Hezbollah’s Deaths Are Different Than Syrian Rebels Deaths

Hezbollah’s Deaths Are Different Than Syrian Rebels Deaths

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NOW. website published a good analysis by Ana Maria Luca on the battle for Zabadani, the last town controlled by the Syrian rebels and which connects Damascus to the Qalamoun Mountains.

Control of the Qalamoun is essential for Hezbollah because it represents its only supply line for the flow of Iranian weapons.

NOW describes the propaganda of Hezbollah in Zabadani by publishing the accounts of an activist in touch with the rebels fighting in this resort town.

“Who said Zabadani fell to the regime and Hezbollah forces? They are not able to breach its defenses; they’re just fighting in its suburbs!” The Syrian activist, who spoke to NOW on condition of anonymity for security reasons, says that he was in touch with some of the rebels entrenched in Zabadani. “The people in Zabadani want nothing but to be free, and the rebels are still fighting for it,” he insisted.

It also describes Hezbollah’s deaths count.

A pro-Hezbollah website lists Hezbollah casualties in Qalamoun: five so far in July; 30 in June; 47 in May. In total, 82 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Qalamoun since the second offensive started.Some look very young. For instance, Mashour Shamseddine, who died in South Lebanon (where there is no fighting), and Ibrahim Mouhammad Fakih, nicknamed Ali Moussa, who died in an unknown location. 

“The utilization of younger recruits has been going on in a heavier form since 2014,” Smyth said. “It’s no surprise if some of them were caught up in the fighting. However, the larger number of what amounts to child soldiers and young recruits aren’t necessarily immediately deployed to the front. The bigger issue is that after the 2014 pullout of many experienced Iraqi Shiite units and the larger-scale introduction of the less-experienced Afghan Shiites, Hezbollah has been burdened with a larger share of duties in Syria. Thus, the utilization of these younger and inexperienced fighters certainly demonstrates some level of strain.”

We believe the numbers of Hezbollah’s deaths to be at least twice as much. Using children soldiers is an indication of a certain attrition rate. Add to the above the fact that Hezbollah just arrested 175 of its own fighters for refusing to engage in the Zabadani battle and you have the beginning of a disaster in the making for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s deaths are different than those of the Syrian rebels. For one, Hezbollah is fighting in a foreign land to secure a foreign government. A point the mothers of the bereaved are certainly not missing when they object sending their sons to fight. Second, Syrian rebels are defending something far more precious that what Hezbollah is defending. Third, Syrian rebels are dying everyday as part of a larger war for control of their destiny, Hezbollah’s deaths, on the other hand, are wasted needlessly for a war that does not concern them if broken down on an individual basis.

For every Hezbollah fighter dying, there is an echo of deep concern that reverberates throughout the Shiite community in Lebanon. For every Syrian rebel dying, his mother most likely has already died from the Assad’s barrel bombs or she is languishing in some refugee camp. Platitude and acceptance best describe their deaths.

Hezbollah’s deaths will eventually pressure the Hezbollah leadership into taking harsher measures against its own fighters if they continue to refuse to fight. Hezbollah has run out of excuses for its war to save a foreign man on foreign soil for a foreign cause.

This could only mean Iran is running out of options and may end up sending its own troops to fight and die in Syria.

Hezbollah’s Deaths Are Different Than Syrian Rebels Deaths

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