00:00Right. I mean, President Trump and the Israelis sound far more excited about the prospect of direct talks between the
00:07Israelis and the Lebanese than the Lebanese do.
00:09Why do you think President Aoun is looking so unenthusiastic and so reluctant to come to the negotiating?
00:17Because I think he understands at least what the Israeli objective is, which is essentially ending Hezbollah. And that's untethered
00:29from reality.
00:30And the Lebanese government understands the sectarian and combustible impact should the Lebanese armed forces be directed to disarm Hezbollah
00:44or to engage in direct confrontations with Hezbollah,
00:47particularly at a time when the Israelis are not just occupying parts of southern Lebanon, but trying to turn large
00:57areas, what, 10 percent of the country, into a zone that will be free of Lebanese civilians as well as
01:05Hezbollah?
01:06That, I understand, the latter part. They don't want Hezbollah right up against the border.
01:12Hezbollah has very effective line-of-sight, coronet anti-tank missiles, which can do a lot of damage to the
01:19northern border communities.
01:22But how anyone could expect, no matter how well-intentioned the government of Lebanon is, to crack down on Hezbollah
01:30when, in fact, the Israelis are operating kinetically
01:33and essentially, as they prosecute their war against Hezbollah, displacing and or killing Lebanese civilians, it doesn't add up.
01:43The Israelis have a very happy, unhappy experience in Lebanon. This is just another chapter.
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