Article

2003-09-24 Syria-Lebanon

More on the Hezbollah-Israeli prisoner exchange...

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-09-24 00:21|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I read a couple of years ago that Lebanon wanted to become the regional banking center of the ME.

For what it's worth. They want to be a player.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-9-24 12:24:49 AM|| 2003-9-24 12:24:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Heads of important Shiite hawzas in Lebanon, including Hizballahâs spiritual leader Sayed Mohd Hussein Fadlallah, have applied to depart Lebanon and relocate in the Iraqi Shiite holy towns of towns of Najaf and Karbala.

It would be okay with me if they wanted to take up residence in Karbala -- well not exactly in Karbala, but sorta near it. We could provide a "residence" and "security" for them so that they could ponder spiritual matters "in isolation" unemcumbered by any "interactions" with the "real world."

How's that for scare quotes?

Posted by Steve White 2003-9-24 12:35:37 AM|| 2003-9-24 12:35:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 SW - Me like! And my thoughts exactly! Is this sack of shit insane - or just too stupid to live? No matter, ya gotta love it! I wonder how long Israel has wanted to get their hands on Fadlallah (what a moniker)... Well, if we can help by offering "residence" in Iraq, hey, what are friends for? Ka-ching!

Posted by .com 2003-9-24 2:10:05 AM|| 2003-9-24 2:10:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Elmer Fadlallah wants to take up residence in Iraq? Ha ha ha ha.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2003-9-24 2:19:31 AM|| 2003-9-24 2:19:31 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Debka has a very mixed track record. For example, it insisted that there is vast underground city beneath Baghdad, in which the top brass were hinding. Wrong. It also reported various and sundry countries to which Saddam had fled, Lebanon being the most frequently mentioned. Wrong. Debka appears to be a media outlet for Mossad, or some such agency, and should be so approached. Care must be taken to sift kernels of truth from the chaff of propaganda.

One of Debka's still-adhered to positions (as opposed to the many it has conveniently forgotten) is that Iraq's WMDs are in Syria or the Bekka valley in Lebanon (which is under Syrian control). (Debka has conveniently forgotten that it first reported Iraq's WMDs to have been loaded onto ships for an oceanic purgatory.) Now, if we detach Syria from Lebanon, then we should find these WMDs. We should also have some special ops guys having a little look-see inside Syria proper. I actually suspect that, if anyone had the slightly reason to suspect Debka was right, special ops has already checked out these sites. But, as credible-sounding as the claims are (a sine qua non of propaganda), probably Debka is blowing more smoke up our tailpipes.

Obviously I read Debka, but I do so only to gain insight into what Israel's right wing is thinking. I know nothing about prisoner exchanges, and after reading Debka's report I still don't.

Posted by Polonius 2003-9-24 3:18:35 AM|| 2003-9-24 3:18:35 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 Polonius - Your disclaimer regards DEBKA reporting accuracy is well taken. It is also intuitively obvious to the casual observer that they take more chances, if that is the right word, than any other Western outlet - for what that's worth.

Funny, though... I would estimate that, if there was a Truth in Journalism Squad empowered to do so, they would have to publish no more retractions than many vaunted outlets, such as the New ~~Yellow~~ Times, Boston ~~Butt Probe~~ Globe, Certainly Not News, etc, or that rash of British pubs and their Forced Finance Queen (the Beeb) which border on being the Official Izzoid / Arab / Paleo Apology Press, Inc.

To press the point a little, when compared to the Arab "Press", well shit Polonius, DEBKA is a phriggin' veritable Beacon of Truth.

So, hokay, fair enuff - I'm prepared to discount it - and remember its warts and mistakes... and toss most of the aforementioned Editorial Whores completely out the window. Sound about right to you? Or are you trying to say more than what you did say?

Posted by .com 2003-9-24 3:57:33 AM|| 2003-9-24 3:57:33 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Since I discovered the DEBKA during the Afghanistan war, I've been wary of its accuracy, more or less as a great "rumors" site. Credibility of the news is inversely proportionnal to their spectacularity value, with political powerplays analysis being very interesting. IIRC, I read somewhere (here?) that the writings were typical of thoses found in military intelligence press releases, so it may be more indicative of right wing military types than mossad's agenda. Still like it a lot.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-9-24 1:26:21 PM|| 2003-9-24 1:26:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 I've written a few (thousand) intelligence reports, and I still find DEBKA a strange piece of writing. My reports were written based on firsthand extraction of intelligence information from US reconnaissance imagery. I won't say I've never used words like "possible", "probable", or other weasel-words, but I always tried to convey to my reader that I knew what I was talking about, and my information could be trusted. I find DEBKA a conundrum - sometimes appearing brilliant, at other times like they had no clue under the sun what they were talking about. As for Lebanon, who in this world can EVER know what's going on there? I kept close track of the country during its decades-long civil wars. I was in Germany when the Marine barracks was blown. I was in Germany a second time (actually third) when we were looking for Terry Waite in Beirut and elsewhere. The country has more going for it than most Arab nations, but also has the most contorted politics that word have ever been used to describe. Anyone trying to discipher what's going on there would be better off using a Ouija board.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-9-24 6:37:50 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2003-9-24 6:37:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 OK, Boys! Break out the Ouija Board! We're goin' into Lebanon and then to the Bekaa Valley. OP, thanks for the imagery (no pun intended). I needed the break this afternoon.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-9-24 7:17:18 PM|| 2003-9-24 7:17:18 PM|| Front Page Top

18:24 Sock Puppet of Doom
18:02 V is for Victory
21:06 LVK (C-1-18 1ID RVN)
02:28 Igs
00:20 Not Mike Moore
00:16 Not Mike Moore
00:13 Not Mike Moore
00:09 Not Mike Moore
00:01 Not Mike Moore
23:56 Not Mike Moore
23:55 Chris Smith
23:47 Ned
23:28 Old Patriot
22:47 tu3031
22:44 tu3031
22:35 tu3031
22:19 Super Hose
22:16 Super Hose
22:12 True German Ally
21:57 Shipman
21:52 Shipman
21:48 Shipman
21:43 Shipman
21:39 Shipman