Hezbollah Declares War

Above: Teenager in Lebanon, ready to throw molotov cocktail

Hezbollah has taken over western Beirut.

Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamic political militia based in Lebanon. They first emerged in the early 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War. Before the faction was formed, they were initially from Musa Sadr’s Amal Movement. According to the group’s manifesto, Hezbollah has three main goals: the eradication of Western colonialism in Lebanon, bringing to justice those who committed atrocities during the war (their main opposition being the Lebanese Kataeb Party or the Phalangists), and lastly the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon. The last we have seen of the group at war was during the 2006 Lebanon War between them and the Israeli army.

The Western-backed republic of Lebanon has described this recent takeover as a “bloody coup.” The United States government has again made a statement renouncing the takeover and announced its support for Lebanon’s government, lead by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

“We will stand by the Lebanese government and peaceful citizens of Lebanon through this crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm,” said United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a statement.

According to them Hezbollah is killing innocent civilians. At least 18 people have already died in the recent attacks and clashes between their supporters and the Lebanese government.

The Hezbollah maintains a landline network in Lebanon. It was crucial to Hezbollah during that war two years ago against Israel. The Israelis jammed the wireless networks during that war. They did so to prevent the Hezbollah commanders from communicating with their ground units - the landline network remained and was used by their commanders.

On Monday, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s government declared the network illegal.

In response, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Thursday that this was a “declaration of war.” He then threatened to “cut off the hand” of anyone who tried to meddle with the network.

Nasrallah maintained that the network was part of the group’s defense against possible attackers. The opposite side does not agree:

“Their goal is not security resistance. They want to connect between all the Iranian and Syrian militias and they want to eavesdrop on everyone,” said Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh.

We do believe the network is used for offense and not defense.

Now it has boiled over to an active resistance. The Lebanese government believes this takeover is aimed at restoring the influence of Syria and Iran.

“The armed and bloody coup which is being implemented aims to return Syria to Lebanon and extend Iran’s reach to the Mediterranean,” it said in a statement.

The United Nations Security Council has urged the rival parties to stop fighting amid fears of civil war breaking out.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the political crisis there was an “internal matter” and that they do not plan on meddling with their affairs.

His government has been widely speculated as assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – using a ton (literally) of TNT to kill the PM as he passed a hotel in Beirut during a motorcade in February of 2005.

Hezbollah has taken over TV stations and other media offices, and has installed checkpoints on critical points around the city.

The urban warfare has shut down Lebanon’s seaport and all but closed the international airport, with burning barricades on major roads in Beirut.

It all happened to fast. We believe that Hezbollah has only been waiting for its chance to attack. It was only a matter of time.

“Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness.” – The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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