BEYOND THE DROPZONE

LEBANON UPDATE: Cedars Revolution rejects Arab agreement

Posted by editor on 17 May 2008 at 2:52 am UTC

 

“The New Cairo Agreement; What Hezbollah couldn’t take by force, it will receive through the Arab delegation.”After the failed attacks, which were carried out by Hezbollah and its Divine Ruler, against the people of West Beirut and the Chouf; and given Hezbollah’s catastrophic failure and the exposure of its leadership’s planning of oppressing the Lebanese people through the use of weapons of ambush under its control, it now seems that scheming and colluding will take place to provide Hezbollah with the political Arabic protection which will be imposed upon the government and will result as happened in 1968 when the government accepted that despicable Cairo agreement, which cost Lebanon 30 years of Syrian occupation and tyranny, a price which we are still paying until now through attacks against our identity and existence, the assassinations of our symbols of democracy; and the oppressors’ imposition of their opinion through the power of the gun.

“It is from this position that the World Council of the Cedars Revolution calls for the tight scrutiny of the following;

1) That any dialogue outside the principle of the surrendering of arms to the legitimate force is totally rejected and completely unacceptable.

2) That any relief for those who are imposing themselves upon the people of any region of Lebanon, will be considered as aiding and abetting the enemies of Lebanon and the abrogating of responsibilities in the building of a nation of the rule of law which will protect everyone under its wings of justice and equality.

3) Any initiative be it Arab or otherwise which endorses maintaining foreign or external impact against the law, encouraging the possession of weapons which are not under the control of the Lebanese authority, is totally rejected and will not be acceptable to people of Lebanon who are prepared and not afraid to confront the arms and those who trade in them in any situation.

4) That our people’s preparedness to take a solid stand with conviction, particularly in Beirut and Mount Lebanon; and having absorbed the oppression and aggression, makes it impossible to underestimate them and we will not accept the dismantling of the honorable sacrifices of the land of the martyrs.

5) At the very least, the restoration of the honor of the people of Lebanon which has been offended, requires the dissolving of Hezbollah, the unconditional disarming of all groups and the placement of all arms at the hands and control of the nation.

6) That any responsible person who accepts dialogue with Hezbollah prior to the surrender of arms, will be brought to justice before the people of Lebanon, for they must realize that they are creating new conflicts. Everyone knows that leniency towards criminals contributes to further crimes such as the assassination of people and the destruction of the Nation.”

As I mentioned in my previous post, there will be updates and analysis over the next few days.

(photo - Lebanon.at)

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

LEBANON UPDATE: Lights out in Lebanon … at least temporarily

Posted by editor on 16 May 2008 at 2:06 pm UTC

The proverbial lights have gone out in Lebanon … at least temporarily. 

Heartbreaking to say the least — strategically problematic to be sure — but the Lebanese government, the Lebanese army, and the Western nations which vowed to stand with them (Lebanon, remember, is a vital front in the war on terror) have apparently all caved to the will and guns of the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah axis.

Be assured, however, the brave, freedom-loving Lebanese people — a majority in that country — have not surrendered to anyone: Nor does that majority have any intention of surrendering.

I know these people — some of the best friends and allies America can ever hope to have — and this fight they have against a Taliban-like terrorist army in Lebanon is not over.
 
I’ll have more on this, this weekend.

(Hezbollah photo - StrategyPage.com)

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

YIKES! and a dangerous concession to the terrorists

Posted by editor 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.

LEBANON UPDATE: Bloodying Iran’s Foreign Legion

Posted by editor on 14 May 2008 at 3:45 am UTC

I posted a few hours ago at Family Security Matters:

“Regions of Lebanon burned overnight as Hezbollah continued its unjustified offensive against Lebanese civilians with virtual impunity. The exception being the underreported bloody nose the Iranian-Syrian-backed terrorist group suffered at the hands of the Druze in the Chouf Mountains.

“Today there reportedly are pockets of fighting, and Lebanon’s Future Movement leader Saad Hariri (son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri) — whose own life has been in great danger over the past week — has vowed not to surrender to Hezbollah or its supporters.

“I continue writing about the fighting in my piece ”Bloodying Iran’s Foreign Legion” in today’s Townhall.com.

“Prayers for our good friends and allies in Lebanon.”

Still no word yet from Sayyed Husseini (see previous post).

LEBANON UPDATE: Source purportedly flees from Hezbollah

Posted by editor on 12 May 2008 at 12:07 pm UTC

My piece in this morning’s Human Events, discusses a phone call I had with Hezbollah’s former chief of security, Al Sayyed Mohammad Ali El Husseini, a high-ranking Shiia cleric who some say was to replace the terrorist group’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. The two however split over ideological differences, and I’ve since interviewed Husseini on four separate occasions (twice face-to-face when I was in Lebanon last year, including time spent with him when others of us were running a photo reconnaisance of Hezbollah’s stronghold in Dahiyeh).

On Friday evening, I interviewed Husseini (Read it here) from his home in Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut. And I specifically asked him if he felt his life was in danger. After all, Hezbollah had tried assassinate him once before, and that was when I was in Lebanon in September and October.

Husseini said he did not feel as if he was in danger at that time, again Friday. But several hours ago (Sunday evening), he informed another of my sources that he and his family were packing up and fleeing to south Lebanon, close to where UNIFIL forces are positioned.

Apparently, Hezbollah gunmen have been asking questions about him in Dahiyeh.

Not sure where Husseini is right now. But we hope to make contact with him at some point today.

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

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