BushCo intervention leaves another country in wake of its own despair! Reports of civil unrest continues to grow in Lebanon.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...a/lebanon_syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A bomb killed two people in a Christian commercial center early Wednesday in the second attack in an anti-Syrian stronghold in five days, raising fears of sectarian violence intended to show a need for Syria's military presence in Lebanon.

"Each citizen should be his own guard," Abi Nasr said.

Syrian troops entered Lebanon, ostensibly as peacekeepers, in the second year of the 1975-90 civil war. They remained after the war, making Syria the power broker of Lebanese politics. The Beirut government and Lebanese supporters of Syria have long argued that the country needs Syrian soldiers to maintain stability.

While Bush was patting himself on the back for forcing the withdraw of Syrian troops, and the youth in Lebanon were protesting in the streets chanting for the same--older Lebanese were shaking their heads--concerned that Lebanon would face another civil war without the Syrians there to stabalize the country.

Typical of Bush-- rushing in to troubled countries shouting "let's have a Democracy" without a plan to make it happen. The results are devastating for the citizens of these countries--as in Iraq.

So...people rise up and demand that foreign troops get out of their country. Those troops have been there for over 30 years. The country that holds troops there is Syria, a dictatorship, and a home for terrorists. Syria is well known for their funding of terror and their terroristic tactics, both in Lebanon and in their own country. Syria has also had their version of the CIA in Lebanon, in a building that the people of Lebanon surrounded last week and they finally scurried away to Damascus or at least closer.

But you both are saying, "there were two bombs....what a fine mess this is"...and by doing this, you are really taking the position of stability of dictators running your country from a foreign land, over the people of Lebanon freeing themselves from a dictator and demanding to run their own affairs in a democratic and free country. Since when did that get to be a position of ANYONE other than the Socialists Workers Party who support Assad because they are under the allusion that Ba'athism is socialism?

You would condemn these people to live under brutality rather than to have anything good happen under Bush!

I'm glad that there were different kinds of people around during the American revolution that would not let the naysayers and stable dictatorships prevent them for fighting for their freedom.

I read my post again and the first one--I dont see how you came come up with your comment that either post stated or implyed that we would want to "condemn these people to live under brutality".
I was born in Beirut and lived part of my childhood in Beirut and Damascus. I remember when Beirut was the jewel of the ME. It was not until the early 1980s while living in UAE that I was able to make a very brief visit to Lebanon. Needless to say, after years of civil war Beirut no longer resembled the city I remembered as a child.

The Syrian occupation has been difficult for Lebanon as was the civil war. My complaint is that if Bush is going to call for the Syrian troops to withdraw--then he needs to have a plan to help the Lebanese stabalize their country. What is Bush doing? There have been reports of elder Lebanese being concerned that when the Syrians withdraw--it may lead to another civil war.

You commented "anything good happen UNDER Bush". I seriously doubt if the Lebanese want to be UNDER Bush anymore than they want to be under the Syrians. I only hope that the pressure Bush is putting on the Syrians to immediately withdraw will not lead to more distruction in Lebanon.

There is another topic on this subject that DOES state that if this happens under Bush it will be bad for progressives. I found that very sick. You are correct you did not say that.

Thank you for telling me about your history with Lebanon. At least when I talk to you in the future I will give you the respect you deserve...and I truly mean that. I have no problem with people mad a me or my group/tribe ect...when they know the facts, but I sure do get annoyed at others who know not of what they speak. You can now feel free to yell at me all you want and I will understand:).

But if Bush is going to call for Syria to withdraw what plan could he implement? It was not Bush that led the protest movement to get Syria out...although the US has been calling on Syria to do that for years, under both Dems and R's and so has the UN so Bush isn't doing anything new...what is new is the people in Lebanon insisting on it and refusing to leave their encampement until it happens. God bless them, I wish we had more of that spirit in our own country you know?

I don't think the Lebanese want to be under Bush either, and that's why I'm wary about any suggestions he might make. I worry that if he says too much, or the US adds too much participation, it might tip the balance in any direction and cause more chaos. What I meant was that some people do not want anything good to happen in the world while Bush is president for fear he might get credit for something. That always makes me mad, because one of the things I hate about Bush is he puts politics over people...and I don't want to do that to a nation that has suffered so long.

Listen...fact is I've always had a very soft place in my heart for Lebanon and the Lebanese. They have always been good to me and mine, even when times were tough....there is not a day that goes by that I don't pray things work out, and the jewel of the middle east will be shiny again.

Your dead right on nnrecrut!! BushCo's 'a-typical' blundering ways is happening in this Syrian/Lebanon situation.... causing more problems than what was there before. Not only does Bushie have the majority of Lebanon facing turmoil, his actions will cause similar problems in Syria. As you stated, Bushie does these things with no plans in place for the ppl who are affected.... but he sure has 'his' own special plans in place to take care of his special neocons who are profiting from these ridiculous wars and uprisings.

For every military structure removed there has to be one in place to stabilize the ppl whose affected by it. That takes money and it takes ppl to do this with. Bushie does things based on his fake cowboy world..... in a fashion that it will take care of itself OR somebody else has to fix it later on!! Plus, he pays for it with taxpayer's monies that's not really there! In the meantime, many ppl suffer and die for it. If Bush had any common sense he'd work harder with the UN and support the UN in building bigger UN forces who will work with troubled countries...... within the means and costs!!!!!

Just as Afghanistan has fallen into deeper unstability.... Lebanon and Syria will now follow. The Iraq mess is a no brainer... as more will follow this trend. Thanks to BushCo!

Thank you for the nice response. You wont hear any yelling from me--just when I think I have all the facts straight--I find out I am wrong.



I hope the investigation on the assasination of Harrir sheds some light on who was responsible. The US is pointing the finger at Syria--the Syrians are pointing their finger at "their enemies" (which ones is not clear), but I don't think Syria had much to gain by Harrir's death-- they knew they would be blamed and the consequences for them would be serious. The results has been the call by Lebanese and US for Syria to withdraw their troops--something Syria clearly doesnt want.



I agree--the Lebanese don't want the Americans in Lebanon and hopefully Bush doesnt have plans for some action after the Syrians have withdrawn. Today on CSPAN (again tonight at 8:30PM (i think EST) the Syrian Ambassador to the US did a Q&A at Georgetown Univ. It is worth watching and Mr. Moustapha discusses the topic we have been discussing here.

....and Syria tosses a hard fast pitch right back to Bushie... of which is most everyone's same thinking... you must abide by your own rules too Bushie Boy. Lets watch who follows examples now.





http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3062614,00.html

Syria envoy wants U.S., Israel to withdraw troops too

(03.23.05, 23:45)

Syria’s ambassador to the U.S. Imad Moustapha said Wednesday he hoped the U.S and Israel would follow his country’s example and withdraw from Iraq and Palestinian areas,
just as Syria was leaving Lebanon. (Reuters)

I agree. The Syrians moved into Lebanon during the civil war as peace keepers--and their presence did help stabalize the country. Although it is time for them to leave--a sudden withdrawl could be devastating. My concern is that the US will pressure an immediate withdrawl without a plan to fill the void of those troops.


Lebanese defence capability doubted
by
Saturday 26 March 2005 6:30 AM GMT


Up to 5000 Syrian troops have withdrawn from Lebanon

Lebanon's defence minister has warned that the country's forces will be incapable of filling the void left by the Syrian army if it withdraws completely.


"The forces of the Lebanese army are not sufficient to replace the Syrians who might leave the Bekaa Valley (in eastern Lebanon), where they are now concentrated, for good," Defence Minister Abd al-Rahim Murad said on Friday.

"The members of the army are too young to be able to carry out a task that has until now been handled by seasoned soldiers and their numbers are insufficient because we have recently reduced the length of compulsory military service from a year to six months," he added.

Ghassan bin Jiddo, director of Aljazeera's office in Lebanon, said Murad is seen as one of Damascus' top allies in Lebanon and has been mentioned as the most likely candidate for the premiership if caretaker Prime Minister Umar Karami does not return to the post.

Aljazeera has learned that Karami will announce on Wednesday or Thursday that he will not form the next government - despite President Emile Lahud inviting him to do so not long after he initially resigned under pressure over the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

The likely decision to decline comes after a Karami delegate meeting Maronite Christian leader Patriarch Nasr Allah Sfair failed to get his and the opposition's backing for the formation of a new Karami-led government.

Syrian President Bashar al-Asad announced his intention to
withdraw an estimated 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon in two stages on 5 March. He later gave a pledge to a UN envoy to abide by terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for a complete pullout.

An estimated four to five thousand Syrian troops have already returned home, with the remaining 10,000 or so concentrated in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border.

International pressure

A joint Lebanese-Syrian military committee is to meet in the first week of April to determine the next move.


The Lebanese opposition blames
Syria for al-Hariri's assassination

The Syrian pullout was undertaken in the face of immense Lebanese and international pressure that followed the assassination on 14 February of al-Hariri.

The attack, blamed by the Lebanese opposition on Syria despite denials by Damascus, inflamed public opinion and galvanised momentum to end the near 30-year Syrian military presence in Lebanon.

Syrian forces entered the country in 1976 to serve as a buffer between warring Lebanese factions and at one time numbered 40,000.

Syrians evacuate

Aljazeera learned that Syrian troops have evacuated some of their sites in the Bekaa area, including Dair al-Ahmar, al-Labwa, Maqna and Aynata, north of Bekaa, and were returning to Syria.


Jumblatt wants the resignation
of Lebanon's security chiefs

The troops have also dismantled their artillery in some parts of central Bekaa.

Meanwhile, the opposition welcomed the results of the UN report into al-Hariri's assassination which said the Lebanese government's investigation of the incident was flawed.

Separately, Lebanese Shia religious leader Muhammad Husain Fadl Allah held the United States responsible for incidents taking place in Lebanon, saying they intended to establish a military base to demolish Syria.

In another development, Lebanon's top opposition figure renewed calls on Saturday for the security chiefs to resign to make way for an international investigation into the killing of al-Hariri.

"It is not possible to carry out a just, serious, clear and transparent investigation if the heads of the agencies remain in their place. This is a basic conclusion," Walid Jumblatt said.

"We warned against a security state over and over," he added.


Aljazeera + Agencies
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2BC...B7CA5A8A5F3.htm

Now I understand why the UN representative warned Syria not to harm Hariri BEFORE the assasination. It appears Assad had warned he was going to do it and BREAK LEBANON IF HE DIDN'T GET HIS WAY!!

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB
Associated Press Writer

March 25, 2005, 8:16 PM EST

Hariri's death sparked massive demonstrations in Lebanon that shook Syria's domination of its politics, disrupting the government and helping force Damascus to pull back its 14,000 troops in Lebanon. Many Lebanese accuse the governments in Beirut and Damascus of being behind the slaying, a claim both vehemently deny.

Discussing a U.N. inquiry, Chibli Mallat, an international law professor at St. Joseph's University in Beirut, told LBC television that "under international law, immunity no longer applies to anyone, including the presidents of Lebanon or Syria, if they are asked to testify or in case they were indicted."...

The report does not directly assign blame in the killing but says Syria is "primarily responsible" for the tensions that may have led up to it.

"It is clear that the assassination took place in a political and security context marked by an acute polarization around the Syrian influence in Lebanon," it said, adding that Syrian military intelligence shared responsibility with Lebanese security forces for failing to provide security.

The report quoted testimony in Lebanon and abroad as saying President Bashar Assad threatened Hariri and opposition leader Walid Jumblatt with physical harm if they opposed a Syrian-backed proposal extending Lahoud's term in office.

Assad told Hariri at their last meeting in the summer that he "would rather break Lebanon over the heads of Hariri and Jumblatt rather than see his word in Lebanon broken," according to the testimony.

The U.N. report said there was a "distinct lack of commitment" by Lebanese authorities to investigate Hariri's death. It said it let evidence be ruined before it was collected and that security officials placed parts of a pickup truck in the blast crater well afterward, photographed them and labeled them evidence. ...

Addoum denied the report's claim of truck parts being placed in the crater, noting that the wreckage was recovered from the sea by international divers.

Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh acknowledged "flaws" in the security system, but he said the report did not directly accuse the government. He supported an international investigation.

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said the report contained "too much rhetoric." He, too, blamed tensions on the U.N. resolution, which he said "was not called for."

Apart from the defensive action by government officials, there was little public reaction to the report, whose contents were a matter of public discussion and media reports in recent weeks.

The only new element in the report is where the bomb was placed and its size. The report confirmed the blast was by a surface explosion of about a ton of TNT. The government contended that Hariri's motorcade was struck by a car bomb.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&...d=27&m=3&y=2005

Car Bomb Explodes in East Beirut
Danielle Hosri, Arab News

BEIRUT, 27March 2005 — A car bomb in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut triggered a huge fire late last night. The attack, the third in two weeks, injured at least five people, security sources said.

********************************************************

Syria's ambassador Imad Mustafa spoke about how they were trying to cooperate with BushCo, yet BushCo needs to follow it's own finger pointing demands on others. I could not agree more! As Syrian troops pulls out, there should be civil UN troops to step in and keep peace and stability in Lebanon.


http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?...D=10980&TagID=2

Syria urges US, Israeli withdrawal

uploaded 26 Mar2005


Syria's ambassador to Washington has expressed hope that his country's pullout from Lebanon would inspire the United States and Israel to withdraw from Iraq and Palestine, respectively.

"We will withdraw from Lebanon as soon as possible, the sooner the better. And we are not talking of two or three months. We will do this very, very quickly," Syria's envoy Imad Mustafa said in a speech at Georgetown University.

"I hope this will inspire other countries in the Middle East to withdraw their occupations from Iraq and from Palestine and from Syria itself," he said.

Syrian model

"President Bush has many times spoken about making Iraq a model that will inspire the whole Arab world ... I think the Arab people will love to see this Syrian model followed by the Americans and the Israelis."

"I do not feel proud that Syria has political detainees just like you have in Guantanamo Bay, people who don't know what are they charged of, when will they ever be released, if they will be tried, and if they have access to their attorneys," he said.

"Our plans are by June 2005 not to have a single political prisoner in Syria. We want to make anything similar to your Guantanamo Bay a part of our past," Moustapha said.

Despite his barbs, the ambassador also made clear his country was eager to improve its relations with the United States and hoped Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon would be a step in that direction.

People who are of common sense over our Bush idiots knows that any defense vaccum would spell disaster to those who lives in Lebanon who would only become vulnerable against 'outside' invaders and special operatives/ insurgents inside Lebanon.

The Druze and Hezbollah are wise to BushCo's games and are on top of what BushCo is trying to pull on Lebanon and Syria.



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3064038,00.html
03.27.05

Lebanese opposition won't demand Hizbullah disarm

Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian opposition leader, Druze opposition spokesman Walid Jumblatt, said on Sunday he would not press for Hizbullah to be immediately disarmed. "The arms issue...is not open to discussion at this stage," Jumblatt told reporters. (Reuters)


**********************************************************
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&...d=23&m=3&y=2005


BEIRUT, 23 March 2005 — Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance group accused Washington yesterday of pitting Lebanese factions against each other under the banner of anti-Syrian opposition demands for “freedom, sovereignty and independence”.

“America really contradicts itself, it says it is helping Lebanon to achieve freedom, sovereignty and independence and that’s a lie, a deceit, a slander,” the Syrian-backed group’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, told reporters. “It’s helping some Lebanese to put pressure on Syria to get out of Lebanon and is trying to give some Lebanese the upper hand over others and incite some Lebanese against each other. “It is carrying out actions that will not lead to freedom, sovereignty and independence,” Nasrallah said.