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Hezbollah

Our government would have us believe that the world is calling upon us to defend Israel from Hezbolla, Hammas, Iran, and Syria. It goes without saying that we are stretching ourselves thin, in available forces, and available finances.

I have made a few notes on this developing conflict.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is issuing an appeal to the world to stop Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
In a statement read on television, Abdullah said the Mideast could be plunged into war if peace efforts fail.

to continue

Syria's alliance with Hezbollah and Iran is built not on religious but on strategic considerations. Although President Assad is not a Shiite like his allies in Hezbollah and Iran, his Alawite sect is a minority ruling over a resentful Sunni majority in Syria. At the same time, his government has seen its regional power recede since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the recent pullout from Lebanon.
"Syria is a weak nation, which at this moment has little prospect of negotiating any kind of return of the Golan or improvement of its position with the United States and Israel,"

and

_ A top Hamas official in Syria said Israeli soldiers held by Hamas and Hezbollah will only be released as part of a prisoner swap.

Conference in Rome
Israel has not been invited to the talks, called by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, nor is Syria, which is accused of backing Hezbollah guerrillas. The abduction of two Israeli soldiers on 12 July by militants with the Lebanon-based Shiite group sparked Israel's offensive in which at least 400 Lebanese and 41 Israelis have died.

The conference will be attended by representatives from the United States, Britain, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Canada, Russia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, the European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations as well as Lebanon.

Israel wants the conference to condemn Hezbollah militants as terrorists - something Europe has long resisted - and has endorsed the idea of an aid package and a humanitarian corridor for Lebanese civilians.

But Lebanese leaders want an immediate ceasefire while Israel wants Hezbollah to leave the border area immediately and free the captured Israeli soldiers before that happens.

Other key issues to be discussed on Wednesday are the potential deployment of an international force in southern Lebanon and the humanitarian needs of more than 600,000 Lebanese people displaced by Israel's offensive.

comments from the web

Hezbollah has long been dependent on Iran for financial support as well as for military assistance. Furthermore, there is a deep religious and ideological tie between the Iranian regime and Hezbollah movement. Through Hezbollah, Iran has gained a strong foothold in the Levant, which serves Iran's interest both by spreading its political influence and by creating a deterrence capability against Israel. Analysts in Washington and in Israel have made the case that, given the scale and the strategic repercussions of the Hezbollah cross-border operation, it is unlikely that it would have been undertaken by Hezbollah without Tehran's approval.
Tehran has reinforced the impression on which this argument rests by making statements that suggested that Hezbollah's interests are the same as Iran's, in order to bolster its own deterrent against attacks by the United States or Israel. The actual relationship between their interests, however, is certainly more complex.
By all accounts, Iran has provided Hezbollah with thousands of Katyusha rockets. Although Hezbollah has had such rockets for many years, Iran's motive for increasing the number significantly in recent years appears to be related to the Iranian belief that the likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran would increase as Iran got closer to mastering the fuel cycle and thus acquiring the knowledge necessary for producing a nuclear weapon. That view, voiced by the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rohani in a 2004 speech, almost certainly was the primary motivation for Iran's decision to significantly increase Hezbollah's capacity to threaten Israel in retaliation for any attack on Iran by the United States or Israel. (3)

more

Israel responded quickly and overwhelmingly to the Hamas and Hezbollah provocations. It initiated "Operation Summer Rain" against Hamas and the Palestinians and "Operation Change of Direction" against Hezbollah and the people of Lebanon. Both IDF assaults continue unabated so far through intensive attacks from the air and on the ground.
the carnage inflicted thus far in each conflict areahas been brutal, unrelenting and excessive involving suspected use of illegal weapons including chemical agents, depleted uranium (DU) munitions that will leave deadly irremediable toxic radiation forever over the areas struck and beyond, and white phosphorous bombs and shells, known as Willy Peter, that burn flesh to the bone and can't be extinguished by water that only makes it worse when used.

Posted in early hezbollah BigBadJohnny | | | | 410 reads