Lebanon is again the theater of a war
whose outcome will affect the region and the world.
Like any war, this one is destructive
and merciless. It already has claimed hundreds of
casualties, turned some areas of Lebanon into rubble and
disrupted most economic activities. Under the pretense
of resistance to an actually nonexisting threat, the
Lebanese were forcefully drafted by Hezbollah to be
"martyrs" in the fight for expanding the Iranian reach
and regional influence.
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by
Iranian Revolutionary Guards to export the Iranian
Islamist revolution to Lebanon and the Arab world.
Syria, in alliance with Iran and with its army occupying
Lebanon, empowered Hezbollah in order to fight its proxy
war with Israel and to keep a bargaining card in its
negotiations.
This is why, when Syria was pressured
to withdraw from Lebanon in 2005, Hezbollah led a
campaign of intimidation supporting Syria. This came as
no surprise, since Hezbollah's mission is to turn
Lebanon into an Iranian-styled Islamist republic.
The war in Lebanon, the events in
Iraq and the Hamas ascent to power in Palestine are all
results of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plan of spreading the
Iranian brand of Islam over the Middle East. While this
plan has a destabilizing effect on most of the Arab
world, Syria's involvement is aimed at maintaining the
disorder in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine and destroying
any hopes of establishing democracy in its neighboring
states.
Hezbollah had more than 23 years to
arm and train hundreds of deeply indoctrinated fighters
ready to die in "jihad." Hezbollah is imposing its
extremism on the Lebanese people, much like the Taliban
did on the Afghan people.
Destroying Hezbollah and disarming
it, besides being a formidable task, will not be a
lasting solution unless it is complemented with the
destruction of Iran's and Syria's military capabilities.
Unless Iran and Syria feel the threat of war on their
soil, they will have no interest in stopping their proxy
wars in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.
Regardless of the number of civilian
casualties or the extent of the destruction, this will
not stop militants such as Hezbollah, because they
consider people's lives expendable for the sake of their
ideological causes.
Iran and Syria are spreading dissent
and perversion throughout the region. The international
community's interest in stopping the war should be
followed by international and Arab actions against these
two countries. Their fingerprints are all over the
crimes committed in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon.
When combined with Iran's defiance of
the United Nations' request to stop its uranium
enrichment program, the conflict in the Middle East
requires effective remedies beyond the economic and
political sanctions. The only deterrent is a serious
military threat from the international community.
Once the leaders of Iran and Syria
feel the seriousness and determination of the
international community, they will be forced to stop
their murderous acts and halt the support of the
destructive elements in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine.
The bloodshed in Lebanon should be
recognized as a battle in a larger conflict. The Arab
countries have to stop acting like deer in the
headlights once Israel is mentioned. Instead of blaming
Israel, they should acknowledge who the real enemy is.
They should rise to confront the Syrian regime,
militarily if needed, and force it to stop its wicked
and antiArab alliance with the Iranian mullahs' regime.
China, Russia and the European
countries should understand the ideological virulence of
Iran and stop treating this issue according to what best
suits their individual interests. Otherwise, they will
wake up one day to the blackmail threat of Iranian
nuclear missiles.
The last time the world ignored the
warning signs of the ill intentions of a dictator, World
War II took place. This time, the Iranian dictator's
criminal intentions are clear, and it is more criminal
to ignore them.
