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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian Intelligence flees Beirut |
| 2005-03-15 |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian military intelligence started clearing out its headquarters in Beirut and vacated another office in the Lebanese capital Tuesday in line with key demands by the United States and Lebanese opposition. Also in line with the 1,000,000 protesters that made the Hamas rally look like an evil day care Syrian agents appeared to be preparing to leave their headquarters at Ramlet el-Baida on the edge of Beirut. Belongings and furniture were loaded into three trucks. Yes, loading furnature, burning documents and running like hell meets the APPEAREDrequirement. In the city's commercial Hamra district, about two dozen Syrian agents vacated an intelligence office during the afternoon, hours after trucks loaded furniture and belongings. The agents, protected by Lebanese police, then drove off in the trucks. A short time later, a doorman hoisted two Lebanese flags at the entrance. A local resident said about 20 agents left in a van and a car. The evacuation of the Syrian intelligence service, a widely resented arm through which Damascus controlled many aspects of Lebanese life, has been a key demand of Lebanese opposition, which orchestrated a gigantic demonstration Monday of about 1 million people in central Beirut. GO LEBANON! |
| Posted by:mmurray821 |
| #16 tw, and your point is..... The so-called World Opinion was against attacking Iraq and calls Bush a war criminal. Bush doesn't care so why should Sharon? The Lebanese Christian militia helped Sharon and Israel thanked them for it until Ehud Barak stabbed them in the back when he gave up the Golan Heights. World opinion is the least of my concerns but terrorism is first on my list. Overt or covert, I don't care, extract Hizbullah, now. The Lebanese Christian militia is the best source of intelligence on the ground. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-03-15 10:26:01 PM |
| #15 Poison Reverse, Ariel Sharon did something like that once, and the World has called him a war criminal ever since. The Lebanese are going to have to find a way to work together to excise Hezbollah, Hamas et al from their society, and do it without obvious cover from outside, or they'll be re-fighting it in the Court of World Opinion for the next century. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-15 9:56:49 PM |
| #14 Great picture of one of the trucks being loaded up at this VOA article via Roger L. Simon. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-15 8:12:47 PM |
| #13 Maybe they could use some of Sir Robin's minstrels. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2005-03-15 7:27:09 PM |
| #12 Steve W, You are talking about the Syrians and you are correct. But, I was talking about the Hiz-blah-blah. The Hiz-blah-blah will not leave on their own cognizance. They must be forced out. I don't trust the Sunnis or Baathist to do it. That leaves only one group that we can trust. The Christian militia led by U.S SF's and U.S air cover is the only option that I can think of. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-03-15 6:49:36 PM |
#11 Oh, Frank G.--You mean if we ever see a story like : Sgt Habib An evacuating Syrian soldier was rushed to the hospital in Damascus after returning from the Bekaa Valley today. He made a wrong turn and found some metal containers labeled, "Property of S. Hussein", and they were venting an iridescent green colored gas... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-15 6:23:53 PM |
| #10 Does Bekaa Valley mean Valley of Death in Lebanese? If those Syrians are careless in digging the WMD's that name will stick |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-15 5:48:15 PM |
| #9 I suspect the Iraqi people will start demonstrating how to deal with this kind of folk soon. Perhaps they'll share with their brothers in Lebanon. Does Bekaa Valley mean Valley of Death in Lebanese? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-15 4:58:47 PM |
| #8 Do NOT send the Christian milita against anyone. No, no, no. That big crowd in Ed's picture are Christians, Druze, and Sunnis all together. They want a united Lebanon, and now's not the time to exploit factions. And besides, it's never polite to hit your enemy between the shoulder blades when he's |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-03-15 4:47:00 PM |
| #7 I would like to see Hizb'Allah leadership skidaddling too. Then we would have REAL progress. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul In Nikolaevsk, Alaska 2005-03-15 4:43:36 PM |
| #6 send in the Lebanese Christian militia after them with the U.S providing air cover I LIKE IT, P.R.! Especially considering you had 800,000-1,000,000 people show up at Head-Bowler Party HQ with figurative torches and ropes yesterday!  |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-15 4:23:17 PM |
| #5 Several airstrikes from the U.S. and Israel with intelligence provided by Lebanon should take care of the Hizz-Ho's. Another solution would be to send in the Lebanese Christian militia after them with the U.S providing air cover. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-03-15 2:34:32 PM |
| #4 I am glad to see them leave but it would be better if they took the Hizbullah people with them. They have the potential to stir up more trouble but could provide amusement on how people 'love' islamic rule. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-03-15 1:29:46 PM |
| #3 Yeah - fleeing intellegence officers after a REAL MILLION MAN MARCH - Like the Securitate in Bucharest, Romania after Ceaucescu assumed room temperature, Dec 25 1989. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-15 1:07:17 PM |
| #2 The couple of officers I've seen from the intelligence community in the ME have been more like brown shirts, enforcers, thugs, etc... Most of them are easily identified by the local population so I can see the Syrians running like hell now. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-03-15 12:40:07 PM |
| #1 Color me skeptical. They're intelligence officers, so it seems likely that most of them have simply gone to ground. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2005-03-15 12:33:19 PM |