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