A general war?

*Please see disclaimer below*

Last week Syria built up its forces along the Lebanese border. Assad apologist Andrew Lee Butters wrote:

In recent days, anti-Syrian politicians in Beirut have been crying wolf about an increase in Syrian soldiers on the border with northern Lebanon. They worry that the buildup is a prelude to Syrian incursions on the pretext of stamping out radical Islamist fighters there, but really aimed at reasserting Syrian hegemony. On the other hand, the Syrians say that the buildup is part of an attempt to clamp down on smuggling, and there is reason to believe them.

Michael Young didn’t see it in such innocuous terms:

An imminent Syrian invasion of Lebanon is not in the cards. But Assad will continue to see how far he can push the envelope in Lebanon, both politically and militarily. And when he realizes he can push it very far, his confidence will rise, and with it the risk that Syria will use its army in more substantial ways. That’s not good news, and it’s not good news especially when foreign governments seem so utterly without conviction in preventing Syria from reimposing its hegemony over Lebanon.

However the news about yesterday’s car bomb attack in Damascus makes me wonder if the smuggling explanation might be closer to the truth. Now the Jersualem Post is reporting:

A mysterious explosion near Damascus on Saturday claimed the lives of at least 17 people, including a brigadier-general, further destabilizing the Syrian regime.

The article speculates about the identity of the general, but that’s less important than the fact that this attack took place so close to the time that Syria reinforced its troops on the Lebanese border. Is it possible that the redeployment was in reaction to intelligence that there had recently been an infiltration? Or perhaps against a threat of further infiltrations?

Last December a Lebanese Gen. Hajj was killed, presumably by Syria.

Anti-Syrian politicians, however, were quick to blame Damascus, accusing the Syrian regime of seeking to cause instability in Lebanon. “I point an accusing finger directly at the Syrian regime as the scheme has been carried out since three years until today with no one to deter this regime,” said Antoine Andraous, a member of the March 14 bloc.

Then in August a Syrian general with ties to Assad was killed in Lebanon.

General Mohammed Suleiman, one of Mr Assad’s closest confidantes, was shot dead on Friday at his chalet in the prestigious Rimal al-Zahabieh, Arabic for “Golden Sands”, seafront resort, 9 miles north of Tartous on the Mediterranean coast. A sniper, apparently located out at sea, shot him in the head, neck and stomach and he was pronounced dead at a hospital in Tartous.

Even leaving out the death of Imad Mughniyeh, it seems that generals have become targets in the Syria Lebanon war. I’ve been skeptical of the claims that Israel killed Mughniyeh, and nothing I’ve seen so far suggests that Israel was involved in any of these other deaths. Is there, perhaps, a lethal group fighting for Lebanon’s independence operating beneath the radar?

UPDATE: I asked an expert and was told that there’s no basis for this speculation. Please ignore.

Crossposted on Yourish.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.