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Syria-Lebanon
With a Powerless Government, Lebanon is a Jungle
2003-08-29
MEMRI translation of an editorial in the Lebanese Christian daily Al-Nahar, not that Christian opinions count for much in Lebanon...
Who determines military actions in the south [of Lebanon]? We, as Lebanese, have a right to know how these types of decisions are made, [decisions] that directly affect all of Lebanon and all Lebanese. It is our right to know if Hizbullah alone makes these decisions and on what basis they do so. Is it Syria who makes the decisions and passes orders onto the Hizbullah? Is it Iran? Lebanon? And what is the strategy? It is our right to know and even participate in such critical decisions; otherwise, Lebanon is a jungle with no central decision-making authority.
That's a fairly accurate description, I'd say...
The Lebanese country, and particularly the government of Lebanon, as the executive authority responsible for policy-making, must be directly responsible for Hizbullah operations in the south, since it purports to be a country of laws and institutions that has full sovereignty on the entire land of Lebanon. However, essentially, we know that it is not the country that determines the perpetuation of military operations in the south, and that Lebanon has no strategy in this area

And if they got there, somebody beats them up and pulls their collective pants down...
It can be said that the government's powerlessness, and the fact that it does not shoulder its national responsibility, have, in the eyes of the world, made it chiefly responsible for the breaches of peace in southern Lebanon – though some of its members attempt, through communiqués and statements, to conceal Hizbullah and its operations.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#5  "Jewish allergy to Christianity"???

_______________________Maronites had their chance and failed in 1982 to unite causes with the Israelis...it was certainly not the Jews who let the Maronites down at that crucial early stage...
Posted by: borgboy   2003-8-29 1:17:51 PM  

#4  ? mwh?
"Is it Syria who makes the decisions and passes orders onto the Hizbullah?"
Posted by: Frank G   2003-8-29 1:03:17 PM  

#3  It's almost surreal to read such an obvious piece of truth that I had to check a couple of times to be sure.

Philosophically, Lebanese Christians are allies of Israel. Note that they once governed Lebanon, which was the only Christian-ruled Arab country. This is why Ehud Barak's negotiated withdrawal from South Lebanon was such a major betrayal for Lebanese Christians. The Jewish allergy to Christianity prevented them from doing much to keep the Christians in power in Lebanon. This may have been a major strategic error.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2003-8-29 10:12:35 AM  

#2  Note that neither the word 'Syria' nor the phrase 'foreign occupation' appears. Many of the Christians in Lebanon are willing to put up with the extortion and abuse of the Syrian army because they fear Hizbullah more.
Posted by: mhw   2003-8-29 9:01:42 AM  

#1  It's almost surreal to read such an obvious piece of truth that I had to check a couple of times to be sure. Prolly his last editorial... I'll bet the ink's already dry on the fatwa to ace this guy.
Posted by: .com   2003-8-29 1:24:02 AM  

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