We've seen this horror movie before

The civil war in Syria crossed the border into Lebanon long ago. In the fourth such attack since July, a bombing on Thursday ripped through the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiya, home to the politburo of terrorist group Hezbollah, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The latest car bombing took place just a week after Lebanon's former Finance Minister Mohammed Chatah, a political rival of the Shiite organization, was killed in a terrorist attack. In Syria the fighting rages on, in Lebanon the bombing war is intensifying. And everything, of course, is interconnected.

Beyond the link between Hezbollah and the cruel oppression of Syrian civilians, there is also a connection between yesterday's bombing and the one which killed Chatah, close adviser to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who opposed Hezbollah and Syria's interference in Lebanese affairs. Revenge is quick.

The Lebanese understand that terrorism has once again become an inseparable part of their lives. If anyone in Lebanon ever tried painting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a positive force, then these latest bombings prove just how far this is from the truth.

Lebanon is undoubtedly headed down a worrisome path again: The polarization of the country's religious communities is a stark reminder of the dark days of its civil war. The terrorist attack that took the life of Chatah exacerbated divisions between Shiites and Sunnis, who mostly supported Hariri. This war long ago shifted from the ballot box to the street -- in the most violent way possible.

Another result of the civil war in Lebanon is that for the past eight months there has been no government; the country has been managed by an interim government. Hezbollah has admitted to its involvement in the Syrian fighting and to its support of the Syrian president, arguing it is defending Lebanon's borders against infiltration by Islamist terrorists. There is no limit to the chutzpah; by admitted this, Nasrallah essentially invited terrorist attacks by Sunnis.

Beyond religious fraction, however, there are politics, which also serve to explain the renewed violence. Hezbollah has always held the sway of regimes in Syria and Iran, which seek to bolster a strong terrorist organization in the fight against Israel. Hezbollah needs Assad just like Assad needs Hezbollah. Nothing good has ever come from this connection.

And while we're on the subject of Iran, it is clear that the events in Syria are also influencing Iran's conduct in Lebanon. (Reminder: The Iranian Embassy in Beirut was also the recent target of a terrorist bombing.) Saudi Arabia and Qatar are also not ambivalent to what is transpiring in the region. They want to see Assad fall, even through the use of foreign armed intervention. Iran, on the other hand, is trying to keep Assad afloat, and the Lebanese arena has become the focal point of conflict for colliding regional powers.

A few days ago, French President François Hollande visited Saudi Arabia. During this visit, the Saudi kingdom agreed to grant $3 billion (a record amount) in aid to the Lebanese army. This also has a bearing on the fighting in Syria. The problem is that even $6 billion could not prevent the continuation of the car bomb war in Lebanon. Cars have turned into a dangerous business in Lebanon.

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