Word: syria
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...SYRIA President Bashar Assad has disclaimed any ties to Lebanon since the withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005 but remains a sponsor of Hizballah and is host to Hamas leaders...
LEBANON The fragile country is struggling to emerge from decades of conflict and domination by Syria, which has long supported Hizballah and its operations against Israel in the southern part of Lebanon. Newly elected Prime Minister Fouad Siniora claims he is powerless to dislodge or disarm Hizballah forces, but Israel blames the Lebanese government for the recent attacks
...places like Iraq and Iran. Israel's strikes against Lebanon have provoked Shi'ite radicals in Iraq, who are threatening to attack U.S. troops in retaliation. The most chilling scenario is that the Israeli-Lebanese dispute could grow into a wider war, if Hizballah's backers in Iran or Syria decide or are provoked to join the fray--a possibility that grew when Israeli intelligence claimed on Saturday that Iranian forces helped Hizballah fighters hit an Israeli ship off the coast of Beirut, killing one sailor. (Iran denies the charge.) "It will never completely cool down," says Edward Luttwak, senior...
Many analysts believe that Hizballah must have carried out the raid with at least the encouragement of the group's main benefactors, Syria and especially Iran. "He who pays the money is the boss," says a Lebanese official, arguing that Tehran engineered the crisis in hopes of deflecting the Bush Administration's drive to impose U.N. sanctions for Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program. But whatever encouragement they may have had, neither Hamas nor Hizballah ever needs a specific justification for striking Israel. Attacking Israel is, for each, its raison d'être. And the groups' tacticians do not need...
...active role in bringing first calm and then a return to peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Bush has showed no interest in engaging in the region in that way, and Washington is handicapped by its unwillingness to negotiate with four of the key players--Hamas and Hizballah, Syria and Iran--whose interests would have to be addressed. But crises can sometimes provide opportunities, especially since the U.S. can't afford to have another Middle East mess on its hands. At this point, U.S. intervention can't undo the reasons Israel and its enemies fight. But doing nothing...