What now?

You know the situation is desperate when the man investigating unsolvable crimes is mysteriously assassinated in broad daylight. Desperate situations call for desperate measures, yet those measures are no where in sight. The killing machine continues unabated, amid useless condemnations and grandiose and meaningless announcements about the future of the country.

Very few of us knew Wissam Eid. He worked in the police’s intelligence unit, reportedly in counterterrorism. Terrorism in Lebanon is the nickname for acts sponsored by Syrian intelligence, and their contractors in the fundamentalist world. Wissam was probably involved in Lebanon’s “war on terror”, which, mind you, was never officially declared.

Lebanon has been under direct attack since 2004. Local and regional players have been redrawing its political map through assassinations and intimidation campaigns. At present, the country has no functioning government, no president, and the cabinet has been made to look like an enemy entity. Even the ISF, whose badge Eid carried, was called a “militia” by the likes of Aoun and his friends in the Iranian-guided fundamentalist militia.

It’s ironic that this assassination comes after a Hizbullah media campaign accusing March 14 of trying to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah. Eid’s assassination validates the opposite: Nasrallah’s opponents are being liquidated. If there is anyone planning murder, it’s Nasrallah and his buddies, who have sanctioned the murder of anyone who dared to oppose the takeover of the country—be that Syria, Iran or their fundamentalist loonies.

If you browse Lebanese news today, you’ll read about March 14’s candidate, Michel Suleiman, once a friend of Syria and now in limbo mode,  phoning Bashar Assad and some Syrian army general. I cannot imagine what Suleiman, who insists on publicly clearing Assad of any wrongdoings in Lebanon, must have had to say to his former employer in the Syrio-Lebanese state that existed prior to March 14th, 2005. I also cannot imagine that anyone would regard the call as appropriate. Suleiman claims neutrality, and that he is still fulfilling the role of an army commander. How many army commanders do you know assume the role of the executive authority and call presidents of enemy states?

Speaking of the inappropriate, how many parliament speakers do you know prevent dialogue in the parliament their people entrusted them with, and offer to mediate in a conflict between foreign entities? Nabih Berri, if you missed the news, has offered to mediate between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza. The man who specializes in time-buying for the Assad regime, is branching out to neighboring countries.

Murder has been profitable in our country, and in the region. No one is going after the killers—their harshest punishment to date took the form of “initiatives” and “dialogue”. Lebanon, once again, is where anything goes, a free killing zone sanctioned by its enemies, and by friends who talk too much and do nothing.

Comments

[Andre]

Welcome back AK. I wish I really knew the answer to your headline question. It almost seems as if we are destined to live in anarchy and still hope that by some miracle someone will save us, only to realize after it's too late that no one can do for us what we are unwilling to do for ourselves.

[Hassan]

I think this would be very appropriate today:
Remarks of Senator Robert F. Kennedy on April 5, 1968 after the assassination of MLK.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/RFK/138RFK3SEN21SPEECHES_68APR05.htm

[Solomon2]

Corrected:

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches
/RFK/Statement+on+the+Assassination+of+Martin+Luther+King.htm

Quote:

"...you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization...

"Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love...

"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country"

The shadow of Arab terror first fell upon the West a year later when RFK himself was assasinated by Sirhan Sirhan, who felt betrayed by the Senator's support of Israel.

MLK's killer died in prison, and RFK's may well do the same. The United States of 1967 was a country where people could be fairly certain that the perpetrator of a political murder would be hunted down, captured, tried, and convicted to rot in jail for a generation. It's no wonder, then, that the U.S. remained relatively free of civil strife.

Lebanon today is none of these things. What choices does Lebanon have? More properly, will Lebanese choose to act any differently now that one man who certainly was working to make a difference is no more?

[Super Dude]

A practical question at this point, if I may, one that has been asked by BV a trillion times before: what does it take to close the fucking Syrian border?

Are the Lebanese so fucked up in their brains that they consider the price of 'banadoura' more important than their own country?

If their country is not that important, the solution is easy. Syria should issue 4.5 million Syrian passports and voilà.

Fucking Sanioura is worried about the Palestinians and wimp Sleimen calling junior to shower him with kisses.

[Ex-Aounist]

Since 2005 and especially after July 2006 the opposition accused the ISF (counter-terrorism officers and Internal security ) of being hariri 's men ( also Fatfat's REMEMBER THE TEA ISSUE ????) accusing them also of being Israeli and all their SECTARIAN " HAKKEN " and they even accused them of helping fatah aleslam to counter balance shiit HIzbullies (remember naher al bared/red lines/Abssi-)!
Now the head of investigation in General Hajj's killing is a MARTYR ...why am I not surprised ????

Like all those killed by Syria and her INTERNAL SPIES, AGENTS who are LEBANESE TRAITORS...Should I say more ?? ...THE I.T. IS THEIR END and they are seing it coming hence I would like to add, what Johnny Abdo heralded following the death of MP Ghanem:
"As long as Syria's friends within are covering for it and finding excuses, expect from now on an attack each month and even less!"
HIZBULLIES ARE UP TO ITS NECK in ALL THE MURDERS THAT TOOK PLACE SINCE 2005, along with the Kwmieh, KANSO and his twit brother and their BAAS, Wahad ..and all the small filth in M8traitors! ONE WAY or the other, while that cl-aoun is MORALLY RESPONSIBLE As WELL!

I have been told that the late Wissam Eid discovered who prepared the assassination of the General Francois el Hajj, and 2 ISF Agents who themselves BOUGHT THE CAR and are SPIES ( OF MANY )working for HIZBULLIES inside the ISF,( just ask how many are there in teh Army eh ???)and close to the late Hajj ( and here I am not talking shiaa, I am talking MONEY , Iranian MONEY which Bought OTV and so on and so forth it can buy many others from different sects) besides we all know who vetoed the late general Francois Hajj promotion as the Army Gerneral to be after Suleiman, why ? he trampled Nassiallah red lines and did what his PATRIOTIC FIBER ordered him to do!
The old Lebanese Adage goes " doud el khal mennou wa feeh" THE ISF and ARMY need Overhauling and purging from traitors and Hizbullies spies, the whole country WON'T REST as long as HizbTZ is armed, alive and kicking. or should I say .....killing ...when orders comes from Ass-ad or ahmedisejjad !

ENOUGH condemnation from the whole world we need them to grow some balls, or we need those impotants in M14 to grow some, elect suleiman or other with 50 + 1 and come what may, I do not think hizbtz are stupid enough to jeopardize their RAISON D'ETRE as RESISTANCE and use their arms internally, the rest of the bunch are roaches and can be taken either by the army ( in case of riots ) or by the M14ers...enough TALKING Let those in Grand SERAGLIO be as GRAND and COURAGEOUS enough is enough...US and FRANCE won't move a finger against syria or Iran ...Israeli interests cross with both these 2 rogue countries...need I remind you teh best shield for Syria is Israel ...it is up to M14 either they do or THEY DIE...one after the other ...and BYE BYE Lebanon ....

[Bad Vilbel]

Can someone just drop some kinda H-bomb on that whole region and maybe we can start from scratch? This is utterly hopeless.

[JoseyWales]

Sick, tired, disgusted and bored.

Capt. Eid RIP.

Saniora, Sleimane, Nasrallah, Berri, Aoun, Wahab and all the rest, EFSFAD (Eat Fucking Shit and Fucking Die).

For the millionth time: what must fucking happen for martial law or emergency powers to be enacted??????????

Search everyone, shut down TV stations and sucky papers, and shoot at "protesters" for a start.

[JAS]

Take pictures of Lebanese traitors eating candy in response to assassinations, post their pictures on billboards and walls everywhere. Ditto for tent city occupants. Paste those photos over their leaders portraits. Make the imbeciles infamous on every street corner in Lebanon.

[Bad Vilbel]

I echo Josey and JAS' sentiment. But I really have no hope that the sheeple would get it, even then. Seriously, the whole place needs to be wiped off the map. Is there a way to start over? Like a reboot? Lebanon 2.0? With a fresh new set of people, imported from some place where they don't have sectarian baggage and where idiocy does not run in the gene pool?

[The Other Tony]

I still do not get it and I am saying this as objectively as I possibly can - March 14 has not made the tough decisions which it needs to out of fear that the country will descend into chaos as a result......damn it, the country has been slowly descending into chaos for a couple of years now and anything short of total capitulation to Syria's demands will not stop this path to total destruction!!! There is no point taking the moral high ground because it is not going to help save Lebanon!!!

[Hassan]

Thanks for the second link Solomon, my intention though is to share the speech given on April 5th, the day following the assassination.

[Fawzan]

I had a feeling this was going to happen a few days ago and in fact left a note on this blog a couple of posts back!

Next: Amr Mousa will not be returning to Lebanon any more. Message received. Watch King Abdulla become the next Sheikh el Qabila to try and find a solution where non will be found.

[Bad Vilbel]

Indeed Fawzan,

You did correctly predict this. Then again, it wasn't that hard to predict. We've all seen this coming for some time now.

Apparently, it's easier to "see" and "get it" when you're a Lebanese blogger in the US with some perspective. The people back home seem too busy with their bickering about minutiae to see the big picture.

[JAS]

BV:

The "I Love" billboard campaign in Lebanon was no doubt heartfelt. A similar billboard campaign explicitly showing blown-up (no pun intended) photos of participants blocking streets, burning tires, sitting in tent city, passing out candy after assassinations, etc., would bring the responsibility of those individuals’ activities close to home—which is where it has been all along. Or, imagine newspaper editions without words—but instead with only full page enlarged photos.

Sure, the billboards would not be good for tourism...but does that really matter anymore?? Until Lebanese actually take individual responsibility for their own actions not much will change anyway.

[Tallouza]

Divide and conquer...be it in Palestine...Lebanon...Iraq...and so on. The people are the ultimate losers. The only winners are the true enemies of the Arabs, and they are not limited to Israel alone. May the souls of all the fallen martyrs rest in peace, and may our beloved Lebanon live in the prosperity and peace that it and its wonderful people deserve. For whatever it is worth, the events in Lebanon won't deter me from coming to Beirut, enjoying Beirut, and loving Beirut more and more.

[Jeha]

AK,

I fear I know the answer; "What Now?", well, More of the same. M14 time buying, M8 incompetence, French and European stupidity maybe augmented by new mistakes, led by the Germans this time, and Arab uselessness, unless they decide to boycott the Damascus conference... And the Americans? They've got their busy sign on the door, so on't call till another guy is in the white house.

I hope whoever the Americans will choose will not be like this John Wayne wannabe, all hat, no cattle... Yes, I am banking on McCain.

[R]

Jeha, you took the words right out of my mouth...

[JoseyWales]

Notice the response to all these crimes and events, by the pols, the press and people:

They all ask : "what is the message?" instead of "how can it be stopped?".

The latter question is IMPLICITLY set aside until ???? we have a prez? the parliament opens? IT?? That is totally WRONG.

Like when all other pressing issues are/were put on the backburner until, you know: the Pali question is resolved, there's peace in the region, there's a new US prez, my aunt grows a pair of balls and becomes my uncle etc

They are killing you people and you are all asleep at the switch, starting with the funeral-director-in-chief, useless fuck. and Gaza-protector Saniora.

You're staying to protect the country?? Then fucking do something!!

Measures are NEEDED YESTERDAY, regardless of prez election, border shit, and US election you idiots. If a reaction is feared, well what's worse than the descent to the next circle of hell, you freaks?

[marillionlb]

Re-posting a comment I placed on Mustapha's page.

Finally the tone of discussion is getting more heated, maybe now is the time for all of us to stop hiding behind our little finger and actually admit that the root of all evil (and the cause of all the suffering we are being inflicted with) is primarily HIZBOLLAH .
Stop pinning all your hopes on the International Tribunal, it will not solve the Lebanese problem (nor will it ever shade the light on Hizbullah’s involvement in any of the assassinations, for political reasons). I would like to point towards a text I re-published early this week entitled “remembering Hizbollah”. (http://forabetterlebanon.blogspot.com/).
And yes the time is for action, to organize ourselves, and to claim (peacefully if we still can) back our presidency and institutions; if we remain passive (like we have done so far) we only get what we deserve.
Enough with outdated slogans such as “wifak watani”, “watani” has been kidnapped by the mullahs and those turban wearing thugs. If we ever want to regain our country and bring it back to what it was; we have to start in-house with ousting the Hizb and ALL it’s followers.
Call me a crazy despot, a 3amil, or anything else for that matter I do not care; I for one do not see any other solution.
To all those who died protecting my country I am for ever grateful!

[Joseywales]

Marillion is right, it's Hezbollah/Muqawameh.

At a primary level, beyond the morons who run the country, the underlying IDEOLOGY, stated or not, is the SOURCE of the problem.

If you put MUQAWAMEH at the heart of things and in your legal documents (bayan wizari), there are CONSEQUENCES, namely you have given free reign to an power outside/above the state.

Same with Cairo 69 (same when our army spreads the view that Syria/muqawameh is co-equal, or above, the army itself).

When you ingrain those ideas in you legal docs and in your own idiotic propaganda, its' hard to fight or reverse the nightmare, to say the least.

[Lira]

People who speak of ousting Hezbollah should actually speak more of "how" they plan to do that...

[Fawzan]

The reality is that there is no easy or viable solution internally. And anyone looking inside Lebanon for a solution is wrong and misguided.

I have always advocated and will continue to call for taking the fight to the real enemy. We have got to pore money equipment and man power into destabalizing Syria and moving the bulls-eye from M14 to Syrian regime. We don't have to be illegal about it. By supporting internal elements to the level that they can become active and effective in dealing body blows to the regime, we can deflect the pressure from Lebanon and make the battle ground Damascus where it should be.

I don't see why we are not doing this. I don't see what is keeping us from affecting agitation and beginning the procss of egime change in Syria. It is the ONLY solution.

[Joseywales]

Fawzan et al,

Before declaring war on Syria, how about:

-Searching, arresting and executing all sorts holding explosives (even if that excludes the Hezbo/Muqawameh for now). I.e, Islamists and Syrian Nationalists, Wiam Wahab types??

How about providing info and updates on the different investigations, to the public the UN the Arab League etc... before all judges and detectives are killed??

How about cracking down on the border and Syrian workers, we'll feel pain but and so will Syria??

How about pulling out of the Arab League if it does not expel or sanction Syria?

After that you can justifiably and credibly go to the next level.

The current assholes can't even take a small step.

[Don Cox]

"The only winners are the true enemies of the Arabs, and they are not limited to Israel alone." ____ Israel is hardly an enemy of the Arabs, it just wants to be left alone. The big enemies of the Arabs are Muslims, not Jews.

[Bad Vilbel]

1) To the idiot back there: The biggest enemy of the Arabs are the Arabs. Make no mistake about it.

2) (And is relates to (1) and to what Josey And Marillion just said. Something I posted on Mustapha's blog with regards to the "protests" 2 days ago. But it's relevant to this whole "arabs" nonesense.

I find it odd that people are protesting economic hardships against the government and not against those who started a destructive war that cost billions in dollars, and losses in tourism. Or those who paralyze all the state institutions. Or those who paralyze downtown Beirut. Or those who close the border to incoming imports of food. Or those who burn tires and prevent people from getting to work and earning a living.

I find it odd.

The Lebanese people are stupid, apparently. Here’s a newsflash, folks: As long as you promote a culture of instability, death, martyrdom, resistance, and as long as you prevent the institutions from working, and law and order from prevailing, you WILL incur economic hardship.
Nothing brings economic prosperity like stability, a functional state, peace with your neighbours, and a civil, democratic way of resolving differences at the polls.
Nothing brings hardship and unemployment quicker than war, resistance, paralyzed institutions, lack of law and order, and burning tires.

And the Lebanese have proven to the world that they value resitance, muqawameh, instability, and childish bickering over economic prosperity. The Lebanese (and the Arab mentality in general) of promoting a culture of martyrdom, death, war, and destruction over economic well being, education, healthcare, law and order, has proven over the years, that we Lebanese, and we Arabs, are about the biggest idiots and self-destructive race that ever evolved from apes...and i use "evolve" with a grain of salt here.

We like to think (in our infinite racist wisdom) that we're smarter than the westerners, and better than the asians and the africans (those of you who are Lebanese know what I'm talking about, let's be honest about it here)...We look down on the Sri Lankans, and the Somalis....pompous know it all assholes that we are...I got news for you, dumbasses: Lebanon is probably one of the worst failures of a state the modern world has ever seen. We rank well behind Vietnam, Kenya or the former Yugoslavia, and alongside such utter laughing stocks as Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Somalia.

So you keep on talking about your Resistance, and your honor, and chanting your "b-rooh, be'd dam.." while the rest of the world laughs.

[Fawzan]

Sorry Joseywales I don't see ehy your ideas should come before we tackle the real issue. All these devices and their users are managed from Syria. We know who killed all the politicians in M14: Syria. The rest of your suggestions relate to - guess what - Syria! So let's stop beating about the bush. Let's take the fight to where all the operations are being directed from. Syria!

You don't affect the outcome of a stagnent battle by putting more into that battle. You afect it by opening another front that requires the enemy to pull resources or focus elsewhere. When we destabilize Syria, they will have no time to focus on us and they will be saying: "Message received". The only way to size down a bully is to kick him where it hurts. IN THE BALLS. In Damascus. Target Assad or his close people. FU@K Enough of this "cry baby" stuff and "let's disarm HA". It is more operational to get a kick in the balls of Damascus than to disarm HA now. We can't wait. We need action to set Syria back NOW. NOW NOW NOW NOW. This last action MUST not go unaswered.

[JoseyWales]

Fawzan,

You need to go to step-one before step-15.

1) You have to live with reality, half the morons in Lebanon think Syria is innocent and these morons are armed and dangerous.

2) You have to build strength and support domestically before you act aggressively.

3) Who's gonna order destabilization in Syria? Fucking Saniora or Wafik Jezzini or kiss-ass Sleimane?? Bwahahahahaaaa

[Hassan]

Hat tip BV.

[Fawzan]

No One has to order anthing Josey. We need to start a fund to fund the Syrian resistance and arm them with what they need. Explosives, weapons etc... Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon as well as Iraq of course have poroius borders with Syria, or so they keep saying so if weapons are going from Syria to these places, weapons can travel the other way. I am sure there are enough people in Syria who want the Regime to change. They need to be supported Internationally and pushed to act. The US and western countries should be supporting this NOW!

[marillionlb]

Take heed for this is going to be relatively long (sorry AK for overcrowding your space, it is more frequented than mine).
Neither Cairo 69, nor the “bayan wizari” are the only cock ups our consecutive governments should be held accountable for (and yes I am a fervent adept that us Lebanese hold much of the blame. I am trying to redeem myself). 138000 (or so) shed their blood, (unfortunately in vain) so that their relatives can now live the nightmare of a bigger threat that of “wilayat al fakih, and not the”tawteen”. “Tawheed al massareyn” was shoved down our throats as the sword of Damocles was being waved above our heads; and what did we do? NOTHING, we kept on singing that song (and we still do).
At the risk of being crude (and quite frankly I don’t care) we Lebanese have a history of complaining and blaming the government (no matter what color the government had at that time) for not providing to the people. On the other hand we never declared true income, never paid our dues and always relied on “wasta” (and this applies on the simplest facets of daily life). Moving forward in order to keep this as short as possible, we inherited from the 15 years of civil war this aptitude to follow slogans that always began with “bil rouh bil damm nifdik ya”…etc; and the only blood that was ever shed was that of our family members and friends (some of us were lucky enough to escape with a few scars). Did we ever learn that we could never cash those slogans? NO WE DIDN’T!
Here we are today (after this agreement that supposedly put an end to our struggles and paved the way towards the new republic) paying the price of what was then the Arab way of evading the Palestinian problem , and the interest of every single bankers cheque our dear leaders were handed at Taef. And still every single (sold out, and they are all sold out) politician talks about “sakf al Taef”. Would anyone with half a brain actually believe that a bunch of despots (sandal wearing) morons can resolve the problems of a nation their people use to envy and seek refuge in?
I am trying my best to be as respectful as possible towards those who hold a Lebanese identity (but are not Lebanese) therefore I will refrain from going into literacy ratios and siblings (and wives) per family. I will only state that those who now adhere to Hizb, are those who since the first republic were a burden on our society (feel free to crucify me for this statement). Those are the same people who go on daily trips to Syria to buy their supplies and then complain that they cannot flog their agricultural (amongst other produce they grow) products on the local market (except for booby trapped cars).
Close the border with our dear sister in the north, with what it entails for Lebanese imports (this is a struggle for survival).
Lebanon is a founding member of the UN; lodge an official complaint against Syria’s misdeeds for the past 30 years.
Ask for compensation for all the moneys that Syria siphoned from Lebanon throughout the years (and no the 40 Billion in debt are not the direct cause of Solidere).
Do not fear confrontation with the Hizb, for if this day will ever come they will no longer be able to claim that they are a MOUKAWAMEH.

[abu yussif]

just curious, does anyone know where there is a list of assassinations of public figures in lebanon and what their party or group association was since, say, israel's withdrawal from lebanese soil? i'm curious to see what the breakdown is.

[fubar]

(Naharnet) Protestors blocked the road near Mar Mekhail church in Beirut's Shiyah district with burning tires around 4 pm and gunshots could be heard in the vicinity.

TV footage showed Lebanese army troops trying to disperse the protestors who tossed stones at soldiers, wounding one.

Security sources said Amal Movement official Ahmed Hassan Hamzeh, who was among the protestors, was killed. A number of people also weree wounded.

They said Hamzeh, 35, who was in charge of Hay Moawwad neighborhood, was taken to Sahel hospital.

[fubar]

(Naharnet) Riots spread around 5:30 pm to the airport highway, where protestors blocked the main road with burning tires.

[fubar]

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Four Lebanese opposition supporters were shot dead in Beirut on Sunday during protests against power cuts, raising tensions in a country gripped by a political crisis.

Protests spread after the killing of an activist from the pro-Syrian Amal movement. The army had fired into the air to disperse the initial demonstration, but it was not clear who had killed the Amal member.

The protesters used blazing tires to block several main roads, including the highway to Beirut airport.

Three more people, two of them close to the pro-Syrian Hezbollah, were shot dead in ensuing violence, security sources said. Hezbollah and Amal are the largest Shi'ite Muslim groups in Lebanon.

Thirteen more people were wounded in the worst violence in Beirut since clashes a year ago between supporters of the anti-Syrian governing coalition and its Damascus-backed rivals.

Heavy gunfire was heard and gunmen were seen in nearby Shi'ite Muslim and Christian streets.

Amal, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, called on its followers to halt the protests.

"We have no link to this action. We call on people not to react. We call on them to pull out of the streets," senior Amal official Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters. Hezbollah, which leads the opposition alliance, used loudspeakers to urge calm.

[Bad Vilbel]

Marillion,

Good post. I share much of that sentiment. And yes, we Lebanese are the ones to blame, first and foremost. That's exactly what I've been repeating ad nauseam for some time now.

Now look at these protests today...More idiots coming out of Dahieh (Surprise), and firing at police and army. Someone tell me, whatever happened to "we're all behind the army" and all those slogans people were chanting during the Nahr El Bared episode? Apparently, some Lebanese have no problem firing on the army...Good to know. I hope the troops and their officers REMEMBER that, next time they're afraid of confronting Hezballah in the name of avoiding civil war.

Secondly, howcome everytime there's some kind of assassination or incident, Nassrallah finds a way to blame the US and Israel (even when the victims are M14) and exhonerate Syria...Yet when the trouble comes out of Dahieh, no one seems to do the same? I want someone to step up and use some of Nassrallah's medicine on the Hezballah crowds. I want someone to come out and say "All these people coming out of dahieh and burning tires and shooting at the army must be Israeli agents trying to destabilize Lebanon and further the American plan." (isn't that the kind shit Nassrallah would say?)

See how them sheeple in Dahieh like being accused of being Israelis....Lord knows they seem to think everything else is the fault of Israel...Right?

Bleh. Once more: What's it going to take to declare Martial Law? Close the borders and start a proper clean up campaign?

[Ruling Class.]

R. Fisk once said: "The People of he Middle East want a different kind of freedom, they want the freedom from us" (us being the westerners and our interests).
As long as there is still one single drop of energy resources between the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to the western borders of Afghanistan, the Middle East will never settle down. Worth mentioning that what happens internally in Lebanon is part of the great plan but zoomed into it to its minute’s details?
The people of that Middle East (The Lebanese in particular) hope that their struggle will end by the last drop of petrol. Well it is a sad fact to know that it will not end as for the next resource to fight and kill over is Fresh Water.
Look at the region (include as well what is happening in Lebanon since 2004) from the perspective of a ruling class member and things will clear up and the picture is popping out!

[Bruno Mota]

The perspective of the ruling class entails taking for granted that the 'locals' in Lebanon and the ME have no agency of their own, that no leave falls anywhere without Western acquiescence, and that the sun shines out the pale asses of the likes of RC.

[Jay]

Power in the hands of the weak and evil-minded corrupts and in the case of the terrorists HA it's no different. HA foolishly thinks that their resolve and might is made of steel while the rest of the Lebanese made of less sturdy substance. If they only knew...

They are foolish to think we will fold under such cowardly and thugs-like tactics. Our free spirit withstood and survived the mayhem of the brutal Syrian regime for over 30 years. If HA is really itching for a fight then make no mistake every free Lebanese is ready to confront them, otherwise they should keep their hounds in their backward alleys on a very short leach.