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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
By Lee Smith
Our friend and colleague in Lebanon Elie Fawaz writes in to remind us that The War for Lebanon has not even begun yet in earnest and Hezbollah's “victory” in Beirut is not all it seems:
“So, we know that Hezbollah's well-trained fighters are in control of most of west Beirut. The decision taken by Walid Jumblat and Saad al-Hariri not to fight back in Beirut, but rather hand most of their positions to the army ended any illusion regarding the sanctity of the “resistance” – that it would never turn its weapons inward, for now its hands are dripping with the blood of innocent Lebanese. But it's different in the Chouf where Jumblatt's forces bloodied Hezbollah.
“The Chouf is calm now after fighting over the weekend in which forces belonging to Talal Arslan, part of the Hezbollah-led opposition, jumped sides and joined alongside Jumblatt's men. As the Progressive Socialist Party website reports: 'The free people of the Shouf roll back an attack by the Iranian militias causing severe casualties in lives and equipment.'
“Hence, Jumblatt sounded more assertive last night on LBC news because he knows he got the upper-hand in the Chouf battles (Reuters is reporting at least 14 Hezbollah gunmen killed). He was willing to hand his offices over to the army to deflect some of the tension and because he wants to avoid a civil war.”
In short, what happened in West Beirut was a given. According to a report from the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese paper Al-Akhbar, this coup had been planned well in advance and its mastermind was the recently assassinated Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh. The government may in fact have forced Nasrallah to show his hand at a time of its choosing, not his. Hezbollah's walkover in Beirut came as a surprise to no one; nor did the performance of the army, except perhaps the Bush administration which must now reconsider the amount of money it has spent on equipment and training for the Lebanese Armed Forces.
As for the pro-government fighters in Beirut, contrary to most press accounts, there are no Sunni “militias” in the capital. Rather, it is mostly defensive armament, private citizens with small arms defending their families, homes and property. So it is hardly any surprise that Hezbollah managed to overrun Sunni neighborhoods easily. But that is merely one small part of Lebanon, and while the attention of the foreign press has focusedread
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. If you're a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link to any of these stories, add a link to the Dawn Patrol too and your trackback will be added to the list. Hat Tips to the Dawn Patrol are greatly appreciated. Support Our Troops, Read Their Stories ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IRAQ Mother's...read
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
With so many things going on, it is hard to keep up with all the hotspots and problem areas. That is one of the great things about the blogosphere: you have experts who keep up with their areas of specialization...read
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
JD Johannes of Outside the Wire will be a guest on the Dennis Miller radio program today....read
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Many like to smear the US and our troops as jack-booted thugs who routinely torture, kill and mutilate innocents; there could hardly be a more inaccurate portrayal. I have seen far too many examples of man's inhumanity to man and...read
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