Iran Takes Over Hezbollah After Hezbollah Takes Over Lebanon (Plus: State Department Naturally Urging Israel To Cede More Land... To Hezbollah)
At least this means that that Syria will break off its cooperation with Hezbollah, since as foreign policy experts tell us Sunnis and Shiites never cooperate:
Iran is consolidating its grip on Hizbullah and has instituted a number of structural changes to the Lebanese group, under which Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah no longer enjoys exclusive command over its military wing, top Israeli defense officials have revealed. According to the officials, following the Second Lebanon War, Iran decided to step up its involvement in the Hizbullah decision-making process and has instituted a number of changes to the terror group's hierarchy, under which Nasrallah has to receive Iranian permission prior to certain operations. "There is real Iranian command now over Hizbullah," a top IDF officer said. "This doesn't mean that Nasrallah is a puppet, but it does mean that whenever he pops his head out of his bunker he sees an Iranian official standing over him."
This comes as Hezbollah is expanding its war against Jews into Venezuela and its war against Israel globally (although their campaign to make Venezuela judenrein is probably just anti-Zionism - so no worries). As for the war in the Middle East, the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese government wants you to know that they're never going to stop trying to conquer Israel:
While forces within Siniora's western-backed coalition demanded that military action to liberate occupied lands be carried out "under the aegis of the state," now the government guidelines state that Hezbollah has what is essentially an independent right to take action. "Lebanon, its army, its people and its resistance [Hezbollah] have the right to take action to liberate lands that have remained occupied at the Shaba Farms, the hills of Shuba village and the northern portion of the village of Ghajar, with all legitimate means possible, and to resist Israeli aggression."
Remember that time last year when the US gave Lebanon cutting-edge military tech? If only it had been easily foreseeable that the weapons would end up under Hezbollah control. Not that Hezbollah is particularly short on weapons - last April UN peacekeepers found a cache of illegal Hezbollah weapons and promptly ran away. A little afterwards Syria switched from covertly smuggling in weapons to just openly arming Hezbollah. Some of the State Department's other brilliant ideas for solving the Hezbollah crisis, after the jump.
Besides watching UNIFIL's mandate get renewed - because they're really done a crackerjack job in the region - Rice has been enthusiastically trying to get Israel to cede territory to Hezbollah:
"Lebanese officials reported of a significant turnaround in the United State's position regarding the Shebaa Farms and said that the Bush administration is now in favor of Israel's withdrawal from the eight square mile disputed area in the Golan Heights in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 170... As part of the Lebanon-II withdrawal, the US promised that it would never pressure Israel to withdraw from Har Dov, the so-called Shebaa Farms region that Israel took from Syria in 1967, based on Hezbollah's absurd claims that it was Lebanese land. At the time we wrote that we'd need that post in the future because the international community routinely pulls this kind of moving the goalposts bait and switch on Israel.
Half of the surreal nudge-wink absurdity comes from how even pro-Lebanon State officials derisively mock the suggestion that Shebba is Lebanese land. The other half comes from how Nasrallah himself has openly declared that a withdrawal won't be enough to get Hezbollah to stop trying to destroy Israel:
The leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah said Thursday his group would not lay down its weapons even if the disputed Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon was liberated from Israeli occupation. "Even if Shebaa is liberated the weapons of the resistance are staying. The resistance is a defence project for Lebanon," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said during a Ramadan dinner in Nabatiyeh town, south Lebanon.
At least rumors haven't surfaced that Rice has prevailed upon Israel to cede the land, thereby weakening itself territorial while knowing in advance that the gesture won't do anything but embolden the enemy.
References:
* Iran Solidifies Control Over Hizbullah [FrontPage Mag]
* Iran Misses Memo About How Sunnis And Shiites Don't Cooperate, Gives Syria Cutting Edge Offensive Missiles (Plus: Expert Sophistication Wrong On Iranian Nuclearization. Again) [MR]
* Hezbollah Attacks Via Venezuela [Strategy Page]
* Barak confirms report Israel foiled 2 Hezbollah kidnap attempts abroad [Ha'aretz]
* Lebanon: Hezbollah may fight Israel to recover land [Ha'aretz]
* Pentagon Gets Brilliant Idea: Let's Give Lebanon Cutting-Edge Military Tech, Training [MR]
* UNIFIL finds Hezbollah arms; gunmen scatter peacekeepers [Ha'aretz]
* Israel says Syria arming Hezbollah despite UN resolution [AFP]
* Security Council renews UNIFIL mandate by 1 year [JPost]
* State Department Ready To Pull Entirely Predictable Anti-Israel Bait And Switch On Har Dov [MR]
* The UN Makes It Official: There Is Absolutely No Agreement That Won't Be Changed If Israel's Genocidal Enemies Refuse To Accept For Long Enough [MR]
* Hezbollah will not lay down arms, even if Shebaa is liberated [Monsters and Critics]
* Israel denies Ghajar withdrawal reports [JPost]
Previously:
* Syrian And Hezbollah Conspiracy Mongers: Israel's Defensive Drills Are Clever Ruse For Launching New War
* Hezbollah Outreach To "Sunnis Who Are Loyal To Hezbollah" Not So Kind To Expert Expertise Of Foreign Policy Experts Who Deny Sunni-Shiite Cooperation
* State Department Public Diplomacy Scores Again - Nasrallah Now Most Admired Leader In The Arab World
