Syria’s Game in Lebanon
The recent rocket attacks by Hezbollah cannot be viewed as a singular act of a renegade organization operating in a vacuum.
Amb. Uri Lubrani, Israel’s Coordinator for Lebanon, today told a visiting delegation of retired senior American military officers traveling under the sponsorship of JINSA that Hezbollah has been receiving approximately $100 million a year from Iran for well over ten years. In effect, they have received well over $1 billion in the last decade.
The recent rocket attacks by Hezbollah cannot be viewed as a singular act of a renegade organization operating in a vacuum.
Amb. Uri Lubrani, Israel’s Coordinator for Lebanon, today told a visiting delegation of retired senior American military officers traveling under the sponsorship of JINSA that Hezbollah has been receiving approximately $100 million a year from Iran for well over ten years. In effect, they have received well over $1 billion in the last decade.
While Syria is not the prime financier of Hezbollah activities, it goes without saying that Hezbollah would be unable to operate without, at minimum, Syrian acquiescence, and more likely with Syrian approval, encouragement and mentorship.
If that is the case, the, what is Syria’s game? There are only two possible scenarios. One is that Syria is trying to underscore that she still can be a significant spoiler and thereby strengthen her hand at the negotiating table. The other scenario is that Syria has still not come to terms with the possibility of peace with Israel and is cleverly making the point through surrogates.
One thing is clear: Syria controls all activity in Lebanon – not Hezbollah, not Iran, and certainly not the puppet government in Beirut. It would be an unfortunate mistake to absolve Syria of any responsibility for activities that take place within a region which she controls with an iron fist. There is more to come. Hezbollah is openly training a brigade of suicide bombers. Even five-year-old children have been trained to prepare for martyrdom. All this is under the watchful eyes of Syrian troops.
As for Iran – the recent Hezbollah bombings are once again a reminder that monies which flow out again to fuel terrorism, war and destabilization. Congress should take note as it considers the pending Iran sanctions legislation.
The delegation with which Amb. Lubrani met is part of JINSA’s ongoing program of bringing senior U.S. military officials together with their counterparts in the IDF and Israeli security establishment. The delegation is: *Adm. Leon Edney, USN (ret.), former Cdr. U.S. Atlantic Fleet; *Gen. John Foss, USA (ret.), former Cdr. TRADOC and Cdr. Sinai Multinational Force; *Adm. Jerome Johnson, USN (ret.), former Vice Chief of Naval Operations; *Maj. Gen. Jarvis Lynch, USMC (ret.), former Cdr. marine Recruiting Depot; *Gen. Crosbie Saint, USA (ret.), former Cdr. U.S. Forces Europe; *Gen. Lawrence Skantze, USAF (ret.), former Vice Chief of the Air Force and Cdr. Air Force Systems Command; Gen. Donn Starry, USA (ret.), former Cdr. TRADOC and armored warfare specialist; *The Hon. R. James Woolsey, former Director, CIA (* denotes Member of JINSA Advisory Board)