Hizballah on the Wrong Side of History

You think the United States has played its hand poorly during the Arab Spring?

Hizballah busied themselves airing claims I am some kind of spy
over the weekend, but if I were them, I would be less worried about
American researchers and more worried about how they handle a post-Asad
Syria. It will almost certainly not be as friendly as the one that
currently helps funnel Hizballah weapons and money.

Some fascinating reporting from Homs by Anthony Shadid:

Perhaps most pronounced is the anger at Hezbollah,
the Shiite Muslim militant movement in Lebanon that has bluntly
supported Mr. Assad’s government. Hezbollah was widely popular in Syria,
where sentiments against Israel and longstanding American dominance of
the region run deep. But Hezbollah’s backing for Mr. Assad has unleashed
a sense of betrayal at a movement that celebrates the idea of
resistance. At times, it has also given rise to chauvinism among Syrian
Sunnis against Hezbollah’s Shiite constituency.

 

“We’ve started to hate them more than we hate Israel,” said Maher, a
young father and protester in Hama, sitting with a friend who gave his
name as Abu Mohammed.

 

Abu Mohammed said that in the 2006 war fought between Hezbollah and
Israel, which forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, he
sheltered 40 Shiite families for as long as a month. “Food, drink, and I
accepted nothing in return,” he said. “Now they’re with the regime, but
it wasn’t the regime who opened the doors of their homes to them.”