‘Hezbollah is scary good at insurgency, but counterinsurgency is emphatically not a skill in its toolbox. That’s one of the many reasons the organization has never tried to conquer the rest of the country. It can’t. It can only push people around from its own corner’
Syria, of course, has devolved into a long, bloody conflict, and the greatest danger is continued destabilization in the region. America’s commitments are governed by a policy which defers to international law and institutions by design, and sits back otherwise (Libya, yes-Syria, no). We’re no doubt helping logistically and behind the scenes with some SpecOps, but we’re also questionably losing important leverage and influence in the region.
Shia Iran has close ties with Hezbollah, and is backing the Assad regime. Sunni Saudi Arabia is funneling arms to the Free Syrian Army, as it sits next to now Shia majority Iraq and is still upset after Saddam’s Sunni-majority ruling coalition.
Joshua Landis’ blog here.
Al Jazeera live blog on Syria here.
Adam Garfinkle: Map humor.
Addition: Via the NY Times: John Kerry announced $60 million in U.S. aid to the Syrian opposition, food rations for the military front, and is trying to bet on the political horses, so that the worst elements, if and when Assad falls, aren’t holding the guns.
Related On This Site:Via Youtube-Uncommon Knowledge With Fouad Ajami And Charles Hill