Israel: February 23, 2005

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Lebanon has become another battlefield for the war between Iran and the rest of the world. The assassination of  popular former prime minister Rafik al Hariri is seen as a terrorist act representative of how Iran operates. Hariri, like most Lebanese, wanted Syrian troops, Syrian influence and Syrian supported terrorist groups, out of Lebanon. Syria's only major ally is Iran. Syria is a corrupt police state that has long hosted terrorist organizations to both make Syria immune from terrorist attack, and provide Syria with another weapon to use against its enemies. The current Lebanese government is filled with pro-Syrian politicians, many of them that way because of business deals (not all of them legal) made possible by Syrian connections. Iran supplies Syria with money and terrorist leaders to maintain the Hizbollah terrorist force in Lebanon. Hizbollah threatens Israel, which is popular throughout the Arab world. But Hizbollah also threatens the unity and independence of Lebanon. Lebanese don't like to say it, but they would like Hizbollah to go away, along with the Syrians. What is happening in Iraq has not gone unnoticed. Fighting terrorism with democracy can work, but it may take some firepower. And the Lebanese are not going to get American troops to help deal with Hizbollah. The Lebanese don't want another civil war either, but it appears that an overwhelming majority of Lebanese want an end to corruption and Syrian/Iranian domination.