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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Michael Totten on the border between Israel, Lebanon, and Syria |
| 2005-11-28 |
| HT: Instapundit. Some excerpts: ...Al Ghajar village, where the fighting broke out, is an odd place. One side is Lebanese. The other side is controlled by Israel. All the villagers on both sides of the border are Alawite, a minority sect -- some say heretical -- that long ago splintered off Shia Islam. Historically the village was part of Syria. The Alawites of Al Ghajar belong to the same ethnic-religious group that holds almost all the levers of power in Syria... ...Much of Lebanon is moderately prosperous, if not exactly wealthy. It's not what most Westerners think of as the Third World. But Al Ghajar was ruined only five years after being pushed into Lebanon. The village is in the deep south. This is Hezbollah country, a virtual state-within-a-state. Neither the Lebanese government nor the Lebanese army have any writ there. It is there -- the Israeli side of Al Ghajar -- where Hezbollah launched its attack last week. If Hezbollah were to successfully "liberate" the Israeli side of the village, the prosperous half would join the poorer half in more ways than one... ..."That village is in Israel," my guide said as we drove toward a row of single family homes. "What village?" I said as I scanned the distant hills for some kind of settlement. "That village right there," she said and pointed at the homes directly in front of us. Just behind us Hezbollah guerillas were dug into the hills and holed up inside abandoned houses. "Those houses right there?" I said. They were only a few hundred feet from the car. "Aren't they in Lebanon?" "Look closer," she said. "See the fence?" These are only excerpts; the whole article is worth reading. Notice what he says about his interpreter in particular. |
| Posted by:Phil |
| #1 about time for a blockade of Syria? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-28 23:06 |