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Originally Posted by Achilles
Firstly, Hezbollah are not just terrorists. They are participatory in the the Lebanese government aswell as being a substantial paramilitary organisation with an annual income in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Hezbollah gets much of their money from Iran and much of their weapons from Syria. Hezbollah essentially rules southern Lebanon as a state within a state (it's a no-go zone for the Lebanese army). From this base they elect over 10% of Lebanon's national assembly and their large militia gives them near veto power over the government. No attack on Israel from southern Lebanon could be carried out without Hezbollah's knowledge and approval (if not actual participation).
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Secondly, this follows very closely on the heels of the Gilat abduction. Hezbollah, clearly aware of the Israeli position on that issue, made a strategic decision to widen the conflict in the hope that this will further their own aims. They knew innocents would suffer as a result, why are they not culpable?
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Yes, Hezbollah clearly got the reaction they wanted (or perhaps the reaction that their Iranian and/or Syrian patrons wanted). The interesting question is what are their aims. Open a second front? Provoke a Syrian/Israeli conflict? Divert attention from Iran (who's now going before the Security Council)?
Some pictures from both sides of the Israel/Lebanon border from Michael Totten's blog:
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001004.html
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001132.html
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