The glory of disunity

While it's not rare to witness disunity among Arab states-- indeed seeking "Arab unity" is often an exercise in absurdity-- it is refreshing to see this disunity playing out at this level. After Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco will reportedly send low ranking officials to attend the "Arab solidarity" summit in Damascus alongside the lonely (and very angry) thug.   

London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on Wednesday quoted Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa as saying that “countries that do not attend the summit will regret it,” without elaborating.

Like some of you out there, I have never been a fan of Arab gatherings. The Arab League, as an organization, would do its members a greater service if it were turned into an organ for economic cooperation, as opposed to fake political unity that consistently fails the test of history and reality. One almost feels sorry for Amr Moussa, stuck defending notions that never existed. The Arab initiative was doomed to failure for many reasons, one being the Damascus regime's intransigence. However, it also failed because it came from the Arab League, a vessel for inaction and looking backwards, that the Syrian regime used to justify its support for terrorism, in the name of common causes and the so called "Arab solidarity".   

Allow me to gloat as I witness the increased isolation of Bashar and his pals. Many of us thought they would never see the day when a Lebanese government would boycott an Arab summit on principle. While many other principles still need to be defended at home, mainly the one called rule of law, there is hope that the international tribunal will breathe some of that back into the country. Next month, the tribunal that will hopefully try the killers of the Lebanese potential will start.  It is too early to say "at last", but this tribunal, as the boycott did, can, at least psychologically, empower both those who fought for Lebanon, and those who almost gave up.

Comments

[fed up lebo]

can someone explain to me why Aoun and co opposed the boycott. what are his reasons for doing so. and not that he is a lunatic please

[danny]

fub,
Aoun had suggested a "boycott" last week...He suggested that Lebanon not participate. However, boycott means that his "illegitimate" government exists. Do not try to make sense of Aoun's blurts! He changes and regurgitates what his new master "mouallem" says in Syria. Have you heard him support ANY action or idea proposed by March 14? He is a megalomaniac.

Correct AK...the screws are being tightened. We are witnessing a historic change in Arab attitude; one that is away from BS arabism crap and more focused on pragmatic and realistic goals and ideas...We have looooong way to go but it is a start.
Bashar is feeling the heat...I hope it will be very eventful and dramatic 12 months that the middle east will witness. Iran is already trying to flex its muscels in Basra. If Mehdis crushed like they were in Najaf a few years ago, it goes a long way in telling them Iraq can stand on its own!!

[Abilama]

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 26 March '08:"A Summit Only in Name",Osama Al Sharif
"Arab Summit... is already doomed to
failure"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
It is a sad fact that the fate of the Arab Summit, scheduled to be held in
Damascus next week, is already doomed to failure. The absence of key Arab
leaders from this annual event can only be interpreted as a political
indictment of the host country over its policies, especially in Lebanon. Few
observers pin high hopes on its outcome and, in light of the tenuous
regional reality, the event will add to the sense of gloom and despair
permeating through the Arab world today.
It is a summit only in name, with many Arab leaders choosing to skip the
event and opting to send deputies. The message is clear but Syria has chosen
to take the risk of organizing a botched event rather than yielding to Arab
demands over Lebanon. If anything, the Syrian position reflects on its own
internal predicament and the way it sees looming challenges.. . .
From Syria's vantage point, the view is ominous. ... Its special
relationship with Tehran does not endear it to moderate Arab states nor to
the West. And by giving refuge to Hamas political leadership, it is accused
of taking sides in the ongoing internal Palestinian rift.. . .There is
much skepticism among the public over the viability of Arab Summits.. .
.The question that must be asked now is what follows the ritual convening of
the Arab Summit in Damascus? Barring a miraculous breakthrough, the event
will further cripple Arab collaboration in face of regional and
international challenges. The organization has failed to respond to crises,
whether in Gaza, Darfur, Somalia or Iraq. The fault, to quote Shakespeare,
is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

[Bad Vilbel]

My favorite quote du jour comes courtesy of Fares Soueid (via Naharnet), while reading a memorandum from March14 about the Arab Summit.

He starts off pretty well:

"The ruling March 14 coalition on Thursday proclaimed the Damascus summit a failure and called on Syria to recognize Lebanon's independence and sovereignty.
"We call on Syria to recognize Lebanon's independence and sovereignty," said a memorandum by March 14 Forces addressed to Arab leaders due to meet in Damascus on Saturday.

"Any restoration of (Lebanon-Syria) relations should take into consideration Lebanon's interests," said the memorandum read by former MP Faris Soeid.

And then....of course, in typical Lebanese fashion of tying everything to the "Zionist enemy", we get this doozy:

The memorandum accused the Syrian regime of serving "one way or the other the wicked Israeli-Iranian alliance.

Now, I'll give you a couple of minutes to laugh...

Ok. Still laughing?

*waits for laughter to die down*

Apparently, the words "Israeli" or "Zionist" seem to be the ONLY way Lebanese politicians know to say "bad". Not only does this use of "Israeli" as a synonym for "bad" in ANY context (including ones that makes absolutely no sense) make the person uttering it seem stupid (not that we need much proof of that), but it's also demeaning to the audience (The Lebanese people). Granted, I've called the Lebanese people idiots and sheeple before, but in my eyes, statements from politicians that insist on using the Zionist card no matter the context are far worse. Not unlike GW Bush's use of the word "Terrorism" in the past 8 years, it shows a complete disdain for the audience's intellect. It makes you realize these politicians talk to us the way a parent patronizes a 5-year old. It adopts a worldview where there are no shades of grey, just good and evil, us and them. Anything that's "bad" has to involve Israel. Israel is given status of supernatural bogeyman and the Jewish people are indirectly turned into some mythical creatures and demons from an underworld, or some other planet.

[Meghwar]

Muallem: Syria is First Sufferer of Lebanon Crisis
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Thursday that Damascus is the first sufferer of the Lebanon crisis and the first to benefit from its stability.
"We support security and stability in Lebanon," Muallem said during the opening of the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Damascus ahead of the weekend Arab summit.
*****************************************
I am Sure that the following .....Caused, still causes and WILL ALWAYS Cause Syria The Worst amount of Suffering :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp5MPypQPZM

:D

[Bad Vilbel]

Will the masturbation ever cease?

"Head of the UN Special Tribunal Daniel Bellemare has announced an unnamed “criminal network” was behind the Hariri assassination and suspects the network acted out the subsequent chain of assassinations."

You've got to be kidding me. Right? 3 years later, 3 "special investigators" later, they still keep putting out reports that are completely devoid of substance, names or anything meaningful. The Hariri assassination was the work of "Criminal Network". You don't say!!!! Really???? As opposed to the non-criminals who run around assassinating politicians???
I wonder if Bellmare's report also covers such astounding revelations as the sky being blue, the earth revolving around the sun, or the UN still being, at least check, as useless as the Arab League.

Stop the presses! Big scoop! A "criminal network" is behind the Hariri assassination!

[danny]

Either this a great misdirection Or we all are being set up to be told that Chaker Absi killed hariri and the others!!!

[Jeha]

Good one, BV.

What comes to mind when one listens to all those Intellectual stalwarts of the "secular" Arab world today. I guess we need our own Sokal to come and shake things up in this waste of neurons.

[Abilama]

Friday, March 28, 2008
Excerpts: Hizbullah's Nasrallah Truce rejection 28 March 2008

Excerpts: Hizbullah's Nasrallah Truce rejection 28 March 2008

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 27,March '08:"The Islamists really are true
believers"By Michael Young,Opinion Editor
QUOTE:"Over the yearsacademics,
journalists,and others, particularly the Westerners, among them who write
about militant Islamist groups, have tended to project their own liberal
attitudes and desires onto such groups, misrepresenting their intentions
and largely ignoring what these groups say about themselves"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
Recently, we've heard Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah, pick up on a theme dear to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It goes something like this, to borrow from Nasrallah's speech last Monday
(24 March) commemorating Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's operations chief: "Now
we are left with one question: Will Israel cease to exist one day? ... Yes
... Israel will cease to exist."
Nasrallah has often mentioned Israel's eventual evaporation. In 1992,
following his appointment as head of Hizbullah, he described the party's
long-term strategy as "fighting against Israel and liberating Jerusalem, as
well as Imam Khomeini's proposal - namely ending Israel as a state."
But the more interesting question, ... is whether Nasrallah himself
believes what he says. And then to ask what this tells us about armed
Islamist movements located in Israel's neighborhood.
... Nasrallah actually does mean what he says, and has been saying it with
considerable consistency for quite a long time.
. . .Why is the topic important? Because over the years academics,
analysts, journalists, and others, particularly the Westerners among them,
who write about militant Islamist groups, have tended to project their own
liberal attitudes and desires onto such groups, misinterpreting their
intentions and largely ignoring what these groups say about themselves.
Inasmuch as most such observers cannot really fathom the totalitarian strain
in the aims and language of armed Islamists, totalitarian in the sense of
pursuing a total idea, total in its purity, they cannot accept that the
total idea can also be apocalyptic. Where Nasrallah and the leaders of Hamas
will repeat that Israel's elimination is a quasi-religious duty, the
sympathetic Westernized observer, for whom the concept of elimination is
intolerable, will think much more benignly in terms of well-intentioned
"bargaining." Hamas and Hizbullah are pragmatic, they will argue, so that
their statements and deeds are only leverage to achieve specific political
ends that, once attained, will allow a return to harmonious equilibrium.
This argument, so tirelessly made, is tiresomely irrelevant. No one has
seriously suggested that Hizbullah or Hamas are not pragmatic. But one can
be pragmatic in the means and not in the ends. If anything, pragmatism is
obligatory in the pursuit of an absolute idea. And what characterizes those
pursuing the absolute idea? In his essay "Terror and Liberalism", Paul
Berman provides a partial answer, writing how French author Albert Camus
noticed that out of the French Revolution and the 19th century had grown a
modern impulse to rebel. That impulse, Berman wrote, "mutated into a cult of
death. And the ideal was always the same. It was not skepticism and doubt.
It was the ideal of submission ... it was the ideal of the one, instead of
the many. The ideal of something godlike. The total state, the total
doctrine, the total movement."

Hizbullah and Hamas are themselves products of rebellion - rebellion against
what they took and still take to be a foul, unjust political order in
Lebanon or Palestine or the Middle East in general. That drive has,
naturally, even necessarily, pushed them to advocate the absolute negation
of everything embodying that allegedly unjust order. Their motivating force
is submission to the pursuit of the just idea, and this goes to the very
heart of Islam itself, indeed denotes its very meaning, which is based on
the embrace of total submission to God. Nasrallah may rarely employ
religious terminology, but everything about the way he structures his
thoughts, contentions, or vows reflects a deeply religious mindset.
One thing eternally confusing outside observers is that Hamas and Hizbullah
are what have come to be described as "nationalist Islamists." Because
nationalism started essentially as a Western notion, because its reference
point is something reassuringly tangible like territory, not Armageddon, the
Westernized writer will see something of himself or herself in such
Islamists groups, and will resort to the terminology of modern nationalism
to describe their actions. Hizbullah liberated South Lebanon, Hamas is
trying to do the same in Palestine; their goals are no different than those
of courageous patriots everywhere who have fought against foreign
occupation. ...
But what the observers won't grasp is that nationalism does not necessarily
disqualify religion; time and again the two have advanced hand in hand, even
in unlikely settings. ... when Hamas describes the land of Palestine as an
endowment handed down from God ... is it not terribly naive to suppose that
the group's refusal to recognize Israel is just a ploy to strengthen its
hand for a Camp David II or III?
One has to be careful in reading the statements of Islamist groups - or any
political group for that matter. The flexibility of tactics counts for much.
When Nasrallah argues that he will continue negotiating with Israel for the
release of Arab prisoners, he's temporarily replacing his long-term
undertaking to hasten Israel's demise with short-term gain. Ultimately,
Hizbullah may fail in making Israel vanish, but it's what Hizbullah and
Hamas say about themselves, the way they define their aspirations, that
determines their behavior. For outside observers to ignore or reinterpret
their words in order to justify a personal weakness for these groups'
revolutionary seductions is both self-centered and analytically useless.
Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.

[Abilama]

Assad is viewed by other Arabs as an Iranian lackey.
The Summit meeting is a joke. With Amr Moussa and his usual diatribes. What a useless lot is the Arab League.
Eleven heads of state from the Arab League's 22 members were present at the opening, less than normal for the two-day annual event, reflecting suspicions that Syria has obstructed the election of a new Lebanese president through its allies.

Along with Lebanon, three, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan -- stayed away from the summit, reducing the chances it will break new ground on Lebanon or other conflicts.

The conflict over Lebanon reflects the wider struggle for regional influence with Syria's ally Iran.

Assad dismissed the accusation that his country was behind the deadlock in Lebanon.
"We in Syria are fully prepared to cooperate with Arab or non-Arab efforts ... on condition that they are based on Lebanese national consensus, the basis for stability in Lebanon," Assad said in his opening speech as summit host.

"The key to a solution is in the hands of the Lebanese themselves. They have their homeland, their institutions and constitution and they have the necessary awareness," he said.
Hypocrite and liar!

An international investigation team has also accused Syria of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, one of the reasons for the current political crisis in Lebanon. Syria denies the charges but no one believes.

Resolutions prepared for the summit do not contain substantial new ideas on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the problems facing Iraq or Sudan.

It will repeat the Arab initiative of 2002, which offers Israel peace and normal relations with all Arab countries in return for withdrawal from all territory captured in the Middle East war of 1967.

[Abilama]

The absence of Arab League powers such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon is an embarrassment to Assad, whose government had hoped the summit – billed as "the summit of joint Arab action" – would boost its prestige.

Syria's months-long efforts, both politically and infrastructure-wise to launch a successful even paled, as in an unprecedented move, eight countries have sent only junior officials, rather than their heads of state, or even their prime ministers.

Egypt's delegation was headed by its parliamentary affairs minister, while Saudi Arabia's and Jordan's were headed by their Arab League ambassadors.

Lebanon summoned the courage to ban th summit completely ( low and behold!) – the first time an Arab country has refused to send a delegation since Arab leaders began holding annual summits in 2000.

The boycott is aimed to show Damascus the diplomatic cost of its hard line on Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; but it may strengthen Damascus' alliance with Iran and the Hamas and Hezbollah , instead.

"We are all in the same boat in this storm and all we can do now is confer with each other and show solidarity… obviously, there are some obstacles preventing us from reaching unity. The wars and occupation were our challenges in the past decades; and now we find the battle for peace is not much easer," said the Syrian president.

Assad dismissed the accusation that his country was behind the deadlock in Lebanon.

The summit is likely to address two major topics, namely the ongoing rift between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian Authority and a relatively unexpected issue the deteriorating pan-Arab relations, as evident form the medial attendance in the summit.

"The American have done all they can to downplay attendance and what we are seeing is a direct result of that action," a diplomat stationed in Damascus said Saturday.

"There are now two axes — Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah are on one side and the rest are on the another," said Wahid Abdel-Meguid of the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Mousa, who also spoke at the summit's opening, called on Arab foreign ministers to meet later this year to evaluate the Arab-Israeli peace talks; adding the Arab nation are frustrated by the lack of progress since the Annapolis peace conference.

Moussa says Arab foreign ministers should meet in mid-2008 to determine "which direction we are moving" in the peace process with Israel. If there is no progress by then, he said, Arabs may have to take "painful positions." ( Another war???)

The diplomatic avenues have diminished, he added, but they still exist.

Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi the clown in the lot acted as the Summit jester and slammed the Arab nations for demanding Israel returns only to the 1967 line, saying that "the occupation began long before 1967… Palestine is not just the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

Gaddafi reiterated Libya's past initiative to form a joint Israeli-Palestinian state. This state, he said, will be able to take in all Palestinian refugees, it will be disarmed from all nuclear weapons and its government will be elected democratically.

[Vodka]

A must read.......
http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=4&table=makalat&type=makalat&day=Sat

[Ghassan Karam]

BV,
I understand and share your level of frustration with the lack of movement towards a resolution of the Lebanese crisis on any front. However, I must take strong exception to your last tirade regarding the most recent interim report by the IIIC.
The first point to keep in mind is that such reports are not made by choice. These are dictated by the bureaucracy. But what is more important is that the IIIC was not formed in order to issue indictments. That is not its job. Official indictments are issued by prosecutors. One reason that no prosecutors has been named up until know is due to the inability of the Lebanese Government to handle the matter . What better way to avoid taking responsibility than to shift the onus to an international Tribunal? Whether the change in venue turns out to be appropriate or not is a completely different matter. What is very important to note is that no one should expect the IIIC to release names since that is not its job. One can take solace however in the fact that the most recent report has made it clear yet again that the assassination of Rafic Hariri was not an isolated event. The IIIC stresses that it is in pocession of evidence that the spate of assassinations in Lebanon are interconnected. This can only mean that there is a master plan but the funding and the brains behind all this mayhem will have to wait for an actual evaluation by a prosecutor before any names are released. It is also important to note that the IIIC was responsible for the arrests of the four generals who are still in jail.
Any supporter of law and order would raise serious objections if the IIIC does name suspects. The funny thing about law and order is that they cannot be applied selectively; the process must run its course.

[JoseyWales]

Abilama,

Your non-comments continue to be very annoying and often irrelevant and force us to scroll down page upon page of copied articles.

Vodka,

Please tell us why that article is a must read. (I read the Solh quote at the top and it turned me off, more of the old crap it seems.)

Gus,

Good to have you out of retirement. The subtleties of the IT and IIIC are lost on me and most people.

I agree with Mehlis, that the investigator has to brief people regularly on the investigation, none of this bureaucratese crap we get every time. It's becoming blander and blander, if that were possible, and my level of confidence has gone fro 12% to 0% in this whole process.

Also I don't get: the IIIC can't indict and name names you say, but it can finger people for arrest (4 generals)???? Please explain.

[Ghassan Karam]

JW,
The IIIC was not given the power to prosecute. They were merely asked to help the Lebanese authorities prepare a case. That is how the 4 generals were arrested. Mehlis told the Lebanese authorities about some of the findings of his commission and the Lebanese authorities proceeded to arrest the generals especially when, rumors have it, that many were planning on leaving the country. Remember that Mehlis was operating in 2005 while the International Tribunal understanding was signed into law in 2007. You might wish to argue that the Lebanese Government should have never agreed to set up an International Tribunal but that would imply that we have a government with a backbone and that we have independent judiciary and that is laughable. (I could not help but post on this issue. Back to my retirement)

[Abilama]

Fitna for you:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3369102968312745410&hl=en

[Abilama]

Hamas like Hizbullah wants WAR WAR!
Hamas calls on Arab summit to drop peace planand support the militant group's battle against the Jewish state instead. About 2,000 people gathered at a Hamas-organized rally in Gaza, as Arab leaders convened in Damascus ahead of the annual Arab summit. Hamas was not invited to the summit hosted by its closest ally in the region.

Le Liban, un absent très "présent" au sommet de la Ligue arabe.

L'absence de représentants libanais, du roi Abdallah d'Arabie saoudite, du président égyptien Hosni Moubarak et du roi Abdallah de Jordanie signifie que le sommet sera impuissant à résoudre la crise politique au Liban, qui est sans président depuis novembre.
Le gouvernement libanais et ses alliés estiment que la Syrie fait obstruction à l'élection d'un successeur à Emile Lahoud, président pro-syrien dont le mandat a expiré en novembre, et dénoncent l'ingérence de Damas.

"Au contraire, les pressions exercées sur la Syrie depuis plus d'un an, qui se sont accentuées ces derniers mois, visaient à la faire intervenir dans les affaires intérieures libanaises", a rétorqué Assad, niant toute ingérence.
"La clé est entre les mains des Libanais eux-mêmes. Ils ont un territoire, des institutions, une constitution et la conscience nécessaire", a-t-il ajouté, s'en tenant à un discours aussi bref et magnanime qu'inhabituel.
Le président syrien n'a pas évoqué l'absence de représentants libanais, ni celle des chefs d'Etat proches de Beyrouth ou de Washington, que Damas accuse d'avoir mené campagne pour les dissuader d'assister au sommet.
A Ryad, le chef de la diplomatie saoudienne, le prince Saoud al Fayçal, a démenti que les pays arabes modérés cherchent à isoler Damas. "Au contraire, la Syrie est un des pays importants de la région et, naturellement, les pays arabes sont soucieux de l'associer à une action arabe commune.
AMR MOUSSA ANNONCE LA POURSUITE DE SES EFFORTS

"Le problème est que ce qui a été décidé à l'unanimité au sein de la Ligue arabe, y compris par la Syrie, n'est pas appliqué", a-t-il dit, faisant allusion au plan de paix arabe pour le Liban, qui prévoit notamment l'élection rapide d'un nouveau président et la formation d'un gouvernement d'union nationale.

L'opposition libanaise soutenue par la Syrie bloque l'élection présidentielle en attendant d'obtenir satisfaction sur sa vieille revendication de jouir d'un droit de veto au sein du futur gouvernement d'union.

"Nous espérons que le sommet sera en mesure de résoudre la crise libanaise sur la base du plan de la Ligue arabe, particulièrement parce que le sommet se tient à Damas, dont nous attendons toujours une initiative positive sur la scène libanaise pour améliorer ce plan".

Le secrétaire général de la Ligue arabe Amr Moussa, dont la médiation a permis de faire adopter ce plan, a déclaré au sommet qu'il poursuivrait ses efforts dans les semaines à venir pour "appliquer intégralement" ce compromis.

La crise libanaise, très présente au sommet, ne figure pas au menu des résolutions préparées pour l'occasion. Le Darfour, l'Irak et le conflit israélo-palestinien sont en revanche abordés, mais aucune idée neuve n'émerge des projets de déclaration, selon les observateurs.

Les délégués devraient ainsi renouveler leur engagement en faveur du plan de paix saoudien adopté en 2002, qui propose la normalisation des relations avec Israël en échange d'un retour aux frontières de 1967.

[Bad Vilbel]

Ghassan,

Glad to have you back, and always interested in your perspective.
I'm afraid I don't get your argument here. I never suggested anyone be indicted in or through the interim reports. If that is outside the jurisdiction of Bellmare/Mehlis/Brammertz, then so be it (I don't know the finer legalese point of it all).

What I take exception to, is the need for these reports after reports, that tell us nothing new.
Isn't the point of a report to provide its intended audience a summary of findings? How the audience acts on it is a whole different issue (whether one can legally indict or not, etc.)
But what exactly does a report DO when it announces "Yup! Sky is still blue. Criminal Network killed Hariri!"

Well, sorry, but I hate to see UN taxpayer (whatever that may be) money wasted, and countless resources wasted, over 3 years, to arrive to such an inane conclusion.

Why bother with the report at all?

My impression was that, although not legally binding (yet), ie, no prosecutor is named or can act on findings, the findings should at least be concrete enough to act on, should such a prosecutor ever see the light of day. Not to mention that these reports are sent back to the UN Security Council, I believe, and did (in the case of Mehlis report) form the basis of some resolution or the other at the UN.

So forgive me if I expect something a little more professional than "The sky is still blue".

If you've been digging up evidence for the past 3 years, LIST IT! If you have names, NAME THEM. If you're building a case, in the proper judicial sense, then BUILD A CASE (and by this i mean discovery, depositions, evidence gathering, etc.)
And report all THAT to the UN and to the prosecutor when he/she becomes available.

But don't waste 3 years to tell me that a criminal network is behind these assassinations.

That is one of the most retarded and unprofessional statements I have EVER heard.

If I ever wasted 3 years of my company's resources, and produced a report to my CEO that said "Our employees do stuff. I'm not really sure what. And apparently we sell stuff, sometimes." I'd probably get fired on the spot.

[Ghassan Karam]

BV,
I think that you have false and unrealistic expectations from the reports by the IIIC. As i indicated earlier these reports are purely ceremonial and are intended to respond to a demand by the Security Council that the IIIC informs the Security Council every 4 months that the investigation is still going on. If the Security Council does not get these periodic reports that the work of the IIIC is still proceeding then the Security Council will be obliged to stop the funding of this operation. You are free to think of this set up as either a waste of time or as a very efficient way of ultimately getting at the truth but you will be very much misguided if you expect the IIIC to do what it was not designed to accomplish. It is true that the final report did not have any new revelations but it is equally valid that by not having any new revelations they have reinforced the common understanding that they have evidence that the Hariri affair is part of a larger conspiracy and NOT the work of a crazy disgruntled individual. As soon as the International Tribunal is set up then the IIIC will deliver its final report with names and all sorts of details. At that point the prosecutor will decide whether to indict and who to indict.

[Bad Vilbel]

Fair enough, Gus.

I'll go ahead and consider it a "waste of time", as you stated (which was essentially the gist of my comment).

Unrealistic expectations? I have ZERO expectations when it comes to Lebanese politics, these days. I do, however, enjoy venting about things that seem so ridiculous they should pass as common sense to most rational people, as you have no doubt gathered from reading most of my comments over the past several months.

[Meghwar]

A must read .....

http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=2&table=minbar&type=minbar&day=Sat

A woman narrating her story with Hizballah "Security Apparatus"

[Solomon2]

This is all another excuse for Lebanese to sit back and do nothing risky to upset their comfortable lives.

[Ghassan Karam]

AK/ B2B readers,
I would be eternally grateful for anyone who is willing to spend six minutes and 15 seconds listening to the the podcast whose link is at the bottom of this post. I would like to find out your thoughts about the medium of Podcasting. The attached is my first attempt and it is as boring as boring can be. I sound very stiff and pedantic but I guess one would eventually learn to be relaxed. This medium is totally new for me and I am asking for your opinions on whether you think that Podcasting should be used to supplement the exchange of ideas alongside blogs. My email: Gkaram@pace.edu

ramblings11.mypodcast.com/index.html

[Bad Vilbel]

Ghassan,

I definitely give the podcast medium a thumbs up!

[danny]

GK,

Stiff you sound. However, it is a more fluid midium and I wish you success in your attempt.

[Ghassan Karam]

BV/ Danny,
Tnx for your input. There will be Manna from heaven for each of you:-)

[VOR]

Just wanting to express my sincere condoleances to the syrian government. This summit was an embarassment and an insult to all the arabs. The fact that the very maligned hosts are trying to advertise it as a success is not fooling anyone but rather it is making them look like the bunch of incoherent idiots that they really are. Mouallem of all people should learn how to keep his big fat mouth shut in order to spare his boss further embarassment. My oh my, I just wonder how would have Hafez reacted in the face of such a disaster? Then again I think the old man was smart enough to never allow himself to be backed into a corner like this. I will agree wth Ak above and join him in gloating about the misfortunes of the Assad clan and wish them a straight path to hell, the sooner the better.

[Meghwar]

A must read article ...Interesting.

The Cultural question in Lebanese Politics

http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/04-2008/Article-20080401-0aa67649-c0a8-10ed-01e2-5c735c1a113b/story.html

[Traffic]

Check this out " Nuclear watchdog gets China's Iran intel "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080402/ap_on_re_eu/nuclear_iran

What do you make out of it?

[Meghwar]

Traffic thanks for the link,

USA / Israel cannot attack Iran ( with the world blessings through UN or not ) without a Valid, substantial, consistent, irrefutable and unassailable proof that Iran has a MILITARY nuclear program" ALREADY.
I think that they are “establishing” one, with the help of china,( May be china is volonteering such info to shut the world up about Lhassa and the Tibetan issue?? and other issues as well....)I dunno considering that Iran is among the important providers of oil, I find this a bit fishy... if the info provided by the latter, (and others) are proven undeniably accurate ...I think Iranians should seek shelters ASAP!
Hitting Iran will provide secure and calm in Iraq for American troops at least from the shiite's front, hence focusing on others ONE AFTER THE OTHER like Qaeda & Co, syria, hamas, hizb ..unlike some people want to believe, considering an attack would blow up the whole area. If Iran is attacked Hizb should act wisely or else ...
At least it is how I see it ... :)

[Meghwar]

وتقول الوثيقة التي كتبتها دائرة المحطات الخارجية في جهاز الأمن الوقائي: "تفيد المعلومات أن الجناح الأمني لحزب الله يقوم بإعداد قوائم أسماء تربطهم علاقة مع الاستخبارات الأردنية والمصرية والأميركية في لبنان بهدف تصفيتهم". وتضيف "على اثر ذلك يقوم الأمن العام اللبناني بتسليم حزب الله جميع صور جوازات السفر الأجنبية والعربية الداخلة إلى لبنان لمعرفة أسماء حامليها، ويقوم الحزب بالتحري الفوري على حمَلَة ِالجوازات الأوروبية".

http://www.lebanese-forces.com/details.asp?newsid=7823

Why am I not surprised ????

[Traffic]

Meghwar,
I think that with China on board, we will see tougher more effective sanctions on Iran, at least as a first step. So far, China has supplied a lifeline to the Iranians effectively stripping previous sanctions of any real punch.
After that, if this would develop in all out war i don't know, and more importantly, don't know its ramifications on Lebanon.

[Abilama]

Jews not included ....
While CNN’s Octavia Nasser (Lebanese with close connections to the Saudi family) and other Saudi apologists in CNN went out of their way to praise king Abdullah for changing the world by calling on Muslims, Jews and Christians to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss religions and save the world from decadence and immoral activities, his Mufti (religious highest authority) Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al-Shaikh, says Jews will not be invited.

http://www.aleqt.com/misc.php?id=122695&do=print&sec=nws
صحيفة الاقتصادية الالكترونية
الأربعاء, 26 ربيع أول 1429 هـ الموافق 02/04/2008 م - العدد 5287

مفتي المملكة ينفي دعوته رجال دين إسرائيليين ويؤكد أن ما نسب إليه عارعن الصحة ولا أصل له
- "الاقتصادية" من الرياض - 26/03/1429هـ
أكد الشيخ عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ مفتي عام المملكة ورئيس هيئة كبار العلماء وإدارة البحوث العلمية والإفتاء أنه لا صحة على الإطلاق لما نسب إليه من دعوته لمجموعة من رجال الدين الإسرائيليين للمشاركة في مؤتمر مصالحة ديني، وأوضح في بيان نقلته وكالة الأنباء السعودية البارحة "أن ما نشر في بعض الصحف ونسب إلى بعض وكالات الأنباء وتضمن دعوته لمجموعة من رجال الدين الإسرائيليين للمشاركة في مؤتمر مصالحة ديني سيعقد في الرياض، عار عن الصحة ولا أصل له". وقال المفتي " أرجو من الجميع قبل النقل لزوم التثبت والتبيين، وقد قال الله تعالى (يا أيها الذين آمنوا إن جاءكم فاسق بنبأ فتبينوا أن تصيبوا قوماً بجهالة فتصبحوا على ما فعلتم نادمين).

رابط الخبر : index.php

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لـ صحيفة الاقتصادية الالكترونية

=======================================================
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[Abilama]

Iran installs new centrifuges:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0374056920080403

[Abilama]

Iran:
Timmerman; Iranian Defectors Provide Crucial Intel

Original: http://newsmax.com/timmerman/defector_Amir_Ebrahimi/2008/04/01/84566.html

For more on Ebrahimi’s close call with Iranian intelligence last week, see www.iran.org

[Meghwar]

تورط "الحزب" في حرب داخلية مفيد... لمن ؟
"سؤالي" هو قال الموظف الاميركي الرفيع السابق "هل تترك سوريا ايران او هل تخوض حوارا مع اسرائيل واميركا بصرف النظر عن مواقف ايران وسياساتها؟" اجبت: صار لايران نفوذ كبير داخل سوريا، ليس سهلا على سوريا التخلص منه من اجل حوار مع اميركا او اسرائيل. ثم انها تريد مقابلا. ما هو؟ هل تستطيع اميركا دفعه او اسرائيل؟ ماذا اذا طلب السوريون لبنان والجولان والمحكمة الخاصة بلبنان دفعة واحدة؟ ليس عندي عقل تآمري عادة. لكن اقتناعي هو ان اسرائيل لا تريد حزباً مسلحاً قوياً معادياً لها في لبنان (حزب الله). وهي عجزت عن ضربه. ولكن يمكن التخلص منه باستدراجه الى حرب اهلية لبنانية، وسوريا قد لا تيسر كثيراً مستقبلاً لهذا الحزب، لأن هواه الاساسي الاستراتيجي ايراني، ولانه قد يكون خطراً على نفوذها المباشر في لبنان واهدافها فيه، وخصوصاً اذا حصل نوع من الخلاف بينها وبين ايران. وهي لذلك قد لا تنزعج كثيراً من تورطه في نزاعات الداخل المسلحة. ان التقاء المصالح، وليس التحالف كما اقول دائماً، قد يدفع الى التلاقي على توريط الحزب في شكل او في آخر كما حصل منذ سنوات طويلة في لبنان مع جهات اخرى. علّق: "اعرف. في اسرائيل من يعتقد انه من المفيد لها "حرق" "حزب الله" في قتال لبناني داخلي".

http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=6&table=makalat&type=makalat&day=Fri

Traffic,
Yes you are right considering China's role in tampering the sanctions until now, however Iran is not relying only on china for protection, there's Russia as well, my question is how Russia would react in case an attack on Iran takes place ? I think China is wise enough to only condemn verbally or something to that effect, but with Putine antagonizing the whole world ...I dunno what this man would do ...
As far as hizb is concerned, I guess they are in the “Do or Die” situation..And I won’t be surprised if they are going to escalate (and not peacefully at that) against the “accountant” (As per Marillion :D ) and his clique, and it is a possibility that Syria despite Iran’s strict orders to hizb avoiding any armed conflict with other Lebanese factions, Syria might push hizb and drag them into such position by their usual schemes. Needless to say that this also and (surprise surprise) serves ISRAEL so very well, If hizb’s image and position are irrevocably tarnished and destroyed in a civil strife, hence the resistance myth crumbling the world would shut up when Israel starts its coup de grace on hizb "MILITIA".
Hence, I am afraid that something is cooking IN LEBANON NOW before any attack on Iran, by both Syria and Israel not necessarily "IN COMPLICITY" but it is IRRITATING to see how much the Israeli-Syrian INTERESTS are intersecting in Lebanon...and even more amazing ...both are using the SAME TOOLS!

[Abilama]

HA billboard campaign

Hours after Hezbollah Imad Mughnieh was killed, huge billboards of his burly face stencilled like the iconic Che Guevara portrait or a photo of him in battle fatigues were printed and ready to display all over Lebanon.

Pictures of this man on America's Most Wanted list are among the first images to greet visitors to the country, lining the road from the airport to downtown Beirut.
Images of political players -- dead or alive -- are omnipresent. They are plastered on bridges, electricity poles, cars and just about every standing structure in a battle of the billboards mirroring the deep political divide that has paralysed the country for more than a year.

"The political crisis allows for this sort of advertising... and there are many messages you can spread much faster on billboards than through political speeches," Mohammed al-Amin, managing director of Impulse, which rented Hezbollah the billboard space for the Mughnieh campaign
Energy that once went into recruiting militiamen now fuels advertising firms run by the parties themselves, which like the fighters of the 1970s and 1980s have carved their own niche in Beirut and elsewhere to bombard citizens with this modern weapon.

One of these is Ressalat, a Hezbollah-funded organisation that handles advertising and cultural events for the militant group.

Like any ad firm, Ressalat's creative director Mohamed Noureddine and his team hunkered down after Mughnieh's killing in a car bombing in Damascus in February to come up with a sophisticated campaign.

"We came up with a stencil of him so that people can remember him like they do Che Guevara," Noureddine said. "This guy sacrificed his life and it is his right to be recognised and for people to see his picture."

Al-Amin said for the Mughnieh campaign Hezbollah rented the entire network of billboards along the airport road and within the group's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut at a cost of at least 100,000 dollars.

The advertising war is not to everyone's liking. It is seen by some as a stain on the country's image and as a constant reminder of the tense political situation.

[Andre]

Abilama,

Mughniye is a HA hero and they will eulogize him for as long as it takes to make sure that the next generation of their militants follow in his footsteps. It isn't unlike other terrorist "Martyrs" who remind the living that there is much "glory" in being one of them. When will the madness and stupidity end?

[Min Canada]

Does anyone have a reading on the Israeli exercises?

[Abilama]

Andre,
I agree with you.

The Downfall of Assef Chawkat who engineered the murder of Rafik Hariri and possibly Imad Moughniye.
Chawkat, Assad's Brother-in-law, had smuggled his wife Buchra and children to Europe together with important documents against Assad out of the country, as he got wind that Assad was about to do him in. But it all remains in the family. Assad ha apointed in his stead Hafez Makhlouf his proper cousin.

Read also some details:
http://www.lorient-lejour.com.lb/page.aspx?page=article&id=369032&pf=1

According to the well-informed Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah, Mughnieh was reported to have attended a high-level meeting called by the head of Syrian security services and Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, Assef Chawkat. The other participants to that meeting included top Syrian leaders, representatives from Hamas (including its top leader Khaled Meshaal), Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. The purpose of that meeting was allegedly to select the potential targets to strike in Arab countries, if the latter refused to participate in the Arab summit set for the end of March in Damascus. It was purportedly during that meeting that Mughnieh's car was booby-trapped.

Interestingly enough, initially, al-Arabiya TV reported that the victim was allegedly a Hamas top leader.

What is most troubling is that the Syrian authorities were silent for nine hours after the explosion. They then finally announced the victim's name.

What makes also Syria a potential suspect is that security is very tight inside the country and even more so in Damascus. Furthermore, Mughnieh was famous for being rather paranoid about his security detail, so there is only a very slight possibility that foreign security services could have managed to approach and booby-trap his car.

Now, why would Syria "sacrifice" one of its allies? Lebanese analysts are offering a few suggestions:

Since Mughnieh, as a top Hezbollah operative working for both Syria and Iran, was suspected of having a hand in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, thus the Syrians might have found it convenient to eliminate him and in the process, sever any link to Damascus.

Many in Washington, Paris and Beirut have been frustrated by the fact that it is taking so long to judge Hariri's killers, especially in light of how far the investigation of the first prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, progressed during the first few months following the assassination.

Assad has been trying to prevent the international tribunal getting underway because, analysts believe, the killing of Hariri possibly involved some of his close entourage. The fear in some circles, particularly among the Lebanese, is that a deal may be in the making, whereas the West would agree to call off the international tribunal in return for Syria clamping down on Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hence the amorphous accusation of "criminals" in the murder!

While Mughnieh's involvement in various attacks have been quite documented - mostly in Lebanon in the 1980s (including the bombing of the U.S. Marine and French military barracks in Beirut in 1983), and then in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Argentina - one should not forget his alleged role in setting up Hezbollah offices in Iraq as early as 2003 and training Iraqi insurgents (mostly from Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army), and his alleged role in the Hezbollah-Israel war in the summer of 2006. ( according to Narallah himself).

[Abilama]

In his first report ( but the tenth by the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC)) to the Security Council, Bellemare said that the IIIC has accumulated evidence indicating that a criminal network had conducted surveillance of Hariri before he was killed in 2005.

The evidence also shows that at least part of the Hariri network continued to exist and operate after the assassination of Hariri

Bellemare said the IIIC was also trying to establish the links between members of the network and any others outside the group.

His primary goal is to complete the investigation, by establishing the links between the crimes , the links between the members of the network ( and their backers) that committed the crimes and the link with previously committed crimes against prominent Lebanese.

Now, Daniel Bellemare needs more time to complete the investigation of the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri before he assumes his other role as the prosecutor, the daily newspaper Al Hayat has reported.

[Abilama]

Israel's passive drill.
The hype by Seniora asking UNIFIL to protect Lebanon is stupid as it is intentional. Siniora warned on Friday that Tel Aviv could exploit major military exercises to exacerbate tensions along the volatile border between Lebanon and Israel.
The Drill will include among other scenarios simulations of missile attacks on civilian areas, hazardous material spill in the Haifa Bay and rescue of survivors from a collapsed building. Participating in the drill will be the Home Front Command, emergency services and various government ministries.

Maybe Seniora wants to divert us from the real problem. Drlls are routine and there is nothing aggressive about them. Of course Iran has jumped on the bandwagon ( so did it's puppet HA):

Iran: Arabs must closely watch Israeli drill

Spokesman for Iranian Foreign Ministry says Israel's 'provocative actions' should be brought to the attention of international community.
"The states of the region must closely watch the Israeli drill. These provocative actions should be brought to the attention of the relevant officials in the international community," an Iranian official said Monday referring to the nationwide home front drill being held by Israel this week.

Keep Calm

Olmert reassures Syria: Home front drill not a threat:
'We are not seeking any military confrontations in the North,' PM says as Israel launches five-day security drill meant to simulate responses to war, other emergency situations

According to Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, "These actions are aimed at boosting the morale of the Israeli commanders and their soldiers."

Hosseini also claimed that the drill was a direct result of US Vice President Dick Cheney's recent visit to the Mideast. "Unfortunately, after every visit of senior American officials in the region and the occupied territories we witness similar actions by the Zionist regime."

The drill, which opened Sunday, is scheduled to be held throughout the week.

Israel on its part, has been attempting to alleviate concerns regarding the exercise among its neighbors. Lebanese daily As-Safir on Saturday quoted diplomatic sources in New York as saying that Israel has asked UNIFIL to inform the Lebanese government that the military exercise will not threaten Lebanon or Hizbullah and that "it will not include the border region".

And the Irnian "parrot" HA:

Hezbollah is watching

Hezbollah is to 'follow closely' Israel army maneuvers the group's commander in south Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, was quoted as saying Saturday.

'Israel's military drill is not a testament of its strength but of its frustration and despair following its defeat in the Second Lebanon War,' Hezbollah television al-Manar quoted Kaouk as saying.

Resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, a member of Hezbollah said Sunday Israel's drill was in violation of international law.

"Any maneuver along the border of any country is tantamount to war against that country," Salloukh told reporters in south Lebanon.

"There is full cooperation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL in order to thwart any Israeli violation of the Blue Line," Salloukh added.

He said he hoped the Israeli exercise is not an "excuse" by the Jewish state to launch a new offensive on Lebanon.

Why should they if not provoked by HA like in 2006?
Syria is also making hay. How not?

Barak tries to calm Syrian nerves over Israeli drill
'Israel has no intentions of launching any such operation," says defense minister in public bid to allay Damascus concerns scheduled nationwide exercise foretelling of aggressive Israeli intent

"The home front drill commencing tomorrow is an exercise that has been in the works for several months. Israel has no intentions to launch any such operation or any others. Messages of reassurance have been ent to Lebanon and Syria respectively.

But Damascus Primed :

Syrian foreign minister: We're ready to defend ourselves
In meeting with EU representatives in Damascus, Walid Moallem says his country chose peace as a strategic choice but will respond to 'Israeli aggressiveness'. Al-Hayat reports Israel, Syria exchange peaceful messages.



And on a lighter vnote view this latest stupidity:

Allah et la patate miraculeuse :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K64qEF2HVX8