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Hizballah Crosses Lines

[New York Times] Michael Young - This week Hizballah transgressed three political lines. The first was its expansion of military operations outside the Shebaa Farms area. A second line was its evident coordination of strategy with Hamas; this went well beyond its stated aim of simply defending Lebanon. Third, by unilaterally taking Lebanon into a conflict with Israel, Hizballah sought to stage a coup d'etat against the anti-Syrian parliamentary and government majority, which opposes the militant group's adventurism. Iran has long bankrolled Hizballah, but Syria is the nexus of regional instability, giving shelter to several of the most intransigent Palestinian militants, transferring arms to Hizballah, and undermining Lebanon's frail sovereignty. Unless something is done to stop Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, from exporting instability to buttress his despotic regime, little will change. Once the Israelis end their offensive, Hizballah will regroup and continue to hold Lebanon hostage through its militia, arguably the most effective force in the country, and Hamas leaders in Damascus will continue derailing any negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The popular mood in Beirut is one of extreme anger that the group has provoked a conflict Lebanon cannot win.
2006-07-14 01:00:00
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