Pro-Western Lebanese Leader Caves, Defects To Hezbollah Camp

Bad, bad news from Lebanon. This should probably signal the end of any organized opposition to a full Hezbollah take over of the Lebanese government as probably the staunchest supporter of Israeli and Western interests in Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt, has caved to Hezbollah pressure and has signed an agreement with Hezbollah leader Nasrallah. Here's the details from the report at DEBKA:

The fervently pro-US, pro-Israeli Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, has decided to hold out no longer. He has thrown in his lot with the most extreme pro-Syrian, pro-Iranian, anti-Israel force in Lebanon, the Shiite Hizballah, which has gained veto power over the government in Beirut unopposed.
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources disclose that over last weekend, Jumblatt quietly signed a “defense cooperation pact” with Hassan Nasrallah, affording Hizballah a strong foothold in the Lebanese Druze bastion of Mt. Chouf.

It is my view that this sudden change in behavior and action by Jumblatt is certainly not caused by his change of heart but under duress by Hezbollah. To put it bluntly, I believe that his life or that of his family has been threatened. That is the only explanation that can explain this complete turnaround.

Obviously, Jumblatt found himself on an island in the Lebanese objections to Hezbollah and in the end, he couldn't hold out any longer. At the same time, this is going to signal a complete free pass to Hezbollah to move completely back into southern Lebanon, and will more than likely free up all supply lines of weapons flowing to Hezbollah from Syria and Iran.

While this may not seem like the most earth shattering of news, I liken this to a sudden announcement in the United States that John McCain has decided to call for an immediate and full surrender of U.S. troops in Iraq. The signal here is that Hezbollah now owns Lebanon and as I have said before, Lebanon will now find itself, as a country, held responsible for any and all terrorist attacks on Israel committed by Hezbollah.

Jumblatt deserts Lebanon’s pro-Western camp, signs pact with pro-Iranian Hizballah

The fervently pro-US, pro-Israeli Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, has decided to hold out no longer. He has thrown in his lot with the most extreme pro-Syrian, pro-Iranian, anti-Israel force in Lebanon, the Shiite Hizballah, which has gained veto power over the government in Beirut unopposed.
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources disclose that over last weekend, Jumblatt quietly signed a “defense cooperation pact” with Hassan Nasrallah, affording Hizballah a strong foothold in the Lebanese Druze bastion of Mt. Chouf.
Drawing the hostile noose around northern Israel ever tighter, Lebanese president Michel Sleiman was due in Damascus Wednesday, Aug. 13, to celebrate the thaw in relations between the two countries.
Neither Israeli ministers, sunk in an acrimonious contest over the succession to Ehud Olmert, nor the United States in the dying days of the Bush presidency, have lifted a finger to arrest Lebanon’s swift slide into the Iranian-Syrian orbit.
Jumblatt, after watching pro-Western strategic positions crumble in his country, decided to join forces with Hizballah to shield his ancestral mountain domain from Syrian domination.
The Druze and Hizballah militias agreed to set up a joint commission for coordinating military operations. Hizballah is represented by its security and intelligence commander, Wafiq Shafa (who was in change of the recent prisoner swap with Israel) and the Druzes by Akram Shahaib.
The joint security patrols for the Druze communities of the Chouf, will also give Hizballah a military presence on its third strategic Lebanese peak, after Mt. Sannine and Jebel Barukh.