Deterrence

“War is probably inevitable, though no one can say when it might come,” said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, author of a forthcoming book, “The Iran Connection: The Alliance with Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.”

“Hezbollah is busy trying to develop deterrence to an Israeli invasion,” she said.

Analysts in Beirut say Hezbollah is buttressing its defenses based on part-time village units supplemented by full- time militiamen who operate anti-tank weapons and inaccurate short-range rockets. The group is gathering Russian-made SA-8 radar guided anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down fighter planes and has SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles that are used against helicopters, said Saad-Ghoraye...

Deterrence

“War is probably inevitable, though no one can say when it might come,” said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, author of a forthcoming book, “The Iran Connection: The Alliance with Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas.”

“Hezbollah is busy trying to develop deterrence to an Israeli invasion,” she said.

Analysts in Beirut say Hezbollah is buttressing its defenses based on part-time village units supplemented by full- time militiamen who operate anti-tank weapons and inaccurate short-range rockets. The group is gathering Russian-made SA-8 radar guided anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down fighter planes and has SA-18 shoulder-fired missiles that are used against helicopters, said Saad-Ghorayeb. Hezbollah plans to send commandoes into Israel and obtain long-range missiles to hit towns south of Haifa, she added.

“In the next war, Hezbollah will want to use counter- offensive methods,” she said. “Hezbollah is setting the bar high for itself.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Beirut at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 22, 2009

(Corrects identification of analyst in 16th paragraph in story published on Aug. 21; makes clear that SA-8s are used against fighter planes in 17th paragraph.)