| May 9, 2008
The right way to look at the latest outbreak of violence in Lebanon is as a thrust by Iran to solidify its staging ground for the next attack on Israel. We don’t suggest that Lebanon in and of itself doesn’t matter; it does. But the events taking place in the past two days, aside from marking the worst internal violence in Lebanon since the civil war that was levied between 1975 and 1990, is much more than sectarian strife. It is political and strategic, the result of Iran’s determination to use Hezbollah to serve its regional ambitions.
Ostensibly the crisis was triggered by the decision of the Lebanese government earlier this week to roll back two of Hezbollah's most blatant encroachments: the cabinet ordered the firing of the head of security at Beirut International Airport, a Hezbollah loyalist who helped the group set up a video surveillance network at the airport; and the government began an investigation into an independent telecommunications network that Hezbollah maintains in order to ensure the privacy of its communications with Iran and Syria and during wars with Israel.
RELATED: Hezbollah Besieges Beirut | Lebanon Lands on the Brink of a New War.
Hezbollah's response has been to foment street violence in Beirut and block access to the city’s airport with gunmen and dump truck loads of landfill. Today the wires are reporting this so called “party of God” has taken Beirut. Our allies in Lebanon’s March 14 movement, the scions of the Rafiq Hariri, are surrounded.
Meanwhile, the Sunni mufti of Lebanon declared Hezbollah an “armed gang of outlaws,” while Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry, in a clear reference to Iran, warned that “leading Lebanon towards turmoil will not bring victory to any party except extremist external forces.” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah responded by declaring in a fiery speech on Thursday: “the [Lebanese government’s] decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war...on behalf of the United States and Israel.”
The Hezbollah thug isn't fooling anyone. It is clear to all involved – to Sunni, Christian, and Druze Lebanese, and to the Sunni Arab states – that Israel and America have, we would say alas, nothing to do with this conflict, while the desire of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah to increase their writ in Lebanon are the sources of strife. Much to Mr. Nasrallah’s chagrin, the conflict is shaping up as one of Hezbollah versus Lebanon, rather than the typical spectacle of inter-sectarian Lebanese rivalry.
It is a dangerous moment, however, and this is not the time for America and the free world stand on the sidelines – or to issue any calls for dialogue, negotiation, or ceasefires. It would be a terrible thing were Free Lebanon betrayed. The factions that aspire to freedom in Lebanon must be backed in all ways, though the overnight reports were grim. Iran has chosen Lebanon as one of its battlefields, and the enemy must be met wherever he chooses to fight. Failure will imperil not only Lebanon’s future but Israel and the rest of the Middle East.
