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Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/39089
Lebanon's Fuse for Syria
[New York Sun] Nibras Kazimi - The latest flare-up in Lebanon was not an isolated incident, but rather the beginning of a global war. Lebanon itself is not much of a prize for the jihadists, but it has immense strategic value as a base of operations against Syria and Israel. Lebanon today is the story of an impending Shia-Sunni clash. Lebanon's Christians in their varying denominations cannot demographically muster the strength to really matter in this fight. Shia Iran and anti-Shia Saudi Arabia have many assets and interests in Lebanon, and have been testing their respective strengths against each other for a while. At the same time, the jihadists have made anti-Shi'ism one of the pivotal tenets of their ideology. The jihadists enter this fight with supreme confidence: they think they have done quite well for themselves in Iraq, and believe they can outperform in Syria where a much weaker, and much more hated, regime currently holds sway.