 of the wounded are Israeli. Based strictly on those numbers, it looks like Israel won.

However, victory in this case goes far deeper than casualty numbers. An Israeli victory was dependent upon its ability to destroy Hezbollah's ability to ever again attack Israel. Unfortunately, they were not able to accomplish that goal. International pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire before the job was finished has ensured that Hezbollah will survive to fight another day.

What about the over 1,000 Hezbollah and Lebanese deaths? Lebanese civilians may care, but you can rest assured that Hezbollah couldn't care less about the deaths of Lebanese civilians, or about their own deaths for that matter (They're looking forward to the 72 virgins).

I sincerely hope I'm wrong; however, I can't help but feeling that because Hezbollah was not destroyed, Ahmadinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah are right. While Israelis died in vain, Hezbollah terrorists and their backers have been emboldened and will attack again.