The recent killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani brought him on the spotlight. He was rarely mentioned by the press before then. He did one interview in 2019 in which he detailed his memories of the 33-day war. Knowing its outcome and that he was in charge explains his death.
Southern Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah, an Iranian-funded organization in charge of defending Lebanon from Israeli attacks. It was based in the town of Dhahiah at the time. The fight was asymmetric. He mentions Israeli MK drones always flying in groups of 3 and tracking them everywhere they went. Something to be expected given his rank and presence in the area. Long story short, they managed to sink an Israeli frigate, a chopper and 7 tanks (apparently they call their Abrams Merkava). The Hezbollah side lost key people in that process.
Hostilities ended when Soleimani was brought to a UN building by a reportedly anxious Israeli ambassador to the UN (he probably means in Lebanon, as I hardly see him travel to the US). In that building he met with John Bolton. According to Soleimani they mentioned that the Israeli army would fall apart if the war was allowed to go on. A cease-fire was therefore agreed on the Terms of Iranian-backed (and by all evidence run) Hezbollah.
You don't hear that one every day. I was never told that story before. He was responsible for many Israeli deaths. So the question I keep asking myself is, why not before? They let him go around for 13 years. I'm not usually superstitions but in this case it's a match.
Secular Middle-Eastern countries usually feel the heat as countries run by pro-business Sunnis are usually less troublesome for the US, with Jordan considered as a model. However Lebanon recently entered a financial debacle (locally referred to as the October 17 revolution), and apparently nothing will prevent the country from undergoing profound demographic changes. Looks like Southern Lebanon is about to become hostile to Iranians.
I was unaware of the political ebb and flow ongoing in Lebanon. I deeply appreciate your exposition of recent events. I was curious why Hezbollah would be on the outs in Lebanon, as they have so well prevented it's rule by Israel, so had a read at this. It is profound and amazing that the enemedia have revealed not a word of this revolution.
Sadly, COVID-19 may soon make all of that moot, and even exacerbate the rejection of Iranian influence, since Iran has just been revealed to be another epicenter of uncontrolled spread of the pandemic.
How fortunate for the political and investor class that just as protests spread across the world, from Chile to China, a mysterious viral plague has emerged from a city hosting a new BSL-4 lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, coincidentally expert in the very type of virus that causes the plague. Not coincidence at all, according to recent statements of China's best virologists, who think it came from a lab in Wuhan, the epicenter of the plague that threatens us all.
The fact is that if we all perish from the plague, the protests will end, and the investor class won't be compelled to share it's profits.
Thanks!