{"id":62649,"date":"2018-07-25T17:05:29","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T15:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=62649"},"modified":"2018-07-17T16:50:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-17T14:50:30","slug":"18-05-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=62649","title":{"rendered":"Hezbollah&#8217;s Indefinite Presence in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" width=\"40%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/12608\/hezbollah-syria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hezbollah&#8217;s Indefinite Presence in Syria<br \/>\nby Sirwan Kajjo<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Sirwan Kajjo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After more than seven years of fighting alongside the Assad regime in Syria, the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is highly unlikely to make an easy exit from the war-torn territory, no matter what supposed agreements are reached or promises made.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hezbollah fighters are now in control of much of Syria&#8217;s border with Lebanon. In fact, the Shi&#8217;ite terrorist group is in charge of controlling the Lebanese side of the border, despite the presence of the Lebanese military, which is weak.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With no end in sight to Syria&#8217;s seven-year war, Hezbollah will undoubtedly continue its military expansion, causing more instability in an already volatile region.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">After weeks of shuttle diplomacy allegedly carried out by Russia and Israel, Iranian forces and allied militias &#8212; including the so-called &#8220;military wing&#8221; of the Lebanon-based organization Hezbollah, all of which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US &#8212;\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/monitor-group-says-hezbollah-pulling-back-from-israel-syria-border\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>reportedly<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0began to withdraw from parts of southern Syria, near Israel&#8217;s border. According to other reports, however, many Hezbollah fighters,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jerusalemonline.com\/news\/middle-east\/the-arab-world\/hezbollah-terrorists-now-wearing-syrian-army-uniforms-report-claims-36010\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>disguised<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0as members of the Syrian army, have simply remained on their bases to escape being targeted by the Israel Air Force. Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel&#8217;s air force has carried out sporadic\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.globes.co.il\/en\/article-israel-strikes-iranian-targets-in-syria-reports-1001235172\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0bases and convoys across its neighbor on the north. After more than seven years of fighting alongside the Assad regime in Syria, the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is highly unlikely to make an easy exit from the war-torn territory, no matter what supposed agreements are reached or promises made.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In a televised\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3BOHbDEX-6A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>speech<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on &#8220;<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quds_Day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Quds Day<\/strong><\/span><\/a>&#8221; &#8212; which Iran has marked every year since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 &#8212; Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addressed his supporters as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;We are in Syria because we should be there. The Syrian leadership has asked us to be present there based on developments in the ground&#8230;. Gulf states and Israel must know that we will be happy when we return our men to Lebanon&#8230; we will be happy and we will feel victorious to complete our mission. So what keeps us in Syria is our duty and the Syrian leadership, but at the same time I would like to tell you even if the entire world decided to remove us from Syria, we will not leave.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Nor does it seem that the Syrian regime is in a rush to tell Hezbollah to leave the country. In a recent\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uP9XS0Hgc-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0with an Iranian state-run news channel, Syrian President Bashar Assad said, &#8220;Hezbollah is an essential element in this war &#8212; the battle is long and the need for these military forces will continue for a long time.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Having helped defeat anti-regime rebel forces in the suburbs of Homs, Aleppo and Damascus, Hezbollah fighters are now in\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/syriasource\/hezbollah-s-diplomacy-in-qalamoun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">control<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0of much of Syria&#8217;s border with Lebanon. In fact, the Shi&#8217;ite terrorist group is in charge of controlling the Lebanese side of the border, despite the presence of the Lebanese military, which is weak. The areas in which Hezbollah operates are of great importance to the group, which uses the mountainous terrain as a\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2015\/05\/150511085809867.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">route<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0to transport military equipment between Syria and Lebanon. So entrenched is Hezbollah in that region that it has managed to build multiple military bases within a small radius.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">With those fronts of Lebanon and southern Syria already secured, Hezbollah fighters increasingly have moved to the oil-rich province of\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/southfront.org\/hezbollah-commander-reveals-hezbollah-units-fighting-deir-ezzor-since-2014\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Deir Ezzor<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0in eastern Syria to aid the Syrian military in its battle against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. Meanwhile, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militias \u2013 such as the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kurdistan24.net\/en\/news\/5c8883f6-be16-4ebf-95f5-a17c7fdf63dd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Popular Mobilization Forces<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>(PMF) &#8212; are largely in control of strategic areas along Syria&#8217;s border with Iraq.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Not far from those frontiers, the U.S.-led coalition has been aiding Kurdish-led forces to push out ISIS from other parts of Deir Ezzor. The months-long campaign has liberated large strategic areas from ISIS. More than\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rudaw.net\/english\/middleeast\/syria\/08022018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>once<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>,<\/strong><\/span> however, these two anti-ISIS campaigns have come head to head in Deir Ezzor, leaving the U.S. with no choice but to defend its local partners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Once ISIS is completely defeated in these areas, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups could be better positioned to wage attacks on U.S. interests there and elsewhere in Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">With no end in sight to Syria&#8217;s seven-year war, Hezbollah will undoubtedly continue its military expansion, causing more instability in an already volatile region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/3400.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Hezbollah soldiers on parade. (Image source: VOA video screenshot\/Wikimedia Commons)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Sirwan Kajjo is a Syrian-Kurdish Washington-based journalist and author.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"background: #d0e6fa; width: 710px; height: 15px;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\" content-alignment&lt;br \/&gt;&lt;br \/&gt; \">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr style=\"width: 710px;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hezbollah&#8217;s Indefinite Presence in Syria by Sirwan Kajjo Sirwan Kajjo After more than seven years of fighting alongside the Assad regime in Syria, the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is highly unlikely to make an easy exit from the war-torn territory, no matter what supposed agreements are reached or promises made. Hezbollah fighters are now in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62649"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62653,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62649\/revisions\/62653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}