MEMRI: Special Dispatch|4069|August 10, 2011

Lebanon/Iran/Syria/Iraq/Hizbullah/U.S. and the Arab & Muslim World

Hizbullah MP, Retired Brig.-Gen. Walid Sakariya: Syria, Iraq, Iran, and
Hizbullah will Wipe Out Israel, Even at the Cost of Hundreds of Thousands of
Casualties, Following U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq

Following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah MP Brig.-Gen. (ret.)
Walid Sakariya, which aired on ANB TV on August 7, 2011.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3069.htm.

Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Walid Sakariya: "Iran is the country most hostile to
Israel, but Iraq serves as a buffer between Iran and the Palestine front –
from the days of Saddam Hussein and until the U.S. military presence in
Iraq. Iran supports the forces of confrontation: Hamas, Hizbullah, and
Syria.

"If, following the U.S. withdrawal, Iraq becomes a bridge linking Iran to
Syria, the Iranian forces could cross Iraq and arrive in Syria, in order to
participate in a direct war on the Golan front.

"In that case, Israel would not be fighting Hizbullah alone. It would be
fighting Hizbullah, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This is the so-called 'Shiite
Crescent' that they fear. Since Iran dominates this [axis], the Arab
countries refer to it as the 'Shiite Crescent.'

"If Hizbullah has 5,000 missiles and can destroy some targets in Israel, the
equation will completely change when Syria and Iran join the war. You will
have the strategic superiority and a force large enough to pulverize Israel,
even if this war costs you hundreds of thousands of martyrs – not just 1,000
or 2,000. You will enter this war with a population mass exceeding 100
million. [...]

"If Syria, as a confrontation country, fails, America and the Zionist
enterprise will be victorious."

Interviewer: "Syria is that important..."

Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Walid Sakariya: "Of course. But if Syria is victorious as
a confrontation country, Israel will come to an end. There are military
balances. Hizbullah can defeat Israel, but it cannot abolish it. If Syria
enters a war with Israel, it may be able to regain the Golan, but it will
not be able to liberate Haifa and Tel Aviv.

"However, Hizbullah, Syria, Iraq, and Iran will constitute a force that is
militarily superior to Israel and will destroy it. They will wage a war and
might even suffer hundreds of thousands of martyrs – because Israel might
use the nuclear weapon in order to survive – but nevertheless, this war will
put an end to Israel." [...]

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