Conflict Blotter

News, analysis and original reporting from the Middle East

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Entries from August 2007

Tracking Hezbollah north of the Litani

August 9th, 2007 · 48 Comments

I’m going to try to flesh out as best I can a limited picture of what I think Hezbollah is up to north of the Litani in southern Lebanon. Much of this was first reported by Nic Blanford back in February, but to my dismay, has not been followed up anywhere since then, although BBC […]

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Tags: Hezbollah · Lebanon

Difficult dealings with Hezbollah

August 6th, 2007 · 61 Comments

My experience with Hezbollah this week has left an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I had heard this from other journalist friends who have recently returned from Lebanon, but discovered it for myself this week: their interaction with the press borders on fascist. In southern Lebanon it is very difficult to find people of any […]

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Tags: Hezbollah · Lebanon

The next jihad

August 2nd, 2007 · 21 Comments

A pro-Lebanese army propaganda video denounces Fatah al-Islam as terrorists and defilers of Islam.
As the Lebanese Army’s battle with Fatah al-Islam militants in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp winds to a close, there is much chatter here about the long term ramifications of the over two-month long siege.
The initial take on the […]

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Tags: Al Qaeda · Lebanon · Iraq

The House of Spiders

August 1st, 2007 · 23 Comments

I’ve been in Beirut since Monday and this afternoon went to the Dahiya, the city’s Shiite southern suburbs, where Lebanese families are flocking to an exhibition called the House of Spiders (Beit al Ankaboot), an elaborate commemoration of Hezbollah’s fight against Israel last summer. Love ‘em or hate ‘em the Hezb puts on a […]

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Tags: Hezbollah · Lebanon · Israel