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Iran Is Applying the Hizbullah Model to the Middle East
(Reuters) Laila Bassam and Tom Perry - Hizbullah has fought in Syria and Iraq, trained other groups in those countries, and inspired other forces such as Iran-allied Houthis waging a war in Yemen. The U.S. says Iran is "applying what you might call a Hizbullah model to the Middle East - in which they want governments to be weak, they want governments to be dependent on Iran for support," White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said in October. "So, what is most important, not just for the United States but for all nations, is to confront the scourge of Hizbullah and to confront the scourge of the Iranians and the IRGC who sustain Hizbullah's operations," he told Alhurra, a U.S.-funded Arabic-language news network. "Hizbullah has gained from the experience of working with armies and managing numerous weapons systems simultaneously" including "armored vehicles, intelligence, and drones: all specialties of conventional armies," said a commander in a regional alliance fighting in Syria. With Iranian support, Hizbullah has raised and trained new Syrian militias including the National Defense Forces, which number in the tens of thousands, and a Shi'ite militia known as the Rida force, recruited from Shi'ite villages.