They say home is where the heart is. But when your home breaks your heart, do you look for a different home?
That’s essentially me. Over the past four years, sometimes on the pages of this blog, I shed all the broken pieces of the heart that Lebanon broke. In 2005, when a car bomb put the country on an existential trajectory, I shifted gears, changed my cause, and started an epic to defend a picture of Lebanon that, looking back, had never been, and will probably never be.
Around the same time, my heart was acquiring a different home. The move began one sunny morning in a city otherwise known for its fog, and continued when two angels came into my life, giving me a new sense of purpose, and anchoring me to a new reality.
Lebanon became my past, and though it survived in words I typed on this blog, it started to take the backseat with every diaper change and every family celebration outside the Lebanese box. Last year, fate had it that I became a US citizen without any family by my side, as if to test my new loyalty. I waved the American flag alone, swore to defend my adopted country, and promised to renounce allegiance to my birthplace. From then on, the USA became first. Lebanon was past tense.
It became harder to blog. It had been gradual. It was one disappointment after the other. It’s not like I didn’t know what to expect. But my past just did not want to end. It continued into my present, shackling me with a weight that I could not bear. Not if I wanted to live free. The end came, however, when I saw the passport. Like others like me, it seems, I had been waiting for the ship. And when the ship came, I took it, willingly, and with a sense of satisfaction mixed with the sweet taste of revenge. I am finally where I can be better.
My new American dream replaced my Lebanese nightmare, at least during the day, when ghosts hide under pillows. At night, however, they rear their ugly heads, redrawing that path of self-torture that raised me. I will probably always dream of the shells, the darkness of the shelter, and the frustrations of living small in a place that pretends to be large. But when the light rises from behind the hill, I am new. Remember that myth about the Phoenix rising from the ashes? It is true. But in my case, life came back somewhere else.
That was my past. Thank you for reading. This blog is over. My story begins.
When Hussein rode his Arabian horse to Karbala more than 1400 years ago, he knew the risks involved getting beheaded by nascent Muslims, but he did not know that his death would be incorporated into a pseudo-Arab martyrdom formula. What would Hussein, the prophet's grandson, think today if he heard Hassan Nasrallah, who chose life in a hole over decapitation, likening Gaza to Karbala?
There is no doubt in any Shia mind that Hassan Nasrallah is having a field day with what Israel is doing in Gaza. Appearing on TV recently to condemn Israel, Egypt and his own lack of candor, he presented us with the same old two choices: surrender or resistance.
We are before a great scene from the scenes of Karbala… The truth about Karbala is that there is a group that believes and holds on to its dignity, rights and honor of the nation, refusing to obey the oppressors… It stood up and resisted. Whenever it is put before two choices: surrender or imbalanced resistance, it chooses resistance. We as Lebanese can understand what is happening Gaza. It is the same as what happened here... The same choices are offered, the same battle and, hopefully, the same result.
It’s Karbala all over again indeed, but not because Palestinians are dying, but because Nasrallah’s Karbala-propelled franchise is producing even more tragic results in Palestine than it did in Lebanon in 2006. Not only are Hamas' attacks against Israel predictably weak and strategically stupid, their people have not been able to savor the purity of Iranian money. Instead, they were made to live under siege, starving, unemployed, and slowly dying—at least until the bombs start falling. Hizbullah in Lebanon at least feeds its martyrs.
All that should come as no surprise. Hamas failed to follow the path of Karbala (how can they even understand it?), and instead tried to jump to the conclusion of someone else’s adventure. Today, they are nowhere near liberating Palestine. But they’re very much in the same hole Nasrallah put his people in when he decided to stretch and franchise his resistance brand.
So Nasrallah lashes out at the evil Sunni regimes. This is all, he claimed, part of the plot to kill off the resistance in the region. Whether it’s bombardment of Gaza, or the Lebanese government trying to instill rule of law on its own territory, it’s all part of the same Arab-Israeli evil plot to shut down McNasrallah.
The hole that Hamas dug for itself and the people it hijacked may be getting deeper, but don’t count on this region’s inhabitants to lift the Palestinians out of this wretched existence, or see through Nasrallah’s rhetoric. Anger, most of it of course justified, is leading and blinding the way. The tragic images from Gaza will provoke a lot of protests against the perpetrators of these war crimes. But will they provoke some soul searching, and re-examination of how best to get out of this vicious cycle? Is it through rockets, or a different kind of resistance?
Almost a year ago, "terrorists" blew up and killed a top Lebanese general, prompting the then army commander to insensitively proclaim, on television, and to the victim's family nonetheless, that the army has plenty of other soldiers like Francois. On the first anniversary of his assassination, we hear some decisive language, but sadly not comforting.
The Lebanese army on Sunday vowed to continue its fight against terrorism as it marked the first anniversary of Maj. Gen. Francois Hajj's assassination. The army insists on "tearing out the malignant roots of terrorism wherever they were found," the army command said.
A mass service was held in Hajj's memory in his hometown of Rmeish in south Lebanon.
"The day will come when the killers will be uncovered and put on trial," said Brig. Gen. Panos Manoujian who represented Defense Minister Elias Murr and Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji at the mass.
"Terrorists thought that by killing one of the pillars of the military institution, they could confuse the army and hinder its national role. However, the military tree is more solid and much higher with the martyr's blood," he said. (Naharnet)
So who are the "terrorists"? And where do their "malignant roots" grow? In Baabda, where he was killed? In Damascus or Tehran, where the president seems to be extending his own roots? It seems to me that the Lebanese military believes in the imaginary nation of Terrorism Land, where terrorists are born, bred and nurtured outside modern notions of time and space.
But then, Lebanese authorities cannot even distinguish traffic violators from law abiding citizens, so why expect them to see the roots of terror? That what we got, one year on, is a slight bending to the will of Assad as far as military policy is considered, shouldn't come as a surprise. Suleiman got the message, and he will never do it again. He has Aoun to learn from, and Hajj's blood to remind him of what fate awaits those who wage battles against Syria. They either become mentally unstable or get put on a death list. So creating a safe imaginary world will do.
I don't know about you, but I am getting tired of all the assassination talk. First it was Suleiman Franjieh predicting that a major incident similar to the Hariri assassination will rock the nation of Lebanon. And now March 14 deputies are predicting killings to "muddle the International Tribunal's work and monopolize people's decisions before the 2009 parliamentary elections".
These prognostications are taking place against a backdrop of high level visits to Assad's Syria and Iran, making the situation seem all the more absurd.
Nothing protects you against murder and inspires confidence like sending your top general to meet and seek military assistance from those who killed your country's former prime minister and massacred a bunch of MPs and journalists!
Sending the army commander so soon to Syria, and without any kind of coordination with the cabinet, sends another signal that Lebanon's military, exclusively led by the president, is following its own convoluted agenda. Michel Suleiman is using his meeting with Bashar a couple of months ago as a mandate to appease the Assad regime and force a normalization of ties between the two countries before borders are even demarcated. And just last week, this same president signed a 5-year "security pact" with the Iranian regime to supply Lebanon with "defensive weapons to be agreed upon in the framework of a defensive strategic system the Lebanese will formulate".
These activities make any fears about the harmful effects of engagement by the US and Europe look ridiculous, since the parties who will allegedly get hurt are now doing a lot worse (mind you Jumblatt is not too happy, and neither is March 14, but they're postponing any real opposition until after the elections). But if Lebanese officials are driven by a morbid sense of pragmatism, mixed with good old subservience and treason by some, there is no reason for some Western powers not to offer them all some backbone. Do Lebanese people not deserve carrots? Talk to the Syrians and Iranians all you want, but unless you have masochistic desires to see Lebanon turn into an Iranian satellite, do direct some effort to warn the delusional and disillusioned against signing the country away in defense agreements and joint security committees.
Those rejoicing over the results of student elections at AUB, which incidentally is my alma mater, need to stop and think twice about it all means. For this blogger, this is not a lesson in democracy or democratic governance, this is transposition of feudal and sectarian politics into a college campus. Casting ballots to pick someone based on their affiliation to outside parties with no agendas relevant to student life is unfortunate. AUB officials ought to protect the student body against this kind of theft of democratic principles. The leaders of tomorrow need to understand that improving the conditions of their constituents, not those of the lord outside the gate, should be their platform. One person interviewed by Now Lebanon echoed this well:
Becky Katz, an American graduate student at AUB, who until Tuesday was a candidate for election among international students and has participated in student elections in the States, said that while it's understandable "given the dense and highly charged political environment that student activists want to begin playing a role, the student government is polarized by these parties and as a result is paralyzed… Students are unable to organize collectively and efficiently to advocate on their own behalf and improve student life."
"The initiatives of one party tend to be turned down by another just because of the national political divide," Katz added. "There's less of an emphasis on platform and more of an emphasis on simply which Lebanese party you side with." She said the political divide created by student candidates who represent national parties also "creates problems after the elections, breeding an atmosphere of hostility and hindering the capacity of students to work together."
Nobody is saying students can’t have political affiliations. But what kind of message are we instilling in the new generation when we allow their student life to be polarized and paralyzed even before they are let out into a society they are entrusted with enriching and improving?
Of course, when even March 14 leaders hail the results of student elections as a “message” that validates their political agenda, there is little hope that one day, change will come to this little country, in a form that will preempt the kind of events that have rocked it since its inception.
It’s painful enough to listen to Michel Aoun preach about the alleged failure of the American model, and how he allegedly made all the successful choices in the past. But now Sunni Mount Lebanon mufti, Mohammad Ali al-Jouzou has sailed into the Aoun-Hizbullah twilight zone:
The Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Jouzou said he approved of the position of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun with regard to broadening the culture of resistance among the Lebanese population, especially among Christian factions. Jouzou said in a statement issued on Sunday that having Muslims and Christians carrying weapons to resist Israel, in cooperation with the army, would be “the most honorable battle” and a “great achievement and historical event.”
Jouzou said he was ready to even go further and ask for the immediate implementation of Aoun’s “great” defense strategy, starting with the training of all youth in the use of weapons and establish mixed Christian-Muslim military bases. He also encouraged spreading weapons among all citizens so that they could integrate themselves with army brigades in order to become a parallel army.
“That is why I call for distributing weapons to all youth trainees, and giving licenses so that weapon carriers are not attacked, as is currently happening. No citizen of the North, Beirut, or Bekaa would be arrested for carrying weapons, in the same way as citizens of the South, Dahiyeh, and Ramil al-Ali are allowed to carry weapons and roam with them everywhere without any objection,” he said. “General Aoun’s request is fair, because we all become one [equal] before the army and security forces. Our youth will not be imprisoned if weapons are found on them, whether they carry a license or not, while others roam with their weapons freely because they are weapons of the Resistance,” he said.
Jouzou said that justice in the country was seen from only one perspective, because all those accused of terrorism were Sunni. He called on March 14 to approve Aoun’s defense strategy proposal which “transforms the Lebanese population into a resisting population; accordingly, our weapons become resistance weapons like Hezbollah’s weapons.” (Now Lebanon)
I don’t believe this was sarcasm. And for the record, I expected nothing enlightening from that man. But what we have here is a prime example of why, one day after Lebanese independence day, this nation is doomed thanks to the prevalence of such trash. Although on the opposite end of the political spectrum, they embody the failure of the Lebanese model, where religious clerics play dangerous politics, and MPs behave like de-facto presidents, or prime ministers, dictating policy, and threatening violence, as Aoun did if elections don’t go his way.
So it’s really rich for Aoun and others like him to claim that the American model “failed”. The only failure I see is what they exhibit day after day in Lebanon. Despite the harsh economic conditions we are living, and the effects of the Iraq war, the United States has not collapsed. The election of Obama, whether you like him or not, and the hope that is driving so many, including those of us who just began to live the American dream, stand in sharp contrast to Lebanon’s pathetic political class, lack of democratic spirit, and the abject subservience to foreign agendas at the expense of national interests. Look no further than John McCain’s concession speech to understand what America stands for. Contrast with the above examples, which, though not representative of Lebanon's potential, are nevertheless the reason why so many of us have stopped looking towards our country of origin for inspiration.
March 14’s call on the Arab League to form a “fact-finding
mission” to investigate the Fateh al-Islam group will likely increase the
dandruff population, since many inside and outside of Lebanon will be furiously
scratching their heads in wonder over the futility of such a move.The Syrian media stunt had left many in
the failed independence movement angry at the regime’s insolence in making up
facts and airing them so blatantly.How dare they accuse the free Lebanese of conspiring to kill their own?
This at a time the Lebanese and their counterparts in the UN have been
investigating for years now! So, March 14 logic goes, if anybody has the moral
right to fling accusations, it is March 14. And the logic continues: The Arab League should act. As if the league members do not already know who is behind this
group, or need a fact finding mission to figure it out.Whatever happened to the briefing on
the Islamist group that Siniora gave Amr Moussa many months ago? They didn’t
condemn the Assad regime then, and they will not condemn it tomorrow. Not even
Europe is prepared to level accusations at Assad. International denial and
compromise is the name of the game -- just read the naive statement
by British FM David Milliband on Syrian-Lebanese relations and the UK and Syria
cooperating in the fight against terrorism.
So why is March 14 expecting the league to deliver what Lebanese authorities and the world couldn't? And does this call not undermine confidence in the work of the UN
commission and the Lebanese authorities? Why are Lebanese papers bothering with
accounts of arrests and investigations? Will the Arab league unearth evidence
or facts that years of interrogations, investigations and fact-gathering by
hundreds of individuals from across the world didn’t?
The Arab League involvement makes no sense. If this is March
14’s way to defend itself against Syrian accusations, then someone in their
leadership needs to fire his advisors.
Of course, the Lebanese government’s response was as
pathetic. They send the interior minister to Syria, and continue pushing for
diplomatic relations with the regime, and form a committee to “address methods
of cooperation”. Sending Baroud with no mission to defend his country and
confront the accusers is an act of treason. And having your information minister, who once denounced the
regime’s acts, say that relations between the two countries are “built on
mutual respect” is mind-boggling. The same can be said about this whole embassy
business. The Lebanese government should not have accepted diplomatic
representation before the Hariri investigation is over. In most other countries,
ambassadors are expelled and embassies shut down when there is violation of
sovereignty and sponsored murder. Lebanon, however, chose to REWARD the Assad
regime by not only agreeing to exchanging diplomats before a criminal
investigation is concluded, but also allow the Syrian regime to vet all
candidates for the post of Lebanese ambassador!
Of course, this twisted logic was made possible by the Arab League.
That March 14 is yet again resorting to this body is yet another thing to add to the
heap of nonsense that is Lebanese and Arab Politics.
You
know the Assad regime is desperate when their own creation had to issue a
statement denying televised allegations that they were behind a recent Damascus
bombing. Fatah al-Islam today denied claims in “confessions” aired by Syrian TV
that they orchestrated the attack with Hariri money.
The
regime, looks like, has re-discovered itself stuck between two countries
inching towards relative stability. Lebanon, and Iraq, despite their domestic
theatricals and unknown long-term viabilities, are arguably more stable than in
recent years. The same cannot be said of Syria, which has had to endure
violence and recently, humiliating American and Israeli attacks.
Of
course, the Assad regime brought all this upon itself. Fatah al-Islam was a
slightly more organized version of its Iraq efforts. Thinking they would be
scoring points against the US and March 14, and perhaps relieve pressure caused
by the Hariri tribunal, the regime resorted to becoming a conduit for
terrorism. Perhaps more foolishly, Assad thought he could become a nuclear
power.
At the
end, you reap what you sow.
Considering
that these allegations surfaced on the eve of visits by the Lebanese interior
and defense ministers, one has to wonder how many regimes the Syrian regime has
produced over the past year. The “confessions”, which could not have been the
product of judicial transparency that does not exist, looked like the work of a
disgruntled official who couldn’t believe relations with the Lebanese have
devolved into pseudo-normalized relations. Embassy? An interior minister who
has no allegiance to the lion? A defense minister who rebelled and escaped
assassination, and has the audacity to visit? There are a lot of negative
things that can be said about the current Lebanese situation and about
Syrian-Lebanese relations not being ideal, yet. But you couldn’t help but gloat
a little bit when you see functioning Lebanese cabinet ministers arriving in
Damascus to represent their country, and not to report to the ruler.
It
increasingly looks like anything positive in Lebanon or Iraq will produce
negative repercussions on the Assad regime. Some in Lebanon figured it out.
Even the fakest of reconciliations could plunge the Assad regime, which feeds
on conflicts, into turmoil. This formula is something to learn and run with,
though not to be used as a bible. Spread the love, and let the terminally ill
die a natural death. No “engagement” will cure the ailments of one of the
sickest regimes on earth.
According to Naharnet, the final report by the UN commission in charge of investigating the Hariri assassination, "will not point to any defendant, witness, or concerned individual related to the investigation from near or far." Not only that, some of the tribunal sessions will be "confidential".
Information disclosed that part of the silence is probably to remain even during the work of the tribunal, since available information points that some of the testifying witnesses will not have their identity exposed even after ending their testimony. Some of the court sessions will be confidential in testimonial content and the identity of those testifying.
I understand that justice is blind. But also mute?
Today's debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden was a sad reminder how McCain's choice of VP is a threat to national security. Palin dodged most questions to recite what her tutors taught her in the past five weeks, proving once that McCain cares more about serving as president in the remaining years of his life than putting this nation on a better track. Joe Biden, on the other hand, and after an uncharacteristically subdued performance during the first half, was for unfathomable reasons coached not to "kill" her. And he could have, very easily, pointed out how she was unfit to become a vice president, rather than leaving it to the partisan imagination.
But the tragedy is not in Biden not going after Palin. The tragedy was in Palin being unable to effectively go after Biden, for she showed no signs that she understood or digested a single word of what she was taught. Instead, we got a lot of winks, fake kitchen table tales, and "darn rights". For the same reason she butchered the name of the commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, she couldn't answer the question pertaining to recent US policy towards Israel, specifically, when Biden accused the administration of not properly supporting the Jewish state after the US and France allegedly "kicked Hizbullah out of Lebanon"! (update: the full quote is: When we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said and Barack said, "Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know -- if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.Now what's happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government in the country immediately to the north of Israel)
Followers of this blog know what an idiotic statement that was, and how superficial and uninformed it is. But with Palin as an opponent, could you really expect someone to call him on it?
Another danger came when Palin faithfully regurgitates what the coaches told her to say about the "Surge". Apply it everywhere, they told her. Biden nailed her on it. But although the Obama-Biden Iraq strategy is riddled with fantasy, all Palin could offer was a weak argument about "winning" and how great McCain was in pushing for the "Surge". So Biden won the argument, as did Obama during his first debate, and the nation sunk deeper into ignorance about the country that is today very far from being a project for success.
McCain's Surge. What a travesty to ascribe this tactic to the Senator, when in fact it was a result of work done by people inside this very administration that everybody loathes. And how wrong it is to say that it led to a victory, or could lead to one. What is victory anyway? And victory for whom, and against what, and how do you measure it? The walls and fault lines that separate Baghdad neighborhoods today and the irreparable damage done to the US stature in the world, speak of a different reality than the one Palind an McCain paint. Sadly, and while Obama points it out clearly, the solutions that both he and McCain prescribe are detached from reality.
Going back to the core issue here. By picking Palin, McCain robbed this nation of a safety net, should his old body fail him. I can probably live with McCain in charge of foreign policy. But I cannot trust Palin's with the nuclear codes, or "nucular" in Palin-speak. If she couldn't handle the simple task of understanding the issues, instead accepting the role of a puppet, then she and the man who chose her simply do not deserve a vote.
Lastly, and this is a note to some of my readers, at least the remaining ones, spare me your partisan politics. What has been disheartening to me over the past few months was how quickly certain people can turn against you when you disagree with them, or when you attempt to think outside the ideological box. It is no secret to anyone that my posts about Hizbullah, and Obama's statement on Lebanon, were widely popular and heavily quoted by many "conservative" bloggers. Today, I stand in amazement at some of those bloggers' inability to get over their obsession with negating the other's point of view, and in the process denying themselves the truth they claim to seek or represent. The "left" often exhibits the same fanaticism and self denial.
It is the sad truth that to many, country doesn't and will never come first, and that change will unlikely come as long as we don't understand what it is we really need.
In the meantime, we're left to choose the lesser of two evils. And sometimes, that choice is made easier when confronted by the intolerance and racism of those who won't eat a doughnut if it's not dressed in red and blue, or won't accept questions from a black journalist.
Update.Now Lebanon on Biden's gaffe. He meant Syria!?
Joe Biden, the US Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate, condemned Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah on Thursday night, but mixed up Hezbollah with Syria.
Speaking in a debate with his opponent, Republican candidate Sarah Palin, he referred to the US’s Middle East policy by saying, “When we kicked - along with France - we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon,” a statement assumed to confuse Hezbollah with Syria.
Biden said that both he and Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama had said, “‘Move NATO forces in there. Fill the vacuum, because if you don't know - if you don't, Hezbollah will control it.’”
Bush had a very busy day today. Topping his agenda was the financial crisis that is threatening to plunge the US into a recession, turning us into something worse than the socialist disaster that the GOP used as scarecrow when they deregulated everything from the economy to the way wars are planned.
With Bush and some members of The House effectively surrendering the economy to a struggling presidential campaign, we, who hail from the land of the cedars, were told the US and Lebanon have a lot in common. This claim came courtesy of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, last seen deregulating the free flow of weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
In remarks at the outset of the Oval Office meeting with President Michel Suleiman, Bush said he has watched carefully the public statements that Suleiman has made since taking office in May.
"Your statements impressed me and we're most impressed by the national dialogue that you're holding in an attempt to seek reconciliation," Bush said. "The United States is proud to stand by your side. Our mission is your mission: a country that is strong and capable, a country where people can make a peace."
Sitting beside Bush in the Oval Office, Suleiman said his country shares many U.S. values, including the promotion of liberty and the fight against terrorism. And he thanked Bush for his administration's support of the Lebanese government, particularly efforts to bolster the Lebanese army.
"There are so many things in common between the American people and the Lebanese people. We are here also to reaffirm our rights to have a prosperous Lebanon, a democratic Lebanon," Suleiman said. "Mr. President, we are also here to affirm the need to liberate all Lebanese territories and also to make it clear that the future of Palestinian refugees is in their homeland, not in Lebanon." (AP)
Bush obviously spoke too soon. I don't think he cares about Lebanon's "need" to liberate a farm that no one can tell for sure where it belongs. What is the point of coming all the way to the White House and, instead of asking for assistance in things that matter, you "affirm the need" to fight an endless war on behalf of Lebanese cattle? How is this a reflection of commonality between Lebanese and Americans? The way I see it, Lebanese politicians have proven that they want to keep Lebanese prisoners of a cause, that's become unfit even for livestock.
But then, today John McCain took us all prisoners of his campaign. This isn't to say that the actions of American and Lebanese politicians are comparable. For at least in America, politics are rooted in something a lot deeper and meaningful than pasture. But today, many Lebanese, Americans, and Lebanese Americans, felt trapped.
After Hizbullah and the PSP, the Future movement is set to reconcile with God’s warriors. The fairy tale continues. One of god’s former warriors, now a reformed March 14er, has apologized. Samir Geagea, whom some of us grew to respect over the past two years, despite his war crimes record, said he was sorry for terrorizing the population during the civil war.
Hizbullah, mind you, has not apologized. With March 14 busy electioneering under the banner of reconciliation, the Iranian-backed militia is not showing any signs that it will reconcile with the state, or recognize it for that matter. And why should they, when the president of the very country they claim to defend is in denial about their arms.
According to As-Safir, and during a meeting with Condoleezza Rice, President Michel Suleiman denied reports of weapons smuggling to Hizbullah across the Syrian border, calling them Israeli exaggerations, and adding this gem: “if the Israelis have evidence and satellite imagery to prove their claims, then let them hand them over to you.”
You would think a man who spent his life in the military would know better than to presume American ignorance of what’s happening on the border, or that they even need to use Israeli satellites to see what the Party of God is doing. And you would think he’d ask for the evidence for himself and not for Rice’s viewing pleasure.
With thousands of Syrian troops digging trenches along the northern border, and Hizbullah getting ready for another round with Israel, Lebanese had better hope their elected leaders know what they’re doing when they’re bedding one another out of wedlock. This isn’t reconciliation. It’s temporary marriage at best. Just ask the experts at Hizbullah.
And apology accepted, Samir. I would take that over fake reconciliation any time.
Lessons in how to impose the rule of law sometimes come from the unlikeliest of places.
Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh on Wednesday gave an ultimatum to the Lebanese government on the Bsarma shooting attack in north Lebanon. "I give the government a 15-day to one-month ultimatum to reveal the truth behind the shooting incident in Bsarma," Franjieh told a news conference.
His ultimatum came a few hours after two people were killed and three wounded in clashes between the Lebanese Forces and Marada Movement in the town of Bsarma in the northern province of Koura. Lebanese Forces (LF) supporter Pierre Ishaq and Youssef Franjieh, head of Marada's Bsarma office, were killed in the fight. Three other people were wounded.(Naharnet)
Another lesson comes from another self-made legal expert, Michel Aoun, formerly army commander, currently a fruit:
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Wednesday proposed a defense strategy based on merging the "various militias and the resistance."
Aoun made the proposal in remarks broadcast by Orange TV, mouthpiece of his FPM.
The resistance should "not be restricted to Hizbullah, let them expand it to include all the Lebanese" factions, Aoun said. "Guerrilla warfare is necessary to defend Lebanon," he added. (Naharnet)
With the president himself engaging in anti-constitutional activities under the title “national dialogue”, it’s hard to blame the above clowns for giving free interpretations of the law.
But thank God for Hizbullah, which helped re-align the dialogue’s agenda and set matters straight.
Hizbullah on Wednesday accused the United States, Europe and Israel of trying to list a topic on the agenda of the Conference on National Dialogue. Hizbullah's international relations official Nawaf Moussawi made the charge in an address to a Palestinian delegation from the Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Chatilla.
"The Lebanese People would not allow the Americans, the European governments and Israel to impose their own agenda on the national dialogue," Moussawi said. "Such an agenda has one item which is disarming the resistance and Hizbullah," he added.
Moussawi pledged: "This item would not be on the dialogue agenda. The National Dialogue Conference would tackle how to build a strong capable state that, along with its people and army, would confront Israeli aggressions."
OK, so will the dialogue propose bills allowing militias to give ultimatums to the state, and creating a favorable environment for militias to merge into mega militias?
A message to the Europeans and the Americans, please butt out of this one. Don't you have better things to do? Like a dictator to appease, and a president to elect?
There's been an explosion in Lebanon, as you know by now. A mysterious force killed Talal Arslan's right hand man, Saleh Aridi, presumably as punishment for the Druze leader's reconciliation with the other Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt. There were reports that the two had planned a joint electoral ticket next year, which would have finished off Syrian lapdog Wiam Wahab for good.
Wahab never hid his discontent, feeling that the Jumblatt-Arslan rapprochement came at his expense. Earlier this month saw verbal war between Arslan and Wahab, and reports said many of Wahab's followers deserted him to join the Arslan party. Wahab at some point said about Arslan, "If he claims that he's the boy's mother in the Druze sect, then I'm his father". Wahab accused Arslan of submitting his accreditation to Jumblatt.
The slain Aridi is said to be the architect of the reconciliation between Jumblatt and Arslan.
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Thursday morning that the assassination aimed at “trapping new allies,” a reference to the reconciliation efforts between Jumblatt and Arslan, in which Aridi was a major player, since the May violence in the Chouf. He added that the killing was a blow to the efforts to calm Mount Lebanon.
For his part, Jumblatt told An-Nahar that some were “harmed” by his relation with Arslan, who made his way back to Lebanon after the incident.
As-Safir reported that the assassination came along with an organized campaign of rumors spread in Aley and the Chouf regarding mutual mobilization pitting the opposition, particularly Hezbollah, against the PSP.
Aridi, the paper continued, was Arlsan’s right-hand man and one of the most prominent figures of reconciliation between the latter and Jumblatt. “In so doing, he had benefited from his former position as a PSP member, and he is known for his close relations with several Syrian leaders,” As-Safir read. (Now Lebanon)
Note that this taking place amid disagreement in the ranks of the opposition, which the Jumblatt-Arslan alliance caused, as did the reaction by some Aounists to Assad's latest speech advising the army to move to the north to combat "extremism".
This "opposition" found itself unable to agree on an agenda for the planned national dialogue next week, let alone form joint lists in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
This latest assassination may be a product of this disagreement, as well as a message to Arslan and other tired Syrian satellites not to stray from the path during the national dialogue, or during the elections.
That's Lebanon, Ohio. You didn't think Lebanon was THAT important to the Republican candidate, did you?
Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate,
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, will appear together for a campaign rally
Tuesday outside the Golden Lamb restaurant in Lebanon, his campaign
announced today.
Despair not, fellow Lebanese Americans, spread out everywhere on this land. A coalition has been formed in our name to allow us to express our support for the Palin-McCain McCain-Palin ticket.
Welcome to Lebanese-Americans for McCain. Our coalition is the central gathering point for members of the Lebanese-American community to join forces and collectively endorse John McCain for president. As an organized and united force we can support John McCain by organizing our community and getting out the vote for the 2008 election.
We are proud to endorse John McCain,a man whose character, judgment, leadership, and experience is precisely what all Americans need in their next president. His foreign policy experience is unparalleled, and most importantly he understands the issues facing the Arab world.
As Lebanese-Americans it is imperative that we get involved.
Please help us build support for McCain for president!
I couldn't help but note the contradiction between "Lebanese" and "organized". "United force" also seemed to be out of place.
I also couldn't help but notice how McCain's Lebanese American group did not mention Lebanon at all on their page. Instead, they only mention the Arab World, which includes Djibouti and Mauritania. What's the point of calling yourself a "Lebanese American Coalition" if your mission statement does not even mention the country that supplied your identifying label? What the hell has happened to Lebanon in the past three years, and why isn't it part of what will get us to "organize" and form a "united force"?
For nearly three decades John McCain has enjoyed a strong love, friendship and appreciation for Israel and her citizens. His affection for and understanding of the myriad of complex issues confronting the Israeli people runs deep, as does our nation's long alliance with the State of Israel.
During his most recent trip he visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and vowed that he would never allow Jewish people to suffer another Shoa.
He recognizes Israel's right as a sovereign to defend herself against those who seek to harm and destroy her. John McCain will hold terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, who seek to maximize civilian death and destruction inside Israel, accountable.
John McCain recognizes the threat that a nuclear Iran poses not only to Israel, but to the stability of the region and to the international community. On his watch, Iran will not be allowed to put its anti-Israel, anti-Western rhetoric into action.
For nearly 30 years John McCain has been proud to call the people of Israel, Chaverim! Friends!
I wonder if one should blame the "Lebanese American Coalition" for forgetting to include Lebanon in its statement, or just blame it on the lack of love McCain has for the country of cedars, which can never produce anything that can even come close to the above love affair with Israel.
With McCain's Lebanese ashamed of their own country, one might as well consider Obama's "community of Arab Americans". Here, they actually list the issues, whether your agree with them or not.
We are a community of Arab Americans who are working nationwide to elect Senator Barack Obama the next President of our nation. We believe in Senator Obama's message of hope, action and change. We believe that Senator Obama has the judgment to lead and the courage to renew America's promise.
Senator Obama is committed to the issues that our community cares deeply about: civil rights, profiling, a just peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict, a wise withdrawal from Iraq, closing Guantanamo, immigration reform and promoting human and civil rights in the Arab World.
The Military Tribunal acquitted 12 suspects accused of plotting to assassinate Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah nearly two years ago, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Friday.
It said the tribunal's decision came after it didn't find enough evidence of the alleged involvement of the suspects in the murder plot. However, the court sentenced some of the defendants to prison for forming armed gangs, selling weapons to Lebanese citizens and trading in arms.
The night before the above news was leaked, Nasrallah said he forgave them:
In the final moments of the speech, Nasrallah addressed the issue of
suspects currently imprisoned for plotting to kill him. “There is a
group accused of planning to assassinate me, I forgive them and I will
send a written letter to the military court urging that they be
released during Ramadan."
A visit to this blog's archives revealed this old post:
The Decapitator was spared
an assassination attempt thanks to the watchful eyes of the Lebanese
military intelligence, who arrested nine Lebanese and Palestinian
would-be assassins after "acting suspiciously" near Hizbullah's
headquarters in the southern Beirut district of Haret Horeik... The nine suspects were
reportedly planning to blow up the head of God's party on his way to
the last day of "national dialogue" on April 28... Thank God the
capable men of the Lebanese military intelligence foiled this heinous
plot on time and spared Nasrallah a most uncomfortable loin pain. Too bad Rafik Hariri, Samir Kassir, Bassel Fleihan, George Hawi and Gibran Tueni weren't as lucky.
I wonder if the ongoing investigation with the Hizbullah member who shot at the Lebanese army helicopter will take this into consideration:
During his latest visit to Beirut, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Near East David Hale informed Lebanon of his country’s intention to provide the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with military aid, sources told NOW Lebanon on Thursday.
This aid would include equipping the LAF with fighter helicopters, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Hale submitted a list of US-made helicopters, at the top of which came the AH-1 COBRA fighter helicopter, to the Lebanese Ministry of Defense.
The list outlined the US Defense Department’s aid Lebanon as part of the plan aimed at consolidating the capacities of the Lebanese army to enable the LAF to preserve security, confront challenges and consolidate civil peace in Lebanon.
The sources did not rule out that the shooting of a military helicopter in the southern Lebanese village of Soujoud by Hezbollah gunmen may have been a preemptive message to internal and foreign parties.
According to such a message, any military aid provided to Lebanon should not alter the current field reality, and Hezbollah should not allow the disruption of the current balance of forces, which grants it military supremacy in Lebanon.
While a Hezbollah fighter has been reported as handed over to judicial authorities for the gunning, which killed Captain Samer Hanna, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday defended the shooting as a painful mistake, but nothing more.
Hale’s statement comes after his visit to Lebanon in late August, during which he met with Lebanese leaders, including President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri.
Nasrallah said shooting at the helicopter was a mistake, and defended the killer saying he was "not a criminal".
Nasrallah was vehement in denying accusations that the shooting was intentional: “The incident has no political background and it is not a message to the Israelis—that is not how we send messages to them...
We are most cautious in our relations with the army. We have lost martyrs who were killed by the Lebanese Army itself, yet we were cautious to avoid instigating any conflict with the army…Let no one use this helicopter incident to instigate conflict between the army and the Resistance. Nobody gave orders to shoot the helicopter.” However, Nasrallah said that he himself was “responsible for all that the Resistance says and does.”
He described the actual incident in some detail: “The helicopter was not brought down, it landed and some of our brothers were surprised and one of them shot it. We coordinated with the army to come take the helicopter. We asked who fired and who ordered him to, and our dignified brother who opened fire came forward himself.”
Nasrallah said “our youth are not street boys, they came to the resistance for sacrifice and we do not hand in anybody by force.” Nasrallah went on to defend the suspected gunman. “I reject all comments that the Hezbollah member is a criminal,” he said.
Nasrallah is so grand, he decided to forgive and forget:
In the final moments of the speech, Nasrallah addressed the issue of suspects currently imprisoned for plotting to kill him. “There is a group accused of planning to assassinate me, I forgive them and I will send a written letter to the military court urging that they be released during Ramadan."
Unfortunately for Nasrallah, it not up to him to decide on what basis to judge a killer, or when to release suspects from jail. His grandiosity would have earned more respect had he left such judgments to the judiciary. And if he were serious about taking responsibility, then he should have handed himself over to the authorities to be tried for breaking the law and giving young men a license to kill at their own discretion.
Watching Sarah Palin last night, I couldn't help but wonder how her family would have been be able to afford health care had she not been governor. A child with Down Syndrome and an unemployed and pregnant 17-year old daughter, would break any middle class family.
For that, it was interesting to me that she has never broached the issue of health care. Instead, she has been using her family to prove points about abortion and conservatism, as seen by the religious right.
It became more apparent after yesterday's convention episode that McCain's choice for running mate was to appeal to the crowd that brought Bush into office. It did not matter what Palin's record was, whether or not she really fought the "big ol' boys" network, big oil companies, earmark spending, etc. All these claims are beingdisputed.
Picking the Alaskan governor, to quote Karl Rove, was a "campaign decision", not a "governing decision".
Proving this point is lack of any real information on Palin on the official McCain website. Apart from a photo, a title claiming "a fresh perspective", and a transcript of the press conference that announced her to the world (which she re-recited last night), there is little information about her or her "record".
McCain hopes the people will supply the narrative. Many will indeed, and she will surely be a polarizing but eloquent figure, proving to be a good Republican answer to Obama when it comes to presentation skills. But unfortunately for McCain, many will rely on the "elitist" and "evil" media as the Republicans like to call it, for more information about her. What I found so far isn't encouraging. Palin comes across as someone who uses her children to draw "conservative" voters, and who has extremely wild and worrying views on science and evolution. Her speech last night was mostly combative, though impressive in style. Ironically, it was her who accused her opponent of being all talk.
So what about health care?
Both Palin and Guiliani, the stars of last night's performance, failed to mention health care or McCain's health care plan. They spoke about terrorism, the need to attach "Islamic" to the term to make it sound more realistic, and McCain's courage eons ago as a soldier. McCain will fight for us, etc. But can he help pay my health care bill? I don't need a socialist solution. But what I don't appreciate is a plan that will make it worse for me.
Affording health care is one of my main concerns. My employer's justification for raising premiums every year, and making HMO plans extremely expensive for families, sounds a lot like McCain's plan to "Restore Control To The Patients Themselves." In fact, both my employer and John McCain use the same language. What this means, simply, is that patients will no longer have access to plans that pay 100% of the bill. Families have to pick plans that pay a certain percentage, and that force you to pay out of pocket until you meet a deductible. Kind of like car insurance plus you still have to fork out 20% or more of the total bill. So, if your wife has a baby, expect not being able to afford the hospital bill. If you get cancer, good luck.
Unlike Obama, who provided tons of details on this issue on his site and during his speech, McCain doesn't seem to think it's worthy of details. Obama might be taking it to the socialist extreme, but there's at least a solid plan to discuss.
I wonder if Palin's pregnant daughter will wed her presumably unemployed boyfriend AFTER giving birth. It makes sense. Let mommy take care of the bills while she's governor/running for VP. And how will the "families of special needs children" find a friend in Washington (as she proclaimed) if they elect Palin, given what McCain is proposing?
It gets worse with McCain's plan. His alternative to the "expensive" (wonder why!) employer-based insurance is to pay insurance companies directly through a "tax credit". So your employer is off the hook, your paycheck is the same, and your private health care provider gets richer. So no to big government, but yes to corporations feasting on my hard work and penalizing me for having children, healthy or with special needs?
I wonder if McCain, and Palin, know that doctors and hospitals in this country charge patients more than they end up getting paid by insurance companies? We, the middle class, get no "negotiated rates".
There are other issues, of course. Foreign policy might be one of them, and in the past, I have criticized Obama harshly for uneducated statements on Lebanon. Guiliani made a strong case, but he is not the VP, Palin is. And I don't buy what Cindy McCain said about Alaska's proximity to Russia making Palin experienced in national security. Like Guiliani said, we can't afford "on the job training". This applies to Palin too.
I don't know how many will be willing to forgive McCain for failing to present the people with a real governing team. We are simply being asked to place all our eggs in his good ol' basket, to wish him long life and good health (and health care), and accept Palin as a necessity to get him elected.
Alan Moore: V for Vendetta "Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade... But always order without justice, without love or liberty, which cannot long postpone their world's descent to pandemonium..." (*****)
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