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Hizbullah in Syria: Winning the Battle, Losing the War
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Schenker and Oula Abdulhamid Alrifai - Fighting in Syria has hardened a new generation of Hizbullah militiamen, but it has also depleted the group's ranks and eroded its carefully cultivated image as an organization devoted to "resisting" Israel. Moreover, the group's involvement in a war that has killed tens of thousands of Sunnis has spurred ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra to target Shiites, Alawites, and Hizbullah members back home in Lebanon. As the war drags on, Hizbullah's operational stresses and limitations will become ever more apparent. Even Assad's most reliable Shiite allies may not be able to sustain him as the war's attrition increasingly highlights his demographic disadvantage. David Schenker is director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute. Oula Abdulhamid Alrifai is a research assistant at the Institute.