Hezbollah Fully Jumps Into Syrian Civil War Hezbollah has decided to jump into the Syrian Civil War as Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, announced the Lebanese based militant group’s commitment to preserving the Assad regime in Syria. The leader of the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah decisively committed his followers on Saturday to an all-out battle in Syria to defeat the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. He said the organization, founded to defend Lebanon and fight Israel, was entering “a completely new phase,” sending troops abroad to protect its interests. “It is our battle, and we are up to it,” the leader, Hassan Nasrallah, declared in his most direct embrace yet of a fight in Syria that Hezbollah can no longer hide, now that dozens of its fighters have fallen in and around the strategic Syrian town of Qusayr. While Hezbollah was supportive of the Assad regime previously it had not made such a sweeping public commitment nor been involved directly in combat. The move is being seen by some as an unabashed challenge to U.S. policy. Mr. Nasrallah, a shrewd political operator, appears to be calculating that the West, thrown off balance by the rise of jihadist factions among the Syrian rebels, will not jump in on the rebel side. The United States’ call for a political solution, while allowing Saudi Arabia and Qatar to arm the rebels, likewise, seems to have not shaken his confidence… Hezbollah “wouldn’t do this if they thought there was going to be some kind of reaction,” said Andrew J. Tabler, a Syria analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “They’re basically calling Obama’s bluff.” Whether or not Obama is bluffing is an open question but not long after Nasrallah’s speech rockets hit Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut, Lebanon. The culprits are believed to be the Suni Syrian rebels who, along with their political opposition, have sectarian antagonism with the Shiite Hezbollah. Questions remain on what impact Hezbollah’s support for the Assad regime will do to the balance of power in Syria. The Assad regime’s offensive against rebel forces seems to be showing progress with Hezbollah’s help and although foreign countries like America have said Assad has no future in Syria he seems pretty well entrenched today. Might Hezbollah’s involvement lead to a wider war?
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:13:28 +0000