Posted on 03/03/2008 10:30:39 AM PST by Bahbah
Okay....
Lebanese PM sends in army to tackle Hezbollah
MSNBC ^ | 5/10/2008 | AP
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 7:58:39 AM by tobyhill
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora on Saturday ordered the army to restore law and order across the country and remove gunmen from the streets.
Saniora said Lebanese government can no longer accept that militant group Hezbollah freely hold on to its weapons.
In his first public remarks since fighting began on Wednesday, Saniora accused Hezbollah of carrying out an “armed coup” against Lebanese democracy.
Saniora is holed up at his government headquarters protected by Lebanese troops after Hezbollah and its allies swept through the Muslim sector of the capital after sectarian clashes.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014003/posts
More gossip: That the Saudis are enraged & are demanding that America attack Iran now.
” More gossip: That the Saudis are enraged & are demanding that America attack Iran now. “
Just, wow....
Of course, it’ll all have to wait until after Jenna’s wedding...
Priorities, y’know.....
Was told that pictures of Assad are going up all over the city, especially former Sunni buildings captured by the Shi’a.
Also, that there is a lot fighting outside now, heating up again.
I guess I have enough naivete’ left to be angry — why is this being almost universally ignored???
There is no visible good outcome to this, if left to play out as it’s going......
A Shi’ite is telling me that contrary to news reports, most of the actual fighting is being done by Amal with Hezbullah providing logistics.
An Armenian told me that the Christian areas of Keserwan & East Beirut are going to be attacked any moment now. After the Shi’a physically defeat the Christians, Aoun & other pro-Hezbullah Christian leaders will take political control of them.
The Lebanese feel that Western countries are not showing much interest in what’s happening.
See #2,081. This may be about to change. I'm wondering if the army will fight.
Thanks so much for the inside scoop, fork.
No problem :)
The Christian Lebanese have had the opinion some time now that the official army is a tool of Hezbullah. Some are saying to hire Blackwater lol! I don’t know if they are a tool or not, there are many Sunnis in the army. I do know that they are pretty much useless as an army without outside support.
One bad sign is that the Army General Michel Suleiman disobeyed Siniora’s order to declare a state of emergency. He even threatened that he would order the troops to stand down if Siniora pushed it.
Syrian flags going up all over the place now...
Uh oh. They really need to hold off on this until Jenna is married :)
So- looking over the headlines on Yahoo’s front page, we have the headlines below. One would think there was peace in the ME, eh?
• Myanmar junta re-labels aid boxes with top generals’ names
• Feminists sharply divided between Clinton, Obama’08 race
• Police: Two killed in Beirut shooting after Hezbollah takeover
• NY congressman faces public outcry after fathering child in affair
• Arts panel criticizes MLK statue design for DC memorial
• Soaring food prices hit home for many Americans
• Crawford plays supporting role for Jenna Bush’s wedding
” The Lebanese feel that Western countries are not showing much interest in what’s happening. “
Perceptive people, those Lebanese.....
Lebanon’s Siniora vows to defy Hezbollah “coup”
Sat May 10, 2008 8:33am EDT
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Saturday the state would not fall into the hands of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah which he accused of launching a coup by taking control of Beirut.
“Your state will not fall under the control of the putschists,” Siniora said in a televised address to the Lebanese. It was his first response since Hezbollah and allied fighters routed pro-government gunmen in west Beirut on Friday.
Hezbollah’s takeover, a blow to U.S. policy, left Siniora’s government reeling and strengthened Hezbollah’s position as the most powerful group in Lebanon after a 17-month power struggle with the governing coalition.
He reiterated a proposal already rejected by Hezbollah for resolving the crisis, which erupted this week into the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war. At least 25 people have been killed and 60 wounded.
Siniora said Beirut was “besieged” and “occupied”. “What is Hezbollah doing in the alleyways of Beirut?” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0742599820080510?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
The above article is an excerpt
Question for discussion - or wild surmise:
What, if any, significance is there to Siniora waking up now, after his silence - and failure to even attempt to rouse the Military - while this has gone on for some 4 days, and is now almost a done deal??
Enquiring minds want to know.......
I heard from a lot of anti-Shi’ites that they are in favor of the army getting involved, in spite of their low confidence & suspicion of it. Basically the attitude is, “if they fall apart because of internal division, good. It will reveal the traitors among us. & if they get torn to shreds, so be it. At least they’ll have shown us that they tried.”
I wish I had even an inkling.
I’m in the midst of reading one of Vince Flynn’s novels (highly recommend his books) called “Protect and Defend” and my mind is swirling with endless possibilities, real and imagined.
The only thing I’ve really learned regarding the ME is nothing is ever what it seems to be.
Somebody doesn’t think much of Sen. Obama’s pronouncements on the situation.
“Guess what time it is? It’s time for Obama’s “diplomatic efforts” to come save the day.
Hezbollah’s power grab in Beirut has once more plunged that city into violence and chaos. This effort to undermine Lebanon’s elected government needs to stop, and all those who have influence with Hezbollah must press them to stand down immediately. It’s time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, opportunities and employment. We must support the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions that reinforce Lebanon’s sovereignty, especially resolution 1701 banning the provision of arms to Hezbollah, which is violated by Iran and Syria. As we push for this national consensus, we should continue to support the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Siniora, strengthen the Lebanese army, and insist on the disarming of Hezbollah before it drags Lebanon into another unnecessary war. As we do this, it is vital that the United States continues to work with the international community and the private sector to rebuild Lebanon and get its economy back on its feet.
Oh the time we wasted by fighting Hizbullah all those years with rockets, invasions of their homes and shutting down their media outlets. If only we had engaged them and their masters in diplomacy, instead of just sitting with them around discussion tables, welcoming them into our parliament, and letting them veto cabinet decisions. If only Obama had shared his wisdom with us before, back when he was rallying with some of our former friends at pro-Palestinian rallies in Chicago. How stupid we were when, instead of developing national consensus with them, we organized media campaigns against Israel on behalf of the impoverished people who voted for them.
During that time when we bought into the cause against Israel, treating resistance fighters like our brothers, we really should have been building consensus with them. Because what we did back in 1982, 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2006 – all that was plain betrayal and unnecessary antagonism, a product of a corrupt patronage system and unfair distribution of wealth.
We stand today regretting the wasted time that could have been wisely spent talking to them, to the Syrian occupiers who brought them into our system, and the Iranian revolutionary guards who trained them.
Yes, this is change we believe in. Get me a time machine.”
Link: http://www.beirutbeltway.com/beirutbeltway/2008/05/obama-time-to-e.html
LOL.
I wonder why Obama and his ilk are still sucking air.
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