Saturday, May 25, 2013

Hezbollah Chief Confirms Syria Presence

Hezbollah elite help Assad retake key town

The Australian - ‎7 minutes ago‎
THE crackle of walkie-talkies mingles with the sound of gunfire and the thud of mortars as Hezbollah fighters, together with the Syrian army and its special forces, move stealthily along the roads and narrow alleyways of Qusair.
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News / Middle East

Hezbollah Chief Confirms Syria Presence

Supporters of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah watch a broadcast of his speech in Mashghara, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, May 25, 2013.Supporters of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah watch a broadcast of his speech in Mashghara, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, May 25, 2013.
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VOA News
The chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah says his group will not stand by while the neighboring government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is attacked.

Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Saturday Hezbollah was fighting in Syria to protect Lebanon from the threat of radical Islamists. It was the first time Nasrallah has publicly confirmed Hezbollah's fighting presence in Syria.

The speech was given as Syrian troops and fighters from Lebanon-based Hezbollah were carrying out the heaviest barrage of gunfire yet in a week-long battle to re-take the strategic town of Qusair from rebel fighters.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's violence killed 22 people.

Rebels are fighting to hold Qusair as a means of protecting their supply lines to Lebanon.

Opposition deadlocked

Meanwhile, in Istanbul, the Syrian opposition remains deadlocked on electing a new leadership and president. During three days of talks Western backers of the opposition are pushing for broader leadership, but attempts to weaken the power of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in the Syrian National Coalition have so far failed.

In Jordan Saturday, Senator John McCain called for Washington to arm some Syrian rebel groups. He also urged the Obama administration to back a no-fly zone in Syria to provide aid for citizens.

More than 80,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the start of the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad more than two years ago.

The State Department says involvement in Syria by Lebanese-based Hezbollah militants risks dragging Lebanon into a foreign war. Fighting this past week between backers and opponents of the Assad government killed 23 people in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

Russia and the United States have proposed opening a peace conference on Syria next month in Geneva. A senior U.S. State Department official confirmed to VOA that Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet Monday in Paris on the latest plans for the talks.

Kerry told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Saturday on the sidelines of an African Union summit that the United States needs U.N. help to get things moving with Syria.
 

Hezbollah elite help Assad retake key town

It is unfortunate for the world but I believe what is happening is that Iran has strategically decided to bring down both Lebanon and Israel to distract from what is going on in Syria. By publicly sending Hezbollah into Syria, fighting between Shias and Sunnis is breaking out more in Lebanon and could destabilize the government in Lebanon. If the Lebanese government falls because of this Hezbollah may then be free to go into Israel as an Army if they can dissolve or prevent the pay of the Lebanese Army as a means to stop them. This will cause Israel to basically level Lebanon (as they promised to do if the Government of Lebanon didn't stop the Hezbollah Army (which is larger than the Lebanese Army) from Attacking Israel directly. This would bring both the U.S. and Europe into the war to protect Israel and then we have a potential world war starting depending upon how Russia and China side in this situation.

But, I think it important to blame only two actors in this equation: Iran and Hezbollah 

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