Assad regime targets March 14 deputy

At least five died, and many others were wounded in an explosion near a Beirut amusement park along the seaside corniche. The explosion reportedly targeted the convoy of March 14 and Future Movement deputy Walid Eido.

Walid Eido has reportedly died.

The explosion comes after Fatah al-Islam threatened to kill Lebanese politicians , and after the UNSC condemned arms smuggling from Syria.

Update. LBC is showing horrific images of burnt bodies and destroyed cars.

Update 2. Eido was accompanied by his eldest son and two bodyguards. They were all killed by the explosion.

Update 3. The death toll rose to ten, according to LBC.

Update 4. Is someone going to declare war on the Assad regime? Are the deputies of March 14 going to hold a session without Berri while they're still alive? What on earth are we waiting for.

This is a message not only to Saad Hariri, but also to the Saudis and French, who thought they could ignore the Syrian factor and focus on resurrecting "dialogue" between the Lebanese parties. How many times do we have to say "we told you so".

As I type these words, Walid Eido's body lies in an car on the Manara. The "future movement" deputy lost his life, and his slain son lost his future. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed earlier today by Syrian-sponsored terrorists.

Who is afraid of the terrorist Assad regime?

Update 5. Charles Malik from Lebanese Political Journal was there.

This is the closest I've been.

I was 50m from this attack.

We were in a cafe next to Luna Park enjoying the late afternoon next to the sea after an intense day.

Children were playing on the equipment under the setting sun. Mothers were holding their babies. Old men were smoking argile.

BOOM!!!

Everyone hit the floor, except the group of European tourists who just looked surprised. Waiters dived under the tables. Mother grabbed their crying babies.

Human flesh landed in the children's play area.

We didn't know what happened. All I knew was that a bomb went off in the passageway between the Nejmeh Football Club and the Luna Park, a children's amusement park on the Mediterranean coast.

We knew there had to be casualties.

The Army was IMMEDIATELY on the scene. At least two squads from the nearby Army base immediately secured the area. They came down, and started cordoning off the area. Everyone in the nearby beach areas and sporting clubs were asked to move their vehicles. There was great concern another bomb would go off.

Within minutes, the police were there.

I was on the scene for a number of the bombs in 2005, including Hariri's assassination. It took the Army, at least, half an hour to arrive. This time, the security forces were amazingly professional. I was astounded. They were outstanding.

We soon found out that 14 March Parliamentary Representative Walid Eido, his son, his two bodyguards, and at least two bystanders were killed.

I was horrified that they had planted a bomb next to a children's park. We knew there had to be bystanders killed, but we thought it was just another random bombing.

Adrenaline is still running. My friend's pictures will soon be on the website.

Update 6. March 14 leaders are meeting in Saad Hariri's residence in Qoraytem.

Update 7. Saad Hariri called for a mass protest tomorrow to bid farewell to Beirut MP Walid Eido and today's victims. He also called on the Arab League to boycott the "terrorist [Assad] regime" in view of its terrorist acts against a Lebanon, a founding member of the league.

Hariri vowed to continue the fight.

We will not vacate Beirut, we will not hand the decision[making] to anyone. Beirut will remain the capital of freedom...

Hariri didn't say it, but Lebanon should pull out of the league if they don't take measures against the Assad regime. But then, what can a useless groups of despots do to advance freedom in another country...

Comments

[ghassan karam]

And yet amateur Sa'ad Hariri wants to invite the suspected powers behind all this mayhem to coffee and Mr. jellyfish is willing to continue his practice of appeasement. And so it goes.

[raja]

On the same day, we have an assasination, as well as the blowing up of th minarets of the 3askariya mosque, and an ultimatum by Hamas to Fateh soldiers to give their weapons up.

These coordinated escalations occur so frequently that it boggles me so few see through them.

allah yir7am Walid Eido. I came out to say that. allah yir7amu.

If Lebanese give in now, all their loses would have been for nothing. But who am I to ask more of them - sitting here in the relative, isolated comfort of Washington DC?

[Mustapha]

This is how the mafia negotiates.. Every time you offer a concession, they take it as a sign of weakness.. Oh.. and Nabih berri now wants 13 opposition members in the government..

[K]

Lebanese liberals have 2 options - emigrate to free countries, or fight to the death with bloodthirsty fanatics.

From Toronto, Canada, I have made my choice.

[JoseyWales]

Walid Eido and son, and all the other victims, up to 10 dead now, may you rest in peace. May God have mercy on Lebanon.

PS. Forgive me for this is inappropriate, but when the next gvmnt fuck comes out to tell us about the "investigation" and "arrests", somebody just rip his friggin head off.

[Ace]

Do you think it was an accident that a M14 MP was killed? This is not 'random'.

3 M14 MP's resigned and now 3 more (RIP) have been killed. The 72MP majority is now down to 66.

[Bad Vilbel]

RIP all the victims of yet another horrific act of terrorism.

Now it's time to take out the trash. I'm serious. How many more of these before our government grows a spine?
I honestly don't care anymore who's feelings get hurt, or if the country's unity is jeopardized. Without an adequate response, there's no country anyway, let alone any kind of "unity".

Start arresting every fucking traitor, PRONTO!
Start flattening every building with a non- legitimate weapon in it.
No more talking. Period.

[Shunkleash]

Shit!!!

I share the absolute frustration at this nonsense. Time to, as BV says,..."take out the trash". The leb army needs to finsih off the rest of the terrorists TODAY!!! NO more noose and other things...FLATTEN THE FUCKING PLACE NOW!!! Then when they are finished move up to the bekkaa and with EXTREME FUCKING PREJUDICE take out jibril and the fucks there SECURE THE BORDER and then come into Beirut and DISFUCKINGMANTLE the horseshit in the BCD.

Once that is done, declare the parliamnt open in extraodinary session and replace Berri and put him under house and phone arrest as being a traitor....GET ON WITH BUSINESS!! YALLA YA AMI!!! Times a wasten....

By the way, it would be great to hear a report that lebanon has unsuspectingly allowed several lunatic bombers to cross into Syria to target and kill the Syrian MPS...

RIP Walid Eido...and all who have fallen

AYESH LUBNAN

Shunkleash

[Cedar Revolution]

Another March 13th MP Assassinated… It is time to quarantine Syrian puppets among Lebanese politicians and recognized Michel Aoun as the hired assassin of the Cedar Revolution. Aoun is a political prostitute that sold his Christian Community to Syria/Iran interests at the only time Lebanon could have built a real democracy to benefit all Lebanese and especially the Christian community. Instead of aligning himself with moderate Sunnis and Shiite, he was instrumental in reviving Syrian puppets, paralyzing the democratic institutions, breathing life into a discredited president subservient to Syrian intelligence, and strangling the aspirations of the cedar revolution. Since Independence, no political leader has damaged the interests of the Lebanese Christian Community more than Aoun. He is not a useful idiot has Jeha once said, but a willing political prostitutes, and most likely, the most hated politicians among Lebanese Christians. It is time for business owners in downtown to sue him for economic damage!

Likewise, since Israel expulsion from South Lebanon, no party has damaged the interests of the Shiaa Community more than Hizbollah. Instead of Iran seeking Lebanese Shiaa to learn about democracy, openness, press freedom and human dignity; to find a mediator with the west; Hezbollah degraded the great Lebanese Shiite Community to the mindless and intellectually bankrupt level of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The biggest mistake after Hezbollah war on Lebanon was for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to offer funds to rebuild their homes without making it conditional on Hizbollah disarmament and the sole sovereignty of Lebanese army. The Shiites would have pressured Hizbollah to become a purely political party. Let us not make the same mistake with Palestinian camps. At least we should openly support Fattah to crush Palestinian factions in Lebanon loyal to Syrian Mukhabarats. It is an open war on Syrian Mukhabarats in Lebanon and every Lebanese should play a part.

[Don Cox]

"FLATTEN THE FUCKING PLACE NOW!!! "

You forget that there are said to be several thousand people who live in the camp and are still trapped in the fighting.

[another_someone]

If you arrest Berri, you will have to arrest 80% of the politicians. Most likely why it will never happen.

He probably has some immunity anyway.

I agree with the rest, declare war on Syria, or export some of their imports. You know, reciprocate.

Ace pointed something I never heard before, about 3 MPs that resigned. How long ago did that happen?

[Bad Vilbel]

I know it's very undemocratic of me to say this, but sometimes, I wish we had the kind of military who could take over in the old fashion "south american style" coup and clean out this entire mess.

[brunoj]

The (not so) funny thing is that if some bomb killed a bunch of people in damascus and some "crazy" lebanese was implied, next morning the border would be full of tanks... at the very least it would be fully closed and guarded.
I know that the gvmt and M14 have it's share of problems, [dream mode ON]
but Saniora must speak loud and sa'ad boy must learn to stand up NOW specially now
[dream mode OFF]
while there's a patch of land we can call Lebanon.

[Solomon2]

Is someone going to declare war on the Assad regime? Are the deputies of March 14 going to hold a session without Berri while they're still alive? What on earth are we waiting for.

Hariri's call, isn't it? He thought he could wait it out, but Lebanon's constitutional process is breaking down under the strain of terror, assassinations, and foreign loyalties.

What to do? Either accept civil war as a possibility, or decide to endure bombing after bombing until you are reduced to choosing between Syria's puppets or Syria's allies as masters of your fate. For while the conflict in the North and the bombings in Beirut are distracting everybody's attention, Hezbollah has accelerated its rearming in the South to the extent that even the U.N. is concerned. If the Lebanese government continues its present course, how long will it be before some spark ignites another Lebanese-Israeli conflict, thus preventing the region from confronting its true tormentors?

[another_someone]

I just read that Mr. Eido was Chairman of Parliament’s Defense Committee (From MJT's website).

Charles Malik has a first hand account of this explosion on his blog.

[Shunkleash]

Dear Don,

I did NOT forget about the "estimated" thousands still in the camp...they have had enough time to leave. By not leaving they continue to give cover to the terrorists wittingly or unwittingly....I do not advocate mass murder but then again I will not stand by and watch leb army soldiers get killed useslessly because someone wants to protect his god damn stove.

The gloves need to come off and forget all this noose tightening...time to POP IT!!!

[ibn kais]

Sad, very sad. I am fed up, we need to start a new war of liberation right now. F^%$ the Arab league, since when they did anything useful?!! we as lebanese need to take back our country and work hard to send the bombs out of Beirut and into the house of every Syrian thug involved in these assasinations.

[ghassan karam]

I hope that I am wrong in this but since Bashar is living up to all his threats including the ones he made to the SG last month then I will not be surprised if Ahmad Jibreel will make his move sometime within a fortnight. If he does I hope that this time the LAF will not be unprepared and that they have already stockpiled the ammunition that they will so desperately need. I understand that each of the tanks at Naher El Bared have ammo for 4 rounds only!!! Does any one know whether the LAF has managed to find a supply of rockets for the Gazelles.
BV, is right, the army needs to deal with these challenges decisively and with all the force it has and if ,as I am told by a "Meghwar", some elements of the armed forces; Shiites; decide not to participate vigorously then they should be dismissed and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I am troubled by the fact that many , including the army, are seeking support for the armed forces because the gangesters attacked and butchered members of the army and not because the attack is on the very essence of the state. What is the good of an army if there is no state?

[Doha]

علم ان لاعبين من فريق النجمة إستشهدا وهما:حسين دقماق وحسين نعيم

[Ace]

"Ace pointed something I never heard before, about 3 MPs that resigned. How long ago did that happen?"

Ace was wrong! Gebran Tueni,Pierre Gemayel & Walid Eido (RIP)all assassinated,Edmond Neim (RIP)died, Hussein Mustapha 'resigned' from M14 a week ago amid wide reports that it was for the 'safety of his family' from his colleagues.
Two of these places have been filled and now there are 2 that are empty. The Neim and Mustapha spots can be considered 'neutral' I suppose. So a total of 4 MP's who are no longer with M14. Mea Culpa

[Vox P]

The west should consider military strikes against Syria, including on the head of the regime (assad & family). That will make them think twice next time.

[JoseyWales]

Milquetoast Saniora has shut down schools and offices tomorrow for a day of mourning.

That's fine, as a fallen Leb MP Eido needs to be mourned properly.

But it's way beyond time to shut the Syrian border, replace security and intelligence chiefs, sit down with the army commander and get serious.

[Bad Vilbel]

I'm gonna put on my "fantasy world" hat for a moment. Picture this:

The government declares a national day of mourning tomorrow. Everything is closed. Perfect cover for military operations.
At 4am, ISF units move in on the residences of Berri, Frangieh, Yakan and all those others sniveling traitors. They are arrested and whisked away.
Simultaneously, the LAF, with strict orders to be swift, moves in on Nahr El Bared, Ain El Hilweh and the various PFLP-GC camps taking them by surprise and doing away with any resistance.
By 5am, elite units of the LAF encircle Baabda Palace and put it under siege. Similar units take positions around the various TV stations, including Al-Manar, the airport is secured, as is the port of Beirut.
by 6am, downtown Beirut is encircled by Troops under the cover of darkness. Saniora, flanked by the commander of the LAF, ISF and the 2nd ranking guy in Parliament (forget his name) appear on every TV station, radio station, etc, live from the serail and announce a state of emergency. Downtown Beirut is declared a martial law zone and the demonstrators are given 6 hours to disappear or face being shot on sight.
By noon, the parliament is convened by the no.2 MP, under protection from the LAF that now controls Beirut completely. A list of legislative announcements are made, including the severing of all ties with Syria. The withdrawal of Lebanon from the Arab League until further notice. A date is scheduled for the presidential elections. And all weapons outside those of the LAF and ISF are abolished, with no exceptions (including Palestinian camps, resistance, and all that). And lastly, Shebaa Farms is turned over to UN supervision until a referendum of the inhabitants choose which country they want to be part of.

[Shunkleash]

LOL nice fantasy world BV...reality unfortunately will be different I assure you...but in any event most of those things can be accomplished without resorting to fantasy...it just takes the active ingredient ----> BALLS!!! BUYDOT!!! CAJONES!!! Who has them...saads' are in a golden sling and he wont risk them, Fuads may or may not be available, Walid and Samir lost one each during the civil war and they dont want to lose the other...and so it goes.

[Charlie]

The Mafia regime in Syria is doing what it does best: intimidation, terrorism and murder.
This Lebanese government needs to realize 2 things:
a. There is NO political solution to be had with the enemies of the state (HA, Syria…)
b. Force will have to be used to defeat the Syrian and Iranian tools in the country including HA, so they should be ready for it instead of constantly trying to avoid it!!

[Louis-Noel Harfouche]

BV, that's what a sovereign state in its right mind would have done 2 years ago (when the Assad regime first started bumping us off.) Unfortunately M14 is a bunch of pansies and paper tigers.

[ghassan karam]

AK,
I know that there are greater things to worry about at the moment but someone asked a few days ago whether there is a fund to contribute that benefits the families of the army members who have given the ultimate sacrifice in Naher Al Bared and as a result I am wondering whether B2B, Jehas Nail, Beirut Spring and a few others can start such an effort. If you do then I will be more than glad to send a modest contribution.

[Abu Kais]

Ghassan, I would do it if I knew where to send it. I'm surprised no one established such a fund yet.We also need to figure out a way to send the soldiers flowers, pizza, or anything to keep their morales high. And maybe also get them better weapons.

Raja, are you back to stay? :)

[Umm Kais]

Anyone waving that stupid yellow flag or orange t-shirts should be arrested and charged for treason. Anyone Lebanese standing in the way of an independent Lebanon should be arrested. Deport them elsewhere. Arrest that poor excuse for a Speaker and let him rot in solitary confinement. Put photos of blown up bodies in his cell, so that he can see what he's party to on a daily basis. Someone fish Nasrallah out of his cowardly hole and shoot him on the spot. These people do not deserve a country. Take away their Lebanese passports and let them fend for themselves with their Syrian "friends". Oh but wait, I'm the evil American defending "March 14". I must be secretly directing the government and funding Islamist groups...

[Bad Vilbel]

Um Kais,

Yeah, I'm sure we're all part of the "American project" and "Zionist conspiracy" around here. (Sarcasm alert!)

[ghassan karam]

AK,
Short of a serious fund to help the families I think that your idea of sending Pizza, manaeech, Kenafeh ... is a good first step and furthermore I feel that it is doable. I will try some contacts in Lebanon. I will send in a couple of minutes an email to Minister Safadi and see if I get a reaponse from him. Meanwhile maybe we can start collecting a few thousand dollars so that we can be ready if and when a plan materializes.

I concur Abu Kais.

Its about time we give the Arab League an ultimatum and ask UN troops to patrol our borders with Syria. Let them close their borders if they want to! The consequences of not closing the border are worse! Its a matter of justice, dignity, freedom, independence and soveirgnty and we will no longer stand idle and watch as stone-age regimes preach the empty slogans of 'fighting Israel' and supporting the 'Palestinian cause'. In my opinion, that 'cause' seized to exist when the Palestinians decided to fight each other!!!!

[Cedar Revolution]

Ghassan and AB,
FYI Last year during the Hezbollah war, I emailed the Lebanese Red Cross requesting them to accept on-line credit card donations... Attached their response. I hope some of you here or in Lebanon may contact some bank to assist the Red Cross in setting up their system so we can quickly help them using our credit card.

--- attached Red Cross Response ----
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 10:33:54 +0300
From: "Lebanese Red Cross" redcross@dm.net.lb
Subject: RE: On-line Donations

Dear Madam/Sir,
We thank you for your interest at donating to help the Lebanese Red Cross.
It is unfortunate that we are unable to receive any donations sent through credit cards.
Kindly send your donations to the following:
AUDI BANK
name of the account: La Croix Rouge Libanaise
Acc Number: 841500
SWIFT: AUDBLBBX

BAB IDRISS

Beirut
We thank you in advance.
Best Regards

The LRC Secretariat

________________________________________
Sent: 22 تموز, 2006 11:50 م
To: redcross@dm.net.lb
Subject: On-line Donations

Dear Lebanese Red Cross:
First let me thank you for your ongoing courageous and life saving assistance to the victims of the War on Lebanon. Second, it is hard for us, Lebanese residing abroad, to understand why your website does not have an online donation option. If L’Orient le Jour, LBC, Daily Star and other media outlets provide on-line donation option why not the Red Cross? The purpose of the online donation is that we can use our credit cards to instantly and conveniently transfer funds to you. Using our credit cards will allow us to make larger donations than simply relying on the discretionary fund available in our banking account to respond to emergency situations and unforeseen events. Please let Bank Audi or others set up an online donation option so the worldwide Lebanese community can immediately start helping you.
Again, thanks for your great humanitarian work. I believe it should be a law that no politician should be allowed to hold a top political office without a minimum of one year volunteering work for the Red Cross or similar organizations. Maybe then it will be easier for them to reach consensus on national issues.
Thanks!

[another_someone]

Ace no worries, and thanks for setting the record straight.

Does anyone know how much Mr. Eido was involved in matters of national defense, seeing how he was the Chairman of Parliament’s Defense Committee? How much will this affect current military ops?

[Ace]

"Hariri's call, isn't it? He thought he could wait it out, but Lebanon's constitutional process is breaking down under the strain of terror, assassinations, and foreign loyalties."

Why is it 'Hariri's call? He is not the Prime Minister. He may be the Sunni leader and the leader of FM, but it is PM Siniora that needs to be making the 'tough' decisions ... not an inexperienced boy. Hope they all wake up.

[Solomon2]

Ace: Oops, my mistake. Thanks for catching it.

[JoseyWales]

Re Army donations, you guys should try the army web site for info or suggestions.

Thanks BV and Umm Kais for delighting us with fantasies, but some of your details may be feasible.

There are simple (but bold) things that can be done:

-(already mentioned before) go to/withdraw from Arab League, shut the border, take control of the info cycle with daily SERIOUS press conferences etc

-taking on Hezbo is not a good idea now, but showing them strength and boldness is.

-martial law, who would object to that or at least to placing attacks on the army under such?

Attack the army (or be found with weapons/explosives) and face a military court withing a week, followed by prompt executions if found guilty under RELAXED standards.

Hezbo keeps its weapons if it does not attack the army or violate UN resolutions, thanks to the idiotic initial gvmnt resolution. Plus that is not a doable priority right now.

Quick sentences and executions are crucial and would be a major deterrent.

From the a-holes lobbing grenades from mopeds to the more sophisticated car bombers and killers, many of these are counting on prison sentences (if caught) and/or some amnesty or Syrian get-out-of-jail card down the road.

Swift execution will take care of that. Even if Syria's back you'll be DEAD mofo.

Army officers should be in charge of security all over, and over the ISF.

The head of surete generale and whoever else is complicit or related to Inspector Clouseau should be fired.

I know you can't replace them without Lahoud. Keep the friggin office vacant, appoint your (competent) man in the deputy position and let him run the show.

If you can't do that, to hell with it and skirt the law. It won't the first time (thks Saniora), and if the law can't protect us to hell with it.

[JoseyWales]

Please forgive my momentary madness in the preceding post.

2 seconds after posting the above, I found in tomorrow's L'Orient that Justice Minister Rizk just appointed INVESTIGATING judges for the attempt on Defense Minister Murr's life, and the bonbing of the buses in Ain Alak.

Note these are NOT the judges who preside over the trial, they are in charge of the pre-trial investigation (juge d'instruction).

TWhen did these STATE crimes take place: December 2005, and February 2007.

So please file my previous post under sheer fantasy and let's all go back to kicking the walls. Maybe they'll get to Walid Eido murder in 2009.

[Charlie]

“Hariri's call, isn't it? He thought he could wait it out, but Lebanon's constitutional process is breaking down under the strain of terror, assassinations, and foreign loyalties."
Why is it 'Hariri's call? He is not the Prime Minister. He may be the Sunni leader and the leader of FM, but it is PM Siniora that needs to be making the 'tough' decisions ... not an inexperienced boy. Hope they all wake up.”

I am afraid it is neither. They cannot remove Berri from his post any more they are able to remove Lahoud!! They may have some means on paper to do so, but in reality it takes a lot more than that to take down any of the 3 “leaders”. Keep in mind as much as Lahoud is rejected by the Patriarch, Sfeir still didn’t find the courage to give the green light to March-14 to take him out by force. This essentially forced March-14 to try and wait him out, which brings us to today’s assassination!

[ghassan karam]

Josey,
I have visited earlier today the web site of the LAF and whaen I found no mention of a fund to aid those that have perished in the line of duty I have sent them an e mail inquiring about their recommended procedure to send aid to the families and also to send some token contributions to the soldiers on the front lines. Normally I would not telegraph what I am doing but in this case if we hear from the LAF that we can send some contributions then we need the help of every single reader and then some. Remember that over 60 have died and there are posiibly thousands at the Naher El Bared

[Ace]

You know ... I 'get' that Charlie, but it totally sucks. I'm all in favor of this whole 'unity' government thing and including all sects, all parties, hell - all people in the process -- but it's now a case of "been there, done that" and it didn't work. What is the feeling on the 'street' right now? Is it that the people want the Government to do something to take control of the situation? Is it that the Government is the one who is behind the Army? Getting the Army what they need to fight the Terrorists? and in the meantime the Government is getting hit from another direction? All by the same basic enemy. Who will the 'street' support if the Government decides to put an end to all this? We saw the 'street' react in spring of 2005 ... what would they say today?

[Charlie]

Ace,

I agree, it does suck and will continue to suck till the Lebanese rise up and stop looking at Lebanon through sectarian eyes. I personally don’t much care for a National unity Cabinet, I like to see a Cabinet made up of an alliance that can work together rather than be a place of perpetual argument and lack of action.

[tommy]

The good guys may need to take this quiet war into Syria and ensure that some of Assad's own people wind up meeting Eido's fate. Assad and his family should not be immune from violence.

[ghassan karam]

Sorry guys, but if assassinations and murder is bad when committed by others then it must be doubly wrong when it is committed by us. The justice delivered by an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is no justice at all.

[tommy]

Sorry guys, but if assassinations and murder is bad when committed by others then it must be doubly wrong when it is committed by us. The justice delivered by an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is no justice at all.

Then you'll have your principles. You just won't have a country.

[Ace]

I have to say that I agree with Ghassan - 'do onto others' is not the way. I'm not at all sure what 'the way' is but I think it has something to do with 'standing up and saying enough!' There is a Government - weak as it is, this Government has options and Constitutionality behind it - it's time to take back the country. This can only be done if the majority of the citizens support it. The 64 dollar question is ... do they?

[Charlie]

Ghassan,

Defending one's self and killing the enemy during a war by any means possible is not exactly a murder. That evil regime in Syria is in an open state of war with Lebanon and for that they should be made a target!

[ghassan karam]

tommy,
i would much rather have principles and no country rather than a country and no principles. No noble end may ever be achieved through immoral means.

[tommy]

When Sinioria wept for Lebanon during the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, I knew he was a weakling. He remains a weakling who's talk will vacillate between banter about peaceful solutions and empty threats of insufficient responses even while the chinless ophthalmologist of Damascus cackles and plots the deaths of even more members of the anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon. You are in a rough neighborhood. Better act like it.

[tommy]

i would much rather have principles and no country rather than a country and no principles.

And you may very well find yourself with no country.

No noble end may ever be achieved through immoral means.

It's a great platitude, but in the real world it doesn't count for much, Ghassan. The truth is actually the opposite: very few noble ends in history have been accomplished immaculately. In World War II, America and Britain played the role of the "good guys" against the likes of Nazi Germany. We still firebombed Dresden. Was it our greatest ethical moment? No. Was the war against Nazi Germany a good thing? Absolutely. Likewise, during Prohibition, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables battled Al Capone in Chicago. They sometimes beat up suspects, as did most American cops in those days. Was Eliot Ness a lot better than the corruptible cops of his era? He sure was. Was he perfectly ethical by today's standards in law enforcement? Nope. Was he as bad as Al Capone because he and his people beat up the occasional criminal suspect? No way.