Last night I took 'le service' (Lebanese taxi for about a dollar) to Future TV in Spears to meet a friend. She picked me up in her car and took me to ABC Achrafieh. To correct a previous post the ABC I went to earlier was farther east and on the water. ABC Achrafieh was a palace, loaded with all of the most posh Lebanese, it was definately comparable to an upscale American mall. ABC Achrafieh was loaded with security following the bombing, and in the parking garage we passed the area the bomb blast hit.
My friend is a member of the GoC or Guardians of the Cedars. They are considered and consider themselves to be the elite of the Lebanese right wing, and often view the Ouwet or Lebanese Forces (LF) as backward rednecks. I stop at calling them a "Christian party" because that would incure the wrath of some non-Christian AND Christian party members. The GoC consider themselves the purest form of Lebanese Nationalists. Many in the West would remember the GoC from Robert Fisk or other journalists who popularized them by talking about how their phrase was, "ﻋﻠﻰ ﻜﻝ ﻠﺒﻨﺎﻨﻲ ﺍﻥ ﻴﻘﺘﻝ ﻓﻠﺴﻁﻴﻨﻴﺎ" or translated "It is the duty of every Lebanese to kill a Palestinian." The GoC views Palestinians and Syria as the ultimate arch-enemies of Lebanon, encourages a nationalism that wants a return of Lebanon to its Phonecian roots, expulsion of the Palestinians, and a peace agreement and possible alliance with the State of Israel. They are the antithesis of anything the SSNP, Hizbollah, Arabists, Islamists or Syria espouse, as such they were banned by Lebanon and Syria.
When my friend drove me back to LAU it was quite evident that there is some truth to the claims that the GoC (while being a group that advocates secularism) still has many sectarian roots. She (my friend) had lived in Lebanon all her life, and while not being a Beirut native still couldn't find Hamra or LAU (Hamra, while mixed is mostly Sunni and in mainly Muslim West Beirut). Nonetheless, I observed no outright racism/anti-Muslim behavior on her part, she considered the Muslims just as Lebanese as she was.
When I returned to LAU I went to the computer lab. I started talking to a girl who said she was from Abu Dhabi. She, like most Lebanese women and girls who attend LAU was quite pretty and dressed just as a teenage girl would dress in the US: showing cleavage, in jeans, and a designer top. Her friend was in a mini-skirt and a very tight top, so when I found out they were both members and supporters of Hizbollah I was truly suprised (I always pictured women in a flowing chador packing a Klashnikov). They were both extremely polite to me, eventhough my views directly opposed theirs, and I was allowed to hear their view on the US in the Middle East, which was nothing short of misinformed. There is nothing better then hearing disproven "theories" on Israel, 9-11, and the US. Later we went to the convienence store across the street to pick up some drinks and sweets, one of the girls was nice enough to bring down Arabic bread and some home made labbneh, then made us all some sandwitches.
Note on new photos:
1. Picture of the site that was bombed in Achrafieh.
2. Pictures of the beach, Harrisa, Rouche, Rabieh, Hamra, W.Beirut, LAU, and AUB.
3. A few personal pictures with good friends.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
MIGs For Damascus & Tehran
Russia announced recently that it plans to sell Syria a revamped version of its MIG-31 fighter jet. The MIG-31 is the re-vamped version of the MIG-25 Foxbat, can reach speeds of Mach 2.83 and carries a wide variety of long range missiles. The type of MIG-31 that Russia is selling Damascus, the MIG-31E can as reported by GlobalSecurity.org:
"The MiG-31E provides facilities for vectoring up to three fighters, types MiG-21-93, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, Su-27 to ensure a covert attack. A group of four MiG-31E fighter-interceptors is capable of interchanging data in the automatic mode on presence of air targets in the zone up to 800 km wide."
Not only is Russia planning on selling a batch of MIG-31s, but it also wants to sell Syria the new MIG-29M/M2. This advanced multi-role fighter jet has brand new liquid crystal displays and a long range interception capability.
This sale raises a number of questions. Woodward and Bernstein were told to "follow the money," but Syria is so deep in debt it technically shouldn't have the money to pull off all of this new defensive procurement. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported,
"Several questions are raised by the deal. First, where Syria got the money for such expensive weapons. In the winter of 2005, Russia wrote off 70 percent of Syria's foreign debt, which was $13.4 billion at the time. Under that agreement, Syria's debt to Russia was reduced to $3.6 billion. Russia renewed military-technical cooperation with Syrian at the same time. Information has arisen regularly since the beginning of 2005 that Syria is in negotiations with Russia for the purchase of new weapons."
I was really drawn to the Kommersant article mainly because of its title, "MiGs Will Defend Syria and Iran." Read that closely Syria and Iran. Now a cliche statement in the academic world, but widely ignored by many in the press, Syria and Iran are forming a strategic alliance based on their mutual hatred of the United States and Israel. Not only are their external enemies much the same, but their ruling groups (Alawites in Syria, Twelver Shia in Iran) are both Shia minority states in a sea of US allied Sunni Muslim countries (such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Egypt, and Jordan. Syria itself has about a 70% Sunni majority).
Israel expressed concern about the sale. Nevertheless, as a casual, realistic observer, one can assume that Israel's intelligence and air capabilities could greatly counter any advance made by Syria. Historically Israel was gravely concerned in the 1970s when Syria received a large number of Soviet MIG-23 swing wing fighter jets, only to shoot large numbers of them down over Lebanon in 1982, without a single loss to Israel. If Syria even wanted to even the odds vis a vis Israel they would need to greatly upgrade training and tactics. I can only speculate that Syria will make the same errors as it has in the past regarding its air force; they will buy the most advanced Russian equipment yet neglect to really train its pilots.
Video of the MIG-31:
Video of the MIG-29:
"The MiG-31E provides facilities for vectoring up to three fighters, types MiG-21-93, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, Su-27 to ensure a covert attack. A group of four MiG-31E fighter-interceptors is capable of interchanging data in the automatic mode on presence of air targets in the zone up to 800 km wide."
Not only is Russia planning on selling a batch of MIG-31s, but it also wants to sell Syria the new MIG-29M/M2. This advanced multi-role fighter jet has brand new liquid crystal displays and a long range interception capability.
This sale raises a number of questions. Woodward and Bernstein were told to "follow the money," but Syria is so deep in debt it technically shouldn't have the money to pull off all of this new defensive procurement. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported,
"Several questions are raised by the deal. First, where Syria got the money for such expensive weapons. In the winter of 2005, Russia wrote off 70 percent of Syria's foreign debt, which was $13.4 billion at the time. Under that agreement, Syria's debt to Russia was reduced to $3.6 billion. Russia renewed military-technical cooperation with Syrian at the same time. Information has arisen regularly since the beginning of 2005 that Syria is in negotiations with Russia for the purchase of new weapons."
I was really drawn to the Kommersant article mainly because of its title, "MiGs Will Defend Syria and Iran." Read that closely Syria and Iran. Now a cliche statement in the academic world, but widely ignored by many in the press, Syria and Iran are forming a strategic alliance based on their mutual hatred of the United States and Israel. Not only are their external enemies much the same, but their ruling groups (Alawites in Syria, Twelver Shia in Iran) are both Shia minority states in a sea of US allied Sunni Muslim countries (such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Egypt, and Jordan. Syria itself has about a 70% Sunni majority).
Israel expressed concern about the sale. Nevertheless, as a casual, realistic observer, one can assume that Israel's intelligence and air capabilities could greatly counter any advance made by Syria. Historically Israel was gravely concerned in the 1970s when Syria received a large number of Soviet MIG-23 swing wing fighter jets, only to shoot large numbers of them down over Lebanon in 1982, without a single loss to Israel. If Syria even wanted to even the odds vis a vis Israel they would need to greatly upgrade training and tactics. I can only speculate that Syria will make the same errors as it has in the past regarding its air force; they will buy the most advanced Russian equipment yet neglect to really train its pilots.
Video of the MIG-31:
Video of the MIG-29:
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