A fragile Lebanon
In light of what has been happening these past few days. With Warren and his trip to Syria and with the Syrian backed assassination against a Christian Lebanese politician, I thought it would be a good time to post some links regarding all that has happened and the complications within Middle-Eastern Policy.
There are some major players and each of them are carefully moving their pawns (and getting rid of some) in strategic moves that are designed to destablise democratic nations in order to attempt to get the government to topple and fragment to a point where it creates an opening for extremists to be able to take over.
- Lebanese Foundation for Peace (this is a good site to start with anyway) have an article about the latest incident here and its implications.
The assassination on November 21, 2006, of Lebanese anti-Syrian Maronite Christian Phalan gist politician — Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, 34, and his driver, Samir Shartuni — and the attempted murder of another anti-Syrian politician, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Michel Pharaon, were the first steps designed by the Iranian Government to trigger a full-scale civil war in Lebanon.
There were clear indicators that the assassination was ordered by the Syrian Government, significantly on the day that the Iraqi Government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki signed an accord with the Syrian Government to resume diplomatic relations between Iraq and Syria after a 26-year break, and only days before the planned visit by Iraqi Pres. Jalal Talabani was due to travel to Iran on Saturday, November 25, 2006, as part of an Iranian initiative — with Syria — to ensure that any regional initiatives would be undertaken without the participation of the United States.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker: “Iran Will Be the Leading Force in the New Phase [That Has Begun]“
On a brief visit to Iran, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In his meeting with Khamenei, the latter stressed “the readiness of the [Lebanese] people and of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon [i.e. Hizbullah] to deal with every contingency.” He added that Lebanon would be where America and the Zionist entity will meet with defeat, and said that “political developments in the region and the world confirm that a new phase has begun.” He stated further that “America’s policy in the region and the world is on the brink of defeat,” and that “this opportunity must be exploited to the full through determined action and trust in Allah the Almighty.”
- Response to the Terrorist assassination of Pierre Gemayel By Walid Phares
Hezbollah and the Syrian-Iranian axis have considered the last legislative elections in the US and the formation of the Baker Commission as a signal to wage terror campaigns to crumble the political process in Iraq and the cabinet in Lebanon. This week, secretary general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah and his allies were preparing to wage an urban uprising against the Government. But the supporters of the Cedars Revolution said they will take the streets again.
Hence, as we witnessed today in Beirut, the “Terror arm” of the Syro-Iranian camp moved forward to strike the Government instead.
1) Killing three ministers would paralyze the functioning of the cabinet per internal regulations. The assassination of Pierre Gemayel is a step in the campaign to “empty the cabinet” of its members.
2) This assassination aims at intimidating civil society from mobilizing against the pro-Syrian campaign.
- The cracks are opening is a post about ligitimising nations
- Purpose Driven Grand Mufti is a post about Warrens meeting with the Mufti
- History Repeating is a warning which reflects on past history
- The lies of Blood Libel — the life in the blood shows some of the propoganda which Syria and other nations say about the Jews
- Syria and the Lebanon connection explores the political climate between those countries
