Sunday, March 04, 2018

Mona Alami and al-Monitor take a page from Nicholas Blanford's playbook (and quote him)

"“We are very ready for the possibility of a war breaking out, and it will be unlike any other,” said Ahmad, a Hezbollah sniper who spoke with Al-Monitor in Lebanon on condition of anonymity. A source close to Hezbollah fighters, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that the recent February faceoff between Israel on one side and Iran, Hezbollah and Syria on the other was an ambush staged by Tehran.  Hezbollah expert and journalist Nicholas Blanford concurred, telling Al-Monitor the Lebanese organization has achieved a high degree of mobility in Syria, where it can deploy quickly with very little weaponry, like firefighters who put out fires when and where needed across a country. “Hezbollah, Iran and the Syrians have been tinkering with variants of the Iranian Fateh-110 family of missiles, such as reducing the size of warheads for increased range or slapping guidance systems on rockets," Blanford said. "The ability to accurately strike targets in Israel in the event of a war is of critical importance to Hezbollah and of equally critical concern to Israel.” (thanks Basim)

"Alami is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, as well as Trends Research and Advisory and an Associate fellow at the King Faysal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. Alami is a regular contributor to a number of American and Arab publications including Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Monitor and The New Arab, among many others."