USS Cole and Hizballah
By David Schenker
On February 28, the USS Cole was deployed off the coast of Lebanon. Ostensibly, the presence of the warship is intended to demonstrate Washington's ongoing commitment to the democratically elected pro-West government vis-à-vis the Hizballah-led opposition and ally, Damascus. Hizballah and Syria are currently preventing presidential elections in Lebanon; the office has been vacant since November 2007.
Reports suggest that the USS Cole may soon be joined by the Nassau battle group, which among other things includes amphibious troop carriers. It’s unlikely that we’ll see US boots on the ground in Lebanon, but Syria and Hizballah are not pleased.
Senior Hizballah officials have described the USS Cole as "a threat." In October 2007, Hizballah officials threatened that if US troops ventured onto Lebanese soil, they would be treated as “occupation forces” and attacked. UNIFIL has been attacked three times since its deployment in 2006.
The situation is particularly tense in the aftermath of the assassination of Hizballah terrorist chief Imad Mugniyyeh earlier this month. Hizballah has vowed retaliation against Israel.
I wrote an article on Hizballah’s history of following through with threats against Israel, which was published yesterday and can be found here.
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