Comments on: THE LEBANESE PEOPLE VS. HIZBULLAH: ROUND 1 LOOMS

By: Rancher

Rancher — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:36:31 +0000

I heard that at least one of the bodyguards died, but I’ve been everywhere following this so don’t know where I saw this.

By: daveinboca

daveinboca — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 21:05:30 +0000

The Wall Street Journal scorches Baker in the link above, though in tones that display residual respect.

There are only a few blogs which take the Al-Jazeera line on this, and that flawed cable network has a lot of Michel Aoun supporters [pro-Syrian Christians like the Prez Emile Lahoud] avowing that Syria would never do such a thing because it would be too stupid. But stupid is Bashar Assad’s favorite playbook. Still, contrarians bleat it’s not fair to point fingers at Damascus.

From my years living in Beirut and elsewhere in the Arab world, I’ll take the flawed western press version over the ridiculous largely pro-Syrian Arab media nine times out of ten. [BTW, I once dated a Lebanese woman who told me that assassinated ex-Prez-elect Basheer Gemayel had asked her to marry him, she turned him down because the Gemayels were in her words "beneath her socially...."] Lebanon is a revolving door of conspiracies. I can remember that in 1977 the assassins of Druze-chief Walid Jumblatt’s father drove away from the scene in a car with Iraqi license plates! Of course, it turned out to be Syria behind the murder, but anything to throw us off the scent!

By: SlimGuy

SlimGuy — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:16:20 +0000

Just spent a lot of time reading the Lebanese blogs over at truth laid bear.

Lots of good insight into the situation as it stands and the mindset of the locals.

By: The Regulator

The Regulator — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:51:49 +0000

And why should’t Assad and the Iranians do these things, they know no one will stop them. Hell we got Jimmy Cater leading the way to “investigate” Israels “terrorist actions”, seems the West has gone punk when push comes to shove and the Islamist know it. Plus we have done nothing but make Iran the Strong Man in the region.They laugh, what is the US going to do?, send Condi in with another “robust “plan. She, who said the ‘Palestinians” are so “humiliated”. we sure aren’t going to deal with Syria, big brother Iran will step up and its obvious we won’t deal with Iran. They will get nukes on GWB’s watch. Bush is a lousy chess player. He should have saved our resources for going after the real terror threat in the region, Iran, rather then Iraq. We thought Saddam had WMD, but by damn we KNEW Iran had been working on nukes for years aided by the Russians. Check mate.

By: A Blog For All

A Blog For All — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:37:15 +0000

Fallout From Gemayel’s Assassination

The problem is that the March 14 group is under assault from Syria and Hizbullah, which don’t bother with politics when assassination, violence, and intimidation work more efficiently. Protest babes don’t stand much of a chance if the leaders of the …

By: daveinboca

daveinboca — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:06:49 +0000

A reader of my blog sent me an email asking “cui bono” as to why the Syrians were involved. My response:
The Syrians have a very long record of interfering in Lebanon’s economy and
political affairs, and it is in their PERCEIVED interest [however poorly
conceived] to stir the pot in that country, which they regard as irredentist
territory, because of several reasons.

It takes the Syrian people’s mind off their own imbecilic government, it is an
attempt to try to keep the Lebanese cabinet from participating in the UN
Investigative Inquiry, an attempt to push the Hezbollah agenda in order to get
Iranian support, and because various factions supporting Assad in Lebanon,
including its demented Prez Emile L, actually want Syria back in control of
Lebanon, or at least an active player. Last, but not least, the Syrians made a
lot of money by interfering in Lebanon before, and think they can do it again.

Therefore, a very deluded Syrian leadership probably thinks it is its own good,
and because it believes it can get away with it. Think of it as a mafia
syndicate, with Bashar Assad as the capo di totti capiti. Don’t necessarily
regard the present Syrian leadership as rational actors. As an FT columnist
said prophetically two years ago, this younger Assad tends to overplay his
hands.