ISIS' Next Target

World Afairs ^ | February 26,2015 | Michael J. Totten

[Hojczyk]

ISIS has announced that Lebanon will be the next state to fall under the sway of its “caliphate.” According to Beirut's Daily Star newspaper, the only reason ISIS hasn't attacked yet in force is because they haven't decided on the mission's commander.

The Lebanese army is one of the least effective in the Middle East—and that's saying something in a region where the far more capable Syrian and Iraqi armies are utterly failing to safeguard what should be their own sovereign territory.

So France is going to send a three billion dollar package of weapons to Lebanon and the Saudis are going to pay for it. It won't solve the problem any more than a full-body cast will cure cancer, but it beats standing around and not even trying.

Despite the vast cultural differences between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, the Saudis want Beirut to remain exactly as it is—a freewheeling Arabic-speaking “Amsterdam” or “Hong Kong” on the Med. The Saudis vacation there in droves when they need a break from their fanatically conservative homeland. The country is like a pressure release valve. If they were to lose it, they'd have to holiday in France where they feel profoundly unwelcome.

[Gritty]

Lebanon is an ugly place to live since the civil war broke out over 30 years ago and it is about to get much uglier.

[jpsb]

"James Carter was born on Oct. 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia. He and his family moved to a farm in Archery when he was 4. He developed an interest for business at an early age, making money as a child. Jimmy went to school in Plains. He like reading and got very good grades.

He went to Georgia Southwestern college in 1941. In 1942 he received an appointment into the naval academy. He entered the academy in 1943 and, when he graduated in 1946, ranking 59th in a class of 820.

http://unitedstatespresidents.pbworks.com/w/page/25017148/Jimmy%20Carter%20Childhood