Hezbollah

With ISIS Routed in Syria, Assad Is the Big Winner in the Civil War

Opinion: The US-led coalition which supported the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) have routed the Islamic State’s (ISIS) fighters out of Baghouz which was the last bastion of their self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.

And while the SDF, supported by U.S. airstrikes continues to pound the remnants of the ISIS fighters in the tunnels and caves along the eastern Euphrates River as SDF technicians remove mines and booby traps from the liberated areas, the question remains, is Syria any better off now?

Removing ISIS is a plus anywhere in the world but the eight-year bloody civil war will go down as a resounding victory for the oppressive regime of Bashar Assad.

When in 2011 the civil war started, many both in the West and in the Arab world were looking for a change from the authoritarian brutal rule of the government of Assad. But as events played out, everything worked in favor of Assad.

As the civil war began by rebels in Idlib province, springing out of the Arab Spring protests, calls for Assad’s removal were met with violent suppression. There were several factions involved in the very confused fighting. Facing the forces of Assad were a loose alliance of Sunni opposition groups (including the Free Syrian Army), Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front), the mostly Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Islamic State.

The Islamic State saw an opening and poured fighters in and began to seize territory in both Syria and Iraq to proclaim its own caliphate. The fighting spilled over into Lebanon with fighters from ISIS and al-Nusra battling Lebanese Army units.

The morass got worse with several other countries entering into the fray. Russia, a long-time ally of the Assad regime conducted airstrikes on the rebel-held areas. Iran saw an opening to make itself a bigger power player in the region and poured troops and money into the support also for Assad. They also saw an opening to establish bases on the border with Israel which they quickly have set up.

This prompted air strikes from the Israelis who vowed never to allow Iranian troops on their border. The Israelis ravaged Iranian, their puppet Hezbollah as well as Syrian government bases with heavy airstrikes.

The United States and a coalition led by them entered the fray on the side of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, which the SDF fights for both militarily and logistically. They set up bases inside of Syria for the sole purpose of fighting ISIS and removing them from Syrian territory. Therefore, the U.S. coalition, enemies of Assad was actually helping the government by helping to rid them of the ISIS threat, which is a friend to no one in the region. The Americans and Russians worked out an agreement not to fly or operate in each other’s areas.

That arrangement was tested when Russian “contractors” attacked a U.S. base with armored vehicles reportedly by mistake and were savaged by U.S. airstrikes and artillery fire.

The situation took on an even more twisted perspective when Turkey became embroiled in it. The Turks supported the rebels battling the Assad government and attacked ISIS as well, but they also consider the SDF and the Kurds terrorists. They’ve moved into the northwestern part of Syria and have threatened an offensive against the Kurdish SDF. Like Israel with Iran, they won’t accept an armed Kurdish faction on their border.

The refugee crisis has become a world-wide problem. And no place that is more keenly felt right now than in Idlib province. With the ISIS threat removed and the US-led coalition scaling back their troop levels, the threat to Assad’s power is basically gone.

And in Idlib, which is still a rebel stronghold, Assad is targeting civilian infrastructure with his airstrikes. News reports had Syrians bombing a hospital, other medical facilities, and a bakery. Idlib is currently home to three million people. Two million of them are from there and a million are refugees fleeing from the fighting elsewhere.

Assad has shown in the past and currently that the ends justify the means. Therefore, his government forces along with Russia are conducting airstrikes with impunity, forcing the civilians to flee while he exerts control once again over the area.

“The ongoing attacks in Idlib fit the same pattern we’ve seen before, in Aleppo, Daraa, Damascus Countryside, whereby Syrian government forces hit hospitals, medical facilities, emergency responders, bakeries, schools, leaving people no choice but to flee,” Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International said.

The rebel forces in Idlib are no match for the government forces of Assad and although the fighting may become protracted like in other large population areas, the outcome is not in doubt. Assad has one and the other countries in the region have already come to grips with it.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other countries are reestablishing diplomatic relations with Syria. The country is in shambles and despite Russia and Iran pumping a lot of cash into reconstruction, Assad will need money from the West to aid there.

Will the West and the U.S. see the overwhelming need to aid in a humanitarian crisis and offer their help to a government that caused it all in the first place? The lack of help from the West, should they refuse would be to set the stage for another civil war and even more bloodshed. And worse, set the stage for ISIS to return.

The European Union and Washington will ask for political reforms before they agree to commit billions to rebuild Syria. However, Assad, Russia, and Iran are hardly the players who give that any semblance of succeeding.

There are estimates that state that Syria needs $400 Billion to rebuild. Those estimates sadly may be smaller than what will actually be needed.

Syria is a mess and it isn’t getting better anytime soon, but in Damascus, Assad is happy…he won. With the help of his enemies.

Photo: Wikipedia

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Israeli SOF Units Are Preparing New Tactics to Face Hezbollah in Lebanon

With the news that Hezbollah is turning Lebanese villages along the border with Israel into military bases, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) specifically their Special Operations Forces are expecting an urban guerrilla warfare scenario. And they are preparing their forces and training to meet the threat.

Hezbollah has been constructing tunnels from Lebanon into Israel to dispatch guerrilla fighters into Israeli territory from these border villages. The Israelis have already detected several but expect to find many more.

The tunnels although important, are just part of the problem. The plan is to attack Israeli border towns by infiltrating fighters behind the towns to cut off reinforcements, while other units stationed among the Lebanese villagers will launch rockets, mortar fire and anti-tank fire and attack across the border at Israeli troops. Any return fire by Israelis will be bound to hit Lebanese civilians who are hopelessly intermingled as a matter of planning with Hezbollah fighters.

Lebanese village on the Israeli border was largely destroyed in 2006 during the war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Author photo)

One such village, Kafr Kela, is right along the border and relatively small with 10,000 citizens, most of them Shiite, and comprised of mainly farmers. But Hezbollah has a base, including about 20 arms depots, fighting positions both overground and underground, observation posts, and intelligence gathering personnel there. At the south of the village, is the road along the Israel-Lebanon border. Observation points along this road are also used for rioting.

Hezbollah which is in essence, nothing more than an Iranian puppet organization is hardly the first of Israel’s enemies to use Lebanon as a staging area to attack the Jewish state. After the Six-Day War, the PLO used Lebanon for cross-border raids which became more frequent after they were expelled from Jordan in 1971.

The Syrians took advantage of the Lebanese Civil War to occupy the country for nearly 30 years. But the Israelis launched border raids without success in 1976 and again in 1982 before they were finally able to oust the PLO from Lebanon.

Hezbollah came into being in 1985 and immediately began their rhetoric of taking back the land from the Jewish state. From 2000-2006, Hezbollah launched more than 200 attacks on Israel mostly with artillery or rocket fire.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah mixed closely with civilians and often refused to allow civilians to flee the battlefield. Thus when air strikes and counter-battery artillery fire from the IDF hit, it caused numerous civilian casualties. But the mainstream media ignored the cause and instead accused Israel of indiscriminately targeting civilians. Even Al-Jazeera reported it: “Foreign journalists based in Lebanon also reported that the Shia militia chose to fight from civilian areas and had on occasion prevented Lebanese civilians from fleeing conflict-hit areas of south Lebanon.” But Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch persisted with the same story. And Hezbollah is doing it again.

Lebanese villages on the northern Israeli border are where Hezbollah units are constructing tunnels into Israel. (Author photo)

The Israelis however, have learned their lesson from 2006. They are adjusting their planning for the next conflict which is surely coming. The mullahs in Tehran don’t care about the Lebanese people or civilian casualties.

The IDF’s Commando Brigade held a big exercise at the end of November where they were putting some of their new tactics to use in a practical exercise. Instead of attacking with Commandos along with Armor and Infantry forces in a frontal attack, the Commandos along with the Paratrooper Brigade, now called a Yeshuron Force. The IDF held a briefing earlier this year and described Yeshuron Forces as those “to deliver a strong punch to the enemy from multiple directions,” they said.

The Commandos and Special Forces units (Egoz, Maglan, and Duvdevan) will operate ahead of and behind the Hezbollah units, thus engaging them from their rear areas where they’ve traditionally been able to travel freely.

The exercise had the SOF units conducting lightning raids, moving quickly between targets, calling in close air support and operating not only in the open areas of the countryside but in urban areas as well.

In 2006, Hezbollah used their urban setting, underground tunnels, and intermingling with the civilian populace to render air strikes against them ineffective. But by utilizing their new tactics, the Israeli Special Operations Forces are planning on closing with and defeating their enemy in close combat, where they can effectively rain down air support by their operators and then whisk them to another area quickly.

Hezbollah’s troops are very well trained and have plenty of battle experience in Syria. They are considered excellent in the newest catchphrase “ asymmetrical urban warfare”, which someone spent months coming up with and received impact awards for their study in. But in essence, it just goes back to the old one guerrilla warfare. But asymmetrical sounds so 2010s.

The Commando Brigade is led by Col. Kobi Heller, who was quoted by JNS.org that “the brigade, which was only formed three years ago, is the new operational device in the IDF’s toolbox, capable of providing a solution for any challenge or threat.”

Heller added that “this exercise proves that the brigade is prepared to deal with any scenario required of it and that it is ready to face any enemy in any area.”

The Iranian forces in neighboring Syria have taken a beating lately against Israeli airstrikes which may have set back their timetables for attacking Israel. After the Israeli air force (IAF) hit several Iranian weapon convoys which were destined for both the Hezbollah and the Quds Forces in Syria this spring, Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps ordered missile attacks on northern Israel.

More than 20 rockets were launched at Northern Israel in retaliation, but none reached their targets. In response, the IAF then destroyed more than 50 Iranian targets in Syria with devastating air strikes. Among the targets were intelligence facilities, logistic headquarters, observation posts, weapon-storage depots, rocket launchers, and air defense batteries.

Photos: IDF, author

Iran Foreign Minister: The World Must Stand Up to US Bullying

Iran’s Foreign Minister said that the world needs to stand up to the bullying and bellicose behavior of the United States as he attempts to save a nuclear deal after Washington’s withdrawal last month.

In a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to his counterparts, he asked “the remaining signatories and other trade partners” to “make up for Iran’s losses” caused by the US exit, if they sought to save the historic accord.
The nuclear deal was the result of “meticulous, sensitive and balanced multilateral talks”, Zarif was quoted as saying in the letter, parts of which were published by the state news agency IRNA on Sunday.
He added the landmark 2015 agreement could not be renegotiated as the US has demanded.
Zarif said the US’ “illegal withdrawal” from the deal and its “bullying methods to bring other governments in line” with that decision have discredited the rule of law in the international arena.
The remaining signatories – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – still see the international accord as the best chance of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and are trying to salvage it.
Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has set out a series of conditions on for European powers if they want Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal, including steps to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales.
Trump abandoned the agreement on May 8, arguing he wanted a bigger deal that not only limited Iran’s atomic work but also reined in its support for proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and that curbed its ballistic missile programme.

The missile program and the proxies which include Hezbollah and Hamas among others will be a sticking point with the Iranians. The U.S. government has frequently said that the money the Iranians got from the deal was used to finance global terrorism.

How the European signatories view those points and whether or not they are interested in renegotiating a new deal will be the big question in the coming days.

To read the entire article by Al Jazeera, click here:

Photo: Wikipedia

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Iranian Base in Syria Nine Reported Killed

Israeli aircraft reportedly have launched a missile strike on an Iranian base outside of Damascus after monitoring what was described as “abnormal activity” and IDF troops went on high alert in the Golan.

Nine Iranian soldiers were killed as Syrian officials report that they shot down two of the Israeli missiles.

Syrian state media reported on Tuesday night that Israel conducted an airstrike south of Damascus, reportedly killing nine pro-Iranian fighters in an area previously identified as the site of a suspected Iranian military base.

Syria’s official SANA news outlet said that the country’s air defenses intercepted two Israeli missiles over the el-Kiswah area, south of Damascus. The report did not specify how many missiles were fired.

The attack happened in Kisweh, according to the official news agency SANA, about an hour after President Trump’s announced that he would be pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal.
High tension between rivals Iran and Israel have prompted an increasing number of strikes as of late. Iran has promised to respond to Israeli-led attacks aimed at Iranian outposts in Syria.
Those include an attack on Syria’s T4 air base in the Homs province in April that killed seven Iranian military personnel. And on April 30, Israel was accused of attacking government outposts in northern Syria, which left several pro-government fighters, some of whom were Iranians, dead.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said they’d identified “irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria” and urged citizens in Golan Heights near Syria to ready bomb shelters.

The pro-Hezbollah al-Mayadeen news outlet reported that fires had broken out in the area following the blasts.

An official with the Iran-led axis of resistance told the Associated Press the strike targeted a Syrian army position and caused only material damage. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.
Videos from the scene, which was posted on social media, showed the moment of the strike’s impact and its aftermath. Surveillance footage showed a blast of white light as the bombs hit, followed by what appeared to be secondary explosions, supporting the claim that the targets of the strike were missiles. Cellphone videos also showed trucks burning and fires raging in the direction of the alleged Iranian base.

The video from the Times of Israel can be seen here

To read the entire article from Fox News, click here:

Featured Photo is a screenshot from Syrian television of the aftermath of the missile strike.

US Will Reinvestigate Hezbollah for Suspected “Narcoterrorism”

The US Justice Department has announced that they will create a task force and investigate alleged drug trafficking by Hezbollah, the terrorist group that is state-sponsored by Iran.

Justice Department officials are trying to crack down on what they labeled “narcoterrorism” by the terror group that is based in Lebanon. The announcement follows reports that the Obama administration had dropped the probe during talks for the Iran nuclear deal.

The unit will be made up of specialists in money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism, the department said. It will seek to target Hezbollah’s entire sprawling network, which is thought to reach from Africa to as far as Central and South America.
“The Justice Department will leave no stone unturned in order to eliminate threats to our citizens from terrorist organizations and to stem the tide of the devastating drug crisis,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “The team will initiate prosecutions that will restrict the flow of money to foreign terrorist organizations as well as disrupt violent international drug trafficking operations.”
The move comes on the back of a December report published by US news magazine Politico, which accused the Obama administration of stymieing a probe into Hezbollah’s drug trafficking operations for fear of jeopardizing the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
In 2011, the Obama administration said it had uncovered billions of dollars worth of laundered money that had been filtered through the Beirut-based Lebanese Canadian Bank, a supposed “primary money laundering concern.” Meanwhile, funds from overseas operations were laundered through Panamanian shell companies.
According to Derek Maltz, a former official at the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the proceeds were used by Hezbollah to buy weapons for its operations in Syria and to support Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, who are fighting Saudi-sponsored government forces over control of the country.

This latest move against Hezbollah, whose power is growing in the Middle East, could signal that President Trump is looking to move away from the Iran nuclear deal. This deal that the Obama administration was behind and that the President during the 2016 election was so critical of has been a contentious thorn in Trump’s side.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welle, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

War in Syria Has Transformed Hezbollah Into a Regional Power

Hezbollah was borne out of a struggle against Israel and now the large organization has transformed into a much larger force since its experience in the civil war in Syria. Their success in fighting against the Islamic State, or Daesh, as they call it, have them flush with new recruits.

But while they have fought for the Syrian government that has always supported them with arms and sanctuaries, their ultimate goal is still the same. And now they consider themselves a regional power.

Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by Washington, has gained extensive battlefield experience in Syria, and it claims it is prepared for another war with Israel if necessary.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah recently warned Israel of “heavy losses” if it underestimates his organization’s capabilities.
The official said the Iran-backed group’s “decisive and essential” role in Syria has turned it into a major military force in the Middle East.
“That was not our aim when we intervened in Syria,” he said. “All we wanted is to defend the resistance and defend a state that has stood by and supported the resistance since its inception in 1982 until now.

And the organization that has lost anywhere between 1300-1500 fighters during the war in Syria has had no problems in attracting new Shia recruits to their flag. In fact, their numbers have grown as Hezbollah leaders are using a sort of theology to attract the young to their cause.

Naim Qassem, the Deputy Chief of Hezbollah has attended funerals for young killed fighters where he linked the deaths to the concept of fate, which is predestined by God and therefore unchangeable.

And now the next question is, what happens next? Many thought that Hezbollah would just return to Lebanon after the war was over. But their leaders aren’t so quick to acknowledge that, stating that they’ll “go where they are needed.”

To read the entire article from Middle East Eye click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Israel Shoots Down Iranian Drone Over Their Border with Syria

An Israeli Patriot Missile battery shot down an Iranian-built drone over the Golan Heights on Tuesday, just hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly about concerns of Iranian and Hezbollah forces on the Syrian border with Israel.

The Israeli military stated that the Iranian-built drone was launched from Damascus on a reconnaissance mission for Hezbollah and downed it with a Patriot missile as it crossed the Israeli border over the Golan Heights

“As we understand, it was on a reconnaissance mission along the border and the Golan Heights on behalf of Hezbollah,” a military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, told reporters. “Our intelligence suggests it was … Iranian-made.”
Asked whether the drone might have been armed, Conricus said that information was not yet available. He said Israeli warplanes had also been scrambled.
Officials from Syria, Hezbollah and Iran had no immediate comment on the incident. The Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 conflict, has seen spillover violence from the Syrian civil war. Israel has at times fired to foil what it deemed deliberate cross-border attacks.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has stated repeatedly that they will not allow any violation of Israeli sovereignty nor allow Iranian forces, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad or Shi‘ite militias of any kind to approach the Israeli borders.

Hezbollah has sent drones on intelligence gathering missions in the past in southern Syria, but coming this close to Israeli territory was a new development so it was decided to shoot it down. Entering the demilitarized zone on the Golan is a violation of the Israel-Syria Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974. Israel has controlled the Golan Heights since the 1973 war.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Israelis Hit Syrian Target, Reportedly Chemical Weapons Hub

The Syrian military has claimed that Israel has hit two military sites in Hama province early on Thursday morning. The air strikes targeted a reported chemical weapons production facility and also hit a military camp that was used to store ground-to-ground rockets and where personnel of Iran and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, had been seen.

The Syrian army statement said that the air strike killed two soldiers and caused damage near the town of Masyaf. The Syrians warned of the “dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security and stability of the region”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said the strike hit a Scientific Studies and Research Centre facility, an agency which the United States describes as Syria’s chemical weapons manufacturer.
The Syrian army statement said the Israeli strike, which it said took place at 2.42am (23.42 GMT) from inside Lebanese airspace, had been made in support of Islamic State.
Jets flying over Lebanon overnight broke the sound barrier and Lebanese media reported that Israeli warplanes had breached Lebanese airspace
Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said the reported attack was not routine and targeted a Syrian military scientific center.
“The factory that was targeted in Masyaf produces the chemical weapons and barrel bombs that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians,” Yadlin said in a tweet.

The Israelis have frequently said that they won’t wait for Hezbollah rockets to fall on them before responding. They claim that the Scientific Studies and Research Center has shipped rockets and chemical weapons to Hezbollah. Israel fought a short but bloody war against Hezbollah in 2006.

And the attacks on Thursday fell on the 10^th anniversary of the Israelis bombing a Syrian nuclear reactor.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

U.S. Airstrikes Block Road and Strand ISIS Fighters in Syria

The United States condemned an “agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah and ISIS” allowing hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families to be bused through Syrian territory controlled by President Assad to an area on the Iraq border. Later, US-led coalition aircraft bombed a road and vehicles in Syria on Wednesday in an effort to prevent those fighters from reaching Iraq.
Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, said in a statement that “the coalition cratered the road heading east between Hamaymah and Abul Kamal to prevent the further transport of ISIS fighters to the border area of our Iraqi partners, and struck individual vehicles and fighters that were clearly identified as ISIS.
“Russian and pro-regime counter-ISIS words ring hollow when they allow known terrorists to transit territory under their control,” the press desk of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve wrote in response to an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post. “ISIS is a global threat; relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with, is not a lasting solution.”
The US-led coalition of around 70 countries has been fighting ISIS for three years and is on the verge of defeating the group in Iraq and also in its capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The US did not, however, hit the convoy which was carrying family members as well as ISIS fighter, something the terrorists knew would play into the decision. They did target fighters who were clearly identified.

The U.S. has refrained from any attacks west of the Euphrates River due to its “de-confliction” with the Syrian regime and Russia so that the respective air forces of the U.S. and Russia that operate in Syria do not come into contact. But by showing that the unacceptable move to bring ISIS troops into Iraq thru Syrian territory won’t be tolerated.

To read the entire article from The Jerusalem Post, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Hezbollah Dismisses US Sanctions, “US Will Not Damage the Resistance

Increased United States sanctions of the Iran proxy of Hezbollah does not worry the group at all. The leader of the Lebanon Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the Trump administration’s sanctions cannot harm it.

Nasrallah spoke on television to mark the anniversary of the end of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel said, “The American administration, with all available and possible means, will not be able to damage the strength of the resistance.”

Nasrallah said Lebanon was being subjected to intimidation and threats over Hezbollah – which is part of the Beirut government but classified as a terrorist group by Washington – and alleged that Lebanese officials had been told that Israel could launch a war.
European and American officials had warned them “during diplomatic meetings and international visits … if you don’t do this, Israel will launch a war on Lebanon, and if Hezbollah doesn’t do this, Israel will launch a war on Lebanon”, Nasrallah said. He did not spell out what had been asked of Lebanon or Hezbollah.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a well armed Shi’ite movement, have risen this year. Nasrallah has played down the prospect of a war while simultaneously warning Israel against a conflict.

Last month the United States Congress introduced legislation to increase sanctions on Hezbollah, who President Trump called “a menace”, by putting pressure on banks doing business with it, and restricting the ability to raise money and recruit.

Lebanese officials have worried that these sanctions will hurt their banking industry.

To read the entire article from Reuters click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia