Karma: Hezbollah in Lebanon is afraid of attacks by suicide bombers...

There isn't anybody to cheer for in this conflict...

Via Times of Israel:

Fearing suicide attacks against Shi’ite targets in Lebanon, Hezbollah is adopting special security measures. According to Lebanese media reports, the Shi’ite organization has put up both fixed and mobile checkpoints in the heart of Baalbek, a Lebanese city known as a Shi’ite stronghold.

The unusual measures stem from concern about the possibility of bombings, similar to Tuesday’s incident in the Beir el-Abed neighborhood in Beirut’s Dahiyeh quarter during which 53 people were injured when an explosives-laden car exploded.

According to reports, the checkpoints were established near the city’s well-known Shi’ite study hall, or Husseiniya, named after the Imam Hussein. Similar procedures were implemented nearmosques.

Hezbollah is wary of a repeat of Tuesday’s attack and the passage of car bombs and suicide bombers from Syria to Shi’ite areas in Lebanon.

While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for that attack, there have been growing fears in Lebanon that Hezbollah could face retaliation for its now overt role fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s troops inside Syria, including, activists say, in the embattled city of Homs near the Lebanese border.

Too Good To Check: Hezbollah Orders Hamas Out Of Lebanon Over Support For Syrian Rebels…

Let's hope they refuse to leave and  Hezbollah and Hamas start shooting each other...

Via JPost:

Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah has ordered Palestinian Islamist group Hamas out of Lebanon effective immediately, the Middle East Online news agency reported on Thursday.

The move, the report says, is due to Hamas support for the opposition forces fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Both Hezbollah and Syria are allies of Iran, which provides the two with financial and military support.

Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka denied the report to Lebanese paper Aliwaa, saying Hezbollah officials in Lebanon were were surprised by the report.
Lebanese Islamic Jihad representative Abu Imad Rifai also stressed to the paper that Hamas remains in Lebanon and that no changes have been made.

Hamas has denied any support for the Syrian rebels, but the Times of London reported last month that Hamas’ military unit has broken ties with Assad, and has begun training members of the opposition’s Free Syrian Army in Damascus.

Report: Syrian rebels bomb Hezbollah

Is there any chance they will fight to the last man standing?

Via WFB:

Syrian rebels have reportedly bombed two compounds operated by the Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah, the main Syrian opposition group announced Thursday.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) claims its forces bombed Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon and Syria, a cross-border raid that indicates the rebels’ desire to increase their attacks on allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The development may mark a critical turn in Syria’s two-year war, bearing out fears that the increasingly sectarian conflict would spill over across Syria’s borders,” according to the Israel Project (TIP), which first reported on the operation.

Hezbollah reportedly has been preparing for an attack and had placed its forces on “high alert” in recent weeks according to TIP, a pro-Israel media group that spoke to FSA sources who confirmed the attack.

Syrian rebels have increased their rhetoric against Hezbollah, which has backed Assad’s regime.

Keep on reading…

Feel Good Story: Top Hezbollah Commander Killed By Roadside Bomb In Syria…

Live by the bomb, die by the bomb...

BEIRUT (AP) — A Hezbollah commander and several fighters have been killed inside Syria, a Lebanese security official said Tuesday, a development that could stoke already soaring tensions over the Lebanese militant group’s role in the civil war next door.
Hezbollah’s reputation has taken a beating over its support for the Syrian regime, but any sign that the group’s fighters are taking part in the battle raises fears that the conflict could expand into a wider fight engulfing the region.[...]

On Tuesday, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV showed the funerals of at least two other Hezbollah members it said were killed while performing their “jihadi duty.” Both funerals were attended by Hezbollah officials and commanders.

The coffins of the dead were draped with Hezbollah’s yellow flags and carried by militants in black uniforms and red berets. Hundreds of people marched in the funeral.
Samer al-Homsi, an activist in Syria’s central Homs province, which borders Lebanon, said Nassif was killed Saturday when a roadside bomb went off as the car he was in passed just outside the town of Qusair. He said Nassif and several other people were killed in the blast.

“His job was to coordinate with Syrian security agencies,” al-Homsi said via Skype.

CNN Boots Editor That Made Pro-Hezbollah Comments on Twitter

Two days ago CNN senior editor Octavia Nasr tweeted she was "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah." Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was a Hezbollah leader and terrorist. Fadlallah is believed by many to be responsible for the killing of 241 U.S. Marines during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. After two days and much negative publicity, CNN has given Octavia Nasr the boot.

Ms. Nasr left her CNN office in Atlanta on Wednesday. Parisa Khosravi, the senior vice president for CNN International Newsgathering, said in an internal memorandum that she "had a conversation" with Ms. Nasr on Wednesday morning and that "we have decided that she will be leaving the company." [...]

CNN officials became aware of her tweet on Monday, and a spokesman said Tuesday that it was an "error of judgment" on her part. "CNN regrets any offense her Twitter message caused. It did not meet CNN's editorial standards. This is a serious matter and will be dealt with accordingly," the spokesman said. Ms. Nasr apparently deleted the tweet at some point.

Here is a screen shot of the deleted tweet that cost Nasr her job.

CNN Big Shot Mourns for Hezbollah Terrorist Thought Responsible for the Death of 241 U.S. Marines

The tweet posted below is from CNN senior editor of Mideast affairs Octavia Nasr.



The Weekly Standard reported:

Fadlallah “famously justified suicide bombings,” as the New York Times recalls in its obituary for him:

In a 2002 interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, he was quoted as saying of the Palestinians: “They have had their land stolen, their families killed, their homes destroyed, and the Israelis are using weapons, such as the F16 aircraft, which are meant only for major wars. There is no other way for the Palestinians to push back those mountains, apart from martyrdom operations.”

The Times also reports in its obit that Fadlallah is believed to be responsible for the killing of 241 U.S. Marines during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings:

Hat tip Weasel Zippers.

Israel Threatens to Return Syria to Stone Age if Hezbollah Launches Scuds

President Obama's Middle East foreign policy suffered a major blow last week when it was disclosed Syrian President Bashar Assad has transferred long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah. The Israelis are obviously very concerned. They are threatening immediate retaliation against Syria itself if these long range ballistic missiles are launched against Israel. Off-the-record, an Israeli minister said,

“We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us.”

Times Online reported:

“We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us,” said an Israeli minister, who who was speaking off-the-record, last week.

Another Obama Foreign Policy Failure. Syria Gave Hezbollah Scuds.

President Obama's strategy of reaching out to despots has suffered another failure. Shortly after he took office in 2009, President Obama sent a high ranking delegation to Damascus as part of the new administration's policy of "engagement." Syria has now responded to that policy change by giving Hezbollah long-range Scud missiles. That is change we could have done without.

The WSJ reported:

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday publicly charged President Bashar Assad's government with transferring Scud missiles to Hezbollah's forces inside Lebanon. Syria and Hezbollah both denied the charges. But the allegations already are affecting U.S. foreign policy: Republicans pressed on Capitol Hill to block the appointment of a new American ambassador to Damascus, according to congressional officials. The White House said it was pressing ahead.

The Scuds are believed to have a range of more than 435 miles...