Talk:Hezbollah

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Al-Qusayr?

Where is the proof that Hezbollah is fighting in Al-Qusayr? Is this only based on rebel claims? How do the rebels know whom they have killed? Do they have the bodies? ...and ID cards?

Does Hezbollah officially admit that it is involved in Al-Qusayr? Do they list their martyrs? To me the whole story sounds like FSA propaganda. Yet it is repeated all over the Western media. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 19:48, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Here is something, originally from the New York Times. But still no proof that the "rebel attack" happened in Syria or in Qusayr. This could just as well have been in Lebanon. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 20:15, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
Ok, the original story in the New York Times has more detail.
Quote:In the northern city of Tripoli, which supplies Sunni fighters to rebel ranks, three Lebanese soldiers were killed Monday in clashes with rebels.
All this could still be happening inside Lebanon. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 20:25, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
Here is a better source, on Jihadology, citing Hezbollah sources. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 20:38, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

Sy Per says, on the NDF militias:

Also, volunteers started coming in from Lebanon - which is one explanation for the FSA canard about Hizbollah joining the fighting. --Caustic Logic (talk) 21:59, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
Hezbollah would still say they died performing their "jihadist duties". -- Petri Krohn (talk) 23:18, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

More from SyrPer today:

The big issue today is not so much the defeat of the rats in Al-Qusayr, but the participation of Hizbollah in the fighting. Some reports give the number of dead Hizbollah fighters at 17 and some at 28. The real fact is that the "Rat Opposition" view any Southern Lebanese-accented person as a member of Hizbollah. We must remember that our National Defense Forces were cobbled together from Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian volunteers. Many of the fighters inside Al-Qusayr are of Lebanese stock: some are members of the NDF, some members of the Ba'ath Party and some who are long-time residents in Syria who belong to a militia sanctioned by the government. Don't believe all the nonsense about Hizbollah.
There is an effort under way to denigrate the quality and effectiveness of our army. This is being done by attributing recent successes to Russian advisers or even Hizbollah officers. Pure poppycock unworthy of another sentence.
Hizbollah forces are in Syria. Neither Wael nor Monzer will hazard a guess as to how many for the reason that that is classified. We do know that most are stationed in villages like Al-Dumayna, Al-Ghassaaniyya and others which were just recently decontaminated. Their job is to protect the returning villagers and to prevent efforts by the rats in Lebanon to send in either reinforcements or supplies. They have done an excellent job.

Of course, it has since been generally accepted that Hezbollah has been advising and fighting in Qusayr especiall, then in Aleppo, and likely in other places. It should be noted that despite fears of a sectarian massacre when they helped overrun Quseir, it appears no such thing happened. --Caustic Logic (talk) 12:44, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Adam's Thoughts

I should weigh in here, but I'm not following it closely or the best informed. I gather Hezbollah sources are acknowledging funerals, AFIK not specified where they were fighting. One task given them, Ziad says, is to stop the Sunni fanatics from crossing over to attack Shi'ites. And who could argue with that? Hardly anyone denies there is some Hezbollah in Syria, some Lebanese in Qusayr, and it seems quite possible there are some Hezbollah there. WTF? Jordan and Turkey and Lebanese (and Iraqi?) city council militias have been letting in Hamas, MB, Al Qaeda, etc. for two years. I don't give a fuck if Russians and Iranian Republican Guards are helping. Order must be re-imposed ASAP. Bleeding like this kills in time. I'm glad that kind of help is not needed, or hope it's not. It really has dragged on, and we know why. Hint: it's a conspiracy, just not a very secret one. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:09, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

Sources

“Nasrallah fucked up,” one well-connected Syrian source told me recently. “He awakened the Sunni giant. The Saudis took Hezbollah’s invasion of Qusayr personally.”

Backlash in Lebanon

Fighting in Lebanon

Syrian rebels fighting against the Lebanese army and Hezbollah in Lebanon. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 11:46, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Updates: --Resup (talk) 09:47, 3 August 2015 (UTC)

Terrorism in Lebanon

Radical Sunnis have responded to Hezbollah involvement with various forms of terrorism against supportive Shia communities in Lebanon. Rockets have been fired from inside Syria on several occasions with some civilian deaths and injuries, and there have been car bombings with deadlier impact. NYT July 9: Car Bombing Injures Dozens in Hezbollah Section of Beirut

The blast, in the Bir al-Abed district, injured 53 people, Lebanese officials said. No one was killed, though the parking lot was near a supermarket where people were shopping for food to break one of the first fasts of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Sunni opposition leader Saad Hariri blamed Shabiha Israel as the German Algemeiner reports, hinting that Hezbollah's lack of vigilance was also suspect: “[The blast] requires the highest level of awareness and vigilance in the face of dangers that surround the country and the entire region, especially while facing attempts by the Israeli enemy to push [Lebanon] to strife by organizing terrorist attacks, as happened today,” he said of the attack clearly done by radical Sunnis. This terrorist response to Hezbollah's involvement in Syria "should shock Lebanese “to go back to the national consensus on keeping Lebanon away from external conflicts and to avoid slipping into wars that will only inflict further divisions in the country, place national stability at risk and expose Lebanon to the conspiracies of the Israeli enemy.”" Translated as meant to be read: More "Israeli" terrorism against your civilians will occur if you continue fighting against our Sunni fighters and terrorists in Syria. Don't give into the "Israeli" ploy by standing firm and fighting back - just quit Syria like the bombers said. Or might have, if they were Sunnis extremsits. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:07, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

On August 15, "Israel" struck again in Beirut and it was deadly, the most so since 1985. Hitting the Shia district of Rweiss, initial reports said as few as 14 people were killed, quickly rising into the 20+ range. France 24 reportson the 17th an adjusted toll of 27 dead, 336 wounded. Dozens of those will be maimed badly. Resisting this terrorist response to their resistance against terrorism in Syria, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed they would redouble their efforts.

"It is most likely that a takfiri group was responsible for yesterday's explosion," Nasrallah said, referring to radical Sunni Muslim factions linked to al-Qaida, many of whom are fighting with Syrian rebels against President Bashar Assad.
"If you think by killing our women and children ... and destroying our neighborhoods, we would retreat from the position we took (in Syria) you are wrong," he said in a combative speech broadcast by videolink from a secret location to his supporters. "If we had 100 fighters in Syria, now they will be 200. If we had 1,000, they will be 2,000. If we had 5,000 they will be 10,000. If the battle with these takfiri terrorists requires that I and all Hezbollah should go to Syria, we will go."--Caustic Logic (talk) 08:07, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Saad Hariri this time blamed Hezbollah and, to a lesser extent, the presumed Sunni extremists responsible.

Hariri responded Saturday, saying Nasrallah's address "did not break the cycle of tension" in the country but rather "drags Lebanon further into the Syrian fire, and it is a pity to squander the blood of Lebanese in such a way." In comments posted on his Twitter account and confirmed by his office, Hariri also said that Thursday's bombing, which killed nearly two dozen people in the Hezbollah stronghold of Rweiss, was "surely an ugly crime, but Hezbollah's war in Syria is a crime as well."

His equation of the two crimes shows that he knows the linkage - the bombing was to punish Shia communities for supporting Hezbollah and its involvement in Syria. Lebanese Sunni extremists have been going to Syria to help the multinational forces use terrorist bombings, false flag massacres, and other combinations of brutality and deception to bleed Syria and its people. Now that Hezbollah has followed those other Lebanese across the border, and has been effective at thwarting that with embarrassing professionalism and lack of brutality, the Sunni extremists feel compelled to punish civilians this way. It's criminal, but understandable, and Hezbollah's fault. They started it, in 2013, not any of the Sunni Lebanese in Syria in the two years prior to that. His hypocritical double-standard is plain to see. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:07, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

And there was another one planned to punish Nasrallah's supporters yet more. Reuters reported, August 18 Lebanon seizes explosive-laden car, arrests four:

Lebanese security forces seized a car loaded with explosives and arrested four men suspected of preparing bombs, days after a deadly bombing in southern Beirut, security sources said on Sunday. The car was discovered on Saturday about 15 km (10 miles) south of the capital in Naameh, laden with five containers of TNT as well as nitroglycerin, they said. The four men were being held on suspicion of preparing explosives for possible use in car bombings, but were not believed to be connected to Saturday's discovery or to the car bomb that killed 27 people three days ago, the sources said.
...
On Sunday four rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards the Shi'ite town of Hermel in the Bekaa Valley, security sources said. The rockets landed near to the town but there were no reports of casualties, they said.
Security forces at checkpoints on the main coastal road to Beirut from southern Lebanon were stopping and searching vehicles on Sunday, drivers said. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:07, 19 August 2013 (UTC)

Aleppo

Hezbollah SAA Relations

Very interesting article from a Hezbollah Outlet

South Lebanon Article on SAA and Hezbollah - mostly about a recent East Ghouta Battle

Basically the article says that the SAA are unreliable and that the NDF are far better.

They list the measures Hezbollah has had to implement for their own safety in combined SAA-Hezbollah operations including

  • Every tank must have a Hezbollah member inside
  • Air support must be by foreign (ie. Iranian) pilots
  • Hezbollah runs its own tactical security in case the SAA withdraws during the night

They list various incidents where SAA officers sold them out on the battlefield and left them exposed to enemy attack.

--Charles Wood (talk) 11:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Badly cut-and-paste of original text - the blighters have set the page up to prevent more than a line or so of cut and paste

Better now? -- Petri Krohn (talk) 18:22, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

ليس تفصيلا ما حصل في اول ايام معركة القصير، 28 قتيلاً لحزب الله في معركة كان من المفترض ان تنتهي في وقت لا يتجاوز الايام الخمسة. ارادت الاحداث ان يكون اول ايام المعركة هو ذاته اول ايام انعدام الثقة بين حزب الله والجيش السوري.

القصة بدأت من القصير عندما لم يقم سلاح الجو السوري بقصف المواقع التي طلبها منه حزب الله، عندها استطاع المسلحون المعارضون اللعب باسلوب حزب الدفاعي والالتفاف على قواته المهاجمة مما اوقع عدد كبير من القتلى في صفوفه. هنا طرحت الاسئلة عن جدوى الاعتماد على بعض عناصر او ضباط الجيش السوري في معارك مصيرية. ادرك حزب الله سريعا ان هناك جنود من الجيش السوري متعاطفين مع المعارضة، وادرك ايضا ان بعضهم الآخر يبيع المعلومات لاي جهة تدفع لهم. يقول مقاتلون من حزب الله شاركوا في معارك في سوريا في حديثهم لموقع “ليبانون ديبايت”، ان نسبة هؤلاء ليست كبيرة لكن تشكل خطراً كبيراً على المقاتلين الآخرين المخلصين، وحتى على عناصر الحزب، “اذ يمكن لمعلومة خاطئة عن طريق يجب سلوكه، ان توقع مجموعة بكاملها في كمين محكم، وهذا ما حصل عدّة مرات، لكن ما خفف الخسائر على حزب الله هو اعتماده تكتيك المجموعات المقاتلة الصغيرة”.

يضيف: “وصلنا الى حد لم نعد نحن في حزب الله نخلد الى النوم بشكل جماعي، كان يبقى شخص او اثنين واعون كي يضمنوا عدم الغدر بنا في ليلة من الليالي”.

ويشير المقاتل الى انه “خلال معركة القصير اصبح من الضروري ان يكون داخل كل دبابة للجيش السوري عنصر من عناصر حزب الله، وهذا الاجراء لا يزال ساري المفعول الى اليوم في كل المعارك التي يشارك فيها مقاتلون من حزب الله”.

ويستمر المقاتل في الحديث “الكل يعرف ماذا حصل في معركة الغوطة الشرقية عندما هاجمها 5000 مقاتل معارض، عندها وجد مقاتلو الحزب انفسهم لوحدهم في المعركة التي انسحب منها مقاتلو الجيش السوري المتواجدين هناك فجأة، وهذا ما ادى الى خسائر كبيرة في صفوفهم، وحقيقة هذه الحادثة ان الضابط المسؤول عن المنطقة كان قد باع مواقعه، اضافة الى معلومات عن مناطق تواجد مقاتلي الحزب، مقابل مبلغ من المال، وانسحب مع عناصره في الوقت المحدد، ليدخل المعارضون دون معارك تذكر الى 7 قرى في الغوطة”.

ويؤكد المقاتل ان “هذا الامر تتم معالجته الى حدّ ما من خلال استقدام طيارين غير سوريين لضمان دقة القصف على المواقع المستهدفة، ولضمان عدم تسريب المعلومات عن الغارات الى المعارضين المستهدفين”. ويستدرك المقاتل في حديثه لـ”ليبانون ديبايت”،”قد لا نكون نحن كحزب الله مستهدفين، لكن تذكروا المستودعات التي تم بيعها للمعارضة، وتذكروا الجبهات في حلب التي سلّمها ضابط في الجيش السوري دون قتال للاسلاميين حيث تم اعدام جميع الجنود الذين بقيوا هناك. الامر لا يتعلق بنا كحزب، لكن هناك اغراءات مالية كبيرة، وضعاف النفوس كثر، ومن يبيع رفيق سلاحه من السهل عليه بيعنا”.

ويفرّق المقاتل بين الجيش السوري وجيش الدفاع الوطني “فمقاتلو الدفاع الوطني لا يغدرون، يقاتلون حتى آخر لحظة، ويلتزمون بالتعليمات، هؤلاء نثق بهم الى حدّ كبير، واصبحت القيادة تفضّل ان تكون المعارك مشتركة معهم دون غيرهم من التشكيلات المقاتلة السورية”.

--Charles Wood (talk) 11:51, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Excellent, value-added. I shall have to look at this, but not yet and no thoughts 'til then. But I always have to say something. --Caustic Logic (talk) 14:17, 11 February 2014 (UTC)
How did you come to the conclusion that "southlebanon.org" is a "Hezbollah outlet"? Looks to me like a news aggregation site of unknown political agenda. Registered to one Samer Jebahi. The article itself comes from "Lebanon Debate" as I found with a little googling and is signed there by one Wael Taqi Al-Din. That name brings no other information at all, I'd guess it's a pseudonym/made up. "Lebanon Debate" is run by one Michel Kanbour, IT guy and former teacher at the Lebanese American University. The LD facebook page is full of gossip and according to a bunch of entries on Lebanese Media Monitor, they are quite loose with the truth.
So I say authenticity value = 0. Very likely propaganda.
As to the copy&paste: Such nastiness can always be circumvented by turning off Javascript. --CE (talk) 19:14, 11 February 2014 (UTC)
Maybe my confirmation-bias, but it sounds authentic in military detail. What's described is what the Australians had to do in Vietnam when working with American and Vietnamese troops - i.e. don't trust the buggers one inch maintain organic security and use liaison officers at all levels.
As for the source, southlebanon.org is widely referred to as a Hezbollah mouthpiece. Their content certainly supports that. It's definitely more pro-Hezbollah than Al-Akhbar. I don't think this piece would have made it in if it didn't have serious elements of truth and it was considered political to express them. --Charles Wood (talk) 23:28, 11 February 2014 (UTC)
More value, CE. Good digging, questions raised. The whole claim is questionable, but makes a certain sense to me. The Army should be majority Sunni, and there will be some racists (sectarians?) in there. Otherwise, I'm sure it's easy to exaggerate or make up such things. As far the American University goes, don't know for sure, but anti-Americans may get to go there too. A Basel Kubaisi was a teacher there and a PFLP terrorist who tried to blow up Golda Meir and the King of Iraq back in the 60s, and always ran back to NY with his US passport. so ... dunno. --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:19, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
The thing is, southlebanon.org is not only not an "Hezbollah outlet" - maybe fanboys if anything - but not even the source. They just copied the article while omitting the author, who is someone without apparent track record, publishing on another online portal, Lebanon Debate, which has no apparent connection to Hezbollah and seems to be not exactly a reputable source. So the content is in no way authentifiable. You can believe it or not. Iranian pilots if nothing else raises large red propaganda flags for me. Thanks for sharing anyway, Charles, but please no "is widely referred to as" here. ;o) --CE (talk) 00:45, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
No belief, and thinking about it, I should have noted Iranian pilots is eyebrow-raising at least and yeah, a red flag. I lean to it being divisive propaganda, subtle but not subtle enough. Good work again digging up the details. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:55, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
There seems to be varying opinions on the authenticity of southlebanon.org e.g. Brown Moses and Friends --Charles Wood (talk) 01:37, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
That guy HRI Mark asks the right questions and again, southlebanon.org isn't even the source of the piece you posted. The source is lebanondebate.com and the author given as Wael Taqi Al-Din who doesn't show up with anything relevant with a bit of digging.
btw, how many parody accounts does Brown Moses have on twitter by now? *giggles* --CE (talk) 02:02, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

This piece has now become a poster-child of the jihadi fan-bois - as to be expected. They have however got a reasonably good translation at Liveleak Translation --Charles Wood (talk) 02:28, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

It is not specified what really happened in the first days of the Battle of Qusayr, but twenty eight Hezbollah fighters were killed. A battle that should not have exceeded five days. Fate decided that the first days of the battle be the first days of distrust between the Syrian Army and Hezbollah.
The story begins in Qusayr, when the Syrian Air Force failed to strike targets requested by Hezbollah. As a result of that failure, the opposition militants were able to flank the now defending forces, and cause a large number of casualties. This fateful battle is where the reliability of the Syrian Officers was questioned.
Hezbollah quickly realized that a number of the members of the Syrian Army were sympathetic to the opposition. And that another group of members had been selling information to the highest bidder. Hezbollah fighters that were in combat suggested that these were not a large group, but that they posed grave danger to their comrades, and to Hezbollah. A counter ambush [Where the planned ambush is ambushed] for instance, could lead to whole squads being obliterated; this is something that has happened many times. Hezbollah however, kept losses low by creating small but effective combat groups and fireteams. A Hezbollah fighter relates 'we couldn't continue to sleep in unison, one of us had to keep watch in case of a sneak attack.'
The fighter continues 'during the Battle of Qusayr it became necessary to assign a member of Hezbollah to a Syrian Army tank. That was done then, and continues to this day in any confrontation Hezbollah is involved in.
Adding 'everyone knows what happens: five thousand were present at the Battle of East Ghouta when the rebels attacked. Thats when the fighters found themselves suddenly abandoned by the Syrian Army. This led to great losses in the ranks of Hezbollah. The truth of it is that the commanding officer had sold the area out to the rebels, and the positions of the Hezbollah fighters, for a little money. The rebels then entered the seven villages meeting little noteworthy resistance.
The fighter assures that this was resolved by ensuring that the pilots flying were non Syrians, in order to ensure a strike was accurately carried out, and to avoid intelligence leaks regarding the strikes. The fighter reminds Lebanon Debate that while Hezbollah might not always be directly effected it is effected. The regime arms depots that were sold, the release of Aleppo to the rebels by the Commanding Officer there, and the subsequent executions of the remaining soldiers, all suggest to Hezbollah that: while it doesn't relate to us directly, it reminds us that financial aid is seductive, and the meek are many, and he who can sell his arms to his enemies, can find it easier to sell us.
The fighter distinguishes between the Syrian Army and the NDF. He says the NDF is unwavering in its loyalty, fights to the bitter end, and follows orders to the letter. Hezbollah prefers fighting alongside the NDF than any other group in Syria.

--Charles Wood (talk) 02:28, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Having read it, I'm leaning more towards it being made up. But still maybe not, and whatecver. --Caustic Logic (talk) 10:55, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Electronic Resistance - Hezbollah mouthpiece

At least this one is a confirmed Hezbollah mouthpiece. The Australian newspaper and the Australian Federal Attorney-General say so

SUPPORTERS of Islamic militant group Hezbollah are operating a well-resourced English language website in Australia, sparking fears it is attempting to radicalise younger Arab-Australians. Only the military wing of the Lebanon-based organisation is banned in Australia, but the site, Electronicresistance.org, appears to blur the line between Hezbollah’s political and military activities, prompting a warning from Attorney-General George Brandis that incitement or facilitation of terrorism are both federal offences.

Electronic Resistance

NB - The Australian is a right-wing newspaper with a large national circulation and is a strong supporter of Israel.

--Charles Wood (talk) 23:43, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

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