10 Comments. Add your own...

• 1. retire05 | August 22nd, 2006 at 6:25 pm

  Othello, please help me out.
  We, here in the United States, do not understand how Lebanon could allow a radical Islamic sect to gain a foot hold in Lebanon realizing that these are the very people whose mindset brought about the disaster and tragedy of 9-11. I am not speaking of Hezbollah specifically, but of the Islamic movement in particular who want to see Israel shoved into the sea and the transition of Europe, and eventually the U.S., to Islamic law and Islamic control.
  What happened in Lebanon with the latest war saddened every American, but we also realize that if a radical fraction in Mexico was lobbing missiles into the United States, if Mexican revoluntionaries were kidnapping American soldiers in Texas, we would do everything in our power to put a stop to it.
  As an American, I have to wonder if your government is not in the pocket of Iran and Syria and why they are even in office to begin with. The Lebanese people showed their bravery when they took to the streets to throw Syria out, yet they seem to succumb to the radicalism of Hezbollah without so much as a whimper. Would it not be wiser to align yourselves with nations that can help you gain success and not with nations like Syria whose economy is in the pits and Iran who wants to impose Islamic law ont the world? Would it not be wiser to admit that you need help from the free world and get it?
  I think all it would take of the the leaders of Lebanon to ask both the U.S. and Isreal to help them maintain the freedoms that the Lebanese people are so deserving of. I cannot imagine that either nation would refuse to help Lebanon, knowing that peace brings prosperity for both a nation and its people.
  Any U.N. help will be a farst. The U.N. was in Lebanon for 28 years and Hezbollah gained a control of the south during that time. I do not anticipate that any U.N. help will be any different in the future.
  So please, help me understand why, when it was Hezbollah that caused the damage in the south by placing it’s rocket launchers in civilian areas, the southern Lebanese still back them. Surely, the citizens of Lebanon are not so stupid as to realize that when you fire rockets at another nation, that other nation is going to try to take those rockets out.
  We want peace in the Middle East and prosperity for the Lebanese. But no American will be willing to help those who consider us the Great Satan and want to destroy us.
  The Lebanese leaders have announced that they will do nothing to disarm Hezbollah, as long as Hezbollah keeps their arms out of sight. It seems obvious to those who are blind that Hezbollah was doing that exact thing since the Lebanose government seemed unaware of the stockpile of arms funneled into Lebanon and the Hezbollah prior to the war.
  Will we see a mass exodus of Lebanese as the radical Islamic fraction grows, not only in the south, but spreading throughout Lebanon? Will we see the Lebanese give up on a free and independent nation?
  Americans are pulling for the Lebanese, but the Lebanese will have to show they are willing to rid itself of radicalism and replace it with freedom and prosperity.

• 2. jmrSudbury | August 22nd, 2006 at 8:23 pm

  We have a similar problem with freedom of speech in Canada. Some topics cannot be discussed in public. Even if the truth is spoken or written, we could still be reported to the human rights tribunal for inciting hatred against a certain group. Of course, the situation is much worse in Lebanon. We won’t be sentenced to death for our views here in Canada, but there is a similarity: Lack of freedom of speech against any minority group. Welcome to tyranny of the minority.

  John M Reynolds

• 3. Canicula | August 23rd, 2006 at 4:21 pm

  Retire05, i am not lebanese nor muslim so do not take anything i say as more than another viewpoint, but if the evangelical christian movements of the US were to decide unilaterally to take arms against a neighbour for religious reasons, how easy would it be, given your political system, to disarm and remove the threat without it devolving into civil war?

  Bear in mind that the Lebanese have relatively recently brought to a halt a civil war which raged on for 15 years and destroyed what authority any one group had to impose civic order on any other. I understand what you’re saying but you are looking at the situation from the position of a member of a nation that has a strong central authority who could ascertain the will of a majority of people and impose that will on an armed, ruthless and already prepared militia.

• 4. Battal Agha | August 23rd, 2006 at 5:45 pm

  To those commenting that reacting to Hezbollah means Civil War, I say: ENOUGH Appeasment, Enough bowing and enough hand kissing. Time for Lebanese to decide if they want to live in Peace and care for their future or continue with Hezbollah with the only certainty being that with short another war will destroy their lives…

• 5. retire05 | August 23rd, 2006 at 8:01 pm

  Canicula, in the U.S. any religious group that started war with a neighbor (say Mexico or Canada) would be considered criminals and would be dealt with accordingly. Their religious beliefs would not come into play, except with the media, but not from the standing of American jurisprudence. Nor would it evolve into a civil war.
  Hezbollah is nothing more than thugs, who are now holding a whole nation (Lebanon) hostage to their demands. Because they are providing services to Lebanese people they are gaining in approval. That is one of the factors I do not understand. If the neo-nazis started lobbing bombs into Mexico from civilian neighborhoods causing Mexico to bomb us back, we would not blame Mexico but would blame the neo-nazis that fired from civilian areas.
  Why support those who caused you to be bombed in the first place.
  If Lebanon cannot control Hezbollah due to the effects of the civil war, why did Lebanon’s leaders not ask for international help in ridding itself of Hezbollah?

• 6. Tom Penn | August 24th, 2006 at 5:55 am

  Canicula, retire05 nailed it. The best feature of the US political system is the separation of church and state. Our political parties are defined by governing philosophy — a competition of ideas, not religion. No militia would ever be permitted on American soil, because the American people would not have it. We vote and work through our disagreements through elected representatives at the ballot box.

  IF, in an alternative universe, a non-democratic militia formed, it would be crushed under the will of the American people. Please notice that even though fire arms are legally permitted in the US, there are no operable militias outside control of the US government, and there never will be.

  It is unconscionable to an American to imagine allowing a terrorist proxy army waging war against a neighbor from our own sovereign soil, then refusing to take responsibility for the result, while crying for relief from the war.

  As a Canadian, can you really even imagine a terrorist organization establishing itself on the US northern border? Would the American people stand for that? Even if you hate us, like many Canadians do, you know the answer.

• 7. othello | August 24th, 2006 at 7:55 am

  Dear Retire05,

  Firstly, Lebanon did not allow a radical islamic sect to gain a foothold in Lebanon. It was Syria who allowed the Iranian based sect to flourish in the country during the years it was occupying it. It was also Syria that allowed the Al Quaeda operatives to cross through Lebanon and Syria and go to Irak.
  It was also Syria that allowed armed palestinian factions to remain in Lebanon, armed to the teeth, and virtually untouchable by the Lebanese Govt.
  It was also Syria that forbade the Lebanese army to rearm, while Hezbollah was receiving all sorts of Iranian supplies…
  And, just for History’s sake, it was the USA that gave the green light to Syria to come in, back in 1990, in exchange for Syria’s backing USA in Desert Storm…so you must understand the lack of confidence some Lebanese have regarding the USA…
  I will tell you more…
  -Syria is the main exporter of Al Quaeda operatives to Irak…how come it was never attacked for that? there were threats of sanctions but nothing was ever applied…WHY?

  - The Syrian regime ranks alongside that of Saddam in terms of human rights…people are imprisoned for speaking their minds, and they disappear…whole cities were eradicated in the 80s because they housed opposition members…yet we never saw any move from the USA to change this…

  - The missiles that were launched at Israel throughout the conflict where supplied via Syria…yet we never saw any move against it by nether Israel nor USA

  - Khaled Mechaal, the head of HAMAS, has his headquarters in Syria…along side a dozen other terrorist organization…

  need i go further???

  The Syrian occupation of Lebanon ended in 2005, affter the passing of UN Resolution 1559 followed by the assasination of PM Harriri…after that, we were faced with multiple challenges and hurdles left by the Syrian regime to halt the formation of a new govt, and therefore cause turmoil in the country, so that Syria could claim that it was holding the whole thing together, and it fell apart after it left…this was an attempt to send a message to the USA to make it change its mind and look at syria as a stability factor in the country…
  The current Govt is, by far, the most independent one we have had since the 80s, in the sense that Syria did not have a say in its formation, although some of Syria’s leftover henchemen were forced on the govt…
  also, and this must be said, Hezbollah twisted the arm of the govt to give ministerial posts to HA representatives. this was done through the issuing of a fatwa ( a religious edict) that forbade any Shiite that was not with HA from participating in the govt…
  Now regarding Hezbollah, you must not look upon them as people from Mars that landed in Lebanon…they are, despite their Iranian agendas, Lebanese…and for a major part of the Shiite community, they were the only alternative to a govt since Syria made sure of that during its occupation…so in a way, attacking HA was equivalent to starting another civil war…and this was what Syria was hoping for…you must understand my dear Sir that Lebanese politics are extremely complex despite the small size of the country…

  My dear friend, understamd my point of view very well…if you so much want peace in the region, then stop committing more and more mistakes…to many it appears as if the Amrican strategy for the region is very much short sighted…take for example Ben Laden…who created him? was it not the USA in order to halt the spread of communism??? and who backed the overthrow of the Shah of Iran by a bunch of religious fanatics??was it not the USA???

  I will tell you one final thing…today the excuse that provides Hezbollah legitimacy in existing is that the Shebaa Farms region is still under Israeli occupation while it should have been evacuated back in 2000 as part of the implementaiton of UN Resolution 425…Syria claims these lands are Lebanese…we are all aware that the USA has a very high influence in the UN security council…how hard would it be for USA to speed up things in defining the correct ownership of the lands??? I tell you it would take less than 24 hours…and I guarantee you there would be no more Hezbollah…

  I hope I was able to answer your questions as accuratly as possible…
  for more info why dont you visit the Lebanese Forces forum (http://www.lebanese-forces.org/vbullet/forumdisplay.php?f=18) and ask whatever questions you have? it is a highly interactive discussion board and there are members from all the factions…from Hezbollah all the way to Israelis…

  Regards

• 8. retire05 | August 25th, 2006 at 1:58 am

  Othello, I appreciate your response and your answers. But you seem to forget one thing; the U.S. is only one of the permanent voting members of the U.N. Only one.
  Who do I fault for the mess in Lebanon the most? The U.N. without question. And if you think the influence of the U.S. on the U.N. is infinate, just look at how the U.N. bailed on us over Iraq. And is still bailing on us. Do you really think that the U.S. has the power to demand that Syria stop shipping arms into Lebanon? What would you have the U.S. do? Send smart bombs to Syria if they did not stop their arms shipments? Remember, we are talking about the U.N., the same organization that put one of the worst human rights offenders in charge of their human rights organization.
  You say that Hezbollah, despite their Iranian leanings are still Lebanese, then why do you have foreign fighters in Hezbollah, fighting right along side Lebanese?
  And while it may have been Syria who placed Iranian based factions in Lebanon, it is now the responsibility of the Lebanese to throw the dogs out.

• 9. othello | August 25th, 2006 at 1:05 pm

  Retire05,
  I am afraid you are still missing the point…USA may be one of the members of the Security Council, but you cannot deny its influence on the other state members….

  I dont want to go into a discussion as to the reasons of the UN internal problems for I am afraid it is an endless one…

  Regarding syria, well as far as I know, the best way to cure a disease is to eradicate it from its roots…you do not treat a cancer by applying creams and ointments on the surface…you dig deep and cut out the tumour.

  When I say that Hezbollah are lebanese, I am talking about the vast majority of the supporters…it is a popular movement with roots amongst the people…going at them in an all out, open confrontation could turn into genocide…they are not like the palestinians in 1982…those were strangers in a foreign land…they could be packed on boats and sent out…
  regarding the iranian mercenaries that are fighting alongside HA, well…what can be done? you have to climb the ladder one step at a time if you dont want to fall down and break a leg…once there is no longer a reason for HA to keep their arms, we will be able to discuss the presence of the iranian revoltionary guards…they are as part of the problem as say the long range missiles in possession of HA…

• 10. retire05 | August 26th, 2006 at 11:07 pm

  Thank you, othello.

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