[WCUSP] Lebanon & the US role there today.

[Warda's e-mail]

Thank you Katharina. In the future, could you please send this kind of
emails (especially political/religion related) to umar6208 at yahoo.com. You
may continue to send personal email to walhadi at kazu.org. Thanks for your
understanding.

Warda
  -----Original Message-----
  From: KATHARLOW at aol.com [mailto:KATHARLOW at aol.com]
  Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 10:05 PM
  To: wcusp at wilpf.org
  Subject: Lebanon & the US role there today.


   Hersh: Bush administration arranged support for militants attacking
Lebanon David Edwards and Muriel Kane





  Published: Tuesday May 22, 2007





  In an interview on CNN International' s Your World Today, veteran
journalist Seymour Hersh explains that the current violence in Lebanon is
the result of an attempt by the Lebanese government to crack down on a
militant Sunni group, Fatah al-Islam, that it formerly supported.



  Last March, Hersh reported that American policy in the Middle East had
shifted to opposing Iran, Syria, and their Shia allies at any cost, even if
it meant backing hardline Sunni jihadists.



  A key element of this policy shift was an agreement among Vice President
Dick Cheney, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, and Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national security adviser, whereby the Saudis
would covertly fund the Sunni Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon as a counterweight
to the Shia Hezbollah.



  Hersh points out that the current situation is much like that during the
conflict in Afghanistan in the 1980's - which gave rise to al Qaeda - with
the same people involved in both the US and Saudi Arabia and the "same
pattern" of the US using jihadists that the Saudis assure us they can
control.



  When asked why the administration would be acting in a way that appears to
run counter to US interests, Hersh says that, since the Israelis lost to
them last summer, "the fear of Hezbollah in Washington, particularly in the
White House, is acute."



  As a result, Hersh implies, the Bush administration is no longer acting
rationally in its policy. "We're in the business of supporting the Sunnis
anywhere we can against the Shia. ... "We're in the business of creating ...
sectarian violence." And he describes the scheme of funding Fatah al-Islam
as "a covert program we joined in with the Saudis as part of a bigger,
broader program of doing everything we could to stop the spread of the Shia
world, and it just simply -- it bit us in the rear."

  ---------------------------------------------

  The Complicity of the Siniora Government --The Great Bank Heist of Tripoli
  http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri05232007.html



  By RANNIE AMIRI


  "If you think you understand Lebanese politics, it obviously has not been
explained to you properly."

  - Anonymous

  CounterPunch  May 23, 2007

  It started out simple enough. A group of men robbed a bank in the northern
Lebanese town of Amyoun and then fled into the teeming Nahr al-Bared
Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli after being pursued by police. The
Lebanese Army quickly became involved, and before you knew it, a raging
battle with a Sunni militant group calling itself Fatah al-Islam within the
camp ensued. A score of Lebanese soldiers were killed just as swiftly.

  What happened?

  As with all things that transpire in Lebanon, the exact details remain
murky. What it conflagrated into has not: the bloodiest days of fighting
amongst Lebanese, Palestinians, et al since the days of the civil war.

  The leader of Fatah al-Islam, a Salafi/jihadi outfit, is Shaker al-Absi, a
colleague of the erstwhile Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Having served a number of
years in a Syrian jail, he was sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan in
2004 for the 2002 murder of US diplomat Laurence Foley. The agenda of his
organization, apparently comprised of only a few hundred men with scant
support from other resident Palestinian factions, is quite typical of
al-Qaeda. Narrowly it is to establish Islamic law within the camp; more
broadly to attack American interests in the region and expel all troops
(specifically UNAFIL) from Lebanon. Not surprisingly, their membership
includes many foreign fighters recently completing tours of duty in Iraq.

  There are many interesting windows this story has opened.

  One is how, almost reflexively, many Lebanese blamed Syria for the events
in Tripoli. Nevermind that a secular Ba'athist regime like that in Syria
loathes nothing more than Salafi radicals, whom they regard as a threat to
their own existence first and foremost (witness the late Syrian President
Hafez al-Assad's 1982 crackdown in the town Hama, killing10,000 25,000
members of the Muslim Brotherhood). Indeed, Syria closed their border with
Lebanon soon after fighting began in Tripoli.

  The second is the absolute miserable conditions of the Palestinian refugee
camps in Lebanon, completely isolated from the rest of the country, mired in
abject poverty and whose neighborhood are run by one gang or other.
Desperation is always fertile soil for groups like al-Qaeda to plant their
roots.

  The most disturbing aspect of the fighting in Tripoli though, has been
lost--or deliberately obfuscated--by discussion of the above.

  Namely, the absolute complicity of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora
and allies like Saad Hariri, leader of the parliamentary majority in
Lebanon, in bringing groups like Fatah al-Islam to Lebanon, where they
knowingly allowed them to operate, all in a greater bid to stem the
ascendancy of Hezbollah.

  Fatah al-Islam and al-Qaeda more broadly, after all, have a visceral
hatred for Shi'a Muslims, whom they regard as infidels. Who better to bring
into the country via the squalid Palestinian camps of Lebanon than them?

  It was Seymour Hersh, in the March 2007 New Yorker who recognized a shift
in the policy of the United States and their cronies (Siniora government,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia) in patronizing radical Sunni organizations to act as a
bulwark against perceived widening Iranian influence.

  How foreboding was Hersh's article?

  Alastair Crooke, who spent nearly thirty years in MI6, the British
intelligence service, and now works for Conflicts Forum, a think tank in
Beirut, told me, "The Lebanese government is opening space for these people
to come in. It could be very dangerous." Crooke said that one Sunni
extremist group, Fatah al-Islam, had splintered from its pro-Syrian parent
group, Fatah al-Intifada, in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, in northern
Lebanon. Its membership at the time was less than two hundred. "I was told
that within twenty-four hours they were being offered weapons and money by
people presenting themselves as representatives of the Lebanese government's
interests-presumably to take on Hezbollah," Crooke said.

  During an interview with Hasan Nasrallah, when Hersh posited if it was
Israeli assassination he most feared, Nasrallah replied that it was other
Arabs Jordanian intelligence, and Salafi/Wahabi jihadists--who were his
greatest threats. Was it also Fatah al-Islam and affiliates' ultimate
mission, at the behest of the Siniora government, to assassinate Hasan
Nasrallah?

  It is a bit puzzling why the Lebanese Army is now waging a battle against
Fatah al-Islam, something which even perplexed the intrepid veteran reporter
of Lebanon, Robert Fisk. The workings of Lebanon politics can be quite
mysterious and no doubt there is more to this story than meets the eye.

  Regardless, Fouad Siniora and Saad Hariri learned a hard lesson: hired
guns often shoot the hand which pays them. As a consequence of their
reckless venture, the innocent continue to pay with their lives.

  Again, Hersh:

  In an interview in Beirut, a senior official in the Siniora government
acknowledged that there were Sunni jihadists operating inside Lebanon. "We
have a liberal attitude that allows Al Qaeda types to have a presence here,"
he said.

  Along with Fatah al-Islam, the Siniora government has the blood of dozens
of Lebanese soldiers and Lebanese and Palestinian civilians on their hands.

  And that is a fact which hits us straight between the eyes.

  Rannie Amiri may be reached at rbamiri at yahoo.com

  http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri05232007.html





----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
  See what's free at AOL.com.
   --------------------------------
  http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb05242007.html


  Who's Behind the Fighting in North Lebanon?

  Inside Narh al-Bared and Bedawi Refugee Camps

  By Franklin Lamb
  Tripoli, Lebanon.
  CounterPunch
  05/24/07


   Wearing a beat-up ratty UNCHR tee-shirt left over from Bint Jbeil and the
Israeli-Hezbollah July probably helped. As did, I suspect, the Red Cross
jersey, my black and white checkered kaffieyh and the Palestinian flag taped
to my lapel as I joined a group of Palestinian aid workers and slipped into
Nahr el-Bared trying not to look conspicuous.

  Our mission was to facilitate the delivery of food, blankets and
mattresses, but I was also curious about the political situation. Who was
behind the events that erupted so quickly and violently following a claimed
'bank robbery'? A heist that depending on who you talked to, netted the
masked bandits $ 150,000, $ 1,500 or $ 150!

  It seems that every Beirut media outlet has a different source of 'inside
information' based on which Confession owns it and 'knows' the real culprits
pulling the strings. But then, even we who are particularly obtuse have
realized, as the late Rafic Hariri often counseled: "In Lebanon, believe
nothing of what you are told and only half of what you see!"

  My friends made we swear out loud that I would claim to be Canadian
instead of American if Al Qaeda types stopped us inside the Camp. My
impression was that they were not so worried about my safety but for their
own if they got caught with me. It would not be the first time that I relied
on my northern neighbors to get me out of a potential US nationality jam in
the Middle East, so I ditched my American ID.

  We were advised as we approached the Fatah al Islam stronghold that we
would be in the cross-hairs of Lebanese army snipers from outside of Nahr
el-Bared Camp as well as Fatah al-Islam snipers from the inside, and that
any false move or bad luck could prove fatal.

  After three days of shelling and more than 100 dead and with no
electricity or water, Nahr el-Baled reeks of burned and rotting flesh,
charred houses with smoldering contents, raw sewage and the acrid smell of
exploded mortars and tank rounds.

  Press figures of 30,000-32,000 are not accurate. 45,000 live in Bared!
Contrary to some reports food and water still not being allowed in.

  15 to 70 percent of some areas destroyed. Some light shooting this morning
and afternoon. Army shelling at rate of 10-18 shells per minute from 4:30 am
to 10 am on Tuesday. Army will not allow Palestinian Red Crescent to move
out civilians because they don't trust them. Only the Lebanese Red Cross is
allowed. It is possible to enter Bared from the back (east side). The Army
taking cameras of journalists they catch. The Lebanese government is
controlling the information and don't want extent of damage known yet. Still
unrecovered bodies. 40 per cent of the camp population have been evacuated.
The rest don't want to leave out of fear of being shot or that they are
losing their homes for the 5th time or more for some.

  No electricity and cell phone batteries are dying. Relatives who fled are
telling families to stay because there are not enough mattresses at Bedawi
Camp. Bared evacuees are living up to 25 in one room in Badawi schools etc.
3,000 evacuees in one school in Bedawi. UN aid is starting to arrive at
Badawi but workers not able so far to deliver it to Bared due to attack on
relief convoy on Tuesday.

  I met Abdul Rahman Hallab famous for Lebanese candy factory in Tripoli.
Helped him unload 5,000 meals to evacuees from Bared staying in Badawi. He
is Lebanese not Palestinian.

  The camp population all say that Fatah Al-Islam came in September-October
2006 and have no relatives in the camp. They are from Saudi, Pakistan,
Algeria, Iraq, and Tunisia and elsewhere. No Palestinians among them except
some hanger ons. Most say they are paid by the Hariri group.

  Reports that Fateh al-Islam helps people in Bared are denied. " All they
do is pray, one woman told me..and do military training.. They are much more
religious than the Shia" she said.

  Population of Badawi camp was 15,000 and as of of this morning it is
28,000. Four bodies arrived this morning at Safad, the only Palestinian Red
Crescent Hospitals in north Lebanon.

  I was told the army will have to destroy every house in Bared to remove
Fateh al Islam.

  I expect to stay in Bared tonight with aid workers. Some say FAI with die
fighting others than a settlement could be negotiated. I may try the latter
with NGO from Norway here. Not sure if anyone in government is interested.
One minute ago a member of Fateh at_Islam walked into the medical office I
am using at Safed Hospital and said they want a permanent ceasefire and do
not want more people killed or injured.

  They claim to have no problem with the army

  Now some background about Nahr el-Bared. Like the other Palestinian camps
in Lebanon, it is inhabited by Palestinians who were forced from their
homes, land, and personal property in 1947-48, in order to make room for
Jews from Europe and elsewhere prior to the May 15, 1948 founding of Israel.

  Of the original 16 Refugee camps, set up to settle the more than 100,000
refugees crossing the border into Lebanon from Palestine during the Nakba,
12 official ones remain. The camp at Tal El-Za`tar was ethnically cleansed
by Christian Phalange forces at the beginning of the 1975-1990, Lebanese
Civil War and the Nabatieh, Dikwaneh and Jisr el-Basha camps were destroyed
by Israeli attacks and Lebanese militia and not rebuilt. Those remaining
include the following which currently house more than half of Lebanon's
433,276 Palestinian refugees:

  Al-Badawi, Burj El-Barajna, Jal El-Bahr, Sabra and Shatilla, Ain El-Helwa,
Nahr El-Bared, Rashidieh, Burj El Shemali, El-Buss, Wavel, Mieh Mieh and Mar
Elias.

  Nahr el-Bared is 7 miles north of Tripoli near the stunning Mediterranean
coast and is home to more than 32,000 refuges many of whom were expelled
from the Lake Huleh area of Palestine, including Safed. Like all the
official Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, plus several 'unofficial'
ones, Nahr el-Bared suffers from serious problems including no proper
infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and unemployment.

  Tabulated at more than 25%, Nahr el-Bared has the highest percentage of
Palestinian refugees anywhere who are living in abject poverty and who are
officially registered with the UN as "special hardship" cases.
  Its residents, like all Palestinians in Lebanon are blatantly
discriminated against and not even officially counted. They are denied
citizenship and banned from working in the top 70 trades and professions
(that includes McDonald's and KFC in downtown Beirut) and cannot own real
estate. Palestinians in Lebanon have essentially no social or civil rights
and only limited access to government educational facilities. They have no
access to public social services. Consequently most rely entirely on the
UNRWA as the sole provider for their families needs.

  It is not surprising that al-Qaeda sympathies, if not formal affiliations,
are found in the 12 official camps as well as 7 unofficial ones. Groups with
names such as Fateh al-Islam, Jund al-Shams (Soldier of Damascus) , Ibns
al-Shaheed" (sons of the martyrs) Issbat al-Anssar which morphed into Issbat
al-Noor - "The Community of Illumination" and many others.
  Given Bush administration debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan and its
encouragement for Israel to continue its destruction of Lebanon this past
summer, the situation in Lebanon mirrors, in some respects, the early 1980's
when groups sprung up to resist the US green lighted Israeli invasion and
occupation. But rather than being Shia and pro-Hezbollah, today's groups are
largely Sunni and anti-Hezbollah. Hence they qualify for US aid, funneled by
Sunni financial backers in league with the Bush administration which is
committed to funding Islamist Sunni groups to weaken Hezbollah.

  This project has become the White House obsession following Israel's July
2006 defeat.

  To understand what is going on with Fatah al-Islam at Nahr el-Bared one
would want a brief introduction to Lebanon's amazing, but shadowy 'Welch
Club'.

  The Club is named for its godfather, David Welch, assistant to Secretary
of State Rice who is the point man for the Bush administration and is guided
by Eliot Abrams.
  Key Lebanese members of the Welch Club (aka: the 'Club') include:

  The Lebanese civil war veteran, warlord, feudalist and mercurial Walid
Jumblatt of the Druze party( the Progressive Socialist Party or PSP)

  Another civil war veteran, warlord, terrorist (Served 11 years in prison
for massacres committed against fellow Christians among others) Samir
Geagea. Leader of the extremist Phalange party and its Lebanese Forces (LF)
the group that conducted the Israel organized massacre at Sabra-Shatilla
(although led by Elie Hobeika, once Geagea's mentor, Geagea did not take
part in the Sept. 1982 slaughter of 1,700 Palestinian and Lebanese).

  The billionaire, Saudi Sheikh and Club president Saad Hariri leader of the
Sunni Future Movement (FM).

  Over a year ago Hariri's Future Movement started setting up Sunni Islamist
terrorist cells (the PSP and LF already had their own militia since the
civil war and despite the Taif Accords requiring militia to disarm they are
now rearmed and itching for action and trying hard to provoke Hezbollah).

  The FM created Sunni Islamist 'terrorist' cells were to serve as a cover
for (anti-Hezbollah) Welch Club projects. The plan was that actions of these
cells, of which Fatah el-Islam is one, could be blamed on al Qaeda or Syria
or anyone but the Club.

  To staff the new militias, FM rounded up remnants of previous extremists
in the Palestinian Refugee camps that had been subdued, marginalized and
diminished during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Each fighter got $700
per month, not bad in today's Lebanon.

  The first Welch Club funded militia, set up by FM, is known locally as
Jund-al-Sham (Soldiers of Sham, where "Sham" in Arabic denotes Syria,
Lebanon, Palestine & Jordan) created in Ain-el-Hilwa Palestinian refugee
camp near Sidon. This group is also referred to in the Camps as Jund-el-Sitt
(Soldiers of the Sitt, where "Sitt" in Sidon, Ain-el-Hilwa and the outskirts
pertain to Bahia Hariri, the sister of Rafiq Hariri, aunt of Saad, and
Member of Parliament).

  The second was Fateh-al-Islam (The name cleverly put together, joining
Fateh as in Palestinian and the word Islam as in Qaeda). FM set this Club
cell up in Nahr-al-Bared refugee camp north of Tripoli for geographical
balance.

  Fatah el-Islam had about 400 well paid fighters until three days ago.
Today they may have more or fewer plus volunteers. The leaders were provided
with ocean view luxury apartments in Tripoli where they stored arms and
chilled when not in Nahr-al-Bared. Guess who owns the apartments?

  According to members of both Fatah el-Islam and Jund-al-Sham their groups
acted on the directive of the Club president, Saad Hariri.
  So what went wrong? "Why the bank robbery" and the slaughter at Nahr
el-Baled?

  According to operatives of Fatah el-Islam, the Bush administration got
cold feet with people like Seymour Hirsh snooping around and with the White
House post-Iraq discipline in free fall. Moreover, Hezbollah intelligence
knew all about the Clubs activities and was in a position to flip the two
groups who were supposed to ignite a Sunni -Shia civil war which Hezbollah
vows to prevent.

  Things started to go very wrong quickly for the Club last week.
  FM "stopped" the payroll of Fateh el-Islam's account at the Hariri family
owned back.

  Fateh-al-Islam, tried to negotiate at least 'severance pay' with no luck
and they felt betrayed. (Remember many of their fighters are easily
frustrated teenagers and their pay supports their families). Militia members
knocked off the bank which issued their worthless checks. They were doubly
angry when they learned FM is claiming in the media a loss much greater than
they actually snatched and that the Club is going to stiff the insurance
company and actually make a huge profit.

  Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (newly recruited to serve the bidding
of the Club and the Future Movement) assaulted the apartments of
Fatah-al-Islam Tripoli. They didn't have much luck and were forced to call
in the Lebanese army.

  Within the hour, Fatah-al-Islam retaliated against Lebanese Army posts,
checkpoints and unarmed, off-duty Lebanese soldiers in civilian clothing and
committed outrageous killings including severing at four heads.

  Up to this point Fatah-al-Islam did not retaliate against the Internal
Security forces in Tripoli because the ISF is pro-Hariri and some are
friends and Fatah al-Islam still hoped to get paid by Hariri. Instead Fatah
al Islam went after the Army.

  The Seniora cabinet convenes and asks the Lebanese Army to enter the
refugee camp and silence (in more ways than one) Fatah-al-Islam. Since
entrance into the Camps is forbidden by the 1969 Arab league agreement, the
Army refuses after realizing the extent of the conspiracy against it by the
Welch Club. The army knows that entering a refugee camp in force will open a
front against the Army in all twelve Palestinian refugee camps and tear the
army apart along sectarian cracks.

  The army feels set up by the Club's Internal Security Forces which did not
coordinate with the Lebanese Army, as required by Lebanese law and did not
even make them aware of the "inter family operation" the ISF carried out
against Fatah-al-Islam safe houses in Tripoli.

  Today, tensions are high between the Lebanese army and the Welch Club.
Some mention the phrase 'army coup'.

  The Club is trying to run Parliament and is prepared to go all the way not
to 'lose' Lebanon. It still holds 70 seats in the house of parliament while
the Hezbollah led opposition holds 58 seats. It has a dutiful PM in Fouad
Siniora.

  The club tried to seize control of the presidency and when it failed it
marginalized it. Last year it tried to control of the Parliamentary
Constitutional Committee, which audits the government's policies, laws and
watch dogs their actions. When the Club failed to control it they simply
abolished the Constitutional Committee. This key committee no longer exists
in Lebanon's government.

  The Welch Club's major error was when it attempted to influence the
Lebanese Army into disarming the Lebanese Resistance led by Hezbollah. When
the Army wisely refused, the Club coordinated with the Bush Administration
to pressure Israel to dramatically intensify its retaliation to the capture
of the two soldiers by Hezbollah and 'break the rules' regarding the
historically more limited response and try to destroy Hezbollah during the
July 2006 war.

  The Welch Club now considers the Lebanese Army a serious problem. The Bush
administration is trying to undermine and marginalize it to eliminate one of
the last two obstacles to implementing Israel's agenda in Lebanon.
  If the army is weakened, it can not protect _over 70% of the Christians in
Lebanon who support General Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. The F.P.M. is
mainly constituted of well educated, middle class and unarmed Lebanese
civilians. The only protection they have is the Lebanese Army which aids in
maintaining their presence in the political scene. The other type of
Christians in Lebanon is the minority, about 15% of Christians associated
with Geagea's Lebanese Forces who are purely militia. If the Club can weaken
the Army even more than it is, then this Phalange minority will be the only
relatively strong force on the Christian scene and become the "army" of the
Club.

  Another reason the Club wants to weaken the Lebanese Army is that the Army
is nationalistic and is a safety valve for Lebanon to ensure the Palestinian
right of return to Palestine, Lebanese nationhood and the resistance culture
led by Hezbollah, with which is has excellent relations.

  For their part, the Welch Club wants to keep some Palestinians in Lebanon
for cheap labor, ship others to countries willing to take them (and be paid
handsomely to do so by American taxpayers) and allow at most a few thousand
to return to Palestine to settle the 'right of return' issue while at the
same time signing a May 17th 1983 type treaty with Israel with enriches the
Club members and gives Israel Lebanon's water and much of Lebanon's
sovereignty.

  Long story short, Fatah el-Islam must be silenced at all costs. Their
tale, if told, is poison for the Club and its sponsors. We will likely see
their attempted destruction in the coming days.

  Hezbollah is watching and supporting the Lebanese army.

  Franklin Lamb's recent book, The Price We Pay: A Quarter Century of
Israel's use of American Weapon's against Lebanon (1978-2006) is available
at Amazon.com.uk. Hezbollah: A Brief Guide for Beginners is expected in
early summer.

  Dr. Lamb can be reached at fplamb @ gmail.com.

  ------------------------------------


   Rania Masri on the situation in Lebanon (KPFA Interview)
  http://www.kpfa. org/archives/ indexphp? arch=20358



  --------------------------------------------------------------------

   Angry Arab New Service ( http://angryarab.blogspot.com)

  The clashes in Lebanon. This is typical. We have seen this before. The
Lebanese Army is given an opportunity by the political class (and by the
sectarian sects--all of them) to show muscle, but only against the refugee
camps of Lebanon. I remember this from my childhood. Back in 1973, Israeli
terrorists (headed by Ehud Barak) sneaked into Lebanon and killed
Palestinian leaders: one of them was a poet sleeping in his bed (Kamal
Nasir). The Lebanese Army did not lift a finger--it never does against
Israel. And all the historical accounts of 1948 war in Lebanese history
books are plain false: the token Lebanese troops that ostensibly were part
of the Arab armies did not even cross the border into Palestine. The
Lebanese government in 1973, engineered an attack on the Palestinian refugee
camps in Lebanon: the handful of Lebanese fighter jets were used to bomb the
refugee camps. This time around, the Lebanese Army was dragged into this by
the Hariri camp. They wanted to start a fight. Elements of the conspiracy
are connected: is it a coincidence that US-supported, financed, and armed
Dahlan gangs were fighting Hamas in Gaza, while US-supported, financed, and
armed Lebanese forces are used against the Palestinians in Nahr Al-Barid
refugee camp? Now let us be clear: Fath Al-Islam should not even be seen as
a legitimate Palestinian organization: it comprises mostly fanatical Saudis
and other Arab nationals. Their rhetoric is comparable to that of fanatical
fundamentalist groups although they deny links to Al-Qa`idah. March 14th
officials in Lebanon want to connect them to the Syrian regime by insisting
that Fath-Al-Islam is the same as Fath-Intifada although the two groups are
clearly different, if not divergent. The March 14th camp wanted to instigate
this in order to 1) blame this (like everything else) on Syria and on the
Palestinians--as usual in Lebanese political culture; 2) to render services
to the American patron of the Lebanese regime; 3) to claim that now it is
time for the Lebanese Army to hold a monopoly over the use of force in
Lebanon although we did not see any enthusiasm on the party of the Lebanese
Army to exercise its monopoly over the use of fores when Israel attacked
Lebanon last summer, and other Lebanese resisted the invasion and occupation
of Lebanon while the Army either stood by or helped in secret--in secret.
Have you ever heard an Army defending the land in secret? Abbas Nasir (the
Hizbullah supporter and former correspondent for Al-Manar TV), the Beirut
correspondent of AlJazeera, was besides himself yesterday and today. He was
repulsively cheering the Lebanese Army, and merely reporting Lebanese Army
propaganda claims. But he did report one important story that has not been
reported in any other Lebanese news media: this will also be hidden from
tomorrow's newspapers in Beirut. He reported that armed groups (belonging to
March 14th camp) showed up on the scene and offered to help the Lebanese
Army in killing Palestinians. And then you see the Sunni Mufti of
Lebanon--who has no credentials and is known for his weakness vis-a-vis
Hariri tri-monthly payments--came out from his hiding, to blame the
Palestinians and to offer his evaluations of what is truly Islamic and what
is truly Palestinian. And then mini-Hariri came out and read what they wrote
for him in Arabic: he denounced the "terrorists" forgetting that the Sunni
fanatical groups in Lebanon flourished since his family began its generous
financial support for such groups during the last parliamentary elections,
and due to the Hariri policy of intense sectarian agitations. The top
Shi`ite cleric (again chosen not for his scholarship but for his loyalty to
the Amal movement), `Abdul-Amir Qabalan, also came out to praise the
Lebanese Army. What are they praising: the scenes of Lebanese Army tanks
shelling the refugee camps of Nahr Al-Barid? But make no mistake: nothing
will change. It will end like every other incident of this kind ends: in a
stalemate, and in things returning back to abnormal. This is Lebanon.

  Everybody I heard in the last few days, have either angered me or
disappointed me: from March 14th, to Hizbullah, Gen. `Awn, to Amal, and the
Lebanese Communist Party, etc. Today, I heard Sulayman Franjiyyah. He made
more sense than all the rest (I never believe in the value of formal
education). He was the only prominent political figure I know who spoke
against the shelling of the refugee camp. The opposition (and Hizbullah in
particular) are busy sending salutations and congratulations to the Lebanese
Army for shelling the refugee camp in Nahr Al-Barid. Now, don't get me
wrong. I know that the Lebanese Army needed to boost its morale and restore
(restore?) its prestige. It was humiliated yet again by the Israeli
occupation army last summer, when 2400 Lebanese fighters succeeded in
humiliating the Israeli occupation army. The Lebanese Army feels that it
needs to shell the camp to boost morale. Most Lebanese seem to agree. Even
my mother is supporting the Lebanese Army (she thinks that it was set up by
Hariri Inc).
  ------------------------------------
   Hersh: Bush administration arranged support for militants attacking
Lebanon

        David Edwards and Muriel Kane





  Published: Tuesday May 22, 2007





  In an interview on CNN International' s Your World Today, veteran
journalist Seymour Hersh explains that the current violence in Lebanon is
the result of an attempt by the Lebanese government to crack down on a
militant Sunni group, Fatah al-Islam, that it formerly supported.



  Last March, Hersh reported that American policy in the Middle East had
shifted to opposing Iran, Syria, and their Shia allies at any cost, even if
it meant backing hardline Sunni jihadists.



  A key element of this policy shift was an agreement among Vice President
Dick Cheney, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, and Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national security adviser, whereby the Saudis
would covertly fund the Sunni Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon as a counterweight
to the Shia Hezbollah.

  Hersh points out that the current situation is much like that during the
conflict in Afghanistan in the 1980's - which gave rise to al Qaeda - with
the same people involved in both the US and Saudi Arabia and the "same
pattern" of the US using jihadists that the Saudis assure us they can
control.



  When asked why the administration would be acting in a way that appears to
run counter to US interests, Hersh says that, since the Israelis lost to
them last summer, "the fear of Hezbollah in Washington, particularly in the
White House, is acute."



  As a result, Hersh implies, the Bush administration is no longer acting
rationally in its policy. "We're in the business of supporting the Sunnis
anywhere we can against the Shia. ... "We're in the business of creating ...
sectarian violence." And he describes the scheme of funding Fatah al-Islam
as "a covert program we joined in with the Saudis as part of a bigger,
broader program of doing everything we could to stop the spread of the Shia
world, and it just simply -- it bit us in the rear."






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