Posted on 03/14/2005 6:27:59 AM PST by BCrago66
Walid Phares e-mails:
1. As of 3 PM (Beirut time) Monday, a massive anti-Syrian demonstration will be taking place in downtown Beirut. In response to last week's Hizbollah march, the growing democratic opposition has mobilized a large segment of Lebanon's civil society for a showdown with the Syrian occupation.
2. Sources from Lebanon said "entire villages, neighborhoods and corporations will be marching," They stated that "the withdrawal of the Syrians two days ago from the northern part, will allow tens of thousands more to rally the demo."
3. While Hizbollah march was fully financed by Iran, Syria and Lebanon's intelligence services (per sources), the Monday democracy demo is financed by local fundraisers, businesses and local municipalities. The estimate I have is that -if not obstructed by the military- it may well become The largest pro-Democracy demonstration in the Middle East.
4. The demonstrators will be on cell phones with Lebanese communities around the world to allow them to participate virtually.
5. For the first time, a number of moderate Shiites will join the Druze, Sunnis and Christians in downtown Beirut. World TV crews will report live and give an estimate by 11 AM (EST)
6. Syrian withdrawal: It was learned that Syrian Special forces of the 41st and 46th regiments stationed between Dahr al Baidar and Barouk and brigades from the Syrian 10th division, have pulled out of Lebanon and are possibly redeploying on the Iraqi border. No information as to their new mission facing Iraqi and Coalition forces.
7. Syrian intelligence: It was reported that the Syrian Mukhabarat command in Beirut relocated in the southern suburb of the capital in the Hizbollah controlled area.
8. More than 500 soldiers of the Lebanese Republican Guards have been deployed around the residence of Emile Lahoud, the pro-Syrian President of Lebanon. Fears of popular demonstrations calling for his resignation are growing.
9. The opposition coalition is determined to call for the resignation and departure of pro-Syrian intelligence commanders in Lebanon: Colonels Jamil Sayed, Raymond Azar, Edouard Mansour, Mustafa Hamdane, Ali Hajj. Also the opposition is calling for the resignation of Colonels Jameh Jameh and Maher Tufaily.
10. In the north of Lebanon, defections are taking place among pro-Syrian politicians, who have joined the ranks of the opposition over the week end.
11. In Kana, south Lebanon, unkown elements in the Shiite community destroyed a statue of Hafez Assad, erected years ago by Syrian Baath sympathizers. The area is under full control of pro-Iranian Hizbollah. Observers concluded that a Shiite "pro-Sistani" underground was omnipresent in south Lebanon.
12. Most analysts in Lebanon and overseas are attempting the timing of the confrontation between Syrian and Hizbollah forces and the democratic opposition. According to estimate, it will take place when the Syrians and their allies will redeploy into their hardcore areas and draw red lines. The international pressure will be crucial in determining if the Syrian regime decides to oppose UNSCR 1559 inside Lebanon or would ask their allies to strike instead of them.
Here's PubliusPundit's (who's also a FReeper) round-up of events in Lebanon: http://www.publiuspundit.com/?p=658
It is now 4:30 PM Beirut time.
Let's see the results. This story is written in the future tense.
I just turned on cnn international and it was HUGE CROWDS , LIKE THE Pro syrian demo last week
Nice to see.
Wonderful! Apparently, though, not interesting enough for the big media outlets. This thread is the first I've seen on the subject so far today.
Truly sad.
I feel so much better now. This is being reported as the largest gathering in Lebanese history; precisely where one would expect liberty to stand on the pecking order.
wow what a truly beautiful sight!!
Go pro democratic Lebanese go!
nice start to the week
Well I usually skip the American MSM and get my news from Ireland Online which now runs a headline: "800,000 Lebanese rally to protest against Syria."
http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=136701368&p=y367xzx74&n=136702128
Also, Radio Free Europe: "Over Half-Million At Anti-Syria Rallies In Beirut"
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/03/db5391e2-8136-4888-ae82-03dc392a2f7f.html
I get most of my news here... that's why I'm informed. I'm sad for the rest of our population who rely on the dinosaur media. The Syrian counter-demonstration was all over every news channel for hours... not a peep yet on Fox News about this forceful response since I've been watching this morning.
I hope someone is planning on protecting the pro-Sistani Shiia from Hizbollah. It's wonderful and exceedingly brave of them to take this stand, Hizbollah will not be kind to them.
Guns are important for liberty, and not just in America. Hizbollah is the only armed millitia in Lebanon, which actually increases the chance of civil war, because it increases the chance that Hizbollah will think it can get away with repressing the liberty movement. Not so if there was a parity of arms.
1.3 million strong!!!!
SYRIA OUT!!!!
I'm watching the livestream right now. This is awesome.
For everyone else, the best news sources to be watching right now (besides myself!) are lebanonwire.com and naharnet.com
Remember, there only around 3.8 people in Lebanon; see the CIA factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/le.html
So taking some of these figures of the turnout today, and assuming there's 300 million people in America, imagine if we had a turnout of similar proportions in a demonstration:
500,000 = 39 million.
800,000 = 63 million.
1.3 million = 103 million.
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