BEYOND THE DROPZONE

YIKES! and a dangerous concession to the terrorists

Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 14 May 2008 at 7:33 pm UTC

Reminds me of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz … except this is real-world scarier.

Even scarier — actually more disturbing — is the announcement earlier by Lebanon’s Information Minister Ghazi Aridi that the Lebanese Cabinet was revoking its previous decision to fire the security chief at Beirut International Airport (Remember. the security chief is reportedly either a member of Hezbollah or he has close ties to the terrorist group.). And apparently the government is also going to let Hezbollah keep its extensive telecommunications network operational.

So let’s boil it all down: The legitimate Lebanese government makes two national-security decisions about a full-blown Iranian-financed, Syrian-backed, Taliban-like, terrorist army operating on sovereign Lebanese territory. The terrorist army doesn’t like the decisions, so it responds with armed aggression against the Lebanese people. And so the Lebanese government — whose own national army and police forces barely fired a shot in the defense of Lebanon when Hezbollah attacked – says, “OK, we’re sorry. We reverse our decisions against you.”

According to the AP:

“Seconds after [Aridi’s] announcement, celebratory gunfire erupted south of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.“

Oh, and let’s not forget seven months ago — as I was reporting on this telecommunications system and other unreported or underreported activities by Hezbollah in Lebanon — I also described the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahiyeh) as a “Hezbollah stronghold.” Those who tried their damndest to silence me, scoffed at my reference of Dahiyeh as a stronghold.

(cartoon by Michael Ramirez)

— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.

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