Hezbollah

Hezbollah is perhaps the most prominent Shiite terror group, as labeled by Washington, funded and supported by Iran and, to a lesser degree, Syria as well. Increasingly, much of its financial support is being received from various other diverse sources. Rooted in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has since grown into a major force from its origins in 1982 when it coalesced after the Israeli invasion. Its major center is at Baalbek but has strong representation in Lebanon across the entire southern portion of the country extending into the suburbs of Beirut.

The Gambit takes a slight turn when Prince Tariq, a noted Saudi royal, also clandestinely supports Hezbollah, thanks to the arrangements availed by his business associate, Michel Antoun, the prominent banker in Beirut. This sharp contrast: a Saudi Sunni and staunch Wahhabist supporting a Shiite cause, an unthinkable wrinkle in conventional terrorist financing, is further explained as the Prince is currying favors with Iran. Favors which may stand him in better stead as he prepares a coup for the throne in Riyadh. Iran returns the favor by supporting the Prince in his (and Antoun's) assault on global oil markets, a policy from which all Islamic oil producers benefit at the expense of the economic interests of the infidels in the West.

Hezbollah is allegedly dedicated to removal of Israel from Palestine, but that facade has evaporated as the organization has become increasingly militant, strident and anti-American on a global basis. There is little question the Iranians would try to use Hezbollah against the U.S. in any future conflict and no doubt strategic Hezbollah targets within Lebanon are already targeted by American forces. The Israelis have already pounded many of the targets previously.

The Gambit is laced with repeated references to the organization as Antoun has had to accommodate money laundering for the group within his banking empire to ensure his own personal survival. Further, the organization has gone so far as to threaten his wife and child in Paris were he not to continue his chores. Antoun's fear of and anger at Hezbollah extends to Bayan and Bakri, two former members of the violent organization, who have broken away and formed their own splinter group, the Islamic Freedom Front.

Notwithstanding his aversion to the local terror groups, Antoun creatively uses the Front, in name only, as psychological fodder when they are allowed to take credit for perpetrating an attack on petroleum inftrastructure in Russia. The wily banker even pays the group for the privilege of using their name, writing their public statement for them no less, though the Front had no actual role in the affair. The desired effect of roiling the oil markets is achieved, however, as oil prices skyrocket at the thought the hated group had a hand in attacking petroleum assets. The delicious irony continues further as Antoun eventually entices the Front into a trap sprung by a vengeful American administration, actually aiming for the Beirut banker instead. A few accounts have been settled within Lebanon.

The heavy atmosphere of mistrust between Antoun and the various militant groups he must finance, Hezbollah et al, infuses The Gambit. The banker struggles to reconcile his forced assistance to the blood-stained bunch versus his desire to escape their clutches. His gambit is the only way out.

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