Hezbollah Kills Lebanese Army Officer

“The helicopter was brought down ‘because it crossed red lines that Hezbollah had warned the Defense Ministry and army command’ not to cross,” sources told the Lebanese media. “…sources also said that the Resistance [Hezbollah] considered the region very sensitive, and Hezbollah leaders have already stressed the importance of the location because it contained the Resistance’s telecommunications apparatus.”

Harb says, if Pres. Michel Sleiman, the pro-Syrian former commanding-general of the Lebanese armed forces, does not respond to this attack, “he will demonstrate that he is not only yielding to terrorists, but he is perhaps collaborating with Iran and Syria.”

But none of us are holding our breath. Sleiman, who I spent more than two hours with in a one-on-one conversation (not including private conversations with his chief of intelligence and several of his generals) last fall, became agitated whenever I brought up the issue of Hezbollah. “Why do you want to talk about Hezbollah?” he snapped at me.

Following Thursday’s attack, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan, deputy president of the Higher Islamic Shiia Council, began propagating the typical spin, blaming the attack on Israeli “infiltrators.” And Hezbollah has since reportedly said they were only firing warning shots.

All of this comes on the heels of published remarks by Italian Army Major General Claudio Graziano, senior commander of UNIFIL. Speaking to the Jerusalem Post on Aug. 15, Graziano said that “excellent cooperation” existed between UNIFIL and Hezbollah militiamen, and that “apart from UN troops, Lebanese soldiers and [local] hunters, no one is armed south of the Litani River.”

Not sure if Graziano was drinking grape or cherry Kool-Aid.