Posted on 05/06/2018 1:42:16 PM PDT by mac_truck
Lebanon held on Sunday its first parliamentary elections in nine years, as citizens expressed cautious optimism that the country's rigid, oft-deadlocked sectarian political system could be swayed. Behind the scenes, however, one of the world's leading powers has quietly eyed the small state as a potential ground to project its power in the Middle East and into the Mediterranean. But it won't be easy.
With Syrian rebels and jihadis at bay, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government set to further extend its comeback, Russia has pursued a cautious overture across the border into Lebanon—a $1 billion dollar arms deal, including a 15-year repayment term at zero percent interest, as the Christian Science Monitor reported. Unlike Syria, Lebanon's precarious political makeup means there are no Kremlin-backed strongmen to turn to, but a rocky balance of power that has so far left the offer on the table.
"There is certainly an attempt to expand the soft Russian power in the region. This may translate into greater military cooperation and the signing (by the Lebanese) of a defense deal brokered last year," Maya Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, told Newsweek. "The parliamentary election results may have some impact to the extent of swaying the pendulum slightly towards a pro-Russia camp. However, given the delicate power/sectarian balance in the country, this may remain limited for now."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
I’m not in Lebanon
Newsweek doesn’t have a *clue* about the current shift in the Middle-East, which is a consolidation of Shi’ite tribes at the expense of Sunnis ... that for once transcends traditional Persian/Arabian lines.
Newsweek looks at the Middle-East and ignorantly thinks “Russia.”
They are idiots at Newsweek. Yemen, Syria, and Iran are Shi’ite powerpoints.
Likely.
Not just Israel...some of the last missile strikes on Syria by the US, France and Britain went over Lebanon.
They won?
They are committed to being there for a long, long time. That looks like losing to me.
Who said anything about smashing up Lebanon? Not I. They’ll likely smash each other up as per usual without any prompting from anyone, and they’ll get prompting enough from all the big boys who want to move and shape the region.
Looks good!
for all those looking at a possible end-times scenario,
Russia could take control of Lebanon any time it wishes.. and
I think.. just a thought.. Russia would eliminate the dangerous Hezballah (of no practical use to Russia, a pain the ass insofar as controlling Lebanon is concerned, and always a big risk of creating a war). THEN...the very practical relations Moscow has with Jerusalem could easily develop into an open friendship...and maybe...must maybe... you’d see the predicted 3.5 years of peace? I am just musing today, avoiding tacking some real work, ha! Its a possibility is all I’m saying, and frankly I do not believe Russia would turn on Jerusalem after that...
My concern is with Rooskie - Mullah “collusion” to continue to target Israel from Syria.
Uh, seriously now. How does Newsweek get to declare Russia the victor in Syria?
The Globalist Interventionists seem to be the Russians lol.
Let have at it. It’s very unpopular inside Russia and they gain nothing except the status quo in Syria. We assisted by taking out ISIS, which we needed to do.
“LOL!...Since when does the USA have ANY influence in Lebanon?”
I was wondering that too. We were out of there once the embassy was blown up 30 years ago. But I don’t blame Russia for moving in, we won’t, the Left won’t even let us defend our own borders...so big vacuum in many areas around the world.
The Terrorussians have allies in Hezbollah.
Yeah, Daddy Assad aided that mission to blow up our Marines alright.
Lebanese women are stunning!!
How about we just let all of them immigrate into the US and let the rest of them have it?
some people quoted in this article are full of shit. Russia will covertly back Hezbollah in coordination with Iran, and sometimes on its own.
The Lebanese Army is almost a paper tiger and no match for Iran-armed Hexbollah (Iran gets a lot of its arms from Russia and then can, and probably does, smuggle them to Hezbollah and other anti-western Islamic extremist groups).
Putin knows just what he is doing. Obama, Clinton, Kerry, Rhodes, and others couldn’t even find Lebanon on the map except when Israel strikes back against Hezbollah and Iranian terrorist groups operating there, esp. in the Golan Heights/Northern Border areas.
Read this article with an open mind but remember it is from Newsweek and some of their sources are probably not reliable or rational.
Lebanon actually held a nation wide election today.
Just saw it posted on Drudge.
It looks like Hezbollah will have the largest share of a parliamentary coalition, which means they have veto power over everything the government may try to do.
There is also a pipeline supplying Europe gas.
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