Hezbullah in deep doo doo
Having been supported by both Syria and Iran for many years, Hizballah determined that it must stand by the Syrian regime even though it appears to be fighting a losing battle. Failure to do so could cost it financial support from Iran, leaving Hizballah – once Assad has gone – with no significant nation state supporting their cause.
But according to [Mordechai] Kedar – who specialized in Syria during his 25 years in Israeli military intelligence – Hizballah faces no lesser difficulties from within Lebanon, and is gradually coming under more pressure from within its own ranks.
Shia leader Mohammed Ali al-Husseini accuses Nasrallah of "dragging Lebanon into the abyss and that the Shiites in Lebanon, and Lebanon itself, will pay a high price for this behavior," Kedar said. "But also from inside Hizballah there are voices today – not out loud, but behind the scenes – which claim that gambling on the Syrian horse is gambling on the wrong horse, and Hizballah will be associated forever with Assad's regime, especially its last brutal stages of life. This will hurt Hizballah and could even persuade Europe to place them on its list of terror organizations."
Iran's support makes Nasrallah "immune, because not only does he have their political support, he has the money and the control over the resources of Hizballah, and most importantly of all, the backing of Ayatollah Khamenei [Iran's Supreme Leader]."
Al-Husseini is the leader of the Arabic Islamic Congress (AIC) and one of a growing number of high-profile Lebanese Shia who believe that Hizballah is wrong for their community and wrong for Lebanon. The U.S. has allegedly reached out to al-Husseini as a potential partner in undermining Hizballah. Al Husseini's reputation has suffered a number of setbacks however, including being tried and later acquitted of being an Israeli spy, while U.S diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks in December 2011 cast doubt on just how genuine his rift with Hizballah really is.
"AIC headquarters are located on the Beirut airport highway, a Hizballah-dominated area," the cable noted. "Contacts in the Beirut southern suburbs observed that Hizballah has neither harassed nor interfered with AIC."Read the whole thing.
Unfortunately, what I'm reading between the lines here is 'maybe they can start a war with Israel to distract everyone.'
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbullah, Iran, Syria
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:57 PM
1 Comments:
With their supporters in the EU governments and of course Obama's CIA chief John Brennan, I'm sure there's plenty of kick left in old Hezbollah.
Post a Comment
<< Home