Lebanon | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Archive for the 'Lebanon' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Iran and syria are at it again

Lebanaon looks set to explode. Again.

Clashes broke out in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley today as rival factions prepared for what many in the country feared would be a bloody showdown between the Government and the Shia group, Hezbollah.

At least one person was killed when fighting broke out in a mixed Sunni and Shia neighbourhood near the Bekaa town of Chtaura as supporters of Hezbollah and the allied Amal Movement fought partisans of the pro-Government Future Movement.

(Note from Markos: Can somebody please find an angle to Blame Boosh™ for this? It’s patently obvious that the criminal invasion of Iraq by the crusaders and occupiers has stirred up this unpleasantness in a region where peace and tranquility have otherwise reigned for centuries. Please pass on approved progressive responses to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean).

Uh-oh! Methinks perchance Messrs Carter and Obama are needed to smooth things through with a bit of hope and, errrm, some change, and some talking to enemies, and stuff.

Last night, Sheikh Rashid Qabbani, the Sunni mufti of Lebanon, delivered unusually harsh criticism of Hezbollah, describing the party as an “armed gang of outlaws that have carried out the ugliest attacks against the citizens and their safety”.

An armed gang of outlaws! WHAT???? These people are legitimately-elected representatives of the people!! Or perhaps he’s absolutely right, and the scales are falling from the eyes of the people regarding radical Islamism - Lebanon could actually become, together with Iraq, a bulwark in the fight against these barbaric savages, if they tough it out and destroy the rag-tag gangs who actually do the fighting (Hezbollah will of course deploy their very own Comical Ali to hail the great military victories of their street thugs, all the while downplaying the actuality of Lebanese troops shooting them like fish in a barrel).

The Higher Shiite Council, the leading authority for Lebanese Shia, today accused the Government of “bias” and blaming it for triggering the crisis.

Triggering it by not capitulating to the threats of a bunch of seventh-century hoodlums, one assumes?

But Marwan Hamade, the Minister of Telecommunications, told The Times that the Government had no intention of rescinding its decisions.

“Hezbollah has unmasked itself. It is not a resistance movement, but a militia trying to take power in Lebanon,” he said.

Quite so, old chap, quite so. The only part you need to add is ‘funded by a pencil-necked weirdo and a grinning midget psychopath from the Axis of Evil’.

Courage, as a proven fabulist once said.

Thank you President Carter

Jimmy Carter loves thugs and dictators. If you regularly violate human rights and torture, murder, maim, imprison or otherwise destroy ordinary people then by all means, President Carter is your friend. He decides that since Hamas is so good at this, he would go chat with them to see how he can help them feel good about themselves.

Now, I really haven’t seen much of this in the news about Carter’s trip to see Hamas and it really isn’t surprising that the news media is ignoring it. Here’s why: Earlier this week, Carter defended his trip to see Hamas. He said he failed to convince them to stop shelling Hamas for a month. Note, not stop shelling period, no, just for a month. So it’s ok to kill Jews, as long as you wait a month? Is that it Mr. Carter?

So when Carter got there, they negotiate and agree to peace for 10 years as long as Israel agrees to the pre-war borders. Carter comes out and announces a big win. However, during the very next meeting, Hamas launches the biggest attack in about 5 years. Killing 3 soldiers and hurting a child. They did this is during the meeting, while Carter is sitting there with the top terrorist. He was totally oblivious to what is happening. Hamas then comes out and contradicts everything Carter said after the first meeting.

That’s not the worst of Carter’s woes. Hamas, as you know, is a puppet of Iran. What do you think led the Iranian news (and news stations all through the Middle East) that night. Carter, shaking hands with Mr. Hamas-boss super-imposed with the details of the new attack. Carter was used. He was pulled off the roll, used to wipe and then flushed. Carter, by virtue of being an ex pres, has credibility. When he is seen with a group like Hamas, he gives them legitimacy. He gives them the pictures they need to coerce people. “The U.S. is on OUR side, you better obey or you’ll disappear with their blessings”. Carter either didn’t realize this or he didn’t care. The State Dept has a study that shows that terrorist groups like to launch their biggest attacks while “negotiating” for peace. It was standard operating procedure here and Carter swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Carter was reduced to a stammering “I did my best, yada yada yada…” and looks like a complete fool.

So, why do I say thank you to him? Why has the news media pretty much ignored this? Simple. Barack Obama says he wants to negotiate with Hamas. He says he’ll meet with them without pre-conditions. Thank you Jimmy Carter. You just showed us what the real world does to a hippie fantasy. We can now point at your abject failure to show what a failure Obama WILL be. His biggest foreign policy plank, meet with people that we used to refuse to meet with, is now toast. Every time he suggests it, we can hang Carter around his neck and sink him. This hippie “sing cumbaya and talk” junk does not work with thugs. We knew that. Now, more people will know it too. We just need to keep reminding them. So thank you President Carter. You showed what a fool you are, and by extension, what a fool Obama is.

An Absence of Hope

Nineteen months after the kidnapping of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev by the Lebanese Hezbollah, there has been a dramatic shift in the negotiations for their return. Until now, the Israeli government assumed that at least one and perhaps even both of the soldiers survived the Shiite militia’s attack on their border patrol on July 12, 2006. But intelligence information suggests that this assumption was wrong (more…). According to information obtained by SPIEGEL, Jerusalem has now concluded that the two soldiers are dead.

Even in the absence of unequivocal evidence, the negotiators have already abandoned hope. Nevertheless, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is hesitant to publicly pronounce Goldwasser and Regev dead. It would be a bitter setback for Olmert, who defined the return of the soldiers as the objective of the Lebanon war in the summer of 2006.

Back in July of 2007, it was reported that at least one of them were dead, and it was denied by Nasrallah. No one cared then, and no one will care now, as no one cared when we suffered through reports that Gilad Shalit was gravely injured and in need of medical attention.

Nineteen months. Amazing how time marches on, while the world pressures Israel to make concessions to these terrorists even as it turns its back on Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev, indifferent as to whether they are alive, or dead. I look at the remains of their humvee, and I wonder.

Were they alive when captured, were they injured? And if so, who treated their injuries, what medicines were they given by the animals who took them? I look at that humvee, and I believe that they were injured, and I know that they were likely just bandaged up and left to live or die on their own. If they were alive, or are alive, every additional day of captivity makes it more likely that they will never be free.

Their lives matter only to those who love them. To the terrorists, they are pawns, bargaining chips. To their country, they are an inconvenience. And to the rest of the world, their lives mean nothing. I hope and I pray for them, but I expect the worst, and with good reason. Their names and their faces had already faded from the news, and soon, the world will forget they ever existed, as they have forgotten other Israeli soldiers who have disappeared into the hands of terrorists, never to be seen or heard from again:

Three soldiers, captured by terrorists during a battle with Syrian and Palestinian forces near the Lebanese village of Sultan Yaqub. June 11, 1982. Twenty-five years ago, over 9,000 days.

Two soldiers captured with them were released in prisoner exchanges with Syria and Achmed Jibril’s PFLP-GC (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command). Every once in a while, their names come up (including the 1988 Amnesty International Report and the 1993 Amnesty International December Update) but reports are conflicting and nothing is verifiable. Zachary Baumel is an American citizen.

Israeli air-force navigator Ron Arad was taken captive after his F-4 Phantom warplane went down over Lebanon. October 16, 1982. Twenty-four years ago, over 8,000 days.

Ron Arad was taken captive by Amal, a Lebanese Shi’ite militia group lead by Nabih Berri, who today is the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. In 1987, Arad’s family received several letters and a photo of Arad confirming that the missing navigator was alive and in Amal’s hands. Mustafa Dirani, the Amal security chief who allegedly captured Ron Arad when his plane crashed in Lebanon, reportedly broke away from the terrorist group in 1987, taking Arad with him. It is believed that Dirani then “sold” Arad to either Hizbullah or Iranian elements.

According to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, as recently as 2003, three former Iranian diplomats and intelligence officials living in Europe claimed that Ron Arad is alive and being held in a prison near Tehran. But these reports cannot be verified.

Twenty years later, we know nothing about the fate of Ron Arad, although I have my own thoughts on that.

Guy Hever, a soldier in the Israeli Army who was reportedly last seen standing at the Katzabiya junction, just a kilometer away from the Syrian border. He disappeared, and has not been heard of since. August 17, 1997. Ten years ago, over 3,500 days.

Does anyone remember these men today? Sadly, no, most people don’t remember them, if they ever knew about them in the first place. Disappearing Jews don’t make headlines. And if you notice where that link goes, well, its not anything in the mainstream media. Even dead Jews don’t make headlines.

Cross-posted at Something… and Half of Something

Another one bites the dust! Imad Mughniyeh is finally DEAD

This one’s been a long time coming. Damn, this is good news! Imad Mughniyeh is one hell of a big ugly fish, and I’m only sorry that he didn’t die a more slow, painful death. Let him suffer the worst pits of hell for each of his victims.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Imad Mughniyeh, the suspected mastermind of dramatic attacks on the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, has died in a car bomb in Syria, Iranian state media and a Syrian rights group said Wednesday.

The Islamic militant group Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel for the killing. Israel denied involvement.

Hezbollah did not say how or where Mughniyeh was killed. But Iranian state television and the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said he died in a car bombing in the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday night.

Hezbollah’s announcement of the death came a few hours after a late night explosion in Damascus destroyed a vehicle. Witnesses in the Syrian capital said at the time that a passerby was killed as security forces sealed off the area and removed the body. But authorities there would not give details.

“Blamed Israel.” Typical. I pray it was Israel getting justice for their victims of his pure evil.
Don’t remember this particular specimen of Islamotard terrorist? I know you’ll recognize this sociopath’s work.

[I]n September 1999, Argentinian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Imad Fayez Mughniyeh (alias ‘Hajji’), a top Hizbullah security official in the 1980s and alleged leader of a sub-group called Islamic Jihad, in connection with the 1992 embassy bombing. He was later indicted for the AMIA atrocity as well.

Mughniyeh, a Lebanese Shi‘a Muslim, was indicted by the US in 1985 for the hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. He is also suspected of being behind a whole host of other attacks in the 1980s, including the kidnapping and murder of CIA station chief William Buckley in Beirut in 1984, as well as suicide bombings of the US embassy and a US marine barracks in which some 300 people perished. Mughniyeh and some of his associates were named in the FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list after the events of 11 September. His present whereabouts are unknown, although he is said to have undergone extensive plastic surgery to disguise his appearance.

Additionally, Bill Roggio wrote at the Counterterrorism Blog during the 2006 war in Lebanon about Mughniyeh:

At the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah, I reported Imad Fayez Mugniyah, Hezbollah’s military commander, was likely behind the operation to snatch the Israeli soldiers, and documented Hezbollah and Mugniyah’s links to Iran and historical involvement in international terrorism. Dr. Magnus Ranstorp explained Hezbollah’s command structure and decision making processes, Mugniyah’s likely involvement with the capture of the Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah’s links to Iran and Hamas.

On Saturday, the Jerusalem Post reported on Mugniyah’s involvement in the current conflict and his past history with Fatah and in Hezbollah. Mugniyah is fingered as the likely operative “behind the abduction of the two IDF soldiers on July 12″ as well as “in charge of Hizbullah’s rocket unit in south Lebanon.”

And that’s not all. Fausta mentions his activities in Argentina:

Mughniyeh is also believed to have been behind the 1992 bombing of Israel’s embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed, and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish center two years later that killed 95.

Recently Argentina has been investigating the 1994 explosion, which is the largest terrorist attack ever staged in Latin America against a Jewish group.

This piece of shit was one of the mere handful of worst of the worst. Twenty-five years we’ve been waiting for this scumbag to get put down. Twenty-five years. I remember those days of terrorism in Beirut like it was just yesterday–after the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979, that period probably had the greatest impact of all on my overall view of the world geopolitics–even more than the Cold War. Imad Mughniyeh is essentially Osama bin Laden without the recruiting tool of the internets; his activity was likely an inspiration to Bin Laden himself, not to mention countless other terrorists. His death comes 25 years too late for the lives lost, but finally, he’s dead.

More about Imad Fayez Mugniyeh from:
* Counterterrorism expert Dan Darling (from 2006)
* Counterterrorism Blog
* DEBKA; also note that they tie Mughniyeh to Moqtada al-Sadr’s war on Americans in Iraq, as do terrorism analysts Jonathan Schanzer and Dan Darling.

Imad Fayez Mughniyeh

The Religion of Peace™ has a content warning!

Another Day Goes By:

A music video with pictures from the worldwide islamofascist uprising. It is not meant to insult Islam, but to show the horror of people using a religion as excuse for their sick death cult. If you are a muslim and feel insulted, please answer this question: What have you done today to stop terror? (BTW: The music was recorded by a guy from Australia, who wants to remain anonymous. He is afraid of the Religion of Peace.)

Content warning: Graphic violence. Not like you didn’t already know.

Karnit Goldwasser Confronts Ahmadinejad at the UN

Tags: ahmadinejad, ehud goldwasser

Notably absent from American mainstream media coverage:

“During the questions we made eye contact, we looked at each other more than once. The look on his face changed the moment he realized who was facing him and what I wanted from him,” Karnit Goldwasser, wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud Goldwasser, said after her meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York.

Goldwasser managed to enter Ahmadinejad’s press conference at the United Nations building in New York on Tuesday, and told Ynet that the she was surprised by the treatment the Iranian leader received upon his arrival.

“He came in and started to smile at everyone. The reporters gave him great respect… As he walked by me he said hi to me, because he still didn’t know who I was. He thought I was one of the supporting journalists, and that he was walking into a place where everyone loved him. He seemed very pleased,” Goldwasser recounted.

Goldwasser said she was not afraid to present the president with her question, and asked him, “Hello, my name is Karnit, the wife of Ehud Goldwasser, the soldier who has been held captive for over a year. Since you are the man that is behind the kidnapping due to the aid you grant Hizbullah, why don’t you allow the Red Cross to visit the two soldiers?” she asked.

The president ignored the question.

Of course he ignored her. Jews/Israelis are non-persons to him.

And with that, she was tossed out.

stein hoist Media Blog at NRO

Museum Of The Insane

Hezbollah opens a “museum” commemorating their “victory” :rofl: over Israel last year.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A replica of a long-range missile greets visitors, and posters mock Israel and the United States.

Welcome to “Spider’s Web,” a museum south of Beirut that has become Hezbollah’s latest propaganda tool — showcasing what it says was a divine victory over Israel in last summer’s war.

Of course, in the la-la land that Hezbollah and their supporters inhabit, “victory” equals “not being blasted into itty bitty bits until no one is left alive.”

Of course, the masses, they are ~~grateful~~ hateful:

That show left Roula Sabra, a 36-year-old mother of three, clapping tearfully.

“I’ve come to show my children what victory and dignity is,” she said. “You feel such pride and security.”

Translated, what she really said was “I feel so lucky that an IAF laser guided bomb wasn’t dropped on my head.”

If Israel wiped out Hezbollah, but left one alive as a museum exhibit of their own, that person would claim “victory” over Israel.

ZOMG! FRED HEARTS OSAMA!!!1!!1

Well, she might as well say so. Cupid stunt.

Debbie Schlussel

Does this sound like the words of a man who is unfriendly to Israel? (And this is just one example.)

Imagine what it would be like to live, knowing that a rocket could fall on you or your children at any minute. Half of those who live nearest to Gaza have fled their homes. Those remaining are traumatized by daily warning sirens and explosions.

The irony is that Israel has the military might to easily win the war that is being waged against them today. They haven’t used that might, in the past, out of compassion for Palestinian civilians and because it could trigger a wider regional conflict.

That balance of power is about to change, though. If Iran develops nuclear weapons, the very existence of this tiny nation of Israel will be threatened. The Iranian regime has left little doubt that it intends to see Israel “wiped off the map.” Hamas is using the same language, not coincidentally, and has announced it will begin launching missiles into Israel from the West Bank too.

Anti-Israel? Pan-Islamist? Not bloody likely.

From Israel Today:

Of the dozen or so candidates contesting the nomination, Thompson is among the most supportive of Israel.
[...]
Thompson is also on record as supporting an Israeli military strike against Iran should international diplomacy fail to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear arms.

More liberal political elements in Israel fear Thompson may be too far to the right, and therefore end up harming Israel. During his time as a senator, Thompson was one of the sponsors of the Jerusalem Embassy Act demanding that the US government move its embassy to the Israeli capital in defiance of Palestinian claims to the city.

Note that this is the same Israel Today that’s jumping on Debbuh’s hysterical bandwagon. LOL. Well, when you use someone as a source who’s far more often wrong than right, you’re going to look like a damn fool.

Who gives a damn about Spencer Abraham being a campaign advisor (not the campaign manager–not that it even matters), anyway? Are we voting for Thompson, or for his campaign team? Oh noes! Spencer Abraham was an advocate for immigration, too! Fred Thompson must be an open-borders guy, then! (Er…not.)

But whatever. If the worst thing these hysterical moonbats can come up with against Fred Thompson is that he’s got a campaign advisor of Arab descent (his grandparents emigrated from Lebanon), then Fred’s sittin’ pretty. :mrgreen:

Today’s History Lesson: What Really Happened

What Really Happened In The Middle East

*click*

Report from Lebanon

One of captive soldiers dead

One of the two kidnapped IDF soldiers in Lebanon are dead, according to estimates by German security sources, who were quoted in the Lebanese newspaper, An-Nahar, Saturday.

“Security forces understood that one of the kidnapped soldiers is still alive, however, the other is dead,” An-Nahar reported.

Nasrallah of course, denies this report, telling Al-Jazeera “I’m the only one authorized to give information about their condition.” and he’s not giving any information.

Nothing like a little psychological warfare, just like last month, when we suffered through reports that Gilad Shalit was in dire need of medical attention. There was no international outcry or outrage, no pressure put on Hamas to give him the medical attention he needs. The State of Israel and the rest of the world shrugged it off.

Time marches on, the world continues to pressure Israel to make concessions to these terrorists even as it turns its back on Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit, indifferent as to whether they are alive, or dead. I look at the remains of their humvee, and I wonder.

Were they alive when captured, were they injured? And if so, who treated their injuries, what medicines were they given by the animals who took them? I look at that humvee, and I believe that they were injured, and I know that they were likely just bandaged up and left to live or die on their own. And I know that every additional day of captivity makes it more likely that they will never be free.

Their lives matter only to those who love them. To the terrorists, they are pawns, bargaining chips. To their country, they are an inconvenience. And to the rest of the world, their lives mean nothing. I hope and I pray for them, but I expect the worst, and with good reason. One year later, their names and their faces are fading from the news, and soon, the world will forget they ever existed, as they have forgotten other Israeli soldiers who have disappeared into the hands of terrorists, never to be seen or heard from again:

Three soldiers, captured by terrorists during a battle with Syrian and Palestinian forces near the Lebanese village of Sultan Yaqub. June 11, 1982. Twenty-five years ago, over 9,000 days.

Israeli air-force navigator Ron Arad was taken captive after his F-4 Phantom warplane went down over Lebanon. October 16, 1982. Twenty-one years ago, over 7,000 days.

Twenty years later, we know nothing about the fate of Ron Arad, although I have my own thoughts on that.

Guy Hever, a soldier in the Israeli Army who was reportedly last seen standing at the Katzabiya junction, just a kilometer away from the Syrian border. He disappeared, and has not been heard from since. August 17, 1997. Ten years ago, over 3,500 days.

Does anyone remember these men today? Sadly, no, most people don’t remember them, if they ever knew about them in the first place. Disappearing Jews don’t make headlines.

Two years ago, we gave up the Gush as a show of good faith. And in return, we got thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli civilians, women, children, schools.

Last year, Israel should have fought until these men were released or until every single square inch of Lebanon and Gaza was buried under rubble. Hezbollah, Hamas, and Fatah should have been destroyed, completely destroyed.

Instead, Israel gave up and accomplished nothing, and now, Israel has again released palestinian terrorists from its prisons in exchange for nothing, calling it a show of good faith to the evil bastards who hold these men captive. Originally, the plan was to negotiate the release of prisoners in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit, but in the end, they just let the terrorists go free.

The Israeli government has again closed its eyes to what happens when you appease terrorists and negotiate with evil:

These are the faces of 177 Jews, all of whom were murdered by palestinian terrorists after the terrorists were released from Israeli prisons.

I look at those faces, and I want to cry.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… my solution would be to take the terrorists locked up in Israeli jails and execute them, one by one, until all our soldiers are released, or I run out of prisoners.

That way, the end result is a good one, either way.

But, that’s just me.

Iranian-Backed Hezbollah Agent Captured in Iraq

Iranians, again.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A top special operations officer from Lebanon’s Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah has been captured in Iraq, where U.S. officials say he played a key role in a January attack that killed five Americans.

Ali Mussa Daqduq, an explosives expert, was captured in March in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where he was helping train and lead Shiite militias fighting coalition troops, U.S. intelligence officials told CNN.

Iranians are meddling in Iraq? Shocking, I tell you.

Lots more at Hot Air (where I got the video) and at Ace’s. Read their stuff and the CNN article.

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran…

Is this it?

Is Iran starting proxy wars in the Middle East to distract the ‘International Community’?

On LE with Wolf Blitzer this morning, the chief Palestinian dude claimed the Palestinians were being ‘used’ by a third party he wouldn’t name, noting quite plausibly that it’s hard to import millions of dollars worth of arms into the poorest place on earth without some outside help.

There’s also a low-intensity conflict in Southern Lebanon between the Lebanese Army and some ragtag farking Palestinian Islamist scumbags in a refugee camp.

And this morning, two Katyusha rockets landed in Northern Israel. Hezbollah said it wasn’t them.

A splinter Palestinian group in Lebanon is thought to be behind the attack.

Iran is a big, bad, growing problem, and not just for us.

We’ll need to deal with them sooner rather than later, and it’s a farking travesty that the only person willing to say so in Congress is a liberal democrat from Connecticut.

Meanwhile, in Northern Israel, more attacks

Surrounded by enemies

An IDF officer inspects the site where one of the Katyushas struck in Kiryat Shmona on Sunday.
Photo: Channel 10

If Arabs put down their weapons today there would be no more violence. If Jews put down their weapons today there would be no more Israel.

Four Katyusha rockets struck the town of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel Sunday afternoon, causing damage but no injuries.

Two or three rockets landed in Kiryat Shmona while one hit Lebanese territory.

In response, one government official who is traveling with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in New York said that Israel will show restraint in its response to a rocket attack.

“This is an attempt to provoke Israel into a response,” the official said. “Israel will not succumb to this provocation but will monitor the situation carefully.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The identity of the attackers has not been confirmed, and the estimates within the IDF was that the rockets were fired not by Hizbullah but probably by a Palestinian splinter group, possibly affiliated with Hamas, operating from Lebanese soil.

Let’s all talk to Iran!

That’s definitely what they are crying out for, their threats are just a crie de coeur, Colin Powell is right again!!!

IRAN has threatened to launch a missile blitz against the Gulf states and plunge the entire Middle East into war if America attacks its nuclear facilities.

Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a senior defence adviser to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that Gulf states providing the US with military cooperation would be the key targets of a barrage of ballistic missiles.

They only want everyone to get along, if only Bushi’iteler and his nefarious PNAC warmongers would stop provoking them with threats and stuff.

The attacks on Arab states would be in addition to airstrikes on Israel, which have been threatened repeatedly. An Iranian foreign ministry official said: “The objective would be to overwhelm US missile defence systems with dozens and maybe hundreds of missiles fired simultaneously at specific targets.”

And they absolutely are not funding terrorists.

Another Iranian official said to be familiar with the “retaliation plan” claimed it would be launched within an hour of a US attack and would be accompanied by increased support for terrorist groups. “The US will be as surprised with Iranian military capabilities as the Israelis were with Hezbollah in last summer’s war in Lebanon,” he said.

These are people we should be talking to, and no mistake.

Lebanese chaos

Lebanon, which used to be known as the Monte Carlo of the Middle East, seems to be headed for more strife.

Lebanese troops shelled locations within the Nahr al Bared camp on the northern outskirts of this city, which houses about 40,000 Palestinian refugees. Militants belonging to the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam shot back with heavy machine-gun fire.

An Islamist group shot back….from a Palestinian refugee camp? Run by whom, one wonders? Could the UNHCR be involved?

Syria, which Lebanon accuses of backing Fatah al-Islam, closed several border crossings in the area. And the fighting broke out as the United Nations Security Council took up a resolution to try suspects tied to the February 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Syria has been accused in previous investigations of ordering the killing, but vigorously denies any connection.

Isn’t it funny, the silence of everybody on the left regarding this issue is deafening. Perhaps they don’t know which of the many Designated Victims™ killing each other in this story to condemn. So they don’t condemn anyone.

My guess is that Siniora will find himself Disposable Victim numero uno when the lefty shakeout happens - who else to blame? Peace-loving Palestinians? Syrian humanitarians like Assad? Nope, it’s got to be the Democratically-elected Lebanese Prime Minister, who will find himself a raging warmonger before too much more time elapses.

I’ll bet you fifty bucks.

Uh-oh. Looky here.

Fatah al-Islam has been a growing concern for security authorities in Lebanon and much of the region. Intelligence officials say that the group counts between 150 and 200 fighters in its ranks and that it subscribes to the fundamentalist precepts of Al Qaeda.

The group’s leader, Shakir al-Abssi, is a fugitive Palestinian and former associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia who was killed last year in Iraq. Both men were sentenced to death in absentia for the 2002 murder of an American diplomat, Lawrence Foley, in Jordan.

So, they’re not really militants, per se, they’re more like…….terrorists.

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