Today a huge car bomb ripped through Sin-el-Fil (meaning tooth of the elephant in Arabic). The bomb killed anti-Syrian and Kataeb party member Antoine Ghanem. The news has shaken me up quite a bit, I used to shop for T-shirts in that area of Sin-el-Fil. Syria is one by one, knocking off parliamentary opposition.
There are only 4 more members of parliament to be murdered before the anti-Syrian majority becomes a minority...
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Showing posts with label Bombing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bombing. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Some Breaking News For July 16
Bomb hits U.N. vehicle in Lebanon
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEIRUT, Lebanon AP) - A bomb hit a U.N. peacekeeping force patrol on a coastal road in southern Lebanon on Monday, a Lebanese security official said, the second such attack targeting the force in less than a month.
The bomb struck the convoy as it was driving through the village of Qassimiyeh near the southern port city of Tyre, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and the nationalities of the soldiers traveling in the convoy were not released.
In the first attack targeting the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, six peacekeepers belonging to the Spanish contingent were killed June 24 when a bomb struck their armored personnel carrier in southern Lebanon.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Lebanon_UNIFIL.html
____________________________________
Lebanon army advances into camp
By Nazih Siddiq
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese troops advanced for the first time on Sunday into a Palestinian refugee camp as they battled al Qaeda-inspired militants, and two soldiers were killed raising the military death toll to 100.
Lebanese and army flags were seen flying over two or three devastated buildings inside Nahr al-Bared as the battle for the north Lebanon camp between the military and Fatah al-Islam fighters entered its ninth week.
The advance marked a major step for the army in the battle to crush the militants and a rare venture by troops into a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon in four decades.
A 1969 Arab agreement banned Lebanese security forces from entering Palestinian camps. The agreement was annulled by the Lebanese parliament in the mid-1980s but the accord effectively stayed in place.
Security sources said at least two soldiers died in the latest fighting, bringing the military death toll to 100. A total of 221 people, including at least 80 militants, have been killed since the fighting began on May 20, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The toll includes those killed in limited clashes in other areas of the country.
Fatah al-Islam is made up of a few hundred mainly Arab fighters who admit admiration of al Qaeda but claim no organizational links. Some of the fighters have fought in or were on their way to fight in Iraq.
ALIVE FROM UNDER THE RUBBLE
Soldiers exchanged automatic rifle fire and grenades with militants at building and alleyways leading to the centre of Nahr al-Bared while army artillery and tanks pounded other areas. Fatah al-Islam fighters hit back, firing a dozen Katyusha rockets at surrounding Lebanese villages.
The sources said troops pulled out alive two commandos who had been buried under the rubble of a booby-trapped building that blew up on Saturday.
The military has increased its bombardment of the besieged camp since Thursday, anxious not to get sucked into a war of attrition with the well-trained and well-armed militants.
But the militants have responded fiercely, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 53.
In south Lebanon, unknown gunmen shot dead Dharrar Rifai at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. Rifai was a member of the now defunct Jund al-Sham group.
Jund al-Sham was dissolved last month after clashes with the Lebanese army. Two groups dominate Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp: Fatah and al Qaeda-linked Usbat al-Ansar.
The violence has further undermined stability in Lebanon, where a paralyzing 8-month political crisis has been compounded by bombings in and around Beirut, the assassination of an anti-Syrian legislator and a fatal attack on U.N. peacekeepers.
Lebanese politicians are meeting in France in an effort to find ways to resume dialogue after months of political stalemate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1434460820070715?pageNumber=2
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEIRUT, Lebanon AP) - A bomb hit a U.N. peacekeeping force patrol on a coastal road in southern Lebanon on Monday, a Lebanese security official said, the second such attack targeting the force in less than a month.
The bomb struck the convoy as it was driving through the village of Qassimiyeh near the southern port city of Tyre, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and the nationalities of the soldiers traveling in the convoy were not released.
In the first attack targeting the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, six peacekeepers belonging to the Spanish contingent were killed June 24 when a bomb struck their armored personnel carrier in southern Lebanon.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Lebanon_UNIFIL.html
____________________________________
Lebanon army advances into camp
By Nazih Siddiq
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese troops advanced for the first time on Sunday into a Palestinian refugee camp as they battled al Qaeda-inspired militants, and two soldiers were killed raising the military death toll to 100.
Lebanese and army flags were seen flying over two or three devastated buildings inside Nahr al-Bared as the battle for the north Lebanon camp between the military and Fatah al-Islam fighters entered its ninth week.
The advance marked a major step for the army in the battle to crush the militants and a rare venture by troops into a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon in four decades.
A 1969 Arab agreement banned Lebanese security forces from entering Palestinian camps. The agreement was annulled by the Lebanese parliament in the mid-1980s but the accord effectively stayed in place.
Security sources said at least two soldiers died in the latest fighting, bringing the military death toll to 100. A total of 221 people, including at least 80 militants, have been killed since the fighting began on May 20, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The toll includes those killed in limited clashes in other areas of the country.
Fatah al-Islam is made up of a few hundred mainly Arab fighters who admit admiration of al Qaeda but claim no organizational links. Some of the fighters have fought in or were on their way to fight in Iraq.
ALIVE FROM UNDER THE RUBBLE
Soldiers exchanged automatic rifle fire and grenades with militants at building and alleyways leading to the centre of Nahr al-Bared while army artillery and tanks pounded other areas. Fatah al-Islam fighters hit back, firing a dozen Katyusha rockets at surrounding Lebanese villages.
The sources said troops pulled out alive two commandos who had been buried under the rubble of a booby-trapped building that blew up on Saturday.
The military has increased its bombardment of the besieged camp since Thursday, anxious not to get sucked into a war of attrition with the well-trained and well-armed militants.
But the militants have responded fiercely, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 53.
In south Lebanon, unknown gunmen shot dead Dharrar Rifai at Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. Rifai was a member of the now defunct Jund al-Sham group.
Jund al-Sham was dissolved last month after clashes with the Lebanese army. Two groups dominate Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp: Fatah and al Qaeda-linked Usbat al-Ansar.
The violence has further undermined stability in Lebanon, where a paralyzing 8-month political crisis has been compounded by bombings in and around Beirut, the assassination of an anti-Syrian legislator and a fatal attack on U.N. peacekeepers.
Lebanese politicians are meeting in France in an effort to find ways to resume dialogue after months of political stalemate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1434460820070715?pageNumber=2
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy 4th, Blame America!
In regards to anti-Americanism and the "blame America" tendencies of many on the left, the late Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick said it best, "When Marxist dictators shoot their way into power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies. They blame United States policies of 100 years ago. But then they always blame America first." Hyperbole and hypocrisy are two words that best describe most people's views here. Its no different here in the Middle East, America is usually the cause of every ill and the reason behind every failure.
There is a certain Islamic tendency I've noticed to rarely look inward at the source of many ills and instead to look outward, usually at the most powerful non-Muslim empire/state/outside power and express their wrath at it. Some of these reasons are legitimate, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, Russia was encroaching into mainly Muslim territories such as Bukhara, and in the Caucuses (which were Ottoman provinces). As a result Russia was seen as the 'Great Satan' for the later part of the 19th century. Tags such as "Godless Atheists" or "foreign invader" would return to Russia in the 1970s and 80s as they invaded Afghanistan. Still, you don't hear many Muslims calling the Soviet Union the Great Satan, regardless of the fact that they had state sanctioned Atheism, suppressed Muslims, and (if we are being literal here) absorbed "Muslim lands" (the Kingdom of Bukhara or the lands to the east of the Caspian are prime examples) into its great empire. Even today, war rages on in Chechnya, many foreign Jihadists have joined the fight against Russia. Nevertheless the main country that is to blame for Middle Eastern problems is the United States.
The Middle East is a Catch 22. I am paraphrasing, but I heard a number of American soldiers in Iraq say on TV, "if something happens they blame us, no matter if our intentions are good, they just hate us, we can't do anything right." Its quite true, let's take Lebanon for instance. In the US we call it "Taxi Wisdom," the man on the street who is driving the taxi usually has the general views of much of the population and much wisdom to go with it. Here in Lebanon I call it "Security Guard Wisdom." I am friendly with all of the security guards at LAU and we always love to talk about politics. They will ask me, "when will America kill Asad, why haven't they done it already?" My answer is usually, "we don't have the power to do that, and what happens to Syria AFTER he is gone?" It seems the basics (let's say assassinating Bashar Asad) is far more important then the kind of chaos the country would descend into following any such assassination. I am sure the answer I would get AFTER we kill Asad would be, "well why didn't America stop the anarchy? Why couldn't you just leave Asad?"
Personal responsibility isn't big in the Middle East, if a scapegoat is present "everyone is happy." Let's take Syria, a repressive dictatorship, terror sponsor, and all round not so nice player in the "Middle Eastern sandbox." Why must Syria have huge expenditures on its military and be so oppressive against its own people? Easy answer: 'The Zionists and Americans!' Their internal economic problems are never the regimes fault, no, its some huge conspiracy by America and Israel to destroy Syria. No matter the fact that its incredibly implausible this view is, it is somehow curried as fact. As we have seen, Syria has sponsored and STILL sponsors terrorism against the US and Israel, yet the regime is still around, wouldn't this be enough to convince someone on the street that maybe America isn't all powerful? Definitely not.
This myth that America is all powerful is a sham created by the people in need of a scapegoat. Sometimes even their own propaganda gets the best of them, in Iran for instance America is considered the 'Great Satan' and a nation that controlled EVERYTHING in Iran. When Jimmy Carter's rescue attempt of the hostages held in Tehran failed, the answer by the ayatollahs was: HA! America is nothing more than a paper tiger! The Iranians, feeling strong in the 80s upped the ante in the Gulf against the tankers using mines. There decision came around to bite them when the US launched Operation Praying Mantis and sank the Iranian frigate Sahand.
The Hizbollah supporters whom I've met here at LAU are probably the most affected by the "America-did-it Syndrome." They would routinely deny that Hizbollah was EVER engaged in terrorist activities against the United States, "we are just resisting invaders, we don't kill innocent people." I asked if "invaders" included the 63 people, mostly Lebanese, including 17 embassy staff, murdered via Hizbollah car bomb in April of 1983? The answer I received was, "well there must have been a reason it was attacked." Of course, when the facts are stacked up against these sorts of people they always say, "see Phillip your government tells you the opposite to the truth." Whenever a book, article, or anything is produced to say, "hey you guys are wrong," it is deemed as American propaganda.
I once brought up the "War of the Camps", a prolonged bloody conflict primarily between Palestinians and the Shia, and between Shia groups. The two primarily players at each others throat were the more secular Amal Pary and the Iranian backed Hizbollah. Today the two are allies, so I asked these Hizbollah supporters what their views were on that conflict. Their answer was as usual hypocritical, "it was an inter-Shia thing," so I asked, "if you were killed by a fellow Shia it wouldn't be as bad as opposed to if an American killed you?" Considering hundreds if not thousands of Shia were killed in the conflict, one would assume that possibly it would be realized that its not always "America's fault." Of course this fell upon deaf ears. Following that interchange, they told me how the Hizbollah members protesting in Martyr's Square were opposing US influence and control of Lebanon. I asked, "what would make Syrian or Iranian domination or control any better?" Their answer, "we are the same people, and they want what's best for Lebanon." This ignores the fact that Iran is most definitely Persian, not Arab (as the Lebanese Shia consider themselves), and that Syria has killed Hizbollah members before. To quote the MEIB (Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, a more right wing, anti Syria publication), "In early 1987, Amal launched a disastrous campaign against rival Druze and Palestinian forces in west Beirut, prompting Syrian forces to enter the area on February 22. During the operation to secure control of the Basta quarter, Syrian troops killed 23 Hezbollah members who allegedly attacked them."
This isn't a solely Muslim phenomena, many of the Christians of Lebanon blame the US for the loss of Lebanon to Syria. I was speaking to a friend regarding American policies in the region and his answer was, "America sold us out, they let Syria have Lebanon so you could fight in Iraq [referring to James Baker's deal with Damascus, pulling Israeli air cover of the Christian enclave in 1990]." There is much truth to that statement, but to allow all of the blame to fall on the United States ignores many basic facts. For instance Syria was the Soviet Union's main ally in the Middle East following the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreements, they supplied Damascus with thousands of tanks, airplanes, and other weapons. In addition the Christians main enemies (namely the Druze, Sunni Arab Communists, and the PLO) were all Soviet clients. Also regardless of whether America gave the "green light" or not to a Syrian invasion, Damascus already controlled 3/4ths of the country. The Syrian goal, regardless of what the Soviets or Americans told them, was to conquer Lebanon. Even Syria's greatest ally, the Soviet Union, was incredibly mad with Syria for attacking leftist forces (the Soviets backed) and creating tumult in the area. Following Lebanese Army General, Michel Aoun's "War of Liberation," a time when he attacked the Syrian Army, to push them from Lebanon, the Syrians were, air cover of not, going to try to take the Christian areas. Blaming America also ignores that the United States inadvertently preserved Christian power in Lebanon in 1958, and helped stabilize the country, following Lebanese President Chamile Chamoun's plea for American assistance vs. what Chamoun characterized as a Communist takeover.
The question remains, "why is it always America's fault?" Its a number of reasons, it isn't just because we are "the most powerful nation in the world/the world's only superpower."Former vice- chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, Graham Fuller, (again I'm paraphrasing) says much of the hatred against America is because of an Islamic view that they were once the dominant empire in the world, respected and feared, and now they are not united and they perceive they are controlled by outside Western influence, who is the biggest and most powerful of the Western nations? The US. Atlantic Monthly writer Robert Kaplan charts the rise of Islamism (and its anti-American overtones) to rebelling against globalization. Globalization is, of course, primarily pushed by America.
Again, the Middle East is a cocktail of tribal identities, and sometimes the only way to get them to work as one, is by finding an outside enemy. America, with its liberal social policies (as compared to much of the Arab world), massive conventional military power, and strong presence abroad make it a clear target. Arab governments use this to their advantage. If the economy is poor, and in comparison America's is large and booming, it was all an American plot. If the military is too repressive, its only to protect the nations identity and keep it out of American hands: in essence its written off "a necessary evil." In the eyes of a common person here and of course many other places, anything that is large, powerful, and seemingly better in many respects than home will be an instant competitor or potential enemy. An old Arab proverb says it best, "I against my brother I and my brother against our cousin, my brother and our cousin against the neighbors all of us against the foreigner." Now imagine that foreigner is more powerful then the brother, the cousin, and your neighbors. This is human nature, only in the Middle East it often takes a violent turn.
____________________________________________
Happy 4th of July from a place that doesn't celebrate Independence Day, but has enough fireworks to light up 1000 American cities.
I am headed to al arz (this blogs namesake) aka the cedars, and northern Lebanon on Friday. I will visit Batroun, Bcharre, and a number of other locations.
There is a certain Islamic tendency I've noticed to rarely look inward at the source of many ills and instead to look outward, usually at the most powerful non-Muslim empire/state/outside power and express their wrath at it. Some of these reasons are legitimate, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, Russia was encroaching into mainly Muslim territories such as Bukhara, and in the Caucuses (which were Ottoman provinces). As a result Russia was seen as the 'Great Satan' for the later part of the 19th century. Tags such as "Godless Atheists" or "foreign invader" would return to Russia in the 1970s and 80s as they invaded Afghanistan. Still, you don't hear many Muslims calling the Soviet Union the Great Satan, regardless of the fact that they had state sanctioned Atheism, suppressed Muslims, and (if we are being literal here) absorbed "Muslim lands" (the Kingdom of Bukhara or the lands to the east of the Caspian are prime examples) into its great empire. Even today, war rages on in Chechnya, many foreign Jihadists have joined the fight against Russia. Nevertheless the main country that is to blame for Middle Eastern problems is the United States.
The Middle East is a Catch 22. I am paraphrasing, but I heard a number of American soldiers in Iraq say on TV, "if something happens they blame us, no matter if our intentions are good, they just hate us, we can't do anything right." Its quite true, let's take Lebanon for instance. In the US we call it "Taxi Wisdom," the man on the street who is driving the taxi usually has the general views of much of the population and much wisdom to go with it. Here in Lebanon I call it "Security Guard Wisdom." I am friendly with all of the security guards at LAU and we always love to talk about politics. They will ask me, "when will America kill Asad, why haven't they done it already?" My answer is usually, "we don't have the power to do that, and what happens to Syria AFTER he is gone?" It seems the basics (let's say assassinating Bashar Asad) is far more important then the kind of chaos the country would descend into following any such assassination. I am sure the answer I would get AFTER we kill Asad would be, "well why didn't America stop the anarchy? Why couldn't you just leave Asad?"
Personal responsibility isn't big in the Middle East, if a scapegoat is present "everyone is happy." Let's take Syria, a repressive dictatorship, terror sponsor, and all round not so nice player in the "Middle Eastern sandbox." Why must Syria have huge expenditures on its military and be so oppressive against its own people? Easy answer: 'The Zionists and Americans!' Their internal economic problems are never the regimes fault, no, its some huge conspiracy by America and Israel to destroy Syria. No matter the fact that its incredibly implausible this view is, it is somehow curried as fact. As we have seen, Syria has sponsored and STILL sponsors terrorism against the US and Israel, yet the regime is still around, wouldn't this be enough to convince someone on the street that maybe America isn't all powerful? Definitely not.
This myth that America is all powerful is a sham created by the people in need of a scapegoat. Sometimes even their own propaganda gets the best of them, in Iran for instance America is considered the 'Great Satan' and a nation that controlled EVERYTHING in Iran. When Jimmy Carter's rescue attempt of the hostages held in Tehran failed, the answer by the ayatollahs was: HA! America is nothing more than a paper tiger! The Iranians, feeling strong in the 80s upped the ante in the Gulf against the tankers using mines. There decision came around to bite them when the US launched Operation Praying Mantis and sank the Iranian frigate Sahand.
The Hizbollah supporters whom I've met here at LAU are probably the most affected by the "America-did-it Syndrome." They would routinely deny that Hizbollah was EVER engaged in terrorist activities against the United States, "we are just resisting invaders, we don't kill innocent people." I asked if "invaders" included the 63 people, mostly Lebanese, including 17 embassy staff, murdered via Hizbollah car bomb in April of 1983? The answer I received was, "well there must have been a reason it was attacked." Of course, when the facts are stacked up against these sorts of people they always say, "see Phillip your government tells you the opposite to the truth." Whenever a book, article, or anything is produced to say, "hey you guys are wrong," it is deemed as American propaganda.
I once brought up the "War of the Camps", a prolonged bloody conflict primarily between Palestinians and the Shia, and between Shia groups. The two primarily players at each others throat were the more secular Amal Pary and the Iranian backed Hizbollah. Today the two are allies, so I asked these Hizbollah supporters what their views were on that conflict. Their answer was as usual hypocritical, "it was an inter-Shia thing," so I asked, "if you were killed by a fellow Shia it wouldn't be as bad as opposed to if an American killed you?" Considering hundreds if not thousands of Shia were killed in the conflict, one would assume that possibly it would be realized that its not always "America's fault." Of course this fell upon deaf ears. Following that interchange, they told me how the Hizbollah members protesting in Martyr's Square were opposing US influence and control of Lebanon. I asked, "what would make Syrian or Iranian domination or control any better?" Their answer, "we are the same people, and they want what's best for Lebanon." This ignores the fact that Iran is most definitely Persian, not Arab (as the Lebanese Shia consider themselves), and that Syria has killed Hizbollah members before. To quote the MEIB (Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, a more right wing, anti Syria publication), "In early 1987, Amal launched a disastrous campaign against rival Druze and Palestinian forces in west Beirut, prompting Syrian forces to enter the area on February 22. During the operation to secure control of the Basta quarter, Syrian troops killed 23 Hezbollah members who allegedly attacked them."
This isn't a solely Muslim phenomena, many of the Christians of Lebanon blame the US for the loss of Lebanon to Syria. I was speaking to a friend regarding American policies in the region and his answer was, "America sold us out, they let Syria have Lebanon so you could fight in Iraq [referring to James Baker's deal with Damascus, pulling Israeli air cover of the Christian enclave in 1990]." There is much truth to that statement, but to allow all of the blame to fall on the United States ignores many basic facts. For instance Syria was the Soviet Union's main ally in the Middle East following the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreements, they supplied Damascus with thousands of tanks, airplanes, and other weapons. In addition the Christians main enemies (namely the Druze, Sunni Arab Communists, and the PLO) were all Soviet clients. Also regardless of whether America gave the "green light" or not to a Syrian invasion, Damascus already controlled 3/4ths of the country. The Syrian goal, regardless of what the Soviets or Americans told them, was to conquer Lebanon. Even Syria's greatest ally, the Soviet Union, was incredibly mad with Syria for attacking leftist forces (the Soviets backed) and creating tumult in the area. Following Lebanese Army General, Michel Aoun's "War of Liberation," a time when he attacked the Syrian Army, to push them from Lebanon, the Syrians were, air cover of not, going to try to take the Christian areas. Blaming America also ignores that the United States inadvertently preserved Christian power in Lebanon in 1958, and helped stabilize the country, following Lebanese President Chamile Chamoun's plea for American assistance vs. what Chamoun characterized as a Communist takeover.
The question remains, "why is it always America's fault?" Its a number of reasons, it isn't just because we are "the most powerful nation in the world/the world's only superpower."Former vice- chair of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, Graham Fuller, (again I'm paraphrasing) says much of the hatred against America is because of an Islamic view that they were once the dominant empire in the world, respected and feared, and now they are not united and they perceive they are controlled by outside Western influence, who is the biggest and most powerful of the Western nations? The US. Atlantic Monthly writer Robert Kaplan charts the rise of Islamism (and its anti-American overtones) to rebelling against globalization. Globalization is, of course, primarily pushed by America.
Again, the Middle East is a cocktail of tribal identities, and sometimes the only way to get them to work as one, is by finding an outside enemy. America, with its liberal social policies (as compared to much of the Arab world), massive conventional military power, and strong presence abroad make it a clear target. Arab governments use this to their advantage. If the economy is poor, and in comparison America's is large and booming, it was all an American plot. If the military is too repressive, its only to protect the nations identity and keep it out of American hands: in essence its written off "a necessary evil." In the eyes of a common person here and of course many other places, anything that is large, powerful, and seemingly better in many respects than home will be an instant competitor or potential enemy. An old Arab proverb says it best, "I against my brother I and my brother against our cousin, my brother and our cousin against the neighbors all of us against the foreigner." Now imagine that foreigner is more powerful then the brother, the cousin, and your neighbors. This is human nature, only in the Middle East it often takes a violent turn.
____________________________________________
Happy 4th of July from a place that doesn't celebrate Independence Day, but has enough fireworks to light up 1000 American cities.
I am headed to al arz (this blogs namesake) aka the cedars, and northern Lebanon on Friday. I will visit Batroun, Bcharre, and a number of other locations.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Classes Begin
Let's start out with what I did yesterday.
My friend(s) (let's call them J, E, and A) took me to a wondeful little restaraunt\bar called Cafe d' Orient. The restaraunt was off of the main coastal road, the same road one would take to get from Rabieh to Gemayze or Hamra (note: I am in Hamra). I sampled a wonderful assortment of Arabic bread, tabouli, houmus, and smoked a lime/mint shisha.
Before the meal we went to the ABC shopping center in Achrafieh, the ABC had been bombed a few weeks ago, and, as a result security was quite strong. I picked up some grocceries, a beer, and some soap. I must have been the only American in the whole building and no matter where I walked (even with my Lebanese friends) I was stared at.
After the mall, J, E, and A took me back to J's apartment. While there we discussed politics, watched an LBC (Lebanese Broadcasting Channel) presentation on Chiek Pierre Gemayel. It was a very wonderful night.
Today my classes began, I attended my upper elementary Arabic and my Lebanese dialect class, can you say, "Shufi Mafi?" Classes were quite good albiet the power went out a few times (not great when the weather is like a Florida August).
I also had lunch with J's sister across from AUB. The food was somewhat American although it has much Lebanese influence. We had an interesting discussion about publishing in the Lebanese world.
Parts of Beirut I've been wondering around are denoted by a red box:
My friend(s) (let's call them J, E, and A) took me to a wondeful little restaraunt\bar called Cafe d' Orient. The restaraunt was off of the main coastal road, the same road one would take to get from Rabieh to Gemayze or Hamra (note: I am in Hamra). I sampled a wonderful assortment of Arabic bread, tabouli, houmus, and smoked a lime/mint shisha.
Before the meal we went to the ABC shopping center in Achrafieh, the ABC had been bombed a few weeks ago, and, as a result security was quite strong. I picked up some grocceries, a beer, and some soap. I must have been the only American in the whole building and no matter where I walked (even with my Lebanese friends) I was stared at.
After the mall, J, E, and A took me back to J's apartment. While there we discussed politics, watched an LBC (Lebanese Broadcasting Channel) presentation on Chiek Pierre Gemayel. It was a very wonderful night.
Today my classes began, I attended my upper elementary Arabic and my Lebanese dialect class, can you say, "Shufi Mafi?" Classes were quite good albiet the power went out a few times (not great when the weather is like a Florida August).
I also had lunch with J's sister across from AUB. The food was somewhat American although it has much Lebanese influence. We had an interesting discussion about publishing in the Lebanese world.
Parts of Beirut I've been wondering around are denoted by a red box:
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Fatah al Islam Defeated?
Reports from Lebanon are claiming that Fatah al Islam has been defeated. Lebanese Defense Minister is quoted in the linked story as saying, "the military operation is over. The Lebanese army has crushed those terrorists." This may be true considering there haven't been any recent car bombings, only time can tell. I will try to post my findings on here.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Fatah al Islam: Arabic For Another Syrian Front
By. Phillip
There has been a recently repeated theory that claims that Fatah al Islam is somehow an organization with close ties to al Qaeda. Granted, Fatah al Islam does show Islamist tendencies, such as having a leader, Sheik Shaker Al-'Absi, a man sentenced in absentia to death by Jordanian authorities for the murder of an American diplomat. However, there is overwhelming evidence linking Fatah al Islam to Syria.
Journalist, Nicholas Blanford reported in Time that, “Fatah al-Islam, the group battling the army, has dominated much of the news in Lebanon since it first declared its existence late last year, splitting from Fatah al-Intifadeh, a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction that is headquartered in Damascus.” One must remember that Fatah Intifada was created by the Syrian regime as a Palestinian counter organization to Yasser Arafat and the PLO during the Lebanese Civil War. In addition Fatah Intifada is widely considered just another Syrian proxy (such as the PFLP-GC), and has its headquarters in Damascus.
Recently, in May of 2006 Fatah Initifada was used to stir the Lebanese pot when they attacked the Lebanese army. It isn’t just coincidence that both Fatah Intifadah and Fatah al Islam both have a knack for starting problems by attacking the Lebanese Army. When the Lebanese Army encircled Fatah Intifada last May it was in response to provocative action taken by the group. After Fatah al Islam’s bank robbery there were subsequent raids by the Lebanese Police and Army. Fatah al Islam retaliated by attacking Lebanese Army posts and killing 27 soldiers.
Other Connections:
• Not so ironically, Fatah al Islam launched its attacks on the Lebanese Army during a time when the UN was just beginning a tribunal on the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Any tribunal was expected to call Syrian officials, up to and including President Bashar Asad.
• Fatah al Islam has not attacked any pro-Syrian groups. Many Islamists, especially the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood regard the ruling Alawite minority as apostates. If Fatah al Islam was a true Islamist group, would it not seek to attack them (Syria and many of its proxies are secular) too?
The current spate of assassinations and bombings is obviously due to Asad’s hand. The bombings that occurred in Aley, Achrafieh, and Verdun were more than just operations designed to sew terror in the hearts of average Lebanese, just remember this:
• Aley: in the Druze heartland, not to mention a location where there is a strong PSP
(MP Walid Jumblatt’s party) influence. While Jumblatt has been known to engage in unabashed realpolitik, even before the Cedar Revolution of 2005 he’s been a staunch critic of Syria and a leading member in the March 14th Alliance.
• Verdun: known for being quite luxurious part of Beirut. While being a mixed neighborhood (Nabi Berri owned a residence near to where the Verdun blast occurred) is generally considered to be within another anti-Syrian party’s sphere of influence, the Sunni, Future Movement. This was a message aimed at shaking Saad Hariri, leader of the Future movement and son of slain former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
• Achrafieh: A Christian part of Beirut, the bombing of a shopping mall in this area had much to do with threatening the Christian base of anti-Syrian coalition. This more specifically targeted parties such as Samir Geagea’s Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party.
• Most of the explosions were small, often in areas frequented by the public (such as shopping malls) but often in off hours. One of the few bombings to have a large death toll was the Walid Eido assassination, which killed 10 others in the process.
The Syrian Mukhabarat is sending a very blunt message to the anti-Syrian parties: Keep defying Damascus and you will get more bombs. This was the same message sent by Syria following the anti-Syrian protests of March 14th. Syria’s bombing campaign included targets (as the bombing campaign has recently) such as anti-Syrian journalists, politicians, and areas where anti-Syrian confessional groups (ie. Druze, Christians, and pro-Hariri Sunnis) reside:
• Assassinations of fervently anti-Syrian politician Gebran Tueni and journalist Samir Kassir. This also includes the assassination attempt on LBC journalist (and candidate for a Maronite seat in the Baabda-Aley district) May Chidac.
• The bombings used small amounts of explosive (ranging from 1- around 50lbs).
• The same style of targets as the current bombing spate were hit, such as a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Zalka.
Walid Eido and Destroying the Majority
After the June 14th murder Walid Eido, a Lebanese friend mentioned to me, “just four more to go.” I asked him what he meant by that and the answer I received was quite startling (I am paraphrasing here), “The Syrians just need to kill 4 more parliamentarians with March 14th, then they [March 14th and other anti-Syrians] won’t have the majority.” Whittling down on the anti-Syrian political majority is most definitely a goal of Damascus. The number of anti-Syrians has now gone down to 68 from 72, if the number goes down to 64 then pro-Syrian elements in Lebanon will undercut the Siniora’s government. Lebanon’s current president, pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud has his term is set to expire on September 25, 2007. Because Lebanon’s president is elected via the parliament, a pro-Syrian majority is a goal desired by Damascus in order to control Lebanon’s presidency.
Useful links on mentioned topics:
BBC Fatah al Islam
ABC: What is Fatah al Islam?
© Copyright http://arzeljabal.blogspot.com/; June 16, 2007
There has been a recently repeated theory that claims that Fatah al Islam is somehow an organization with close ties to al Qaeda. Granted, Fatah al Islam does show Islamist tendencies, such as having a leader, Sheik Shaker Al-'Absi, a man sentenced in absentia to death by Jordanian authorities for the murder of an American diplomat. However, there is overwhelming evidence linking Fatah al Islam to Syria.
Journalist, Nicholas Blanford reported in Time that, “Fatah al-Islam, the group battling the army, has dominated much of the news in Lebanon since it first declared its existence late last year, splitting from Fatah al-Intifadeh, a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction that is headquartered in Damascus.” One must remember that Fatah Intifada was created by the Syrian regime as a Palestinian counter organization to Yasser Arafat and the PLO during the Lebanese Civil War. In addition Fatah Intifada is widely considered just another Syrian proxy (such as the PFLP-GC), and has its headquarters in Damascus.
Recently, in May of 2006 Fatah Initifada was used to stir the Lebanese pot when they attacked the Lebanese army. It isn’t just coincidence that both Fatah Intifadah and Fatah al Islam both have a knack for starting problems by attacking the Lebanese Army. When the Lebanese Army encircled Fatah Intifada last May it was in response to provocative action taken by the group. After Fatah al Islam’s bank robbery there were subsequent raids by the Lebanese Police and Army. Fatah al Islam retaliated by attacking Lebanese Army posts and killing 27 soldiers.
Other Connections:
• Not so ironically, Fatah al Islam launched its attacks on the Lebanese Army during a time when the UN was just beginning a tribunal on the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Any tribunal was expected to call Syrian officials, up to and including President Bashar Asad.
• Fatah al Islam has not attacked any pro-Syrian groups. Many Islamists, especially the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood regard the ruling Alawite minority as apostates. If Fatah al Islam was a true Islamist group, would it not seek to attack them (Syria and many of its proxies are secular) too?
The current spate of assassinations and bombings is obviously due to Asad’s hand. The bombings that occurred in Aley, Achrafieh, and Verdun were more than just operations designed to sew terror in the hearts of average Lebanese, just remember this:
• Aley: in the Druze heartland, not to mention a location where there is a strong PSP
(MP Walid Jumblatt’s party) influence. While Jumblatt has been known to engage in unabashed realpolitik, even before the Cedar Revolution of 2005 he’s been a staunch critic of Syria and a leading member in the March 14th Alliance.
• Verdun: known for being quite luxurious part of Beirut. While being a mixed neighborhood (Nabi Berri owned a residence near to where the Verdun blast occurred) is generally considered to be within another anti-Syrian party’s sphere of influence, the Sunni, Future Movement. This was a message aimed at shaking Saad Hariri, leader of the Future movement and son of slain former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
• Achrafieh: A Christian part of Beirut, the bombing of a shopping mall in this area had much to do with threatening the Christian base of anti-Syrian coalition. This more specifically targeted parties such as Samir Geagea’s Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party.
• Most of the explosions were small, often in areas frequented by the public (such as shopping malls) but often in off hours. One of the few bombings to have a large death toll was the Walid Eido assassination, which killed 10 others in the process.
The Syrian Mukhabarat is sending a very blunt message to the anti-Syrian parties: Keep defying Damascus and you will get more bombs. This was the same message sent by Syria following the anti-Syrian protests of March 14th. Syria’s bombing campaign included targets (as the bombing campaign has recently) such as anti-Syrian journalists, politicians, and areas where anti-Syrian confessional groups (ie. Druze, Christians, and pro-Hariri Sunnis) reside:
• Assassinations of fervently anti-Syrian politician Gebran Tueni and journalist Samir Kassir. This also includes the assassination attempt on LBC journalist (and candidate for a Maronite seat in the Baabda-Aley district) May Chidac.
• The bombings used small amounts of explosive (ranging from 1- around 50lbs).
• The same style of targets as the current bombing spate were hit, such as a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Zalka.
Walid Eido and Destroying the Majority
After the June 14th murder Walid Eido, a Lebanese friend mentioned to me, “just four more to go.” I asked him what he meant by that and the answer I received was quite startling (I am paraphrasing here), “The Syrians just need to kill 4 more parliamentarians with March 14th, then they [March 14th and other anti-Syrians] won’t have the majority.” Whittling down on the anti-Syrian political majority is most definitely a goal of Damascus. The number of anti-Syrians has now gone down to 68 from 72, if the number goes down to 64 then pro-Syrian elements in Lebanon will undercut the Siniora’s government. Lebanon’s current president, pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud has his term is set to expire on September 25, 2007. Because Lebanon’s president is elected via the parliament, a pro-Syrian majority is a goal desired by Damascus in order to control Lebanon’s presidency.
Useful links on mentioned topics:
BBC Fatah al Islam
ABC: What is Fatah al Islam?
© Copyright http://arzeljabal.blogspot.com/; June 16, 2007
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