Ahh.. regrets from Hezbollah for causing such chaos and mayhem in Southern Lebanon and Northern Israel..
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says he's sorry.
"Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it," he said in an interview on Lebanese TV..
What a collosal misunderstanding.. More than 1,000 Lebanese died in the 34-day conflict which left much of southern Lebanon in ruins.
More than 1,000 Lebanese died in the 34-day conflict which left much of southern Lebanon in ruins.
"We did not think that there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war of this scale and magnitude," Sheikh Nasrallah said.
"Now you ask me if this was 11 July and there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war like the one that has taken place, would you go ahead with the kidnapping?
"I would say no, definitely not, for humanitarian, moral, social, security, military and political reasons.
"We did not think that there was a 1% chance that the kidnapping would lead to a war of this scale and magnitude," according to the Sheikh .
Nasrallah was speaking on the eve of a visit to Beirut by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss the expanded UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in southern Lebanon.
A force of 15,000 soldiers, 7,000 of them from European Union states, will be deployed to maintain the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
It cannot be emphasised enough, the difference in political action between the West and the Middle East. This 'apology' from Nasrallah is just too convenient, coming on the eve of a United Nations visit.
Mind you, there has been no talk from the Sheikh about the disarmament of Hezbollah, or of any reductions in the scale of their movements towards Israel. There has been nothing said about the return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers..
Y'know, there has to come a time when one must think that we're the donkey, and terrorist groups hold the carrot.
Manipulation is an art form in the Levant, and historically always has been.
We could learn something from them about how to deal from the bottom of the deck.