INTERESTING, how things often look different from a different perspective:

At the imposition of the UN Security Council cease-fire resolution, the West almost unanimously considered the war in Lebanon a disaster for Israel. Most analysts insisted that Israel’s failure to destroy Hezbollah amounted to a humiliation and worried about the energizing Seffect Hassan Nasrallah’s victory would have on radical Islam’s popularity in the region. These analysts would be surprised to learn that Arabs increasingly view Hezbollah’s war as a disaster as well — but a disaster for Arabs. . . .Western commentators and no shortage of Israeli pundits pointed to Nasrallah’s claims to have prevailed as a devastating propaganda offensive that would make Israel and the West look weaker than ever. Arabs have taken a more realistic view of the war’s results, including the fact that Nasrallah has to make those claims from undisclosed locations to this day.

Some of us had noted the problem with the whole undisclosed-location thing ourselves. Of course, there’s no reason why it can’t be bad for both. But there’s a good point about Western journalists being rather credulous with regard to Hezbollah’s propaganda.