A few hundred square kilometres and four armies on high alert are a recipe for disaster. This is the current state of affairs along the Syrian-Israeli-Lebanon borders where the three nations plus the Hezbollah militia have placed there militaries on high alert. Israel was the first to do so in February following the assassination of Imad Mugnihey in Damascus, Syria, and the subsequent Hezbollah claims that Israel had ordered the hit. Hezbollah followed suit soon after the Israeli move and then in late March, Syria deployed three infantry divisions to the Lebanese border and Golan Heights area. They explained that they did so in preperation for an Israeli attack on Lebanon...the truth is it was done to put pressure on the Lebanese government ahead of the Arab Summit in Damascus, held recently on 1 April. Last and not least the Lebanese Army were placed on high alert by army chief Michel Suleiman on 6 April. This was done not because of any real threat but in response to Israeli emergency drills being conducted between 6 and 10 April and to appease Hezbollah, no doubt. Whatever the reasons for the heightening of the alert levels, the fact remains that we have three highly effective and combat ready armies (and the Lebanese force) facing off in an area the size of the greater London metropolis. Recipe for disaster? You betcha ass it is.
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