Syria occupied Lebanon for 30 years until being forced to withdraw its troops after the assassination.

He militarily occupied Lebanon and indirectly killed a quarter of its population by starvation.

From this year on, Syria occupied Lebanon until its withdrawal in 2005.

On Thursday, the zone had completed 10 full years in its present form, although Israeli forces have occupied Lebanon for much longer.

The Syrians were to occupy Lebanon for another 15 years.

But it can play on Lebanese anger against Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years.

Israel then invaded and occupied southern Lebanon until the end of the war.

It's doubtful that air power will ever be able to achieve those goals, and Israel should not repeat the mistake of occupying Lebanon.

The resulting civil war served as a pretext for Syria to occupy Lebanon and put an end to its sovereignty.

"Syria occupies Lebanon," one senior administration official said.