Saturday round up
It appears that Iran’s takeover of Lebanon is proceeding well. The legitimate actions taken by the Government are being overruled by the Iranian infiltrated Army.
Less than an hour after Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s statement seemed to pave the way for some sort of resolution to the clashes which have plagued Beirut, Aley, and North Lebanon, the Army Command announced that it would revoke the government’s two decisions. The army announced that it was ready to take control of the probe into Hezbollah’s communications network, and would interrogate Brigadier General Wafik Shoukair, but would not remove him from his position as head of airport security.
Hezbollah and its allies, after assuming control of central, southern, and western Beirut, have called on the government to surrender in what March 14 leaders are calling a “coup d’état.”
However, in a step toward a solution to the crisis, Future Movement leader Saad Hariri, son of slain Premier Rafik Hariri, and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt agreed to the Army Command’s terms moments after the statement was issued.
Siniora’s speech, therefore, seems to have formed a sort of turning point – though the results have not yet been seen on the ground.
“To the sons of besieged and occupied Beirut, steadfast and patient, to our loved ones in every city, town and village, and neighborhood and home, to the Lebanese in the diaspora...Your country will not fall under the coup,” stated Siniora from the Grand Serail on Saturday. “We will not return to hegemony and terrorism.”
Siniora accused Hezbollah of dealing the Lebanese “a poisoned stab” and taking over the homes, possessions and morale of the people. “They were calling for dialogue and preparing for escalations, talking of calm and preparing for war,” he added.
Siniora expressed regret that the support of the Lebanese people and its government for Hezbollah during the 2006 war with Israel was met with accusations of treachery, and charges that the March 14 forces were conspiring with Israel.
“We believed them when they said that their arms would never be turned inward,” said Siniora.
I hope Siniora is just saying he didn’t believe the illegal arms would be turned inward. I am sure he is a smart and courageous man. I feel all of the Pro-Lebanese know that the illegal militia wants desperately to cut their throats. He had to know the day would be coming, but just couldn’t do anything about it.
It is sad that the Army couldn’t stop the violent aggression of the militia. But it isn’t a professional Army. The Army command is afraid that, had the Army done its job, the Iranian infiltrated Shia portions would revolt. In the long term, the Army needs to be overhauled. Loyalty to the State needs to be paramount, not loyalty along secretarian lines. Soldiers and Officers should be court martialed when they masquerade as a professional whereas they are just militia hiding in uniform.
Siniora denied that the government had ever made a decision to call for Hezbollah’s disarmament, and asserted that he shared their belief that Israel was Lebanon’s enemy. However, he explained that the government’s problem with Hezbollah “is that they decided to monopolize the decision of when and where to go to war,” and that “they decided to force their beliefs on the Lebanese without concern for the Lebanese and their will.”
Again, I hope he is just saying things the does not believe in his heart, because he has to (proverbial gun pointing at his head.) The U.N. calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament. And more importantly the Taif Agreement calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament.
The Taif Agreement (Arabic: اتفاقية الطائف) (also "National Reconciliation Accord," or "Document of National Accord") was an agreement reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon."[1] Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the decades-long Lebanese civil war, politically accommodate the demographic shift to a Muslim majority, reassert Lebanese authority in South Lebanon (then occupied by Israel), and legitimize the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. It was signed on October 22, 1989 and ratified on November 4, 1989.
The treaty was negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia by the surviving members of Lebanon's 1972 parliament; fathered by Parliament Speaker President Hussein El-Husseini. The agreement covered political reform, the ending of the Lebanese Civil War, the establishment of special relations between Lebanon and Syria, and a framework for the beginning of complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
The agreement restructured the National Pact political system in Lebanon by transferring some of the power away from the Maronite Christian community, which had been given a privileged status in Lebanon under French colonial rule. Prior to Taif, the Sunni Muslim Prime Minister was appointed by and responsible to the Maronite President. After Taif the Prime Minister was responsible to the legislature, as in a traditional parliamentary system. At the time of the Taif negotiations, a Maronite Christian Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun, had controversially been appointed by President Amine Gemayel, contrary to the National Pact.
The agreement also provided for the disarmament of all national and non national militias. All have disarmed[citation needed] apart from the Shiite Hezbollah and the non-Lebanese Fatah and Hamas, PFLP-GC. The Hezbollah was allowed to stay armed in its capacity as a "resistance force" rather than a militia, fighting Israel in the south, a privilege obtained, according to Magnus Ranstorp, in part by using its leverage as holder of a number of Western hostages ,[2] Hezbollah remained armed and in control of the area after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Although the Taif Agreement identified the abolition of political sectarianism as a national priority, it provided no timeframe for doing so. The Chamber of Deputies was increased in size to 128 members, shared equally between Christians and Muslims, rather than elected by universal suffrage that would have provided a Muslim majority (excluding the expatriate community, a majority of which is Christian). A cabinet was established similarly divided equally between Christians and Muslims.
The agreement was ratified on November 4, 1989. Parliament met on the following day at Qoleiat air base in North Lebanon and elected President Rene Mouawad 409 days after Amine Gemayel vacated this position upon the expiration of his term in 1988. Mouawad was unable to occupy the Presidential Palace which was still in use by General Michel Aoun. Mouawad was assassinated 17 days later in a car bombing in Beirut on November 22 as his motorcade returned from Lebanese independence day ceremonies. He was succeeded by Elias Hrawi, who remained in office until 1998.
And who exactly “allowed” Hezbollah to remain armed? Was there a (legitimate) vote? Or was this blackmail by Syria and Iran?
Why was Israel in southern Lebanon? To create a buffer zone – one that pushes back the illegal militias that were firing rockets into Israel (much like what is happening by the mad men in the Gaza Strip.)
Let s get it straight, Israel is not occupying any Lebanese soil now. Israel is occupying SYRIAN soil. The notoriously bias, stridently Anti-Israel, corrupt U.N. says Israel is not occupying Lebanese soil.
People of reason, who can actually use their brains, know full well if Hezbullah and any other Iranian/Syrian stooges were to stop the aggression against Israel, Lebanon would be a peaceful place.
The Shia of the south could be doing constructive things, making a better life for them and their families. But then guess what happens? Those positive forces of Iran and Syria would lose their influence. Can’t have that now can we.
I suppose that if rockets aimed a civilian locations in Syria (coming from Israel) or Iran (coming from their neighbors) started happening on a constant basis the dictators in Syria and Iran might (or then again might not) change their course. Especially when any retaliation by Syria and Iran would be condemned in the U.N. as ‘excessive and war crimes’. (I know it sounds like I’m living in a fantasy land.)
Back to the Now Lebanon article:
“However, Siniora also sounded a conciliatory note. He announced that the solution to Lebanon’s crisis was not through more violence, but through negotiation and dialogue. He presented a five-point plan which seems to have paved a way out of Lebanon’s political deadlock.”
“The first step was to declare that the government’s two decisions “have not yet been decreed,” and their implementation would be left up to the army – a position that seems to have been confirmed by Hariri and Jumblatt’s recent statements.”
He is speaking from weakness here. Iran and Syria, and by extension Hezbullah do not want any progress. The feared International Tribunal is just around the corner. I for one will NOT be surprised to hear that Hezbullah and/or Amal have been part and parcel of the assignations against the Sunnis and Christians. The naive belief that those two groups would not turn guns (and hence murder) on orders by Iran and Syria should now be shattered. Any idiot who continues to profess these horrible lies should be sent to visit paradise in North Korea, Libya, Gaza Strip (number one!) or even Hezbullah land. And while visiting these beacons of Human Rights Paradises, make sure you criticize your hosts, just for fun. (Make sure to take some photos to share with the rest of us your fun filled extravaganza.)
‘Next, Siniora called for the withdrawal of armed militiamen from the streets, the end to the sit-in occupying downtown Beirut, and the transferal of all national security decisions to the army. From there, Siniora appealed for the election of a consensus President and the establishment of a national unity government where no party could enforce its beliefs. After that step, Parliament could meet to discuss a revised electoral law. Finally, Siniora called for the parties to abide by “a code of media ethics.” ‘
There is the deal breaker right there! Blood thirsty militia members, just like sharks when they smell blood, can not revert back to peaceful men. The only way that would happen is if they were defeated militarily.
It remains to be seen whether Siniora’s speech will mark the beginning of the end of the crisis. “We have brought a state of oppression down before, and we will not allow it to return,” Siniora announced in conclusion. “I therefore call on all my brothers in Lebanon to prepare for a solution.”
The oppression is still there. It has never left. If it wasn’t there Siniora would not be afraid to speak the truth without fear. The Governement is in the right here, the Iranians just tried (and seem to have mostly succeeded) to overthrow the legitimate powers.
The editorial from Now Lebanon: “The new rules of the game”
Calls it like it really is.
“So these are the new rules as laid down by Hezbollah: Our security network is untouchable. If you mess with it, we will hold the country ransom until you back off, and we will fight anyone who opposes us.
It is a message that will no doubt have been understood by the residents of West Beirut, who this morning emerged from a night of fear and ghosts they thought they had buried 17 years earlier.”
Keep in mind, Hezbollah is preparing to launch another unprovoked war against their evil southern neighbor. Their ‘Divine Victory’ (defeat) must be repeated. The mad men in Iran are nervous that Iraq is getting upset about the Iranian occupation of Iraq.
“Welcome to the real resistance. In his Thursday press conference, Nasrallah spoke of fighting only in self defense. However, it appears his version of self defense involves, among others, incidents of grand thuggery, taking over Future TV, ransacking the house of Grand Mufti Qabbani and firing rocket-propelled grenades at Qoreitem. Self defense indeed. Let us be under no illusion: This is a coup d’état, and Hezbollah has shown its true colors.
Armed with an initial set of demands – submitting to Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for national dialogue, backing off its internal telecom network and reinstating General Wafiq Choucair as head of airport security – Nasrallah made a half-baked attempt to convince his followers that he did not want a fight, especially with Lebanon’s Sunnis, but within 30 minutes of his press conference, the scenes in mixed Sunni-Shia neighborhoods of Beirut told a different story: Hezbollah and Amal (let us not forget that Amal’s leader, Nabih Berri, is the speaker of the Lebanese parliament) were invading West Beirut, an objective that was reached before dawn.”
Glad to see that Amal is being credited with participating in the Iranian war against Sunnis and Christians.
“Given this sleight of hand and his overwhelming military superiority, it is no surprise that he has rejected March 14 leader Saad Hariri’s offer of placing the crisis in the hands of the army and allowing the government to exercise its authority across Lebanon, the withdrawal of armed factions from the streets, the election of Army Commander General Michel Sleiman, and a return to the dialogue table under Sleiman’s auspices.
Why should Nasrallah have accepted? After all, when he declared war, he claimed it was not against the Lebanese state – Hezbollah would never embark upon such a dishonorable enterprise – but to thwart a US-inspired Zionist plot, one he accused the Siniora (or is it the Jumblatt) government of being in cahoots with. It is after all an easy line to sell to a constituency weaned on such intrigue. “
Easy stuff to get the non-critical thinking minds to buy. Those minds are everywhere including in my country. (We call them Moonbats, or dumb-assed Leftists)
“But however he dresses it up, however hard he tries to tar the government with the brush of international conspiracy, and no matter how robust his portrayal of Hezbollah as the last line of defense against the “monstrous” Zionist entity, the bottom line is that Hezbollah had finally broken the biggest taboo and compromised its ideological integrity. Gone forever is the credo of martial purity.
Despite appearing to hold all the tactical cards, these might still prove difficult days for an organization that only two years ago was limbering up for its finest hour. Hezbollah may have given Israel a bloody nose in the 2006 summer war and won the admiration of the Arab street, but today, like its Hamas allies in Gaza, Hezbollah, wearing the uniform of the street-fighting thug, is squaring up to the state and igniting a much-feared Sunni-Shia conflict.
So what now? West Beirut is in opposition hands, and so it is safe to assume the stand-off has begun. The Pandora’s Box is open, and its contents may prove more terrible than anyone realized. By showing us all how mighty it is – as if we needed reminding – Hezbollah, through its arrogance and vanity, may have also sown the seeds for a backlash that might make yesterday’s events feel like a walk in the park. Was it worth it?”
The “Monstrous” entity is not Zionism, it is Militant Islam. Last I checked, Muslims were allowed to pray to their God (which is NOT the same one Jews or Christians believe in!) The Jewish and Christian people are not trying (especially by the sword – beheadings, or gun) to force their religion on those who do not believe.
Hezbollah did give Israel a bloody nose in 2006. But Israel doesn’t fight like Hezbullah. Keep in mind the ignorant were accusing Israel of war crimes whereas it was Hezbullah committing those crimes! The Devil is in those reality based Details!
34 people have lost their lives so far. Many more would be had the ‘Resistance’ been meet with resistance to the barbaric acts.
‘Hezbollah on Saturday accused supporters of Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, a member of the ruling coalition, of kidnapping three of its members and killing two of them.
"They were shot and stabbed with knives and their bodies were thrown in front of the Iman Hospital in Aley," a mostly Druze town east of Beirut, the group said in a statement, adding that the fate of the third was unknown.
The statement said that "Hezbollah holds Druze leader Walid Jumblatt personally responsible for the fate of the third person still missing." ‘
Wow, let us ignore the fact that Hezbollah militia members even fired at the Government leaders’ houses. The illegal militia members were not out playing with paint ball guns here.
What is Hezbollah’s definition of ‘God’ in their name (Party of God)?
