Hizbullah is reportedly trying to avenge the killing of Imad Mughnieh by kidnapping Israeli citizens, Now Lebanon reports citing Israeli TV. At least two such operations were reportedly foiled.
Given that we don't even know for certain that Mughnieh wasn't killed by his own pals in the Assad regime, it's always refreshing to see how Hizbullah, time and time again, proves to be an open ended invitation to disaster. This regardless of the Israeli motive behind releasing such information.
Just last week, one of Nasrallah's warriors, feted by many popular icons as saviors during the disastrous July 2006 war, killed a Lebanese army soldier for flying his helicopter over the "resistance" zone.
The warriors, it seems, will continue to kill Lebanese nationals in their attempt to liberate Lebanese people against their will, from an occupation that does not even exist.
But what's one more "martyr". Even the newly appointed army commander called the pilot a "martyr". Martyr for what cause? Nasrallah's, of course!
He called the slain officer a “martyr,” and said the death was a “terrible loss for the army and the resistance.” Kahwaji said that investigations into the attack would continue until the full truth was revealed. (Now Lebanon)
Speaking of the killing, Naharnet has this information for those who have not forgotten about it yet.
Military investigation into the shooting at a Lebanese army helicopter was likely to expand the hypothesis that there was more than one person involved in the attack based on testimony by co-pilot Mahmoud Abboud and other witnesses, the daily al Liwaa reported Tuesday.
It said military investigators have demanded that Hizbullah turn over three other men allegedly involved in Thursday's helicopter shooting attack which killed airman Samer Hanna in Sujud, south Lebanon.
Hizbullah on Friday turned over one suspect to the judiciary saying he was the person who opened fire at the helicopter Hanna was flying over Sujud hills.
Meanwhile, LBC television said Hizbullah is positively responding to the investigators' demands, adding that preliminary probe showed that there was no motive behind the attack.
It said the man who opened fire did so because he was suffering from tension as did the rest of his comrades who thought they faced an Israeli military airdrop.
LBC said the helicopter was hit by three bullets, one of which penetrated the windshield and killed Hanna. (Naharnet)
Suffering from tension? These are the warriors who are going to protect Lebanon? They shoot at their own people? (though not surprised there)
Here is the culprit:
The Hizbullah culprit was identified as a 20-year old fighter from the Moqadem family.
News reports said the fighter, whom Hizbullah turned over to the judiciary, told investigators that he mistook the Lebanese chopper for an Israeli helicopter. (Naharnet)
I wonder if the Hizbullah fighters who shot at the helicopter were still confused after discovering that there's a Lebanese flag on the flying object, and that the suspected Israelis spoke Lebanese Arabic!
Solution, as proposed by Nabih Berri: form a joint Hizbullah-Lebanese army committee to "coordinate". Coordinate what? What neighborhoods of Beirut to invade and what TV stations to shut down? I thought there was already enough coordination, in the form of let them do whatever they want. And would that coordination include educating Hizbullah fighters about the difference between the Lebanese army and the IDF?
Are we surprised? Should we be surprised? Wasn't the Lebanese army made into an army of traitors by the Hizbullah media after the electricity riots? And isn't Hizbullah reaping what its media sowed?
But here's some "focus" for you, Lebanese army soldiers:
[Newly appointed] Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji in his first Order of the Day told troops to focus on south Lebanon to reclaim the occupied land and on the domestic situation to consolidate security and stability. (Naharnet)
Let's see, whenever they "focus" on the south, they get shot at by the southerners in charge. As for focusing on domestic security, good call. But pray explain how it is worth their lives and efforts to kill terrorists, while their government turns a blind eye to where the terror is coming from! One example is the complete official silence over a UN report lambasting security forces for not doing much to curb the weapons smuggling across the Lebanese-Syrian border. No reaction whatosoever from the government. At least not yet.
سجل صمت رسمي حيال إتهام تقرير للامم المتحدة لبنان وسوريا بحصول عمليات تهريب للاسلحة عبر حدود البلدين. لبنان بانه يتلقى كميات منها بدون الكشف عن طبيعتها وتوقيت مرورها، وسوريا بالسماح بارسال اسلحة من اراضيها بدون ذكر مصدرها الاساسي وما اذا كانت من ايران ام لا. واكتفى بوصف تلك العمليات بأنها "لا تزال نشطة"
Here is some of what the report said:
Lebanon's eastern border with Syria is wide open to smugglers, according to a report submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday by a task force he appointed to study the issue.
The report harshly criticizes both Lebanon and Syria, saying there has been no improvement over the past year despite promises by both countries to address the issue.
The task force, appointed about 18 months ago, published a previous report in June 2007, which said that neither Syria nor Lebanon was doing anything to stop the smuggling. The current report reiterates this conclusion.
At the official border crossings, it said, the equipment is outdated, the personnel are poorly trained, and the inspections are inadequate to detect smuggling. There are also several well-known unofficial border crossings, which is where much of the smuggling occurs, and the task force found no impediments to reaching these locations. (Haaretz)
To their credit, the government, and the newly "elected" president Michel Suleiman, were concerned by the drilling of an artesian well on Lebanese territory by Syrians, and promised follow up and what have you (right!). But weapon smuggling?
Suleiman brought up everything but the issue of weapons when he visited Damascus earlier this month.
Syria and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to take formal steps to demarcate their borders as part of a string of decisions to normalise their relations for the first time after decades of tension.
The announcement came as President Michel Sleiman wrapped up a landmark two-day visit to Damascus -- the first by a Lebanese president since Syria ended almost 30 years of military domination over Lebanon in April 2005.
The two countries also pledged to examine the fate of hundreds of people missing since the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war -- amid claims by rights groups that around 650 people who vanished during the war are being held in Syria.
Sleiman and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also agreed to control their borders and curb "trafficking," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salukh told a news conference.
But a joint statement made no mention of weapons which Lebanon's anti-Syrian ruling majority says flow across the border and are intended for the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah militant Shiite group.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, in a televised speech on the second anniversary of the deadly 34-day summer war with Israel, called Sleiman's visit "a new stage" in relations between Beirut and Damascus. (AFP)
Whatever Nasrallah says. Let's see. What does his majesty say about the helicopter "accident"?
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary General, said on Monday that although last week’s attack on a military helicopter, which he described as accidental, was dangerous, it would not sow dissention between the Resistance and the army. Nasrallah said that neither Hezbollah nor the army would ever succumb to sedition. (Now Lebanon)
Accident? Sure. Whatever you decree, Nasrallah.
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