Article

2008-05-09 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Six people have been killed and 15 people wounded in Lebanon, according to security sources, as the country's political crisis threatened to spiral out of control.

It's not a political crisis. It's a civil war. Hezbollah's been trying to kick it off for the past couple years.

Seems like it's the government, the March 14th part of it at least, that's actually provoking this one. The Hezbies don't have their usual support -- Auon can't get the Christians in the north to join in, for example. I'm beginning to wonder if the March 14th faction knows something we don't ...

Fighting in Beirut intensified on Thursday, the second day of anti-government protests, after a speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah secretary-general, in which he called a government crackdown on the Shia group "tantamount to a declaration of war".

So the rubes quite naturally rushed home to grab their RPGs...

In several neighbourhoods across the capital automatic rifle fire could be heard as fighters in support of Hezbollah and the allied Amal group exchanged fire with pro-government fighters in the worst domestic fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. Clashes were reported to have broken out in other parts of the country, with another seven people reported injured in the Beqaa valley.

The Lebanese army did not participate in the fighting. But Robert Fisk, a journalist in Beirut, speaking to Al Jazeera, said that could change if the fighting escalated. "If we have a situation where one group of people move into another group's area - either Shia or Sunni - then the army may have to take much harsher measures and that immediately raises the question of 'what is the future of the Lebanese army', because it's made up of all the citizens of this country, not just one group or the other," Fisk said.

Gun battles
"The fighting seems to be spreading," reported James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut. "It's something all the political parties said they wanted to avoid."

Watch the hands, not the lips. Hezbollah's been truculent from the start. Nasrallah intended to set this off, in the expectation that Hezbollah's going to come out on top. He wants to be satrap.

But it's an existential fight this time: if Nastie fails he's out of a job and maybe out of a life. Nastie can't capitulate.

Thursday's fighting occurred on Corniche Mazraa, a major thoroughfare in Beirut that has become a demarcation line between mainly Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods, and the nearby Ras el-Nabeh area. The violence later spread to Khandaq el-Ghamiq, adjacent to the centre of the city. Television footage showed armed and masked men taking cover on street corners next to shuttered shops.

Yeah. I saw footage of some hard boy handing a gun to a guy in a blue suit, who stepped around the corner and blew off a few rounds toward Dog knows what.

Shootings and explosions were also reported near the office of Aisha Bakkar, the Sunni spiritual leader allied with the government, and in Ein el-Tineh where the opposition-aligned parliament speaker has his official residence.

PFLP-GC and its clones should be jumping in any time now, to add in the Paleo flavoring these affairs like.

This article starring:
Aisha Bakkar
Robert Fisk

Posted by Fred 2008-05-09 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11140 views ] Top
File under: Hezbollah

#1 Widespread fighting, and Bob "I like it rough" Fisk hasn't taken a beating yet? He must be disappointed

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-05-09 00:37|| 2008-05-09 00:37|| Front Page Top

#2 It looks like a Hizballah, Iranian and Syrian backed coup. I doubt anyone is going to backup the Lebanese government.

Sigh! On days like this I wish gunboat diplomacy hadn't gone out of fashion.

Posted by phil_b 2008-05-09 08:08|| 2008-05-09 08:08|| Front Page Top

#3 based on some wire service stuff, my impression is that Hezb WAS making aggressive moves in the neighborhoods, and THEN the govt went after their comm network. to which they responded by full fledged hitting the mattresses.

But expect a long "who started it" debate similar to that about the Pal Civil War in Gaza. Expect to see "neocons" blamed for not leaving well enough alone, and Harriri cast as Dahlan.

Aoun hasnt brought the Maronites with him, but hes never had the majority of the Maronites, has he? Word is the govt (other than the leaders trapped in homes or offices in W Beirut) are gathering in Christian terr E of Beirut.

Troubling is how fast Hezb is winning in W beirut, but then theyve been arming and training a long time, and the other guys really werent. This isnt as even a match up as Gaza was. OTOH unlike Gaza, theres territory that Hezb will have troubled moving into, and a counter siege around W Beirut is possible, cutting it off from the Hezbland in the south, and from the Bekaa.

Posted by liberalhawk 2008-05-09 09:40|| 2008-05-09 09:40|| Front Page Top

#4 Time to ARCLIGHT everything from the Litani River to the center of Beirut, plus the Bekaa Valley. Then tell the survivors they can either rebuild and live together in peace, or we do it again. It cannot be said enough - the Arab will follow the strongest leader. I was hoping Bush was smart enough to know that, and strong enough to carry through. My bad...

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2008-05-09 12:41|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2008-05-09 12:41|| Front Page Top

#5 Well, OP .... indiscriminate bombing raids on entire swaths of countries has gone out of style since VietNam it would seem. Especially where we've no declaration of war and are in fact trying to support the democratic government retain power. Annoying hindrances, you might say, but there it is.

Posted by lotp 2008-05-09 18:30|| 2008-05-09 18:30|| Front Page Top

#6 Beyond being a sock puppet for Iran and Syria, Hizb'allah has something to prove after provoking the destruction of southern Lebanon. From what I understand there are an awful lot of buildings still not rebuilt, which means even more unhappy Shiites. Not to mention the rest of Lebanon saw Hisb'allah getting their tails whipped, then trying to claim victory. That gives rather more poignancy to current developments, I think.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2008-05-09 21:21|| 2008-05-09 21:21|| Front Page Top

#7 DEBKA [paraph]> LEBANESE ARMY CHIEF DEFIES GOVT. AS SYRIA STEPS IN TO BACK HEZB/HIZB SEIZURE OF BERUIT DISTRICTS.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-05-09 22:00|| 2008-05-09 22:00|| Front Page Top

11:11 HeavyG
11:10 Angstrom
11:07 HeavyG
11:07 Angstrom
11:06 DarthVader
11:05 HeavyG
10:58 alanc
09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1