"Apartheid Israel won this war." That's the fantasy BringItOn, Uncle Sam's unelected leader, tells us to believe in the opening quote. He uttered these words as a half-million Lebanese returned home to address the humanitarian and economic crisis in the aftermath of Apartheid Israel's intense, sustained, savage blitzkrieg.

But as it always does, reality has proven him wrong.

In the same way as Hizbullah took the lead in defending Lebanon during the Zionist attack militarily, it quickly and efficiently assumed command in the nationwide effort to rebuild the country. On Wednesday, a combined wire services dispatch reported:

Hezbollah has begun to help thousands of people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict with Israel.

Hundreds of people visited a registration centre set up in a Beirut secondary school on Wednesday to report the damage to their homes...

Hours after the ceasefire began on Monday, the leader of the Shia Muslim group, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, appeared on television and promised to help Lebanese civilians rebuild, pledging money for civilians to pay rent and buy furniture...

Hundreds of workers were in the streets of Dahiyeh on Wednesday, clearing streets and removing rubble. Some areas were closed by Hezbollah members to protect the building from theft and only residents were allowed to enter after getting special passes.

Hizbullah's well-organzied campaign to rebuild Lebanon surprised Uncle Sam, which planned to seize upon the country's destruction to make it dependent on and subservient to Apartheid Israel. While Uncle Sam makes 'pledges' of 'aid' that would sabotage Lebanon, Hizbullah tells the truth.

More of Lebanon now relies on Hizbullah than ever before. On Thursday, the Toronto Globe & Mail featured a report on the rebuilding effort:

Hezbollah has even formed a construction company, Jihad al-Benaa (Holy War for Construction) to handle the rebuilding of the south....

The work had already begun yesterday. A Bobcat mini-bulldozer, rented by Hezbollah, was clearing the streets of rubble so that cars could again enter the town.

Until there are homes that residents can return to, Hezbollah has announced it will pay to rent fully furnished apartments for one year for all those currently homeless. Those who lost relatives will receive a lifetime monthly stipend from the Party of God. Abu Hassan wouldn't reveal the amount, but said it was enough to make the bereaved families "comfortable..."

By doing the rebuilding themselves, Hezbollah was also helping cement what many see as their victories in towns like Aita al-Shaab. Fighters clad in black T-shirts and green cargo pants strolled through town yesterday, proudly pointing out sites where they claimed to have ambushed groups of Israeli soldiers.

A combined wire services report from Friday further detailed the rebuilding campaign:

Hezbollah has begun dispensing hand-outs of $12,000 in cash to families whose homes were destroyed by Israeli air strikes in southern Beirut.

The group said on Friday that it had compensated 120 families so far with the one-off cash payment, intended to help victims of the bombings rent a flat for a year and furnish it.... The scheme appears likely to cost at least $150 million.

The Lebanese government has yet to launch any similar scheme.

Ah, the use and abuse of language. One wonders if this writer wished that Uncle Sam had a similar "scheme" after Katrina. Regardless, the piece continues:

A Hezbollah official at one of 12 centres set up in southern Beirut to organise the hand-out said families were being asked to produce an identity card and a certificate of ownership of the property.

"We have full information on all the buildings that have been destroyed or damaged," he said.

"Later on, we will either pay for new flats or rebuild the buildings that were destroyed...."

He said 15,000 dwellings had been completely destroyed in the Israeli bombardment but the guerrilla group, which runs a large network of health, education and social centres, would also pay for repairs to houses that were still standing.

Just as Hizbullah's campaign to restore Southern Lebanon got underway, the country's collaboratioinist March 14 Movement leadership - a collection of anti-Hizbullah figures who seek greater Lebanese alignment with Uncle Sam - attacked the Resistance group.

Instead of directly confronting Hizbullah in Lebanon (where its popularity stands around 90%), Uncle Sam's lackeys there - people like Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt - have gone after them by proxy, attacking Syria. They alledge, implictly or otherwise, that Hizbullah is a figurehead and Syria calls the shots. Jumblatt and Hariri do not blame Apartheid Israel - even indirectly - for the massacres of innocent civilians, the destruction of bridges, the attacks on hospitals, schools, etc.

On Saturday, the Hariri/Jumblatt fairy tale became even tougher to defend. Pro-Apartheid Ha'aretz reported this weekend that:

A senior Israel Defense Forces officer was killed yesterday, another officer was badly wounded and a third officer was lightly wounded in a firefight with Hezbollah men in the Bekaa area of Lebanon. All three officers were from Sayeret Matkal, the General Staff's elite special-operations unit.

The Zionist Land-Grabbers - dressed as Lebanese soldiers - were discovered and attacked by Lebanese Resistance fighters from Hizbullah near the Ancient Roman city of Baalbeck, deep in the heart of Lebanon. Do Hariri and Jumblatt blame Syria for this, too?

Seeing Hizbullah's strength and popularity, Syria has proposed starting its own Hizbullah to liberate the Zionist-occupied Golan Heights. This move - a concrete manifestation of Hizbullah's triumph - fuels concerns held by Zionist Land-Grabbers in Occupied Palestine and those here on the Plantation that the 'cease-fire' represents a stunning and overwhelming defeat for Apartheid Israel that leaves the Zionist colony on the verge of political collapse. According to a Ha'aretz report:

Some 160 infantry reserve soldiers are accusing their commanders of preventing them from participating in a demonstration against the war in Lebanon, which they called a "debacle." The soldiers said they had been used as "sitting ducks."

One of Apartheid Israel's many lackeys at the New York Post, Ralph Peters, writes on Thursday 17 August that "I wish I could back up our president's surreal claim that Israel won. I wish Israel had won." He continues:

Israel's rep for toughness in tatters. Hezbollah triumphant. Iran cockier than ever. Syria untouched. Lebanon's government crippled....

The debacle in Lebanon wasn't even a war. It was only round one of a war. And Israel's back in its corner, dazed and punch-drunk....

Israel couldn't wait to throw in the towel and start pulling out troops.

If you're an Israel supporter - as I proudly admit to being - get ready for some tough love: Not only did Israel's abysmally incompetent government start a war impulsively and prosecute it half-heartedly, the country's military leadership failed, too....

The IDF's reserve forces were a shambles when they mobilized. Information from an inside source reveals that, when the reserves' warehouses and depots were opened, key stocks were missing - stolen... What was gone? Fuel, weapons, ammunition, food, spare parts - all that a modern military needs to go to war.

Despite the fantasies and hopes of Uncle Sam's unelected leader, no international power has the military, political, or logistical capacity to disarm the Resistance or "seize control of the country." UN Resolution 1701, the cease-fire resolution, calls for 15,000 UNIFIL soldiers to occupy Southern Lebanon as a proxy force for Apartheid Israel.

Yet thus far, the world has pledged to send a paltry 3,500 soldiers - 2,000 of whom are from Bangledesh - with no timetable for deployment. France, who has claimed the mantle of heading up the operation, has offered to send only 200, vowing more only when Hizbullah gives up its arms. In Friday's Independent, Robert Fisk writes:

The French are on their way - or are supposed to be. It is the French - whose own General Alain Pellegrini already commands the small UN force here - who will run the new international army in Lebanon. But are they supposed to disarm Hizbollah? Or fight them? Or just sit in southern Lebanon as a buffer force to protect Israel? The French are still demanding - very wisely - a clear mandate for their role here. But Lebanon does not provide clear mandates for anyone, least of all the French.

Many have claimed the UNs reluctance to send forces into Lebanon comes out of Hizbullah's unwillingness to unilaterally disarm. But a far greater concern, one realized in recent weeks, comes out of fear that Apartheid Israel will target them again as it did during its blitzkrieg of the country weeks ago.

As the Baalbeck raid reminds us, we know Apartheid Israel will not honor this 'cease-fire' because they never honor any cease-fire.

Undoubtedly Hizbullah knows this, too.