Apparently, someone at the Zionist Organization of America [ZOA] thinks I'm interested in receiving press releases about what they're scheming to do next in the region.

The one I received this morning alleges that "Lebanese officials" told Israelis (of all people) that Hizbullah is "rebuilding its network of [underground] bunkers" near the Israeli border - just in time for Israelis to postpone completion of their scheduled pullout from Southern Lebanon this Sunday.

Israel had planned to pull all its troops out of Lebanon by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which begins on Sunday. [BUT] six weeks after the ceasefire that ended 34 days of war with Hezbollah, Israel is reluctant to withdraw because of disagreements over border security.

Officials say several issues remain unresolved, including the role of international and Lebanese peacekeeping forces [which have no authority to disarm Hizbullah].

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"When the Hezbollah leadership feels that its position is weakening, due to the growing international presence in southern Lebanon, it's very likely that they may try to force a small-scale confrontation with Israel," said Israeli analyst Shlomo Shpiro.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has boasted that his fighters remain dug-in in South Lebanon, and have no intention of leaving. And, he says, they still have 12,000 rockets.

Considering that Hezbollah fired 4,000 rockets at Israel during the war, Shpiro says it is a serious threat.

"They're certainly capable of doing a lot of the stuff they did before the war," he said. "Their troops are there; their equipment and weapons are there. The situation is very volatile." Of course, if this is true, then Shpiro just admitted that Israel killed over one thousand civilians and destroyed half of Lebanon for NO DISCERNABLE REASON WHATSOEVER.

But, evidently it is, since ZOA had this to say about the current situation in Lebanon and what exactly BUSH and Co. must do next: Lebanese officials have disclosed that the Islamist terrorist group, Hizballah, is moving rockets into Palestinian camps in southern Lebanon and rebuilding its network of bunkers just a few miles from the Israeli border only weeks since the conclusion of the recent Lebanon war. The officials said that the office of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Sinora sent a letter last week to Abbas Zakir, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) most senior representative in Lebanon, indicating that Hizballah weapons were being transferred to Palestinian camps and noting “unusual activity” in and near the Palestinian camps, including the coming and going of trucks suspected of carrying weapons.

The Lebanese officials were also quoted as saying that Hizballah, with the help of Iran, [of course] has commenced building underground war bunkers in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps. Palestinian groups, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party [wouldn't want to leave them out] and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) maintain armed bases in Lebanon, mostly in the al-Naemeh province just south of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley, near Lebanon’s border with Syria and Israel [have to involve Syria, somehow]. According to an UNNAMED senior Lebanese official “The Lebanese Army doesn’t have the authority to patrol inside the camps ... Hizballah knows it is safe there to rebuild their war bunkers, and they began doing so with Iranian help” (Yediot Ahronot, September 26).

Hizballah is committed to Israel’s destruction and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has confessed genocidal ambitions, stating in 2002 that “If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide” (The Daily Star [Beirut], October 23, 2002). Hizballah launched an unprovoked assault on Israel in July [what's a press release without LIES?] which resulted in a 34-day war in which Israel counter-attacked against Hizballah in Lebanon [might as well justify our genocide] and ceased fire only after the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701 (UNSC 1701). The Resolution did not mention, much less condemn Syria and Iran [while we're at it, let's complain], the main supporters of Hizballah, and set no timetable for the disarmament of Hizballah. The Resolution “calls upon the Government of Lebanon and [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] ... to deploy their forces together throughout the South” but sets no timetable or mechanism to oversee the disarming of Hizballah. According to international legal scholar and Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Anne Bayefsky, the Resolution designed “a force for southern Lebanon incapable of disarming Hezbollah” (National Review Online, August 14).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The ZOA predicted at the time that UNSC 1701 was a flawed and defective resolution that failed to punish the aggressors [I have to agree with that] and provide for the verifiable and efficient disarmament of Hizballah and recent reports about the rearming of Hizballah and its new program of constructing war bunkers close to Israel is conclusive evidence of these failures. In these circumstances, the Bush Administration must bring all possible pressure to bear on Lebanon and the UN forces to disarm Hizballah. The Bush Administration should further declare that Lebanon is accountable for military activities within Palestinian camps and indeed throughout Lebanese territory and cannot be permitted to allow terrorist groups to re-establish and entrench themselves.”

[source: http://www.zoa.org/2006/09/hizballah_rearm.htm]Sounds like ZOA is pretty confident about their ability to get the Bush administration to do their bidding. How is that possible if, as they insist, AIPAC is not as powerful as Walt and Meirsheimer claim it is?