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Syria's Still There

(Ha'aretz) Ze'ev Schiff - Israel does not believe that with the withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon, Syria has withdrawn entirely from a country it controlled in almost every vital sphere. It would be ridiculous to claim that Syrian intelligence has gone with the military units. Israel is convinced that Syrian intelligence will continue to exert control in Lebanon's pro-Syrian government. The Lebanese army is thoroughly infiltrated with Syrian intelligence, which gives financial aid to many Lebanese officers. And Syrian intelligence penetration of Hizballah runs deep. Some of Hizballah's rocket array is manufactured in Syria and came its way after the Syrian general staff decided to view Hizballah as an organic part of its deployment of forces. Only truly free elections can bring about internal change. Only a freely elected Lebanese government could send the Lebanese army to take responsibility for security in the south of the country and begin to turn the armed Hizballah into a political movement subservient to Lebanese law. Israel's main concern is how to treat Hizballah if it remains an armed militia that does not take orders from the Lebanese government. From Israel's point of view, there has been no real change in the array of enemy forces.
2005-05-02 00:00:00
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