Is Assad Sending Scuds to Hezbollah?

Western-Backed Civil War Could Give Lebanese Group Access to Better Weapons

by Jason Ditz, June 26, 2012

In 2010, Israel claimed Syria’s government had sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah, but this was later revealed to be untrue, and was apparently just a random speculation, despite causing the US to threaten to attack Syria.

Which means new rumors, also originating in Israel, about the same thing happening now must be taken with a grain of salt, though the ongoing civil war certainly lends some credence to the idea that Syria would like to ditch some of the less-useful weapons in its arsenal on the Lebanese faction.

With the Western-backed rebels escalating attacks nationwide, the Syrian military’s stockpile of ballistic missiles serves mostly as a hassle, difficult to defend and of no real use against a domestic insurrection.

It could be a major upgrade for Hezbollah, however, which is forever looking to upgrade its arsenal as a hedge against the next Israeli invasion (which Israeli officials are constantly insisting is coming sooner or later). It might be the ultimate irony if the US and other nations backing Syria’s rebels with an eye toward propping up a “more convenient for Israel” regime find themselves inadvertently getting Hezbollah armed to the teeth. Apparently this lesson was not learned in Libya, despite that war leaving northern Africa awash in weapons and leading directly to a Tuareg secession in Mali.

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