Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

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Re: Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

Hear it from the former Foreign Minister of France.

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Re: Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

Peace khoji

This is false dichotomy ... The third option is

**The democratic representation - **your title should read ... Assad, al-Qaeda, or the Syrian People ... Why do you deliberately avoid giving them air time or any mention of their own right to lead themselves?

What we need in the region is not armament - we need disarmament ... throw out the foreigners and squeeze the supply lines of the government and keep food and medical aid lines open ...

Then the situations will be forced to go to the tables instead of the battleground.

Come on are you man enough to admit this is by far the best policy to adopt for the region?

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Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in SyriaIran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria - Middle East - World - The Independent

Shias should swallow the harsh reality, both sides will be funded and armed. Stop crying for no reason.

there’s no such thing as “muslim unity”. It’s war between sunni and shia, the ones preaching unity are fools.

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Old Friendships Die Hard for Hezbollah Angering Gulf Over Syria - Bloomberg

Old Friendships Die Hard for Hezbollah Angering Gulf Over Syria
By Donna Abu-Nasr & Alaa Shahine - Jun 16, 2013 5:01 PM ET

Allegiances are proving costly for Islamic militant group Hezbollah as the war in Syria deepens the sectarian divide in the Middle East.

Days after the town of al-Qusair fell to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces this month with help from Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah, the group was shunned by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. The oil-rich, mainly Sunni GCC labeled it a terrorist group and threatened unprecedented measures against its loyalists and their financial transactions. The U.S. said last week it will help arm the Syrian opposition.

Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria has led to greater polarization between Islam’s two main sects, said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center in Qatar. Without the group, it “would have been more of an inter-Syrian fight rather than being a sectarian one,” he said.

The result is a watershed in the 31-year history of Hezbollah, which seeks to portray itself as an anti-Israel resistance group and a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed, irrespective of their brand of Islam.

Its fighters are also likely to get mired further in Syria’s civil war to protect its central conduit of weapons and prevent the well-armed rebels from strengthening Sunni militias in Lebanon, said Torbjorn Soltvedt, senior analyst at Maplecroft, a U.K.-based risk consultant.
Sunni Militias

“Combined with significant pressure from Iran, these factors are likely to lead to even stronger involvement by Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict despite the hostile GCC stands,” he said.

Most of the rebels fighting Assad are Sunni Muslims while the president belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam. The split resulted from a dispute over succession following Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632.

Hezbollah’s open alignment with the Syrian regime has triggered an escalation in the Sunni rhetoric, including from Saudi Arabia’s top cleric.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh called Hezbollah a “loathsome, sectarian” group in a statement carried June 6 by the official Saudi Press Agency. He also endorsed Egyptian-born cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s call on Sunni Muslims from his base in Qatar to fight a holy war in Syria.

Saudi Arabia’s stock market, the Arab world’s biggest, dropped the most in almost two years on June 15 after King Abdullah interrupted his vacation in Morocco because of what the official Saudi Press Agency said were “escalating concerns relating to events in the region.”
‘Arm Us!’

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, who hails from the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, on June 15 suspended diplomatic relations with Assad. Egyptians stood by Lebanon and Hezbollah against Israel in 2006, and “today we stand against Hezbollah for Syria,” Mursi told a stadium packed with his supporters.

Khaled Al-Qazza, Mursi’s secretary for foreign affairs, last week said Egyptians were free to make up their minds about going to Syria.

More fighters may make their way to Syria after Mohammad Al-Areefi, an influential Saudi scholar whose comments are often cited, gave a sermon in a Cairo mosque on June 14 urging Sunnis to take up arms against Assad and Hezbollah. Scores of worshipers jumped to their feet after his comments, also broadcast on Egyptian television, and erupted into chants of “Arm us, arm us, to Syria, to Syria!”
Lebanon Spillover

The tension has also led to a rise in violence in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each make up roughly a third of the population of 4.3 million people. Groups clashed in the northern city of Tripoli, most recently this month, and rockets launched from Syria fell on Shiite areas in Lebanon.

The chaos in Syria is already weighing on the economy of Lebanon, whose modern history is marred by sectarian conflicts. Growth, which averaged 8 percent from 2007 to 2010, won’t exceed 2 percent in 2013, Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi said in a June 5 interview. The risk premium investors demand to hold Lebanon’s debt over U.S. Treasuries surged in the past four weeks to 467 on June 14, the highest since September last year, according to JP Morgan Chase & Co. data.

Arabic for “Party of God,” Hezbollah, is the only group that refused to disband following the end of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, swelling from a small militia in 1982 to the most powerful political group in the country with seats in parliament and ministers in the cabinet in Beirut.
Israeli Threat

Hezbollah says it needs its arsenal of weapons to defend against Israeli attacks. It spearheaded the fight against Israel’s 18-year occupation of an enclave in south Lebanon. Israel withdrew in 2000, a move Hezbollah claimed as a victory. The group also fought an inconclusive war against Israel in 2006, earning popularity among Sunnis as well as Shiites.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has linked the group’s involvement in Syria with its resistance narrative. He called the fighting part of a broader struggle against Israel, saying Hezbollah “won’t keep silent and watch its back break.”

In funerals this month for fighters who died in Syria, Hezbollah officials repeated that message, while members of the group say they are not fighting a sectarian war.

“No one should consider the al-Qusair achievement as a victory for Shiites against Sunnis,” said Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein al-Moussawi in Nabi Sheet on June 5, according to a transcript of his comments e-mailed by Hezbollah. He said it was a victory against the Zionist-Western plot targeting Syria.
Loyal Fighters

Syrian opposition groups, which the U.S. government will supply with small arms and ammunition, say Hezbollah is mobilizing its fighters along with Syrian troops outside Aleppo in the north for a push into the city, which unlike al-Qusair, is far from the borders of Lebanon.

One of the consequences of Hezbollah’s engagement in Syria is the possibility that Lebanese Shiites who work in Gulf countries and send money back home would be expelled, said Peter Harling, project director with the Middle East Program of the International Crisis Group think tank.

“It’s happening on a small scale, but you could have an exodus of Lebanese Shiites who are present in the Gulf in large numbers, making a lot of money which they send home,” he said in a phone interview. “This can have a very dire economic impact on the Shiites in Lebanon.”

The crisis in Syria has also deepened tensions between the Western-backed March 14 group and the Hezbollah-led March 8 group, which dominates the caretaker government of Najib Mikati.

What is Hezbollah “doing in the alleys of al-Qusair and amid the rubble of its houses and buildings?” former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who heads the Future Movement in the March 14 bloc, said in a June 7 statement. “What is Hezbollah doing to Lebanon and the Lebanese, to the Arabs and Muslims?”

For now, the group is stuck on its side of the sectarian divide. Hezbollah won’t change its position on Syria or give up support for Assad government, leader Nasrallah said in a June 14 speech. “The alternative in Syria is chaos,” he said.

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Democratic representation was possible earlier but now it has been hijacked by Qaeda.
Today rebels are no longer in command. The main fight is being fought between Assad and Qaeda. This is why I mentioned the two of them.

And anyone who thinks that giving weapons to rebels like FSA would diminish the role of Qaeda, does not know the reality in Syria. It is nothing new that Americans provided weapons to rebels through Saudis and Qataris. And it is also not new that those weapons ultimately fell in Qaeda’s hands.

Global Research, April 17, 2013
While the West attempts to claim these weapons are being sent to “moderates,” the US State Department itself admits that Al Qaeda is operating in every major city in Syria, carrying out hundreds of terrorist attacks, and is by far the most highly organized, most prominent militant front in the conflict. If the West via Saudi Arabia and Qatar is sending thousands of tons of weapons to “moderates,” who is sending *more *weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra?The obvious answer is there are no moderates, and the West has been intentionally arming Al Qaeda from the beginning.

BTW, how does it feel like to be on the same side with Zionists? I am wondering.
It is strange that people who fume whenever the name ‘America’ is mentioned in Pakistan, are the same people who are begging the same country to help save Qaeda terrorists in Syria. Ironic.

America’s main enemy is Qaeda. It was Saudi Qaeda operatives who attacked America on 9/11. Yet America is willing to side with its own enemies only to please Zionist Israelis.

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Peace Janjua39

I’m preaching unity … It is quite possible for the majority to protect the rights of the minorities … Syria can do it … But the war is happening … That does not make me a fool … I am not playing a game of predict the future event … I am saying this is the high road … And the one being taken in actual fact is the low road … Islam is about bringing peace … The way to do that is not to arm both sides to the teeth … That is going to be a massacre (and that last statement is a prediction) … If anything the reason why there seems to be this reluctance is because the world stage of super powers are getting ready for a cock fight … They have no interest in either Sunnis or Shi’as … They are placing bets with each other China/Russia vs West whose cock will win … And we are so dumb that we are playing in to their hands …

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Peace khoji

I don't think you know what you are on about ... I'm not on the same side as the Zionists, because I don't draw my lines as if there are two sides ... There are political tensions here all over the place ...the net result is from an Israeli point of view ... Choosing the least worst of the two sides ... From an al-Qaeda point of view it is about choosing to fight anyone to gain control ... From the Ikhwani point of view it is similar but they will not be so heavy handed about it, from the Elite Alawite point of view any rebellion is unjust, from an Iran point of view ... The enemy of my enemy is a friend ... From the people who call themselves Hizbullah ... Their POV is to gain territorial power much the same as al-Qaeda ... From a Russia point of view it is about defending socialism (being an ex-commy state) ...

And from the point of view of the Syrian public ... Who want to stop everyone fighting and killing ... All oppressors and invaders are enemies of peace ...

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A find it amusing how khoji keeps singing that the USA is supporting Al Qaeda, when all of the news indicates that the only body receiving arms will be the FSA, which is the armed wing of the Syrian National Coalition. The SNC is a multifaith organization that includes the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and yet is led by George Sabra, a Christian.

Last I checked, Al-Qaeda were not led by a Christian.

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khoji only sees it as a shia sunni conflict. he wont admit or hes confused about the wahabi label. theyre sunnis end of. it is a good thing to be frank about all this, falling into the unity drama will only give regrets.

funny how the assad supporters are calling out zionist and american hand.. same thing happenef in iraq for which they cheered on. they wont admit of shia militias raping and killing though...

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Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

/\ thats where you are wrong though. Most religious Shias and their leadership did not support the iraqi invasion, nor did they accept arms to fight saddam, when offered by the west. See the difference

Both saddam and west were from zalimoon, neither had iraqi interest at heart, and it was the innocent average iraqi that would pay the price.

See the difference in the thought process? Its called a moral backbone and self respect.. Something the sunni leadership direly needs to get asap.

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Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

[quote]
Old Friendships Die Hard for Hezbollah Angering Gulf Over Syria
By Donna Abu-Nasr & Alaa Shahine - Jun 16, 2013 5:01 PM ET

Allegiances are proving costly for Islamic militant group Hezbollah as the war in Syria deepens the sectarian divide in the Middle East.

Days after the town of al-Qusair fell to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces this month with help from Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah, the group was shunned by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. The oil-rich, mainly Sunni GCC labeled it a terrorist group and threatened unprecedented measures against its loyalists and their financial transactions. The U.S. said last week it will help arm the Syrian opposition.
[/quote]

lol. The gulf arabs have never been friends with hizbullah, infact they've always been considered as an extended hand of iran and hence an enemy. Pre- syria, they tried numerous ways to get it to dis-arm and heavily funded its opposition esp during elections, just to keep it out of government.

Then during the israel - lenanon war, they were actually cheering israel, hoping hezbullah would be crushed. They were severely disappointed. They detested hamas for its link to
Hezbullah.

Infact their sole concern in syria is to break the hezb- iran link, and bring in bring in a pro arab leader... Nothing whatsoever to do with democracy.

So to sit there and pretend hizbullah is losing such 'friends' over this is comical to say the least. Hezbullah can tell a friend from foe, and it is certainly no loss to them.

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Sister** Ma Mooli **- that’s not true

There were enough religious Shias some with strong pedigree who co-operated with the invading forces to give legitimacy to the occupation.
**
See the following:**

Ibrahim al-Jaafari Islamic Dawa Party.

He was previously one of the two Vice Presidents of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Government from 2004 to 2005, and he was the main spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party.
**
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim**

Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim brother of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim

File:Al-Hakim meets G.W. Bush.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hasan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese Shia resistance group Hizbollah issued an emotional statement regarding the death of Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim. The statement spoke of the “struggle” of Al-Hakim to “rescue” and “uplift the Iraqi people.” This drew criticism and calls of sectarianism from political commentator Asad Abukhalil due to the role of Abdul Aziz Al Hakim in the US occupation of Iraq.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**
Prominent Shia Scholars with Wolfowitz?**

Prominent Shia Scholars with Wolfowitz? - General Politics and Current Issues - ShiaChat.com

Then you had enough of ‘secular’ Shias outdoing each other to be the lackeys of the West – and did serve them well even if it was against the interests of Iraq and its honour!

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Sister** Ma Mooli** – You have to distinguish between Gulf Arab rulers and Arab public just as you are distinguishing between religious Shias and the Secular ones likes of Chalabis and Allaawis.

Commentary: Hezbollah’s Power Play | The National Interest

Iran and Hezbollah have blundered big time! Just to gain short term gains they have lost a lot.

It would have been a master stroke if the Iran and Hezbollah distanced themselves from Bashar Assad as an ally because he has proved to be a ruthless tyrant.

If they had only advised him to step down that would have forced Bashar Assad out of office.

The new ‘democratic Government’ would have been very soft on Iran and Hezbollah – same as the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

By siding with Bashar Assad Iran and Hezbollah have shown their true sectarian faces.

Resulting in:

  1. Iran and Hezbollah have lost all the sympathy they had with Sunni/Arab public.
  2. Eventual leadership in Syria will always see Iran and Hezbollah as the real enemies – rightly so.
  3. Iran and Hezbollah have lost close links they had with Palestinian groups.
  4. Palestinian cause has been pushed 50 years back.
  5. ‘Islamic Front’ against the Zionists/West is a remote dream now - Divided the Ummah has become more weak and sectarian interests rule - and hand of the Tyrants in the Middle East has been strengthened.
  6. Egypt was becoming close to Iran and President Morsi even paid a visit to Iran recently - now this relationship will be strained to breaking point.

Sometimes to be too sure of one’s abilities and righteousness makes people commit blunders par excellence - Iran and Hezbollah have blundered big-time!

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The Priority of Principle
Any movement or political organization is defined by its principles. It’s very essence and identity is constituted by its distinct platform. Policies, and strategies employed by the movements are based primarily on these principles, and its socio-political outlook and philosophy. However, a movement ceases to exist as a distinct group of people with shared principles and goals when it gives up its principles and becomes pragmatic. Today Hezbollah faces an existential crisis after having subordinated its revolutionary principles for their pragmatic interests as they re insistent on supporting the despotic Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Hugo Assman referred to the ideology of the Iranian Revolution (from which Hezbollah emerged) as “the epistemological privilege of the poor” referring here as the Iranian scholar Amr G.E Sabet points out to the mustad’ afin (the oppressed). While revolution in Shi’i Islam has never been “utilitarian nor goal-oriented. It is an intrinsic value in and of itself” (Sabet). He goes on to quote Khomeini, whose advice to the Arab world puts to waste Hezbollah’s pragmatic power-hungry support for the regime “Do not wait until you attain power so that you can speak” but rather “speak and then you will have attained power”. Principles transcend historical realities and their socio-political configurations however temporary pragmatic alliances do not.

Hypocrisy and Betrayal
At the heart of Hezbollah’s manifesto is their claimed dedication to the principle of revolution against tyranny which at the core of Tawhid while citing the massacre of Karbala and Husayn radiyallahu ‘anhu against Yazid. The moral of the iconic event in Karbala being; revolution and the rejection of tyranny are principles which were given priority by Husayn radiyallahu ‘anhu who revolted with several dozen men knowing well what the material outcomes would be, but dismissing them in light of these lofty values. Ali Shariati, being a key ideologue of the Iranian Revolution remarked, in speaking of the passive and complacent Shi’ites of his time “For we all believe that it is not possible for a nation to be Muslim, to believe in Ali and his way, and yet to gain no benefit from such a belief” (Bayat 156)

Hezbollah plunged into the abyss of strategic and ideological blunder earlier this year after having openly admitted to sending its men to defend Assad’s regime against the revolution – a revolution against a secular regime, which by principal is illegitimate according to the political ideology of Hezbollah. And while Hezbollah draws its “identity” from the Husayn radiyallahu ‘anhu revolted as a result of corruption within the framework of an existing Islamic State while Assad’s draconian rule and pan-Arabist Baathist regime is based on the complete rejection of Islam as a mode of governance and is entrenched in exclusionary secular values.

Lost Principles, Failed Strategy, and an Existential Crisis
An appraisal of Hezbollah’s policies requires that we understand the grand-strategy of “Islamic” Republic of Iran. Doing so exposes both the ulterior motives of Hezbollah (and its lack of autonomy on one hand) and the strategic short-sightedness of the “Islamic” Republic of Iran. Hezbollah betrays not only its normative principles, but also its pragmatic political “aspirations” which state;

“We want Lebanon to be sovereign, free, independent, strong and competent. We want it also to be powerful, active, and present in the geopolitics of the region”[3]

Hezbollah’s manifesto goes on to condemn the United States for “Supporting the systems of dictatorship and tyranny as well as subjection in the region” yet both Hezbollah and Iran continue to provide one of the region’s largest coercive security apparatuses with monetary and military support. And while condemning the United States for “Creating and embedding sedition and divisions of all types, especially sectarian ones” the Iranian-backed militia continues to polarize the Muslim world and exacerbate sectarian divisions through its incessant support for the Syrian tyrant. All of which is done under the banner of “national unity” and “freedom, security and stability”[4]

“Resistance” and Other Pragmatic Justifications
Even if one were to entertain justifications based on Assad’s “support for the resistance” and “containment of American hegemony” a critical question emerges; does material support for armed resistance legitimize a regime? And if so, does this legitimization occur independently of the regime’s ideological foundations? A war-mongering and opportunistic United States which supported the Afghan resistance against the U.S.S.R would then also have met the criteria for legitimacy, if consistency is sought of course as would Iran’s key rival; Saudi Arabia. While claiming that their policies are directed towards the containment of American hegemony in the region ignores a blatant and explicit anti-Americanism amongst the Syrian revolutionaries and a growing chasm between the Free Syrian Army and the Western-based Syrian National Council. The hesitancy of the United States to provide nothing more than nominal support and lip-service to the revolution is indicative of such as it fails to find proxies within the Syrian revolution to lead a transition to a “Civil Democratic” Syria which will not drift too far from a U.S orbit and maintain its interests in the region. As a result, a post-Assad Syria will not be shaped nor defined by an Imperialistic U.S or a pragmatic “Islamic” Republic of Iran as both powers will be excluded from the transitory process.

Hezbollah’s reactionary policies are predicated on a false dilemma or binary: neo-Colonialism led by the neo-Liberal powers v. old-colonialism as represented by the anarchic Authoritarian Syrian regime. A third-way was not considered, leaving both Hezbollah and the United States stumbling towards a bleak future. Having abandoned their ideological foundations, and forgone their pragmatic national commitments – Hezbollah’s actions have been detrimentally informed by an illusionary dilemma. The “Islamic” Republic of Iran on the other hand has isolated itself from the Muslim world. Across the Muslim world protests were held in from of the Lebanese and Iranian embassies vehemently condemning Iran and Hezbollah.

Both in principle and strategically[5], it would have been a wiser move for Hezbollah to either by the Syrian people during their revolution or to remain neutral towards a population who can be described by the Shi’ite thinker and journalist Suroosh Irfani as those “liberation person(s)” who have “refused to submit to despotism and its attempts for distorting supreme values, and preferred death to a dehumanized purposeless existence under a monstrous regime and inhuman social system, it is a response to Hussein’s call. Whenever there is struggle for liberation, Hussein is present on the battlefield”. Despite the death of Husayn and the continuation of Yazid’s regime following the Karbaba massacre, the latter has been forgotten while Husayn remains a symbol of resistance and liberation for the centuries to come for history teaches us that a nation’s population does not come and go, while regimes do.

Syrian’s had shown their utmost support prior to Hezbollah’s betrayal while the support of the regime had always been pragmatic and the flow of weapons to the resistance in their iron-clutch which they tighten at times, and ease at others. Potentia (real power) is always located with the people, a lesson they should have learned from the Iranian revolution. More so, the Arab Spring has largely changed the dynamics of power in the Arab-Muslim world, in that, ‘the people’ as a collective body have become autonomous political actors capable of exerting their own pressure and enforcing their own will. Consequently, Hezbollah’s future in the region is bleak as it cannot strive on minorities and rural populations alone. And while the liberatory caravan of Husayn will continue to shake the thrones of tyranny across the Arab-Muslim world, Hezbollah’s caravan will find its demise in Yazid’s Damascus.

Ali Harfouch is a graduate of Political Studies at the American University of Beirut working in Islamic activism.

The End of Hezbollah in the New Middle East | New Civilisation

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This discussion is heading nowhere. Some of the comment makers clearly have very little idea about geopolitics and in particular the background and the type of organization Hezbollah is. I say that if you are convinced of Hezbollah's end then how about come back here in say a years time for a review.

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[QUOTE]

Sister** Ma Mooli** – You have to distinguish between Gulf Arab rulers and Arab public just as you are distinguishing between religious Shias and the Secular ones likes of Chalabis and Allaawis.
[/quote]

If you see the quote i am responding to, the article is about the gulf arab leaders, and their 'dying friendship.'.. It is not referring to the arab public.

[quote]

Iran and Hezbollah have blundered big time! Just to gain short term gains they have lost a lot.

It would have been a master stroke if the Iran and Hezbollah distanced themselves from Bashar Assad as an ally because he has proved to be a ruthless tyrant.

If they had only advised him to step down that would have forced Bashar Assad out of office.

The new ‘democratic Government’ would have been very soft on Iran and Hezbollah – same as the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

By siding with Bashar Assad Iran and Hezbollah have shown their true sectarian faces.

Resulting in:

1) Iran and Hezbollah have lost all the sympathy they had with Sunni/Arab public.
2) Eventual leadership in Syria will always see Iran and Hezbollah as the real enemies – rightly so.
3) Iran and Hezbollah have lost close links they had with Palestinian groups.
4) Palestinian cause has been pushed 50 years back.
5) 'Islamic Front' against the Zionists/West is a remote dream now - Divided the Ummah has become more weak and sectarian interests rule - and hand of the Tyrants in the Middle East has been strengthened.
6) Egypt was becoming close to Iran and President Morsi even paid a visit to Iran recently - now this relationship will be strained to breaking point.

Sometimes to be too sure of one’s abilities and righteousness makes people commit blunders par excellence - Iran and Hezbollah have blundered big-time!
[/QUOTE]

honestly.. There are so many incorrect assertions here;. Im at a loss as to where to start.

  1. Please tell me what use this arab sympathy would be if a) hezbullah was cut off from iran, and then b)gained a pro american/saudi/ or takfiri gov in assads place? That would be simply be playing in to israels hand and practically suicidal.

2 What use would their sympathy be if hezbullah then weakened and dis-armed, and if israel then attacked lebanon and turned it into another palestine? And a weakened hamas= non existent palestine. What exactly would they gain from this in the long term?

  1. If allying with assad is bad, then the only other option is to ally with the opposition is worse = americans, israel, saudi, qatar, bahrain, other gulf arab dictators who are oppressing their own people. Surely assad is the lesser evil in comparison?

  2. Hezbullah attack on qusair was defensive, in order to protect the lebanon border from rabid al qaeda protecting the shias living in qusair who are in danger of being ethnically cleansed; and keeping open its corridor of arms to iran. There are several other areas occupied by the rebels, but hizbullah hasnt touched those.

5.Sectarianism does not come into it for hezbullah, as it does for the opposition. After all, they are the ones who were training sunni hamas and the biggest supporters of palestine.

Seyed himself said as much in his latest speech on june 14th, that this not a shia-sunni war as the arab and western media are projecting. There are many shias opposing assad and that is their right, just as there are sunnis christians druze etc supporting assad. Sheikh bhouti was one well know sunni cleric killed for his support for assad.

He also said of all the lebanese groups that intervened; hizbullah was the last one to get involved. Indeed they waited almost a year before seeing the realities on the ground, and deciding to get involved.

And when they did, the enemies cried foul, despite them being more involved than hezbullah. The propaganda becsme intense; one example the arab media picked up on hezb youths putting ya hussain banners on the minerat of the mosque apparently called omar.. And that they were now claiming qusair is now a shia city,

When in fact that mosque was a shia mosque, with predominantly shias living in that area for centuries. That is the kind of propaganda going on to instigate a sectarian nature.

On the other hand, you see videos on youtube by the rebels, raiding homes public transport and asking people if they are shia or sunni, and shooting or slaughtering them if they are happen to be shia, including children,. you hear slogans open to kill all shias where you find them, and that they will release 4 alawites to kill one shia..

According to one ex tunisian rebel, the reason he left, was he saw rebels raiding random syrians homes, accusing them of being of shabiha, and then stealing their valuables and selling them for money. That is the mentality of those you are claiming to be fighting for the syrian people.

  1. ...Unlike the gulf arabs who are supporting the americans and israeli by the looks of it, simply to minimise shia influence. Listen to the outcry of a 'shia crescent' in their media, when you have a sunni countries left right and centre. A disturbingly bigoted mindset that is likely to make a united front on that level unlikely, no matter what iran/hezbullah do.

  2. Egypt is a newly established democracy; heavily aided by america, yet still cant open its rafah borders at will, so not much they can offer to iran right now except civil relationship. Either-way egypt is a known mimbar of imam as. so its not worrying on that front.

  3. I think despite the heavy propaganda against hizbullah/iran in the arab world, the arabs connected to social media, will wise up soon enough; and realise where their leaders loyalty really lie. Truth will overcome falsehood sooner or later.

  4. Finally; according to seyed nasrallah, he was supportive of the initial natural and spontaneous protests for democracy, and encouraged assad to recognise their genuine demands (as did iran). It was only when everyone else started interfering, to get at iran and hezbullah, they stepped back and took stock.

  5. They still support genuine calls for elections in syria, which assad has planned sometime this year, and the seyed still believes there are a few genuine folks on the syrian council, however they refuse to support the armed opposition, esp those who are doing the bidding of their arch- enemies.

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Sister Ma Mooli – You are taking things from a very static point of view – everything is very fluid and there are many actors and opportunists with their own agendas.

‘The Gulf Arab leaders’ that you mention – most of them are giving lip service support to the Syrian people. They are forced to do this for their image for the domestic consumption. The Sunni/Arab populations are very angry with what is happening to their brethren in Syria.

It is mood in the Sunni/Arab populations that is what is going to count in the long run.

If you go back 35 years you would not recognise Iran that is today – Shah of Iran was worse than these Arab Sheikhs – The time of these despots is just around the corner!!!

Iran has blundered big time by shoring up a tyrant like Bashar Assad. Ruthlessness that was employed by Bashar Assad to suppress peaceful protests –( you must acknowledge that they were peaceful to begin with) – gave a clear message to the Sunni world where the sympathies of Iran lie. Clearly with Bashar Assad and against the Syrian population.

Without Iranian support Bashar Assad would not have lasted a few months. So much blood would not been shed. Bashar Assad his cahoots – mostly Allawites let loose murderous Sahibahs who used murder, rape and plunder to subdue the protesting population.

This gave the opportunity to outsiders to jump in. The nasty things done by all to each other has created a great rift and clearly on the sectarian lines.

If Iran had disowned Bashar Assad on the onset a National government would have been formed. It would not be anti Iranian.
With Iran playing such a positive role would have send a great message to Sunnis that Iran means well and this would have played in Iran’s favour.

With this public sympathy for Iran among the Sunni population it would have deterred ‘Arab Sheikhs’ (Tyrants) painting Iran in bad colours.

No, you are forgetting the THIRD OPTION – which brother pysah has repeatedly pointed out – The Syrian PEOPLE – Let the majority rule – just like in Iraq. This doesn’t suit Iran – right?

Bashar Assad is as EVIL as Shah of Iran – If democracy is good for Iran and Iraq – let it be so for Syria.

No Hezbollah attack on Qusair was on Iran’s behest to block arm supplies to the insurgents.

Hezbollah has never hidden it’s Shia credentials – no problem with that – just as Hamas is always a Sunni – in politics and war organisations do co-operate.

Now, where does Hamas stand with Iran?

Deeds speak louder than words – It has clearly has slipped into Sectarian war – and on the fringes there are people look for their own interests and enjoying perks and power that come their way being in the camp of the government.

The timing of Hezbollah is interesting. It was done on Iran behest to turn the tide against the ‘insurgents’.

“the enemies cried foul” because Hezbollah sided with a tyrant against the innocent people of Syria.

Yes that ‘mosque’ propaganda was very embarrassing for Al-Jazeera

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Re: Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

That happening is all wrong – now have you seen the videos of Shabiha in action? Have you seen action of Assad’s army? In comparison to these Sadaam Hussein was a street bully.

In war situation the thieves, looters and crooks operate under cover. That does mean that the cause is not just.
Very, very sad though.

The ‘shia crescent’ just term created by the West to scare the Gulf Sheikhs – everybody knows that. Iraq with 60% Shia population just fits in the ‘shia crescent’ Syria with nearly 80% Sunni population is a misfit.

Iran/Hezbollah are there for their own self interests only – this is the bigoted mindset.

Husni Mubarak the American lackey par excellence has indebted Egypt so much to America that new ‘democratic government’ cannot do anything without a nod from the paymaster.

One wrong move – feel the squeeze – unfortunately that’s how things work. Egypt is hamstrung with huge debts so is nearly not that effective.

In the Arab world Iran/Hezbollah have been exposed as sectarian and the arab leaders as weak lackeys of West.

If you refer to history matters similar to this has passed – then in depths of darkness emerged a Islamic hero Salahuddin Al Ayyubi – That is indeed true – Truth will overcome falsehood – I hope sooner for the sake of Syria people.

Iran and Hezbollah opted to be with the tyrant and abandoned the Syrian people. The longer Bashar Assad clings to power due to the unflinching support of Iran/Hezbollah more suffering for the Syrian people.

Bashar Assad had planned to hold elections sometime this year?

Yeah Sadaam Hussein did that too. He had 100% popular on paper. Or was it 120%

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Re: Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

mashaAllah…Syrian “jehad” in Pakistan too…

Evan Kohlmann ‏@IntelTweet](https://twitter.com/IntelTweet)2m
The Pakistani Taliban has claimed credit for the suicide bombing of a Shiite shrine in Peshawar “in support of bros waging jihad in Syria.”

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Re: Hezbollah Leader Vows to Fight on Behalf of Syrian Regime

Syrian-American friends are saying that the regime is setting up fake jihadi groups in Syria and attacking Shi'a sites, recording them and putting out in the media.

I wonder if there is any truth to those claims?