The dark age of Hizbullah is upon us

Hariri's Future TV is off the air after being threatened by the Hizbullah militia. Hizbullah is in control of much of West Beirut, spreading a reign of terror.

Hariri and Jumblatt are being surrounded by the Hizbullah orcs, who also set fire to the al-Mustaqbal newspaper building.

Hizbullah has also occupied the headquarters of Ali al-Amin, the Tyre Mufti who is against Hizbullah.

Aoun is gloating. He thinks it's a coup that will deliver him the presidency.

13:10 عون: هذه الاحداث اعادت القاطرة الى السكة الصحيحة وسنعود الى حياتنا الطبيعية وطرقاتنا ستكون امنة وسننظر الى الماضي القريب لنعرف ما هي الجرائم التي ارتكبت واضمن للجميع بألا يتعرض احد لاضطهاد باستثناء المسؤولين الذين شذوا عن صلاحياتهم

13:05 العماد عون: اليوم هو انتصار للبنان بالعودة الى الميثاق الوطني واعادة التوازن الى مكونات الشعب اللبناني الذي كان مفقوداّ

13:03 حركة امل تدعو المواطنين في الوتوات والظريف للعودة الى مواطنهم

13:02 ال بي سي: عناصر من امل وحزب الله احتلوا دار الافتاء الجعفري في صور حيث مكتب السيد علي الامين

13:00 جنبلاط لـ"العربية": حزب الله" يملي ارادته على الدولة واجتياحه لبيروت فشل في السياسة وانا باق في بيروت ولن اخرج من بيتي واتفقت انا والحريري على تسليم كل مكاتبنا في بيروت للجيش وتعليماتي للحزبيين ان حمايتنا بواسطة الجيش واقول لنصرالله لا نقبل بحرب الالغاء واتمنى على بري ان يخرج البلاد من هذا المأزق

Saudi Arabia has called for an emergency Arab League meeting.

The rest of the world watches as Iran's proxies occupy Beirut.

Bassita, as they say. This is not over. Hizbullah will not win.

Update. Syrian regime lackey is trying to move the conflict to the Chouf, threatening to occupy Jumblatt's PSP offices. Jumblatt, meanwhile, is still in his Beirut residence, protected by the  army and ISF.  Gunshots are being heard in the area, and pro-Syrian SSNP militia members were seen near his residence.

Update 2. The Future TV building in Raouche was burned down by SSNP thugs. 

Update 3. March 14 MP Musbah Ahdab: if the Lebanese army does not intervene to protect Tripoli, because of alleged fear of division, then there are officers in the army who will not accept that their institution does not intervene to protect Tripoli and other [Sunni] areas.

Update 4. The Lebanese army is watching these violations, and chasing pro-March 14 gunmen, and allowing Hizbullah to do whatever they want. Meanwhile, Berri's NBN is reporting that Siniora will resign tonight. Jumblatt however told New TV that the government's resignation is out of the question.

Update 5. March 14 strategy so far: hand over everything to Lebanese army.

Comments

"A reign of terror"?!

What exactly are the Hezbollah doing? Rounding people up and putting them on trucks and sending them to camps? Mass executions? Hanging Future Movement people from lamp posts? Raping women? Slaughtering children.... or.... none of the above.

This is typical Lebanese hyperbole.... face it: your side ihas a big mouth and no training -- so they took a battering on the streets.

But look man, Hezbollah knows that while they could seize Lebanon, they could never hold it.... so I don't think it's a question of "winning"or "losing" because no-one can win.

This latest spat will be over by Monday.

[Jeha]

The scale is moving beyond Beirut.

The meeting in Meerab is ongoing. Joumblat is out of Clemenceau. let us see what's cooking there.

Not much meaningful, I would suspect.

[Jeha]

"This latest spat will be over by Monday"... Nice though, now that sectarian Fitna is out in the open, the reign of Terror begins; the one we will each visit upon one another.

Jeha.... are you advocating death squads or is this simply a fear of yours? I don't think that this is an attempt to own all of Lebanon by the Opposition. I don't think that has ever been the aim or they could have tried some form of armed action long ago...

Hezbollah could have stormed and taken the Serrail in hours when they first took the tent city more than a year ago.... but they did not...

Well. Let's see about next week. I believe it will calm down. I have a flight booked to Beirut for Thursday and I am not planning on canceling it.

[JoseyWales]

Hezbo = PLO

Nasrallah = Arafat

Aoun = Kamal Joumblatt

Michel Sleiman = Hanna Said

Gen. Francois Hajj= Gen Jean Noujaim

Amr Moussa = Mohammed el Kholi

Idiot Lebanese People = Idiot Lebanese People

and best of all:

"Sorry-for-Mughnieh" Saniora = "Allah y3amme2lo" Rashid Karami

[marillionlb]

The birth of "Dawlat al Fakih" has begun !
Brace yourselves my fellow Lebanese for more dark clouds are looming on the horizon.

[Jeha]

I am not "advocating death squads", and I am not merely fearing it. I KNOW this is exactly how it will escalate. I am not sure when a new version of the "tomatoes/bandora" will show up.

Once again, I am not advocating it. It will just happen; nature of the Middle Beast.

[tg]

A lot of people here wanting this civil war to begin to finally get rid of hezbollah.

Well, as it turns out, the group that withstood the IDF has somehow managed to survive against Harriri (sarcasm)

[Jeha]

Naharnet news have been very misleading, ot at best they under-report the events.

[danny]

Aoun has declared victory!!What a total idiot and moron. More maneuvers in its way. It is very tough to read what's the trap that was set up for HA. As WJ said yesterday what if you take Beirut, then what? We are at that point.
I could be wrong, but was there a reverse pshchology in play here? HA "takes over" a few Mustaqbal offices, burns down others, "arrests" future supporters and HANDS THEM ALL TO THE ARMY. So effectively army is taking over all of Beirut while they could not before! They let the spoiled thugs run amok and get it out of their system and now the army taking over???

Except for the village idiot, there's no comments from the "victors"...Oh forgot about the other idiot wahab threatening to impose "rule of law" in the mountains..
I think the dust will clear very soon.

I don't think it will end in Death squads Jeha.... Hezbollah is too disciplined and Amal is effectively controlled by Hezbollah...

Hezbollah have a lot to lose by trying to dominate Lebanon by force of arms. If that were their long term aim, why would they have bothered to make so much effort in politics over the years?

There hasn't really been enough horror in the past 2 days -- or past few years -- to justify death squads per se.

I think they (Hezb) want 2 things;

1. A guarantee no-one will take their weapons from them, unless it's on their own terms (and the communications network is part of this).
2. In the longer term: a reworking of the Lebanese political system away from confessionalism and towards Proportional Representation. The thinking is that this would allow them to dominate policy making through the ballot box.

All the players in lebanon know that no one group is big enough to dominate all the others and actually hold on to power. Therefore it has to be done through some form of consent.

[JoseyWales]

Danny,

Stop it please. Stop telling us that M14's plan is working like a charm and Hezbollah has fallen in the trap and it's a matter of time before the plan succeeds.

You're starting to sound like the average Arab in battle: no Americans in Baghdad, and Divine Victory in 2006.

M14 is DEAD and I for one won't shed ONE f##ing tear.

I hope Saniora continues to sing the praises of Muqawameh from his jail cell.

I also hope the rest, Rice, Saudi, Egypt, France, Moussa all eat shit and die, and stop telling us they back the motherfucking inexesistant Lebanese authorities.

Yeah and screw the fucking army too.

[MM]

Beirut is burning and it is under siege and the army is CLEARLY run by pro Hizbollah officers. Harriri should call on the army commander and warn that unless the army acts like an army and protect ALL its citizens then Harriri should go on TV and beseech ALL the SUNNI officers in the army, all the SUNNI residents of Lebanon, and all the SUNNI Arab world to come to the aid of their occupied brethren in Beirut. This has gone long enough.

[JoseyWales]

No MM,

Hariri should go screw himself. He had control of the gvmnt via Saniora and had ample time to use the army or order the army to do things or else dismiss Sleimane. Too late now.

M14 played (or refused to play) and now LOST, Good f%55ing riddance (and I ain't no Hezbo fan).

[Charlie]

I was hoping I start my day to different type of news. To one that speaks about the Lebanese Army getting out of the comfort of their barracks and defending the citizens of Beirut from the Iranian onslaught. The type of action that shows that there was some planning behind the government’s decisions and actions. An atmosphere that proves M14 actually had a plan and just starting a fight with HA without any preparations. But, it was not to be..What a shame!

Today, I am not surprised with HA and Amal being bunch of thugs and their actions that is deprived of any civility. What I am surprised about how Harriri didn’t see that coming and failed miserably in preparing foot soldiers on the ground to stop these guys. Amal and HA didn’t start their assault today, this was started back in the 80s after the PLO was pushed out of West Beirut and the Syrian turned Amal and HA loose to charge West Beirut and closed down Mourabiton offices in Mazraa. In case Harriri didn’t know, that is the time when Berri found his way to Barbour and erected a “residence” in the area which today turned to a fully controlled Amal land. That armed invasion started then and the Syrians kept it going for the duration of their stay. If Harriri wants to represent Beirut, then he better knows the city’s color and character, and wakes up when that is getting stripped away and being replaced by the Syrio/Iranian foot soldiers and organize the masses to do something about it.

If Harriri and M14 really think this useless Army is going to protect anyone, then they are as dump as they come. Harriri had over 2 years to bring up some counter balance to HA on the street to avoid this. And he didn’t need much to put up a better fight; Amal and HA took over west Beirut with few thugs roaming around on scooters with AK47s and RPGs..it is that simple. What is M14 thinking, the Marines are going to land and clean up the place while they are sitting in their mansions delivering speeches!!

Siniora is proving day in and day out that he has no sway over the army or the ISF to combat this invasion, he is better off resigning and turning it over back to the Syrian stooges.

Pathatic saps from M14 thought they will defeat a blood thirsty Syrian regime with few speeches and massive rallies. This is Lebanese politics, it is the politics of the Don’s and the bosses and if Harriri doesn’t have the stomach to play by these rules then step off and let someone else deal with it.

Apologies for the long post.

[Vox P.]

I concur with JW. This whole thing was utterly predictable. In fact, I am surprised it took them so long.

[Microraptor]

Hezbollah basically called M14's bluff, they said: "If you want to fight us, then you have to FIGHT us" and March 14th were no match

Even though they TOO had secret militia armies stashed away.....

[Josey]

Josey,
They want to elect Sleiman for president so how could they have threatened to fire him as army commander? I am not a fanatic but a threat as I posted above will have an echo with the army and HizbIran and will hopefully prevent this bloodshed from spreading to the rest of Lebanon. If HizbIran thinks that this is the end of it then they are sadly mistaken.

[Doha]

This looks like an outright civil war now. Arslan just had his press conference speaking in the name of the Druze people fully supporting Nasrallah. This statement comes right when Jumblatt's residence in Clemenceau was bombed and the Army transferred him to a safe place.

And now if Karami in Tripoli makes a similar statement, say good bye to Tripoli which will burn down into hell.

This is terrible, absolutely terrible. It didn't matter what the gov't proposed yesterday, Hizbullah has a plan and it was going to execute it. Nasrallah said that they were not occupying Beirut, so what is it that they are doing? And why target Hariri, Future TV, Al-Mustaqbal newspaper? And why take over Tyre's Mufti's home? This will only appear as an assault on Sunnis?

I'm just baffled and worried!

[tg]

"Beirut is burning and it is under siege and the army is CLEARLY run by pro Hizbollah officers. Harriri should call on the army commander and warn that unless the army acts like an army and protect ALL its citizens then Harriri should go on TV and beseech ALL the SUNNI officers in the army, all the SUNNI residents of Lebanon, and all the SUNNI Arab world to come to the aid of their occupied brethren in Beirut. This has gone long enough."

lol

Get it through your head, nobody is fighting for Harriri.

Hezbollah is handing over terriroty they've captured over to the army now.

This "government" will have to resign in the next few days.

[Doha]

At last Hizbullah is fulfilling its goals in Lebanon, which is to overthrow the Lebanese state a la Khomeini's Islamic Revolution. What it did take? 20 years? Now it's being fulfilled. They crept in slowly but surely.

Aoun should hang himself before they appoint him as a puppet President. What does he think? That for the first time in history, an Islamic Revolution regime is going to listen to a Maronite President? Thank you very much, but no! Is the hunger for power that blind???!!!

[Umm K.]

"Hezbollah is handing over terriroty they've captured over to the army now." It wasn't THEIRS to capture! You think this is funny tg? LOL? Yes, "LOL", Lebanese are being terrorized by other Lebanese...that's so fucking funny.

[Doha]

Umm K., in fact, Hizbullah is in the process of taking over all media outlets. They want us to believe that they're liberators, liberators of what????!!! BEIRUT is free and doesn't need liberation!

[Momo el wa7sh]

updates : future tv is burning !!!
those murderers are running amok in the streets !!

Where is the army ??
why is the army not moving ??

HAs Beirut fallen to Hassouna's minions!!!!

Supporters of Aoun tell ur women to ready the chadores, the age of Ahmadinajad has started !!!

Beirut has been sullied and raped !!

How do u expect sunnis in the rest of Lebanon to stay idle.
We are no longer heading to a civil war, it is CIVIL WAR !!!

Sad but true : the age of Hassouna's terror is upon us
true Muslims (sunni or chiite) and Christians brace urselves this shot is going to cut deeper than any ever felt before.

U might shoot us , hurt us , terrorize us BUT WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN !!!!!!!!!

PS: someone MAKE the Don quichote of Rabieh shut the hell up !!!

[RebLeb]

This is EXACTLY the way the Nazis took over Germany, even though they never had a majority: brown shirt militia, street fighting, pretending to be the main defenders of the country, violent rethoric, and on the other side a lame, weak government with ZERO balls. If you think Hezbollah doesn't want to control all of Lebanon, you are DREAMING!! The army should wage a fight now to reassert the state, even if it ends up splitting up. Otherwise, what you can expect is not a civil war, but a severe repressive regime, just like the Nazis. Learn from history! There is no point whatsoever negotiating with Nasrallah who is a thug like Hitler, hit them with all you ve got now. You may lose, but at least you went down like a man, not like the f***ing chickensh*t Saniora government.

[ADF]

I posted about it, before this mess, here on chez AK, that I didn't think it would end in civil war. HA need a gov. that shields them from excessive heat, and keeps the international community in check, a feeble cabinet that won't stand in HA path. Once weepy boy resigns, some marionette will step in, and then we will have a lot of time to achieve nothing while we endure HA's foreign agenda.

[JoseyWales]

Too much "Sunni" talk here already.

What is that all about? Yeah, so morons Saniora and Hariri are Sunnis. So what? We're supposed to get riled up for the honor of the Sunnis???

This is about everybody and the future of the nation, or lack thereof. We don't need this added layer of crap in here.

[Charlie]

JW,

It is about what Amal and HA has turned out to be.
And need I to say it seems like PSP and LF are sitting idle at this point while the Iraninan forces are assaulting the Sunni areas.

Ahdab's call is the first of many to come, the useless Lebanese army is going to fracture as it should..

[danny]

Sorry JW,

I disagree with these outbursts of fatalism...The world is not coming to an end and if the March 14 leaders did not anticiapte this then they are the biggest dumbass blind and deaf people on earth.

It's obvious some of you are too overeager predicting the demise of over 60% of the Lebanese population. I don't give a rats ass what wahab and Aslan say...HA might win a few battles to "save face"...They'll ultimately will lose the war. Yes we waited 30 years we'll wait 30 more days!! As for Beirut,as I said who cares what "military" achievements HA has accomplished! Unless and until they overthrow the current government and establish a new one, they have accomplished TWO things:

a. Random destruction and exibition of hatred
b. Prove that they have no principles to speak of. they are nothing but gangs ala Bloods & cribs (ironically Hassan was accusing the March 14 as acting like gangs!!).

[JoseyWales]

OK Charlie,

If it's their way of saying "up yours" to Saudi and Egypt, fine by me. ;)

[tg]

""Hezbollah is handing over terriroty they've captured over to the army now." It wasn't THEIRS to capture! You think this is funny tg? LOL? Yes, "LOL", Lebanese are being terrorized by other Lebanese...that's so fucking funny."

Yes, it is funny. For the past few years many here wanted to call hezbollah's bluff. They urged the government to dismantle the group.

A few days ago they decided to call this "bluff" and call for the elimination of hezbollah's telecom network.

What sort of fools get into a war but decide not to fight? The answer now appears to be those who follow Harriri.

[Charlie]

LoL JW..
True may be these lazy fucks can get motivated now and do something about this Iranian expansion and not just talk about it and leave the Lebanese alone in this mess.

By the way Naharnet just reported that Gemayel has called for resistance against HA's move. Wonder if Geagaa will follow.

I think both Geagaa and Gemayel are smart enough to know the fire is not going to stop at their front doors, so sitting this one out is not an option.

[Vox P.]

It should be easy to get the army out thee: cut the paychecks.

[Bad Vilbel]

I'm with JW on this one.
I hate to say "told you so", but you folks who still think this is part of some masterful plan by M14 are sadly mistaken.

[Solomon2]

"why target Hariri, Future TV, Al-Mustaqbal newspaper?"

With the newspapers, TV networks, radio stations, and telecom centers under Hizbullah control, how is the "government" supposed to transmit orders to anybody?

[danny]

Doha said"This statement comes right when Jumblatt's residence in Clemenceau was bombed and the Army transferred him to a safe place."

hah?? Where did you get this news. WJ was just on NTV from his home in Clemanceaux...

[Solomon2]

"hah?? Where did you get this news"

It's called, "the fog of war". I don't think this is the right time for us to bitch at one another.

[JoseyWales]

Solomon asks: how is the "government" supposed to transmit orders to anybody?

Little do you know about government in Lebanon Solly: the gvmnt DOES NOT transmit orders, never did.

The one time they ordered an asshole fired, look what happened.

[danny]

Sol,

Noone is bitching and JW is 1000% correct on the last count!!

[Anoyn]

I read some of your comments from time to time. I mean no disrespect, but the regular posters on this blog remind me of Jeha ( not the guy that posts, but Jeha the fictional character) you all have been putting in ur 2 cents in for sometime, you actually believe what you post. Your posts remind me of the mentality we had during the civil, full of hate and racism. If you really want to be decent Lebanese, then open your souls.

[Doha]

Guns firing in Tripoli. According to my sister, she's rushing home, all shops are closing. Alla yistor!

[Doha]

Oh and one more thing: the way some Tripolitans are processing information is that it's not the "Shiites" (ie, Hizbullah and Amal) who are wreaking havoc with Beirut, it's the SSNP. Great analysis there! this means that the north will be under fire tonight!

[Doha]

M14 will be speaking at a press conference shortly with Geagea reading the statement which they say is going to be shrewd. Let's see.

I didn't see M14 "militiamen" entering into Hizbullah strongholds and neighborhoods and shooting everywhere and taking control of the areas with violence.

It's sad that the Army is able to round up folks who are protecting their neighborhoods, simply perhaps because they don't own heavy artillery. but just now on LBC, a reporter showed how the Army is not able to enter into the streets of Barbour. The Army unfortunately is not able to confront Hizbullah.

[Bad Vilbel]

So, do you folks still think the UN/US/Israel/France whoever is going to intervene and take out HA?
Still think this was some masterful M14 plan that's playing according to plan?
Still think Suleiman is a "good guy"?
Still think the army is a "neutral institution"?

I'll tell you who's plan's been playing out to perfection: Nassrallah's.

He's been biding his time for 2 years now preparing for this. The army was NEVER neutral. Suleiman was never neutral. The idiots from M14 thought they could rely on him if shit hit the fan, and when it did, he simply refused (which technically makes him a traitor, btw). Nas had all this figured out a long time ago, if you ask me. While everyone here was busy gloating about how "cornered" he was. The fact of the matter is M14 never had any true strength (and bungled things even more every day with its complete lack of balls). HA paralyzed all branches of government, one by one (Cabinet, then parliament, then presidency) till there was nothing left. And now they're making their move, Gaza-style.

Oh, I have no illusions. HA cannot control ALL of Lebanon. They've made it a point to leave the Christians out of this one. But the powerplay is there nonetheless. With complete control over West Beirut, the airport, and their already well-in-place state within a state, the Christian areas are pretty irrelevant. It's the defacto "partition" i've been speaking about.

And this constant pipedream a lot of people have had that somehow the US, arab states, etc. would actually DO something to fend off the Iranian expansionism baffles me. I still don't get how anyone in their right mind, who's familiar with current US politics, would really expect that the US would do anything other than "strongly condemn" or pass some more useless UN resolutions.

Wake up guys!

[Doha]

M14 is calling for the gov't to stay standing. I mean why would the gov't resign when there's no President to appoint a new Cabinet? They want the gov't to resign and leave behind chaos and a power vacuum?

It's true BV that the Army so far hasn't been stepping up to the plate under Sleiman's command. M14 so far has put so much faith in that institution basically giving up their headquarters to the Army for protection.

But what then? Let's see how this is going to unfold. M14 is not calling for outright war; they clearly don't want to fight.

[Bad Vilbel]

Doha: "M14 is calling for the gov't to stay standing. I mean why would the gov't resign."

What government?

We don't have a government. Has anyone even heard from our Prime Minister or our Minister of Defense, or the interior?

What a joke!

I got news for these crackheads: Governments are supposed to govern. It makes absolutely ZERO difference on the ground if the gvt resigns or not. Is there a difference between Saniora in a hole with a title of PM, and Saniora in a hole with no title? Not really.

About your second point:
Yeah. It looks like M14's strategy is to avoid bloodshed (which is commendable) and a fight they know they'd be doomed in. Fair enough.
But as I said yesterday, if you had no intention on fighting, why provoke HA? What have they accomplished?

(And please, people, I don't want to hear how we're waiting for the Marines to come rescue us. That IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN).

The BEST (and i mean BEST) scenario left at this point is going to be some arab-brokered "consensus" in which HA pulls its gunmen, gets to keep its state within a state, and Suleiman the traitor gets elected president on HA's terms.

Blacksmith Jade over at Blacksmiths of Lebanon, i think, has the most astute observation i've heard so far. HA is accomplishing by force the very things they've been trying to accomplish by "blocking" M14 for the past 2 years. In short, this has been their plan all along.

[Bad Vilbel]

So far the M14 statement read by Geagea sounds like more of the same failed platitudes.

"Hizbullah coop aims at restoring the Syrian hegemony on Lebanon, March 14 warned."

Gee. You don't say!

"Geagea called on Arab and international community to shoulder their resposibilities towards Lebanon."

Keep on waiting....In the meantime, how about YOU GUYS shoulder some responsibility?

" March 14 reiterated its full support to Premier Saniora's government."

What government? And I reiterate my full support to Donald Duck (a fictional character). A lot of good that's going to do anyone.

[Charlie]

The choices for M14 and by extension the non-HA Lebanon been the same all along, nothing has changed:

1. Surrender to the will of Iran/Syria and HA and accept an existence in that world.
2. Fight them for a free Lebanon.

Clearly M14 has not been willing to fight, it is also clear for them to fight they have to step up and arm themselves and stop using the empty slogan of relying on the army.
This army is made in Syria, it is not going to stand for Lebanon.

My fear is if these ying-yangs from M14 are not going to step up, this void will be filled with more dangerous groups from Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda like splinters. Welcome to the new Somalia/Iraq people.

Siniora should step down. He will be doing no one a favor sticking around under the gun to give HA and Berri the governmental cover they need. Let a stooge like Hoss, Karami or Mikati play that role.

[JoseyWales]

I said it before: it's not partition versus no partition.

It's partition on their terms or yours (M14)?

Right now they picked the lines of demarcation and they got the airport. Pretty big asset the airport.

Not only that, your stupid institutions are still totally infiltrated and will eat you alive when you decide to move forward.

One party is thinking ahead, the other is thinking with its ass, and still.

[Bad Vilbel]

Josey,

Exactly. I was arguing this very point a few days ago (partition).

Btw. Interesting observation (astute maybe?)
If you look at that map that Jeha posted, you'll notice that the Lebanese Army is separating out the current conflict zone from the Christian part of town, pretty much along the old green line. Coincidence?

Could all this be some kind of precursor for a partition announcement? (We all know partition has already happened on the ground already).