UPDATED 5:57 AM EST, February 25, 2013
A major war is looming between the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah in Syria and Sunni Jihadist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, warns Hanin Ghaddar, the managing editor of NOW. The two sides are "sectarian armed groups that will do anything and kill anyone to protect their presence and the power of their founders and funders." According to her analysis, Iranian military officials now see Syria as "[Iran’s] 35th [district] and a strategic province" and have mobilized Hizbollah as a wing of Iran's army. Ghaddar warns that Hezbollah chose to be part of the "upcoming regional war and to drag Lebanon into it." The Shiite-Sunni war will not be contained to a contested area along the Lebanese-Syrian borders and will expand to areas in Lebanon.
