If Israel has killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, Iran retaliation is almost certain

[Kamaji]

To piss off Israel-haters.

Mission accomplished, apparently.

[libertybele]

Mission accomplished, apparently.

Hopefully those Americans and Brits at the embassies in Lebanon have fled.

[Smokin Joe]

The phrase "checking their aggression" is not synonymous with "itching for war".  Not even close.

Agreed. He calls for the Saudis to get on board along with other Arab nations for their mutual benefit, for prosperity and peace for the region. THat isn't exactly saber rattling, nor a call to arms. Instead he is pointing out that the influence of one nation's leadership is making their youth bleed needlessly, their people live in hardship without justification, when all could be healthy and prosperous.

I listened to the entire speech and thought he made the case for cooperation against terrorism well, and the case for Israel's self-defense, despite the efforts of many to portray Israel as the aggressor. He even went so far as to say that Israel is not at war with Lebanon, but with Hizb'allah (a known and listed terrorist organization) and he said they had warned the civilians to get clear of the terrorists and not allow themselves to be used as human shields.
Pity the representatives of many of the Arab nations were absent. You cannot appeal to those who will not listen.
It seemed more a call to reject terrorism than to go to war with Iran.
In the event Israel goes to war with Iran, what makes anyone think they can't handle it themselves? Most of the interaction thus far has been defensive or specifically targeted, not all out offensive hostility.

[Kamaji]

Agreed. He calls for the Saudis to get on board along with other Arab nations for their mutual benefit, for prosperity and peace for the region. THat isn't exactly saber rattling, nor a call to arms. Instead he is pointing out that the influence of one nation's leadership is making their youth bleed needlessly, their people live in hardship without justification, when all could be healthy and prosperous.

I listened to the entire speech and thought he made the case for cooperation against terrorism well, and the case for Israel's self-defense, despite the efforts of many to portray Israel as the aggressor. He even went so far as to say that Israel is not at war with Lebanon, but with Hizb'allah (a known and listed terrorist organization) and he said they had warned the civilians to get clear of the terrorists and not allow themselves to be used as human shields.
Pity the representatives of many of the Arab nations were absent. You cannot appeal to those who will not listen.
It seemed more a call to reject terrorism than to go to war with Iran.
In the event Israel goes to war with Iran, what makes anyone think they can't handle it themselves? Most of the interaction thus far has been defensive or specifically targeted, not all out offensive hostility.

[Hoodat]

Mission accomplished, apparently.

Yep.

[Timber Rattler]

Retaliation with what, exactly?

[Hoodat]

I'm no fan of Erick Erickson, but he grew up in the Middle East and offers a perspective here based on that inside knowledge:

Good Riddance

Erick-Woods Erickson  |  Sep 28, 2024

Growing up overseas, our school was only a few blocks from the beach. We could see the Persian Gulf from the third floor windows. Our school, the Jumeirah American School, was funded mostly by the oil company my father worked for, Dubai Petroleum Company.  .  .

  .  .  .  One day, in fifth grade, I was in science class with Mr. Bruskas and the other fifth grade teacher came in. She whispered in his ear. She passed him a piece of paper. He adjourned the lesson and told us to pack up our stuff because we were going to the field.  .  .  .

  .  .  . We were evacuating.

School officials had reason to believe a group called Hezbollah intended to blow up the school and kill us.

Several days later, when we returned to school, guards were stationed at each entrance. They would inspect all our stuff — even opening our lunch bags to check out the sandwiches. Down the road, in Abu Dhabi, the kids there got to witness a tank parked outside and even more armed operations.

Our class trips, which always were to other countries, were canceled. Security became an issue.

Today, the man who tried to kill me has, himself, been killed. Hassan Nasrallah is dead.

My friends from Lebanon who I grew up with are beside themselves with joy. Nasrallah took a city, once called the Paris of the Mediterranean, and turned it into a war zone. Hezbollah is a fundamentally evil organization. It has killed more Arabs than any other entity. It has killed Jews and Americans. So many of my friends growing up were refugees from Iran and their Hezbollah puppets.

Nasrallah and his minion orchestrated the execution of American Marines in Beirut and the United States never hunted him. Israel has done what we did not.

Good riddance. The fires of hell give me comfort here. Nazrallah may have departed this world, but he cannot depart the next. The pain of his final seconds in this world will only be the beginning for him.  .  .  .

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/good-riddance

[bigheadfred]

unusual_whales
@unusual_whales
·
31m
JUST IN: Israel has reportedly eliminated Hezbollah’s Hassan Khalil Yassin, who replaced Hassan Nasrallah hours ago, per Axios

[Hoodat]

unusual_whales
@unusual_whales
·
31m
JUST IN: Israel has reportedly eliminated Hezbollah’s Hassan Khalil Yassin, who replaced Hassan Nasrallah hours ago, per Axios

[Kamaji]

unusual_whales
@unusual_whales
·
31m
JUST IN: Israel has reportedly eliminated Hezbollah’s Hassan Khalil Yassin, who replaced Hassan Nasrallah hours ago, per Axios

There won't be more than a few scullery maids left if this keeps up.

[Hoodat]

OK, show of hands - who wants to be the new leader of Hezbollah?  Let me see those hands.

[bigheadfred]

OK, show of hands - who wants to be the new leader of Hezbollah?  Let me see those hands.

I see what you did there.   

[Timber Rattler]

unusual_whales
@unusual_whales
·
31m
JUST IN: Israel has reportedly eliminated Hezbollah’s Hassan Khalil Yassin, who replaced Hassan Nasrallah hours ago, per Axios

NEXT!

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Nasrallah Fallout
September 28, 2024 by John Hinderaker
The London Times is a liberal paper, but not far-left like the New York Times or the Washington Post. So it is not surprising to see this headline: “Why killing of Hassan Nasrallah marks beginning of the end for Iran.”

The piece is by Lina Khatib, associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. Some excerpts:

Iran found in Nasrallah a valuable tool for expanding its influence in the Middle East. Since 1979, to pursue its goal of becoming the Middle East’s regional leader, Iran has established a franchise of armed groups in Arab countries, including Iraq, Yemen and Syria, of which Hezbollah is the oldest and strongest.
***
For Iran, Nasrallah’s personification of hope, strength and military credibility became immensely useful for rallying its proxies in the Middle East. Iran summoned Hezbollah to mentor and help train members of other groups. … Beirut became a hub where the leaders of Iran’s proxies gathered and Hezbollah would release photos of them meeting Nasrallah.
***
Although Hezbollah will not collapse with the killing of Nasrallah, the fact that Israel managed to get him exposes the extent of the group’s current vulnerability to its longstanding enemy. It is a huge blow to Hezbollah’s morale and undermines its standing among its allies as a group with robust security. With Nasrallah’s killing, the invincibility of Hezbollah has been shown to be a façade. This sparks a tectonic shift in Iran’s relationships in the Middle East.

Iran-backed groups all over the region will see in Nasrallah’s elimination and Hezbollah’s weakening a real concern about their own security: if Israel is able to bring Iran’s most powerful asset in the Middle East to its knees, then smaller, newer groups in Iran’s network are potentially easier to undermine. And though Iran managed to maintain its regional influence despite the assassination of Soleimani, that assassination was a one-off event. The killing of Nasrallah is part of a wider Israeli campaign to neutralise Hezbollah, potentially marking the beginning of the end for Iran’s regional influence in the Middle East.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/09/nasrallah-fallout.php

[mountaineer]

The US Embassy in Iraq is under siege

https://twitter.com/PhilHollowayEsq/status/1840189611676512533

[mystery-ak]

 Israel killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah with 80 tons of bunker-buster bombs after spies spent years penetrating his entire network
By Ronny Reyes   
Published Sep. 29, 2024, 1:02 p.m. ET

The devastating airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the result of a years-long operation by Israeli intelligence that penetrated the terror leader’s entire network — allowing him to be tracked to his underground command center in Beirut.

The Israeli military then used 80 tons of specially designed bunker-busting bombs to blast through the heavily fortified hideout on Friday and kill the slippery Nasrallah — who has survived multiple previous attempts to assassinate him.

Nasrallah’s death was exactly what Israel had been hoping for when it launched a bombing campaign that day, the Financial Times reports.

Unbeknownst to Nasrallah, Israeli intelligence was well aware of the movements of Hezbollah’s leadership following years of hacking and surveillance work on the Lebanese terror group — which is one of the largest and best armed militias in the world.

more
https://nypost.com/2024/09/29/world-news/how-israel-tracked-and-killed-hezbollah-leader-nasrallah/

[mystery-ak]

Israel spent months developing bombs that would dig through the earth and reach Hezbollah's underground bunkers.

[mystery-ak]

 Brother of Navy diver killed in 1985 Hezbollah hijack says the world is a ‘better place with Nasrallah not in it’
By Doree Lewak and
Olivia Land   
Published Sep. 28, 2024, 4:09 p.m. ET

A retired Navy SEAL whose brother was killed by Hezbollah terrorists expressed relief when he heard that Hassan Nasrallah was killed.

“When the sun went down yesterday, the world was a better place with Nasrallah not in it,” Kenneth Stethem told The Post on Saturday, less than 24 hours after Nasrallah, 64, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb.

“Ever since [Hezbollah’s] inception in 1982, Nasrallah and others like him have caused much death and destruction,” he said.


TWA Flight 847 out of Athens was hijacked by terrorists in June 1985.

Stethem would know: His brother, Navy diver Robert Dean “Robbie” Stethem, was killed by Hezbollah terrorists during the June 1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacking.



Robert Dean Stethem was killed on June 15, 1985. US Dept of Defense

“I remember when they came to the door and told us. The sound that came from [our mother] sounded like an animal that had just been hit by a car. Never, never heard screams like that before or after,” Kenneth Stethem told The Post of the moment the family learned their son and brother had been murdered.

more
https://nypost.com/2024/09/28/world-news/brother-of-navy-diver-killed-in-hezbollah-hijacking-in-1985-reacts-to-nasrallahs-death/

[mystery-ak]

I remember this well...

[Timber Rattler]

I remember this well...

Me too, and it irks me to this day that Reagan never really did anything about it, just left Hezbollah alone.