Monday, December 3, 2012

A Freebie for McLean: Lebanon Is Next

On Sunday, thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Future Movement rallied in Tripoli, calling for an end to Iranian dominion over Lebanon by way of its Shiite proxy, Hezbollah. Speakers at the protest denounced Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, for his assistance, including fighters, to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in attempting to quell the rebellion against his regime.

The rally came after pictures were broadcast by Syrian television of the bodies of a group of Salafist Lebanese fighters, who had been ambushed while crossing into Syria to join the rebel forces (see: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Dec-03/196970-syria-tv-airs-images-of-dead-lebanese-salafists.ashx#axzz2Dyd5J9yv).

Anger among Lebanon's Sunni and Christian populations against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah is palpable, and after Assad falls in Syria, yet another Lebanese civil war is very much in the cards.

This will be a difficult war for Hezbollah to fight without Assad's backing. In addition, Iran has been cutting back on aid to Hezbollah, owing to its own economic difficulties resulting from sanctions, and Hezbollah is currently hard pressed to maintain both its private army and its social support network.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the tip Jeff. But here in McLean, most of us are betting Bahrain, with it's repressive Sunni dynasty ruling over a restive Shia majority, will fall before Lebanon and even Syria.

    It ain't going to be pretty.
    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b2a_1354547981

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