The Counterterrorism Blog has this story about the visit of Syrian President Assad to Tehran.
Note that the Iranian and Syrian regimes as well as Hizbollah fear the march of Democracy in their neighborhood. All three are totalitarian in their ideologies. In the regional counter attack against the democratization of Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, the three players have significant resources and reasons to come together: Iran is the Jihadi superpower, Hizbollah is the Jihadi Terror power and Syria’s Baath is the bridge between both.
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Assad in Tehran is the second warning to the policy planners within the beltway and to the NATO leadership in the Belgian capital: The axis has already formed. Iran, Syria, Hizbollah and their tactical allies in the region, including those in Iraq, have come together. Read their rhetoric: shared threat, frontline of Muslim nation, necessary cooperation, protecting the region against its enemies.. Any Political Scientist, Military Historian or common sense reader would conclude that the “axis” is up and running. Not only our national leaders and strategic planners have some thinking to do, but also our homeland(s) security analysts as well…
In other words, a real Axis of Evil — right in Iraq’s back yard. The significance of an “alliance” like this cannot be overemphasized. Iran and Syria have long been the primary sponsors of terrorism in the world and Hizbollah their primary tool. They are opposed to the democratization of Iraq because they know that liberty means the end for all of them. And it doesn’t look like they’re going to give up without a fight.
