Just when you thought the news about Syria could not get any worse, it does. On Saturday, 13 people were killed (so far) in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in a battle between supporters and opponents of Syrian dictator Assad. That's right LEBANON, not Syria. The street battle was between Sunni Muslims and Alawaites. (Assad is an Alawaite.) The Lebanese government is sending the army into Tripoli to restore order. So now, not only is Syria in flames, but its neighbor Lebanon is sinking back into chaos.
The news is terrible by itself, but it also shows another aspect of the opportunity that the Syrian battles present. Lebanon is, for the most part, a vassal of Syria. There have been Syrian troops occupying the eastern half of Lebanon off and on for the last thirty years. The terrorist group, Hezbollah, which is part of the current Lebanese government is dependent to a great extent on aid that comes from Iran through Syria. Hezbollah is Shiite, so it fits well with the Alawaite minority that is in power in Syria. Were Assad to be overthrown, a new Sunni government in Syria, even one run by the Muslim Brotherhood, would have drastically reduced ties with both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. Assad would be gone. Hezbollah would be dramatically weakened. Lebanon would be antagonistic towards Syria rather than being a dependency of Damascus. The Christians of Lebanon would no longer be faced with the force of the Syrians which keeps them from participating fully in their own country. In other words, a major merchant of death and supporter of terrorism would be ousted, a major terror group would lose its most important supporter and supply line, and forces that would support peace in the area would be unleashed in Lebanon.
Maybe someday soon, Obama will recognize all this before it is too late. Then again, maybe not.
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