It should be no secret that the delay in completing (or initiating) the rebirth of the Lebanese state is contributing to the acceleration of the creation of the Hizbullah state. It’s ironic that 60 years after the creation of Israel, Hizbullah, a “resistance” militia, is inching closer to creating its own independent religious entity. Those who subscribe to the notion that Zionists want to divide the region into mini-religious states, need only look at the actions of Hizbullah, which are creating what Israel couldn’t through multiple invasions and past alliances with local parties.

I don’t think Hizbullah is creating a mini state as much as I think it is trying to take over the current state. A canton is not viable in the long term.  During the Syrian era, such a project would have been checked by the Assad regime. The vacuum that the regime left behind allowed Hizbullah to spread its wings, something that the Syrian regime was happy to use as an argument for returning to Lebanon. Unfortunately for Bashar, however, the path that his regime drew for both countries could eventually lead to the Iranian regime swallowing both Lebanon and Syria.

One hopes the escalation of the campaign against Hizbullah and Iran by Walid Jumblatt and March 14 stems from the realization that soon, it will be too late to halt the advance of the Hizbullah state. An extensive communications network links once disconnected areas of Lebanon is fully functional. Reports keep coming in of land purchases and construction of residential projects and towns, allegedly to create a contiguous Shia area. Tunnels are being dug, military bases were built. Hizbullah has been able to infiltrate the various security and military agencies, and have replaced the Syrians in terms of influence. The Lebanese military has been undermined and officers now think twice before arresting a Hizbullah-affiliated rioter. The Hizbullah areas have becomes havens for terrorists and killers, who use it as a launching pad for targeting March 14 figures.

March 14 today accused the Iranian ambassador of overseeing the Hizbullah project to build a “state within a state”. I think the term should have been "replacing the current state”.

The ruling March 14 coalition warned that Hizbullah's scheme which is aimed at setting up a state within the state has reached a "decisive stage."

"After occupying downtown (Beirut) and crippling the economic cycle and government operation; and after cleaning up the area under their influence of any legitimate Lebanese security presence, it (Hizbullah) shifted to a new stage by directing a strong blow to the government through its attempt to place the airport under its direct security control together with setting up a private communication network which links the capital with the rest of Lebanon all the way to Syria," said a statement issued by the March 14 general secretariat.

The statement accused Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Shibani of becoming a "high commissioner" entrusted with overseeing the creation of the Hizbullah state.

March 14 said "these developments require speedy steps to salvage the country, including adherence to the Taef Accord and U.N. Security Council resolutions on Lebanon and the immediate election of a president.

We are all anxious to learn more about those steps.

From Beirut to the Beltway Blog.

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