Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah today predicted that the Syrian military would be able to defeat the rebellion, but also hinted at the prospect of deeper involvement in the ongoing civil war, saying Assad has “real friends in the region” that would not allow Syria to fall into the hands of al-Qaeda-linked rebels.
Of course Hezbollah fighters have already been active in Syria’s west, along the border with Lebanon, fighting with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) over Shi’ite villages with large numbers of Lebanese immigrants in the area. Today’s comments may suggest a willingness to go deeper in, if need be.
Nasrallah insisted his troops would protect the Sayida Zeinab shrine, the most important Shi’ite shrine in Syria, and warned that the situation would “get out of control” in Sunni rebels ended up attacking the shrine, claiming they had threatened to destroy it.
Threats to the shrine have attracted fighters from both Lebanon and Iraq. Syrian rebels have threatened to impose regime change in Lebanon to punish them for interference in the civil war, and the fighting has sparked growing sectarian tensions across the region.
Nasrallah would not directly intervene in Syria. That would be too risky in the event of foreign military intervention. That would merely not only draw an Israeli attack, but also the US and NATO if they were already intervening directly. This is merely propaganda intended to justify an Israeli attack on Hizballah under cover of a foreign military intervention.
And Iran has no capability to project force into Syria that would affect the outcome in the event of foreign military intervention.
Iran? The article doesn't mention Iran. It mentions Iraq. It would not be at all surprising if there were Lebanese and Iraqi individuals volunteering in support of the Syrian government. The article doesn't say there's official Hezbollah involvement, only that there are Hezbollah fighters are there protecting Shi'ite villages and shrines. You are correct that Nasrallah will not directly or openly intervene, but he also knows he can not afford to have a Salafist Sunni entity in control of Syria, ready to ally with Israel along with all the other Sunni dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
I'd understand if they feel protective of those towns. I hope it occurs to them that drawing them in might have been part of the point of it.
Let's hope so, now where are Syria's friends already? Giving the terrorists and their allies in the US and Europe more and more time doesn't help.