It is good we are not moderated by Hizbullah cause in that case only one opinion would count, Hizbullah’s.

there is moderation nonetheless… i’m waiting for my comment from last saturday to get posted. it is currently in moderation limbo.

Actually the people of Lebanon never really had a chance to become free and self-determinating as they had always been patronized and victimized by other countries, be it the french, the british, the israelis, the syrians.
Especially the country of Israel has contributed to that tricky situation the whole region has to deal with today. It needs long periods of political stability to confirm new rules for a social community, something that Lebanon in fact never experienced.

in response to roy’s comments “it has no place in a modern Democratic state” … a true modern “Democratic” state, ALL opinions matter and are included in a discussion. as it stands now, hezballah representation in siniora’s government is null, so really, is it really a “Democratic state” ?
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Tuuli22 already pointed out that the Oriental News Agency is not a hezballah supporter. if you didnt realize, they gather news information from all sources reporting on the event and actually state what each news agency/paper headlines.
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“they backed off and started coming up with more demands”
only because the other side made up their own demands as well. it takes two to tango.
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“I lived in Lebanon and never once did I hear someone say they are afraid of voicing their opinion. Today I did.”
well then, i guess it depends on where in lebanon you live then doesn’t it. just because you didn’t hear anyone afraid of voicing their opinion doesn’t mean it actually doesnt happen.
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“As for the decision to remove Shoqeir. Whatever reason lead to that decision, does not give Hizbullah the right to take over the capitol of Lebanon. It doesn’t give them the right to wage a war on the sunni areas of Beirut, it doesn’t give them the right to shot at homes, terrorrize neighbourhoods and they do all this with little if no resistance. They are no longer a resistance movement they are now the aggressors with in.”
it’s the “whatever reason” that lead to that decision that is part of the larger complexities of the tensions and conflict in lebanon. you cant just look at one thing and ignore other aspects of a problem. hezballah is in fact handing everything to the lebanese army. today, the news reported that the army decided that shoqeir should return to his position and that he was wrongfully expelled from his position based on that fact that he’s a shia/supporter…
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“I hope the International community puts these people on trial for War Crimes. Hold them in the same contempt of the Geneva Treaties as the Americans military. If you think that the Americans are the worst terrorists in the world in the world, the Great Satanists’, then you have to to condemn the slaughter of innocent civilians by Hezbulla.”
HA. Robert R. Please, enlighten us with sources for your claims about the “slaughter of innocent civilians by Hezbulla”. Please.
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Samar, I don’t disagree that this whole thing is shitty to say the least; but at the same time there is more then one viewpoint. i’m not a pro-this or anti-that. that’s the friggin problem; why can’t people just unite. why is there a lack of equal and total involvement of ALL sides and parties. I am always critical when one group is labelled ‘terrorist’ or whatever, and only their shortcomings are focused on, while nothing critical of the other side (in this case, the siniora government and other players) is argued.

Tuuli22, I think the article made the conflict seem like it was only a few days old. It neglected to mention that the loyalist (gov’t supporters) have been trying dialogue for months, that electing a president was postponed 13 times, that they have been losing some of their main christian supporters (i.e. Michelle Murr). The conflict is much more complicated than just 4 points.

Oh I’m totally aware of that. It’s older than you or me, it’s actually more than 60 years old.
Well, as everyone can see, the article spots the initiating events to the actual crisis “weeks ago”, not “a few days” as you picture it.
The last part of the article emphasizes that in a very clear way saying that the actual crisis is a result of “the same old problem” the country has: its “confessionalism” and it’s colonial past.
As much as I can understand your worries - I can’t agree with your assesment of the article I posted.

I think this one pictures the situation quite well.
It’s wouldn’t call it objective to just blame the party of choice for everything. There are and have been so many political processes taking place in the region. You can’t seperate single phenomena like the current crisis from the situation as a whole.

Helz, I don’t know if you can call that site objective. it is Hizbullah’s supporters view of the event.

It’d be interesting to know how you come to claim the New Orient News Agency was “supporting hizbullah”. I mean you could have information I and many of the other users simply don’t have.

for an unbiased, more objective understanding, visit: http://www.voltairenet.org/article156971.html

Thanks for that source. Nevertheless I can understand people in Lebanon are scared like hell not knowing where this is going to lead them - worst case they’ll end up in another bloody civil war. These are moments when objectivity automatically gives way to sheer panic.

I hope the International community puts these people on trial for War Crimes. Hold them in the same contempt of the Geneva Treaties as the Americans military. If you think that the Americans are the worst terrorists in the world in the world, the Great Satanists’, then you have to to condemn the slaughter of innocent civilians by Hezbulla.

So you ask about the empty promises… How about electing General Sleiman for president? They were
As for the decision to remove Shoqeir. Whatever reason lead to that decision, does not give Hizbullah the right to take over the capitol of Lebanon. It doesn’t give them the right to wage a war on the sunni areas of Beirut, it doesn’t give them the right to shot at homes, terrorrize neighbourhoods and they do all this with little if no resistance. They are no longer a resistance movement they are now the aggressors with in.
.

In the end, to repeat the saying “History doth repeat itself”. If you look over many of such resistance movements, they eventually - I use the term burn out - loose their purpose. They no longer have a clear agenda and are hiding behind the title of “resistance movement” with proper speeches and slogans until a time comes and they are either forced to do something or themselves take a step in the wrong direction (I believe we are observing the latter). The end result is horrific with indiscriminate murder of civilians and total lack of meaning.

To prove my point: ” We will stay in Lebanon to protect its future and dignity and to take this country out of its crises. We have no other choice, we do not have other nationalities or other countries to go to. We were born here and we will resist here, and here we shall die.” Sayyed Nasrallah 1/29/2007

I hope people can stay safe and those armed will have the will-power to shoot only as self defense.

So you ask about the empty promises… How about electing General Sleiman for president? They were pushing for his election and as soon as the pro gov’t factions agreed, they backed off and started coming up with more demands.

The reason the airport road was closed was due to Hizbullah’s protest, didn’t have to do much with the strike, especially which was considered a failure since it was only observed in the parts of the country controlled by Hizbullah. But Hizbullah likes to hide behind a cloak of higher moral standing.

So you say ppl were always scared to speak? Maybe in Syria, never in Lebanon. I lived in Lebanon and never once did I hear someone say they are afraid of voicing their opinion. Today I did.

You can thank Hizbullah for closing the airport. You are in Canada safe, maybe your trip was ruined, However, ppl living in Beirut are getting shot at and they don’t have the option to leave.

As for the decision to remove Shoqeir. Whatever reason lead to that decision, does not give Hizbullah the right to take over the capitol of Lebanon. It doesn’t give them the right to wage a war on the sunni areas of Beirut, it doesn’t give them the right to shot at homes, terrorrize neighbourhoods and they do all this with little if no resistance. They are no longer a resistance movement they are now the aggressors with in.

BB, hope ur family is safe.

I have stated from the very begin that Hezbollah should disarm and become a purely political entity within the rest of Lebanon… I am tired of Nasrallah’s empy-headed rhetoric… it has no place in a modern Democratic state…

“The Bush administration no longer believes there is a viable military option - American, Israeli or combined - for destroying Hezbollah. The Party is deeply embedded in much of Lebanon and has broad support in the region. Recent reports indicate that some of its administrative staff is moving offices into Sunni areas including Tripoli and north Lebanon and that more Sunni, Christians and Druze are joining the Lebanese Resistance under Hezbollah leadership.

Even if there had been a US military option against Hezbollah, the war in Iraq has effectively eliminated it. American military strength has been exhausted in Iraq and Afghanistan and it has inadequate force to devote to a particularly dangerous third front. This is perhaps the greatest damage done by the Bush adventure in Iraq, where after five years there is no end in sight. The United States may be in Iraq for years to come with Israel ending up a victim of the Iraq adventure it instigated”

http://peoplesgeography.com/2008/04/21/an-offer-hezbollah-cannot-refuse/

“What Israel didn’t do however Hizbullah did. ”
wasn’t the airport closed due to worker unions striking for better wages with Sinoria’s government rejected??

“People are scared to speak out, already worried that Hizbullah is monitoring their phone calls.”
this made me laugh because that’s nothing new. people are always afraid to speak out because of the fear of being monitored.

“I am so disappointed, upset, mad, and completely disgusted with Hizbullah. We are on the brinks of a shia vs sunni civil war.”
I am disappointed too. I actually am set to go there next friday. who knows now since the airport is closed. But i am not disgusted with Hezballah alone. It takes two to tango. What this country needs to do is become united WITHOUT EXTERNAL influence (including and especially the US) and fuckin work TOGETHER. EVERYONE included and represented in the government.

“Earlier in the week the government announced its decision to replace the Beirut airport security chief Brig Wafiq Shoqeir for alleged ties to Hizbullah”

apparently, according to Hyatt LBC, Jumblatt pressured Siniora to remove Shoqeir or he will pull out his own ministers from the government, making the government even more fickle…
there’s more background going-ons then what is being focused on. Lebanon is a playground for U.S. stirring the pot for an Iran confrontation. It is Saudi Arabia and the US (Siniora’s gov’t) vs Iran and Syria (Hezballah).
consider this:

Quoting helz:

An Event and a Lebanese Trend
An Escalation of a New Internationalization Idea

The developments that take place in Lebanon refer to a tidal wave of political escalation that invades the country and opens the door to confrontations since the obstruction of the house speaker’s initiative:
- 1. The continuity of the campaigns that representative Walid Jumblatt launched against resistance and the participation of the loyalists in them.
- 2. The opposition said the campaign against resistance implement US orders that coincide with an attempt to take a new step at the security council during the discussion of Terry Roed Larsen’s report on the resolution 1559 on May 8 amid local and foreign threats to change the date of the parliamentary session on May 13 into a crucial chapter in the internationalization attempts. That is what representative al-Hariri and patriarch Sfeir threatened to do.
- 3. The opposition informed the loyal team that it will firmly deal with any violations of the agreed on crisis regulations. This means that targeting Hezbollah’s network of communications or taking any measures in the military and security institution will be dealt with in an unusual way, because this targets resistance and its security.
- 4. Analysts and politicians suggested the following propositions:
a) Amal movement and Hezbollah refused a generous offer from Jumblatt and al-Hariri to revive the four-sided alliance and disengage with General Michel Aoun and the opposition forces in the Sunni and Druze circles.
b) Israel and the US informed the loyal leaders to prepare for an expanded security operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon and at the Security Council. This operation will be supported later by the Arab moderate states.
c) The need of the US president for an escalation in Lebanon covers the failure of his secretary of state attempts to reach a declaration of principles on the Palestinian track. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan need also this escalation because they are partners in the US failure.
d) A leading source in the opposition said the recent positive stands of Walid Jumblatt were linked to financial demands which are not met so he threatened as usual to change his political stand. But when Saudi Arabia and al-Hariri met his financial demands in a generous way he returned to escalation.
e) Saudi Arabia’s decision to escalate condition in Lebanon was expressed by the stand of Saudi foreign minister and Saudi Arabia’s rejection to meet the house speaker.

taken from http://www.voltairenet.org/article156896.html