The Axis Strikes?

Waled Phares, writing over at the counterterrorism blog, points out that the Syrian-Iranian “axis” is responsible for executing the Lebanese general yesterday.

The parties that can execute such operations in Lebanon, and have an interest in it, fall under the umbrella of the Syrian-Iranian Mihwar (Axis) which includes the Syrian intelligence, the Pasdaran network, Hezbollah, Ahmad Jibril Palestinian group, as well as other smaller pro-Syrian militias. This “axis” has been accused by the Cedars Revolution of perpetrating a series of assassinations since 2005, including against Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and a number of leaders and MPs, last of whom MPs Walid Eido and Antoine Ghanem, all opposed to the Syrian occupation and in favor of disarming Hezbollah.

Interesting. I wrote on this here on OP-FOR back in April of 2006. Here’s what I said:

This type of “axis” will become more and more frequent as the world order re-shuffles itself. Instead of an old, diplomatically sealed alliance between nation-states, this new axis is comprised of under-the-table agreements, tribal and cultural oaths of allegiance, and realpolitik interest-based alignment. The militarized Shia crescent is assembling in front of our very eyes at a surprisingly fast pace. We already know all of the players on the scene: Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Jazeera, the Saudis, and the fledgling Iraqi democracy. What we don’t know are the goals and intent of this organization that is struggling to enter the world scene. If the Shia Crescent Axis materializes, what will be its goal? Regional hegemony with Iran as the guiding power would be my guess, as well as control of natural resources, and most importantly, respect from the rest of the Arab, and Western world. …

If the Iranians can successfully leverage their influence throughout the Shia Crescent, they may be able to accomplish the following:

Bring[ing] national governments in the Crescent in line with Iranian thinking & objectives. This can be done violently through terrorist action or non-violently through bargaining and political pressure. This would bring Syria, Lebanon, some of the northern Gulf areas, and part of Shia Iraq under the sway of the mullahs.

Phares, who wrote the excellent Future Jihad, definitely knows his stuff. This just proves that if you read OP-FOR, you stay ahead of the game.