Report: Hezbollah Moves Missiles From Syria To Lebanon, Fearing Fall Of Assad Regime

Haaretz ^ | 25 June 2011 | Barak Ravid

[edpc]

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has moved hundreds of missiles from storage sites in Syria to bases in eastern Lebanon, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday.

According to the report, Hezbollah moved the missiles due to the concern that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad will fall and that a new Syrian government will cut off ties with Hezbollah.

The report quoted a "Western expert" as saying that intelligence agencies have monitored the movement of trucks from the Syrian border to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The trucks contained long-range Iranian-produced Zilzal, Fajr 3 and Fajr 4 missiles.

[edpc]

Not the first time this sort of activity has been reported since the Assad crackdown began.

[Diogenesis]

Probably includes the nuclear weapons from Saddam
that were sent to Syria at the fall of the Baathists.

Iraq had WMD and they don’t just disappear, do they?

[Cicero]

Just what I was thinking. Unless they’ve moved them somewhere else. But I should think that the choices are limited.

This could be a real opportunity for Israel to deal with them, if things heat up.

[sinanju]

I for one do not automatically anticipate armageddon. When Bashar goes down (and he will, once he’s run out of money to pay his killers) Hezbollah will find itself cut off from its Iranian handlers. No more money or arms. Indeed, a Sunni government in Damascus, moderate or radical, will probably go on a round of savage score-settling with Hezbollah, who has been supplying the most brutal perps in Bashar’s crackdown.

Either way, their gravy train will be cut off and they will die on the vine.

Some writers are conjecturing that Iran will take over Syria in a post-Assad chaos. I ask; how will they do that? One airliner-full at a time? Like the arms plane forced down by Turkey? Their links are restricted to air and the occasional sea shipment, all of which are ridiculously easy to intercept. They are too far away to “invade”.

[NormsRevenge]

another ‘movin’ tale from the heart of the Middle East..

no major war so far..

but you can be sure everybody has both barrels cocked

[sinanju]

Recalling the elaborate precautions that Hezbollah had to use to shield their Katyushas during the July war (mounted on trucks in caves, roll out, fire, roll back in again). I consider this to be an act of desperation. I don’t think they have anywhere to properly hide all these stockpiled missiles and that the Israelis can blast them at will.

[bmwcyle]

You are very correct, I fear.

[Pollster1]

"but you can be sure everybody has both barrels cocked"

I hope the right people are tracking these missiles and have a solution to that problem.

[LeoWindhorse]

IAF : Hit them while they are n the move

War is on the way anyway , don’t wait

Remember ‘67

[Humble Servant]

” Probably includes the nuclear weapons from Saddam
that were sent to Syria at the fall of the Baathists. “

Best guesses at the time were that the Syrians stored Saddam’s stuff to the same place this stuff is going—Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know?

[New Jersey Realist]

Lebanon is now a bastion of good government and security?

[Genoa]

The Bushehr power plant in Iran is supposed to go online in a few weeks. I wonder if the Israelis are going to let that happen. They might also think it's time to take out Hezbollah before they get out of control.

[American in Israel]

So are these Syrian built chemical weapon systems, or the Iraq shipment that “western forces” monitored being moved to Syria during the UN halt to the invasion of Iraq?

Moving them to the Beka Valley is not for storage IMHO, as the Beca is the entry to invasion. This may be weapons staging for an attack. It would make much more sense to move weapons to an area that is not in the front lines if you were just trying to store them.

[hummingbird]

GMTA.....

[Christian Engineer Mass]

What a wonderful scenario you paint.

[jacknhoo]

From Iraq to Syria and now to Lebanon...just great.

[sinanju]

I can dream, can’t I? I’m just sayin’ I don’t see how this can end well for Hezbollah.

Other articles state that Hezbollah has already decided they are in no position to start it up again with Israel. Bibi wouldn’t putz around. He would thrash their asses and this time there wouldn’t be anyone to pump them back up again.

[a fool in paradise]

Let me know when they start moving Saddam’s WMDs.

[SunkenCiv]

There’s a big huge vote of confidence, eh? Thanks edpc.