The Fall of Hezbollah’s Leader

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- The rebel forces in Syria havereported that in the recent bitter fighting in the strategictown of Qusair, they saw very few Syrian army troops, and thatthey were beaten back mainly by Hezbollah militiamen. But thesevictories -- important as they may be in themselves -- won’tsave the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and no less significantly,they will have a largely detrimental effect on the future ofHezbollah and its leader.

One can imagine that Assad’s rule might end quickly,perhaps with a burst of automatic fire, a strike of theexecutioner’s sword or a town-square lynching. The politicaldemise of Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, willbe gradual, but it is already clear that his historic role hasended.