"It is an advantage that Iraq is near Palestine. Muslims should support its holy warriors until an Islamic emirate dedicated to jihad is established there, which could then transfer the jihad to the borders of Palestine," - Ayman al-Zawahiri, on al Jazeerah.
The connection between what is happening in Iraq and what is happening in Lebanon cannot, to my mind, be under-estimated. What else are the Shiite militias in Iraq gradually seizing the levers of government in Baghdad but a version of Hezbollah?