Proxy Wars Being Rethought?

[Annie]

Links at site:

http://www.austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=1299

7/15/2006
UPDATED: Israel ties defeating Hezbollah to undermining Hamas/But Iran’s mullahs and Syria’s dictators are the problem
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— site admin @ 6:20 am

From the Houston Chronicle.

Two key excerpts from the article:

Israeli officials said a defeat of Hezbollah, a radical Shiite militia with strong ties to Syria and Iran, would send an important message to the region and would help Israel in its efforts to undermine the power of Hamas in the Palestinian Authority. They argued it would also help the weak Lebanese government assert control over the entire country.

…

Israeli officials said that their strategy was to diminish or destroy the power of Hezbollah, which has created “a state within a state” in southern Lebanon, and to ensure that the Lebanese army replaced Hezbollah on the border with Israel, as demanded by the United Nations.

“We’ve decided to put an end to this saga and to change the rules of the game whereby a terrorist organization that is part of the Lebanese government can push the region to the abyss,” said Isaac Herzog, a member of the Israeli security Cabinet.

Read the entire report.

See this post for background.

Unfortunately, Iran has the petro-dollars to reconstitute Hezbollah– unless the Lebanese can act in concert with the Israelis to police terrorists using Lebanese territory. To truly police terrorists in Lebanon –which entails denying them logistics support as well as territory for bases– means regime change in Syria. Dealing Hezbollah more than a temporary defeat means terminating the Assad regime in Damascus.

No doubt about it– the Israelis can seriously damage Hezbollah. Reducing Hezbollah’s arsenals may reduce its local clout in Lebanon. But Syria promotes Hezbollah and Iran finances it.

The Israelis have given no indication they are ready to topple the Assad regime. The operative phrase should be: “No targets are immune.”

UPDATE: Al Hayat says Israel wants a “new situation.” And that means Syria may no longer play proxy war using Hezbollah. We’ll see.
17 Comments »

 

[dilloduck]

Links at site:

http://www.austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=1299

This one is going to the wall. There are no blinkers in the game. Too much at stake for both sides.