The Saudi Gazette—Recently the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar. Oman and the United Arab Emirates branded Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The Saudi media are now piling on. The recent attacks on Hezbollah include that:
It is entirely preoccupied with its own agenda that does not include the unity and reconstruction of Lebanon.
To protect its status Hezbollah has acted as an agent for Iran
In exchange it received weapons and cash from Iran
By siding with Assad in Syria and fighting on his side while turning the tide in Assad’s favor Hezbollah is inviting civil war into Lebanon. (The GCC states issued a travel advisory against travel to Lebanon.)
It can no longer present itself as a champion of any Arab cause
It has defined itself as an enemy of the Arab world and the Palestinian cause
“Hezbollah needs to be seen for the ruthless terrorist organization that it really is and the GCC’s decision to call it such is surely a crucial nail in the terror group’s coffin,”
The grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia called upon other Muslim scholars to the world to “flay Hezbollah” and issued a call for a Jihad against Hezbollah and Syria. “Every Muslim trained to fight must make himself available for Jihad against Assad and Hezbollah in Syria.” This call of Jihad was linked to the Iranians by the statement: “Now we know what the Iranians want…they want the continued massacres to kill Sunnis.” How could 100 million Shiites (worldwide) defeat 1.7 billion (Sunnis)? Only because (Sunni) Muslims are weak.”
Relatedly on Thursday the Saudi Foreign Minister urged an end to the violence in Tripoli that is linked to the conflict in Syria. The Saudis lent their support to the government of Lebanon in “strengthening it authority of the Lebanese state and its control over all of its territories.”
As the war in Syria takes on new dimensions and slowly expands the West does not seem to have a coherent policy is one’s first reaction. However, on reconsideration maybe letting the anti-Assad forces, Hezbollah and Assad’s forces decimate each other may be the ultimate route to eliminating many bad elements and achieving the semblance of tranquility in a region with reduced Iranian influence.
