Crowding in Lebanon

Today marks the third anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, who was murdered by terrorists most likely at the behest of the Syrian government.

It also marks the day that Hizbullah buries its leading thug, Imad Mughnieh. There are questions over crowd size, as though that is somehow indicative of support for the groups, and the meaning that can be divined from the crowd size.

Hizbullah has a way of getting large crowds, regardless of whether there is real support for them or not. It's called intimidation and threats of violence. The March 14/Hariri supporters do not have that going for them - they have the memories and courage of their convictions to stand with those who oppose Syrian dominion over the nation of Lebanon.

Mughnieh's death was a blow to not only Hizbullah, but to Iran and Syria. This was a terrorist whose ties ran deep with the terror masters, and who did their bidding. It's also quite telling that while Hizbullah spent years trying to distance itself from the terror thug himself, in death, they've embraced him and his legacy as tightly as ever - as though he never left.

Hizbullah, which spent years trying to publicly disassociate itself from the man, is now mourning him as a resistance leader, vowing revenge and what have you. To now claim that he was an active member of the group is to finally admit to being an international terrorist organization that never really "changed" after the end of the Lebanese civil war, as many had convinced themselves. Mughnieh was practically an Iranian intelligence operative, and was linked to attacks in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. His assassination left Hizbullah exposed. The group that could no longer argue for the holiness of their weapons, could no longer claim their theater of operations is restricted to Lebanon.

Indeed, Hizbullah has never waivered one bit from its origins - destruction of Israel and spreading Islam at the tip of the sword.

UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has more on the demonstrations and photos.