November 26, 2009

I was going to say something really snarky about this. I don't support prostitution, but I do support its legalization. So when I was forwarded this article about "temporary marriages" arranged by Hezbollah for their supporters I had a funny kind of image in my mind of Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whore House in Texas wearing a burka.

But reading intot the specifics here, it's worse:

"After the 2006 war, Iranian money came to Lebanon in abundance, and money opened the door to sexual luxury that could not be ignored or controlled," noted Slim. "Therefore, Hezbollah decided it is easier to allow sex under certain religious titles in order to keep the control over the community." ....

It is, of course, not only men who take advantage of mutaa. Zahra, a fully veiled 25 year-old Shiite woman who is completing her master's degree in English literature, comes from a family of Hezbollah supporters and party members, and has been a lifelong Hezbollah member herself. She explained that she practices temporary marriage because it is a religious duty.

"I take good care of myself, and make sure I look perfect every time I go into a mutaa marriage because I should please my husband, temporary or not," she said. "It is my religious duty to do so. God allowed this kind of marriage for a reason, and I never question God's wishes."

It is, of course, not only men who take advantage of mutaa. Zahra, a fully veiled 25 year-old Shiite woman who is completing her master's degree in English literature, comes from a family of Hezbollah supporters and party members, and has been a lifelong Hezbollah member herself. She explained that she practices temporary marriage because it is a religious duty.

"I take good care of myself, and make sure I look perfect every time I go into a mutaa marriage because I should please my husband, temporary or not," she said. "It is my religious duty to do so. God allowed this kind of marriage for a reason, and I never question God's wishes."

Thanks to Esther.

October 13, 2009

Via this UPI link, Hizballah reports that Abdel Nasser Issa was not killed in a blast that resulted from handling an old rocket. In other news, global warming is created by magma deucing aliens using the Earth's atmosphere as their toilet.

In all seriousness, this is the second such explosion of an arms dump near the Israeli border. Expect this area to flare up soon in order to take the "pressure" off Iran. I expect Israel already anticipates this.

August 18, 2009

I know Totten is always going on about how great Lebanon is, but I just don't share that view. To me, Lebanon will always be that country which has settled on peace at the cost of letting the terrorists in their midst get away with nearly anything they want.

Perhaps too much influence from their former French Colonial masters?

Middle East News:

Taha al-Hajj Suleiman, a Syrian national and a member of the al Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam group, managed Tuesday to escape from prison in eastern Beirut, police said....

The eight Fatah al-Islam members sawed the window bars and used blankets as ropes to descend from the second floor of the jail.

According to police Suleiman managed to successfully escape because he was the first to jump.

Lebanese media said Suleiman stopped a car next to the Forum de Beirut at the outskirts of the capital and pointed a gun at the female driver and ordered her to keep driving.

I wonder how much it took to bribe the guard? Or were Salafist sympathies enough?

UPDATE: This isn't to say that Lebanese aren't nice people. They are. I have a brother-in-law who's a Lebanese Christian. If Lebanese living in America are any indication of what Lebanon proper is like, I imagine a country full of hospitality coupled with generous portions of food.

Mmmmm, Lebanese food.

But being nice and hospitable is only a virtue on the individual level, not at the social level. I recall an episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdaine spends some time in Saudi Arabia. Every one seemed so nice.

Which I don't think is a misleading view of Saudi Arabia at all. Saudis are generally very nice people. At least this view meshes with my own experience with the Saudis I've known.

Going SCUBA diving in Saudi Arabia seems fun. Trying to give a Saudi family a Bible in public? Not so much.

In any event being nice and/or hospitable is the last thing I want from a people who have actual terrorists living openly in their society. It's one thing to nicely ask Hizbollah to disarm, but talk is cheap and tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.

While in this particular instance we are talking about Sunni extremists and not Shia extremists, it just reminded me of the problem some have of separating personal level interaction from social or political interaction.

It's why, over the years, I've stressed that I have no problem with Islam as a religious construct or of Muslims in general. I give no more thought to Muslims who think I'm a kuffar than I do to traditional Christians who think I'm going to hell.

What I have a problem with is political Islam (Islamism) and those who wish to impose it (Islamists).

Islamists in my mind are no different than Communists. Which brings us full circle: have you ever known a Communist? A real live card-carrying Communist? I have. Good people, for the most part. I'd let them watch my kids, no problem.

The problem isn't with Communists on the individual level, it's with Communists once they have political power.

A Communist will try to convince you that your love of Capitalism only shows that you are a victim of false consciousness.

A Communist government will do the same, but will send you to a reeducation camp to learn the lesson.

Only one of these two scenarios is truly evil.

So, too, with Islamists.

By all counts, Daniel Boyd was the perfect neighbor. A perfect neighbor, who also thought it was the individual duty of Muslims to engage in violent jihad in furtherance of political Islam.

On one level, a great guy. On another level, an enemy of Western Civilization.

June 11, 2009

UPDATE 6/11/2009 10:24 AM: Confirmed, Jimmay did in fact meet with the leader of the terrorist group which has killed more Americans than any other next to al Qaeda.

Despicable.

--- Begin original 6/10/2009 post ---

That's what Debbie Schlussel is reporting. Here's the gist of it:

U.S. President Jimmy Carter--who previously met with and feted top HAMAS officials--just met with Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. Carter's son, James, accompanied him, and the meeting took place in Beirut.

Now, is the report to be believed? I don't see it in the MSM, but maybe Carter was trying to keep this one quiet? Perhaps yet another case in point where Carter is under the impression that his charisma could somehow bring peace to a conflict started over a thousand years ago by Muhammad on the Arabian Peninsula?

Her source, though, is Arab. And while it is anti-Hizbollah .... did I mention it's Arab? If you've ever been to the Middle East or paid attention to the Arab media, you know what I'm talking about.

So, it sounds like it could be true. If it is, it's yet one more despicable act in a lifetime filled with despicable acts by Jimmy Carter [always in the name of peace and the greater good, of course].

Let me know if you see anything else that would confirm it.

Thanks to Shy Guy.

March 13, 2009

BEIRUT, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah on Friday rejected the U.S. condition to start talks with Hezbollah if it acknowledges the state of Israel, the party's TV station Al-Manar reported.

"The U.S. condition of acknowledging Israel to open dialogue with us is rejected," Nasrallah told crowds of Shiite Moslems gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut this evening to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammed.

"As long as Hezbollah exists, the generations of our people could never acknowledge the state of Israel which is a hostile terrorist entity," Nasrallah vowed.

He said that the U.S. set two conditions to start talks with Hezbollah, "acknowledging Israel and abandoning violence," and what they meant by abandoning violence is giving up the resistance.

Related:
Actual Good News: Ibrahim Moussawi NOT Coming To Britain After All!

One of These Things is Not Like the Other: Hizbollah Spokesman Gets Thumbs Up for UK Visit
Out: admitting European politicians into Britain. In: admitting terrorist spokesperson into Britain

February 26, 2009

Totten explains what went down on a Beirut street when he, Jonathan Foreman, and Christopher Hitchens were attacked by Lebanese Nazis:

“The SSNP,” I said, “is the last party you want to mess with in Lebanon. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you properly. This is partly my fault.”

“I appreciate that,” Christopher said. “But I would have done it anyway. One must take a stand. One simply must.”

February 19, 2009

Ace finally gives me reason to visit Lebanon. Or not:

Oh, let me mention the women dressing sexily. I joked during the Feb 14 rally that the eighties didn't die, they just came to Beirut and mutated.

There's a curiously standard fashion among young girls and women here -- very tight jeans and leather or suede boots coming up to the knee. Sometimes, in a flair I approve of, they roll up their jeans to reveal one or two inches of stockings or tights beneath, before the tights disappear into the boots.

What they dress like, in other words, is all the "bad girls" I was so horny for in middle school and high school. If only the feather ear-ring came into style here, it would be perfect.

The rest of Ace's post is much more serious. And this isn't a criticism of Ace, but his post reminds me that I keep reading reports out of Lebanon about how normal it seems. Or, if Ace is to be believed, how incredibly awesome it is with slutty chicks running around everywhere and sub-Vegas standards of morality. Kind of like Amsterdam, only with bigger hair.

The south of the country, run by Hizbollah, we are told is the exception to the rule. Like this is a pretty great country, except for the radical Iranian backed terrorist group that is second only to al Qaeda in the number of Americans it has killed.

This is such bullshit. With apologies to my many Lebanese friends -- including my Lebanese brother-in-law --- Lebanon is one of the largest state sponsors of terror in the world. It is a shithole that puts most shitholes to shame. It's a failed state, every bit as bad as Afghanistan.

I'm sure that Christian and Sunni Arabs of the country are very glad the civil war is over, but they have bought their peace with the price of allowing a terrorist organization run large parts of their country. Peace with Hizbollah also means perpetual war with Israel.

Can you imagine if the second largest political party in Mexico had the stated goal of wiping the United States off the map? And that that party had its own very large armed army? An army which occupied large swaths of the country in which regular military personnel were not allowed to travel? And that that army also regular fired missiles into the United States?

No one here would be saying, "Hey, Mexico is pretty cool. Except for the terrorism thing."

And, remember, Hizbollah also has an Iraq arm called Hizbollah in Iraq. I guess they were going for descriptive accuracy over originality.

A branch, I would remind our dear readers, which actively tries to kill US soldiers.

There is really nothing much to say about Lebanon. It is a terrorist state, every bit as much as Afghanistan was. Every bit as much as Syria or Sudan or Somalia now is.

When it comes to politics, it really doesn't matter how nice people are on a personal level. Or how slutty. I hear Hitler was great at cocktail parties. And that Eva Braun chick really put out.

People in Lebanon sound pretty cool. Except for, you know, their willingness to tolerate the tens of thousands of terrorists in their mists. And I mean that literally. Hizbollah is huge. These aren't a few isolated training camps. These are people that control territory. A lot of it.

Other than that, I'm there.

December 10, 2008

The leader of al Qaeda's Lebanese affiliate is said to be dead. Pretty good news for a Wednesday afternoon. BBC:

The militant Islamist group Fatah al-Islam has said that its leader, who fled from Lebanon last year, has been killed or captured in Syria.

The group said Shaker al-Abssi and two other members had been ambushed by the Syrian security forces in the small town of Jermana, south of Damascus.

It said Abu Mohamad Awad had been named as his successor.

November 15, 2008

So, of the Lebanese say "no" they'll just peacefully lay down their weapons and get jobs at the local Starbucks? Like that's gonna happen.

Some analysis over at World Defense Review:

But the sudden, unprecedented call for a referendum this week suggests the terrorist group – emboldened by its political, military, and geostrategic gains since May – believes it has forcibly intimidated the Lebanese people to the point that the majority is no longer capable of standing up for true democracy. And a referendum in favor of Hizballah’s weapons might forever quash international demands for Hizballah to disarm.

The issuance of such a call is a clear expression of Hizballah’s confidence in its ability to advance its control of Lebanon. It’s also a huge gamble for the terrorist organization.

July 30, 2008

Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim found dead from multiple stab wounds.

Remember, the long war against Islamism will take both carrots and sticks.

Bombs and guns = sticks.

Hot chicks = carrots.

The more hot chicks on Arab TVs, the better off we all are.

Thanks to Burnt Toast.

Tamim video below.

May 13, 2008

This is not a good development. It does clear up the inactions of late by the Lebanese Army against Hezbullah.

Pro-Syrian Lebanese Druze leader Wiam Wahhab calls on the Lebanese army to topple the Lebanese government. Israel Matzav has more with video.

May 10, 2008

Obama made the following statement in regard to Hezbollah's actions in Lebanon this week.

It's time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, opportunities and employment.

Via Beirut to the Beltway:

Oh the time we wasted by fighting Hizbullah all those years with rockets, invasions of their homes and shutting down their media outlets. If only we had engaged them and their masters in diplomacy, instead of just sitting with them around discussion tables, welcoming them into our parliament, and letting them veto cabinet decisions. If only Obama had shared his wisdom with us before, back when he was rallying with some of our former friends at pro-Palestinian rallies in Chicago. How stupid we were when, instead of developing national consensus with them, we organized media campaigns against Israel on behalf of the impoverished people who voted for them.

Read the rest.

May 09, 2008

Crazy stuff coming out now.

In an interview with Sunni clerics Al-Arabiya TV network described the ongoing clashes as a sectarian strife. Now Al-Qaeda leaders have called on their operatives to go to Lebanon to protect the Sunni from Shia backed Hezbollah.

Press TV

Al-Qaeda has reportedly called on its operatives to go to Lebanon and defend what it called the Sunni community of the country.

The report came while some Arab media outlets described the current clashes in Lebanon as a fight between Sunni and Shia communities.

The TV network reported that al-Qaeda on all of its websites urged its operatives to defend the Sunni community of Lebanon.

This is nucking futz. Iran is funding alQaeda in Iraq and also Hezbollah. Hmmm.
If true this should prove to be very interesting.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Of course there has been nary a word about this from Reuters. Wouldn't be proper to show the "true" side of Hezbollah ruffing up one of their employees.

Snapped Shot has more on this - "Embedded With The Enemy?"

Via Instapundit:

A MEDIA COUP IN LEBANON: HEZBOLLAH'S SUBTLE TAKEOVER: "Hezbollah's militant takeover of Beirut and its systematic destruction of the authority of the state and freedom of the press suggests a sophisticated and planned campaign to take power.

Exit question: What ancient city on a hill lies between souther Lebanon and Tel Aviv?

Effing Hizbollah Bastages!

Update: Surprise! Iran claims it da joooos fault!

May 08, 2008

Beirut Spring posted this photo of a bridge banner in Beirut that reads: "A gift from the municipality of Tehran to the righteous, resisting Lebanese people."...

...Christian Lebanese Forces leader, Samir Geagea, referred to Hizballah as the Mahdi Army in Lebanon.

Hat Tip: Instapundit.

April 22, 2008

Remember United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 *cough*hudna*cough* that resulted in the end of the 2006 conflict between Hizballah and Israel? The idea was that a force of UN peace keepers called UNIFIL would oversee the withdraw of Israeli troops and the disarmament of Hizballah.

When UNIFIL recently caught Hizballah smuggling arms into south Lebanon they confronted the militants by stopping their truck. At which point at least two armed Hizballah terrorists jumped out and threatened the UNIFIL force. UNIFIL responded by retreating back to their base, no air strike to destroy the illegal weapons, no response what so ever but to bury the incident deep inside a UN report.

Haaretz Via LGF:

Armed Hezbollah militants warded off members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) last month when the peacekeepers discovered a truck carrying weapons and ammunition belonging to the Lebanon-based guerilla group.

The incident was referred to briefly in a semi-yearly report submitted to the UN Security Council by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The incident was the first time that UNIFIL forces were confronted by armed Hezbollah men south of Lebanon’s Litani River, an area which Security Council resolution 1701 prohibits Hezbollah from entering.

According to a government source in Jerusalem, the incident caused great embarrassment for UNIFIL. The source described the incident, explaining that UNIFIL troops on patrol discovered the truck and chased it down and pulled it over. When the UNIFIL troops approached the vehicle, the source said, armed Hezbollah men exited the truck and threatened the troops at gunpoint. The UNIFIL patrol then went back into their cars, according to the source, and returned to their base.

Italy's Prime minister is threatening to pull their troops out of UNIFIL due to the highly restrictive rules of engagement. Hizballah says that any change in teh rules of engagement would make UNIFIL and occupying force and target of Hizballah.

April 18, 2008

25 years ago today the Iranian backed Hizbullah terrorist group attacked the sovereign soil of the United States of America, killing 63 including 17 Americans at the American embassy in Beirut.

A description of the scene as related by Claude Salhani:

Or maybe I should say to what was left of the embassy. The scene was apocalyptic. There were mutilated bodies littering the sidewalks. People staring at them in utter shock and disbelief. Clouds of smoke and fire was coming out from one side of the embassy building....

Walking around the corner toward the front of the building offered a scene of additional desolation. Its multistoried front façade had collapsed like a house of cards. Trapped between two of the upper floors, part of a man's body could be seen. It took more than a day for rescue crews to get to it.

Jammie Wearing Fools reminds us that Jimmy Carter is in the region today meeting with the leaders of Hamas, Hizbollah's Palestinian counterpart.

Thanks to Larwyn.

April 04, 2008

Looks like the non-terrorists in Hezbollah are doing everything in their power to unintentionally shoot down a civilian airplane full of non-innocents.

YNET:

Number of security guards on flights boosted, helicopters escort takeoffs and arrivals in several airports worldwide for fear of missile launching....

"The threat is extremely concrete, and there is no choice but to do everything possible," a source involved in aviation security said Thursday....

The main fear is a missile attack on an Israeli passenger flight as the plane travels on the runway or takes off, heavy, slow and filled with petrol. Due to this fear, El Al has stopped flying to destinations like Turkey. In Cairo, Bangkok and other destinations, extreme security measures are taken to protect the planes.

March 07, 2008

h/t Garduneh Mehr Note GM I used the English one.

More Palestinian terrorists using children as human shields below the fold

This one is rather long but is excellent. The end is awesome.

Palestinian terrorists firing mortars from a school yard.

March 04, 2008

Op Ed piece at WSJ titled:

"Worshippers of Death"

Zahra Maladan is an educated woman who edits a women's magazine in Lebanon. She is also a mother, who undoubtedly loves her son. She has ambitions for him, but they are different from those of most mothers in the West. She wants her son to become a suicide bomber.

At the recent funeral for the assassinated Hezbollah terrorist Imad Moughnaya --the mass murderer responsible for killing 241 marines in 1983 and more than 100 women, children and men in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 --

Ms. Maladan was quoted in the New York Times giving the following warning to her son: "if you're not going to follow the steps of the Islamic resistance martyrs, then I don't want you."Zahra Maladan represents a dramatic shift in the way we must fight to protect our citizens against enemies who are sworn to kill them by killing themselves.

The traditional paradigm was that mothers who love their children want them to live in peace, marry and produce grandchildren. Women in general, and mothers in particular, were seen as a counterweight to male belligerence. The picture of the mother weeping as her son is led off to battle -- even a just battle -- has been a constant and powerful image.

Now there is a new image of mothers urging their children to die, and then celebrating the martyrdom of their suicidal sons and daughters by distributing sweets and singing wedding songs.

More and more young women -- some married with infant children -- are strapping bombs to their (sometimes pregnant) bellies, because they have been taught to love death rather than life.

"The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death," explained Afghani al Qaeda operative Maulana Inyadullah. Sheik Feiz Mohammed, leader of the Global Islamic Youth Center in Sydney, Australia, preached: "We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid.

Fighting a enemy that teaches others to love death more than life is a forminable enemy indeed. Take for instance how some of the Palestinians stage their dead for photo ops. They have no respect in life or death of their fellow family, friends or peers. They must have a awful emptiness inside where a heart once was.

More and more women are becoming suicide bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. A female suicide bomber was stopped in Israel before she made it to her destination. A brave soul stopped her and lost his life, because he cared about the safety of his fellow citizens.

The young ones being taught now to hate and love death will eventually be our foe followed by their children and so on. It isn't if this will happen it is when. How does one stop the cycle of hate and love of death.

I am glad I taught my children how to love.

March 01, 2008

Update on US Navy to Send 3 Ships to Mediterranean

Times headline reads "Hezbollah fury as USS Cole dispatched to Lebanon".

Lebanon’s militant Shia Hezbollah today accused the United States of escalating tensions in the Middle East by dispatching warships to patrol the Lebanese coastline.

“We are facing an American threat against Lebanon,” said Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP. “It is clear this threat and intimidation will not affect us.”

His comments came a day after US officials confirmed that the USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer, has been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean as a show of support for the troubled Western-backed Lebanese Government.

The USS Cole is accompanied by two refuelling ships. But it could soon be joined by the US Navy’s Nassau battle group, consisting of six ships including amphibious troop carriers, which is scheduled to sail to the eastern Mediterranean soon.

How awesome is this news to know the USS Cole is one of those ships. If you remember the USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer, suffered a suicide bomb attack on October 12, 2000 while on a fuel stop in the Yemeni port of Aden.

Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed and forty-nine injured that day. Al-Qaeda terrorists carried out that attack and presently those responsible are being coddled by President Saleh of Yemen. See Jane's excellent post: The USS Cole Bombing in Yemen: What We Know Today

The Times piece also gives tidbits of Lebanese newpaper headlines:

Lebanese newspapers saw the naval movements as a harbinger of more trouble and possible war. “The USS Cole is heading to Lebanon: The worst is looming,” ran a headline in the Saudi-owned Ash-Sharq al-Awsat.

“American repeats its 1982 adventure,” headlined the pro-opposition daily Al-Akhbar, referring to the deployment of US navy ships and Marines in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

I am damn proud of our U.S. Military and all are in my thoughts and prayers every day. Right now though I am especially proud of those aboard the USS Cole. Who would of thought the beautiful guided missle destroyer ship would garner that kind of reaction! Awesome!

Thanks to desertdweller for the tip.
Update: Saudi citizens told to depart Lebanon with all possible speed

USS Cole Sailor's Dad Writes Yemen's President
Yemen Refuses To Lock Up USS Cole Bomber, US Cancels Conference
Yemen Spins Al-Badawi Release
USS Cole Bomber Al-Badawi Surrenders in Yemen, UPDATE: Freed!!!
USS Cole Bombers: Where are they now?

February 29, 2008

Columbia Tribune

Lebanon(AP)

The U.S. military said yesterday the Navy was sending at least three ships, including an amphibious assault ship, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon.

Hezbollah denounced the deployment and said today it won’t be intimidated, while the U.S.-backed Lebanese government distanced itself from the military move.

"We did not request any warships from any party," U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said, hours after the United States announced it was sending ships off Lebanon to promote regional stability.

February 24, 2008

Like I said when I first heard Imad Mugniyah had passed Go to collect 72 virgins, I really hope we were the ones that got him. Roggio:

Imad Mugniyah, the senior Hezbollah military commander who was killed in Syria earlier this month, helped form the Mahdi Army, the military wing of the radical Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al Sadr, according to an Iraqi intelligence official.

February 21, 2008

Naharnet

Moroccan Security forces have dismantled an alleged terror network, arresting 23 people, including Hezbollah Al Manar TV's correspondent Abdel Hafiz al-Saryati, in connection with a plot to carry out attacks in the Kingdom, Asharq Al-Awsat newpaper reported Wednesday.

The report said those arrested had ties to radical Islam. It did not specify what type of plots the alleged terror group had been planning.

Police said they had probed "the ramifications and connections of the network with others active in Morocco and abroad."

So you have a TV correspondent based in Lebanon and is arrested in North Africa on a suspected terrorism plot. Plus he works for a Hezbollah TV station. Hezbollah has been designated by 6 countries including the United States as a "terrorist organization." Wonder how soon he walks?

Keep this up and we will have a prison with its own production company.

News reports from cell b states another zionist plot to poison our food has happened. Prisoner Rimas Nahk stated pig fat was hidden in the potatoes. He is at the infirmary recovering from nausea. While in infirmary his Qur'an was urinated on. Be sure to watch Prisnews at 11:00 for complete details of this incident. Abdel Hafiz al-Saryati reporting.

February 20, 2008

It's Che chic, only instead of a mass murdering communist as rock star, it's a mass murdering terrorist. Need we remind some that Imad Mughniyeh's hand was in the killing of at least 260 Americans?

February 14, 2008

Hezbollah soldiers at Imad Mughniyeh's funeral. Really.

February 13, 2008

A car bomb blast has killed top Hezbollah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus today. Who's to blame? Hezbollah is blaming the J-O-O's, of course, but Israel denies it. Whoever did the deed should get a medal. I hope it was one of our boys.

Hammer time? I think it is.

The timing of his assassination is such that the likely culprit was Lebanese. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri's death was widely attributed to a Syrian proxy, such as Hezbollah agents. Mughniyeh death sends a signal: revenge.

Mughniyeh was a mass murderer. Second in line behind Osama bin Laden and just ahead of Timothy McVeigh in the number of Americans he helped kill.

Mughniyeh was responsible for the deaths of at least 260 Americans. They include:
-Lt. Col. William F. Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut
-U.S. Navy diver Robert Stetham, a passenger on TWA Flight 847
-17 Americans killed in the Beirut embassy bombing in 1983
-241 American Marines killed in the Beirut barracks bombing
-Lt. Col. William F. Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut
-U.S. Navy diver Lt. Col. Robert Stetham, a passenger on TWA Flight 847
-17 Americans killed in the Beirut embassy bombing in 1983
-241 American Marines killed in the Beirut barracks bombing

Here is a list of terrorist attacks blamed on Imad Mughniyeh. May he rot eternally in hell.

Breitbart:

—April 1983: suicide bomber rams van packed with explosives into the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans.

—October 1983: suicide attackers carry out near simultaneous truck bombings against barracks of French and U.S. peacekeeping forces in Beirut, killing 241 American Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

—March 1984: Lt. Col. William F. Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, kidnapped and eventually killed in the beginning of a spate of kidnappings linked to Hezbollah.

—March 1985: Associated Press chief Mideast correspondent Terry Anderson kidnapped and then held for more than six years.

—June 1985: Lebanese Shiite militants hijack TWA Flight 847 heading from Athens to Rome, flying it back and forth between Beirut and Algiers. At Beirut's airport, the hijackers shoot U.S. Navy diver Robert Stetham, a passenger on the plane, and dump his body on the runway. Most of the 150 passengers were freed during the three day hijacking; some were held for two weeks. The United States indicted Mughniyeh for his role in the hijacking, and he was put on FBI's most wanted list with a $25 million bounty for information leading to his capture.

—March 1992: A pickup truck packed with explosives smashes into the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 29 people.

—July 1994: A van packed with explosives levels a seven-story Jewish center in Buenos Aires, killing 95 people. Argentina issues an arrest warrant for Mughniyeh in 1999.

January 29, 2008

It appears four "youths" in Lebanon have been charged with defamation due to their comments on a female's Facebook page. The article doesn't state "what" the youths said, only "crude and harassing" remarks. Defamation in Lebanon yields a criminal charge.
The female Université Saint-Joseph’s Zahle student complained to the university authorities and was told the manner wasn't their concern. She then complained to Zahle attorney general, Abdullah Bitar whom told her to come back with evidence, which she did ,after monitoring her Facebook site for a couple of weeks. Zahle declared she had enough evidence then charged the youths with criminal activity.

I wonder if any terrorist sympathizers on Facebook are from Lebanon? More at NOW Lebanon

It appears four "youths" in Lebanon have been charged with defamation due to their comments on a female's Facebook page. The article doesn't state "what" the youths said, only "crude and harassing" remarks. Defamation in Lebanon yields a criminal charge.
The female Université Saint-Joseph’s Zahle student complained to the university authorities and was told the manner wasn't their concern. She then complained to Zahle attorney general, Abdullah Bitar whom told her to come back with evidence, which she did ,after monitoring her Facebook site for a couple of weeks. Zahle declared she had enough evidence then charged the youths with criminal activity.

I wonder if any terrorist sympathizers on Facebook are from Lebanon? More at NOW Lebanon

January 25, 2008

He was marked, having had two attempts already. Looks like Bashar and his cronies got lucky this time.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A car bomb ripped through eastern Beirut on Friday, killing Lebanon's top anti-terrorism investigator as he returned from a meeting on the probe into the 2005 assassination of a former prime minister, authorities said. Three others died in the blast.

Oh, silly me, what am I saying. Syria vigorously denies being behind these bombings. We can believe them, can't we?

August 31, 2007

If every one keeps telling the same lie, after a while every one will simply know its true.

August 30, 2007

That's the opinion of a new Human Rights Watch report on Hizballah's actions during the 2006 conflict that Iran's proxy started against Israel. Rather than address the accusations with facts as Israel did, Hizballah asked supporters to stop the news conference. Human Rights Watch, fearing a terrorist attack against the hotel where the announcement of the report as scheduled to take place, cancelled the press conference.

Via WAPO: BEIRUT, Aug. 29 -- An international human rights group has concluded that Lebanon's Hezbollah movement indiscriminately attacked civilians during its conflict with Israel last summer, a finding that prompted denunciations from both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.

In that climate, New York-based Human Rights Watch canceled a news conference it had planned to hold Thursday in Beirut to release the report, and its officials said they were being unfairly silenced.

The 126-page report found that "as a party of an armed conflict governed by international humanitarian law," Hezbollah had "violated fundamental prohibitions against deliberate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

(Beirut, August 29, 2007) – Human Rights Watch today canceled a news conference planned for Thursday, August 30, 2007 in Beirut, citing reports by Hezbollah-controlled media about planned demonstrations to prevent the scheduled event at the Crowne Plaza hotel, and the hotel’s decision to disallow the news conference.

Human Rights Watch had called the news conference to release “Civilians Under Assault: Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” a new 128-page report criticizing Hezbollah for its conduct during the 2006 war with Israel, in particular Hezbollah’s practice of deliberately and indiscriminately firing rockets toward Israeli civilian areas.

“Hezbollah is trying to silence criticism of its conduct during the 2006 war,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. “But the fairness and accuracy of our reporting will speak for themselves, whether we hold a press conference or not.”

Of course Iran can't be too happy about the report either, after all is was Iranian supplied missiles that Iran's war proxy was firing at civilians.

July 24, 2007

Don't they know that the Road to Peace goes through the DemCong? Take that, Islamists!

Yes, world. Syria has invaded Lebanon. Again. Everything old is new again, yadda yadda.

Don't worry. Tough, smart diplomacy and stern actions are on the way from the DemCong. Any day now. See the Islamists, Hizbullah agents, Syrian army, and terrorists tremble in fear before the US liberals!

July 21, 2007

This IHT report, also published in the New York Times, portrays Omar Bakri Mohammed as a man who has moderated his views and who is trying to promote peace between the Lebanese government and the al Qaeda linked Fatah al Islam fighters holed up in Palestinian villages. I was stunned, literally stunned, when I read that Bakri Mahammed was actually promoting himself as a peacemaker between the two sides. He further had the audacity to advise clerics not to say that the Lebanese Army was an apostate force. As AllahP put it in his link to it yesterday, whitewash -- indeed.

Why? Because I have an audio of Omar Bakri Mohammed recorded around the time that the IHT report cites him as trying to mediate the conflict between Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese government, May 20th. In the audio sent to me by Glen Jenvey a few days after that, Bakri Mohammed is heard claiming that the Lebanese government was "attacking Muslims" and that al Qaeda in Lebanon and Fatah al Islam represented "true Muslims".

Jenvey has dozens and dozens of these recordings, many of them the source for stories published in the British press, so I have no idea why Bakri Mohammed doesn't watch his tongue when he has his little online chats with his followers in Britain like he does when he's talking to reporters.

Bakri Mohammed in the IHT:

This year he opened a public library, equipped with computers and Islamic texts, in addition to a lecture hall where he preaches. He also travels to various mosques.

Bakri has grown more rotund, less bellicose and more tactful to those of other faiths.

So we don't know yet what going to be the response of al Qaeda's message, because he was very tough. Al Qaeda's message declared takfir [unbelievers], obviously on the Lebanese Army.

He declared condemnation on the head of the Christian Bishop in Lebanon, like the Pope of the Christians, he condemn him physically, and condemn him verbally and said to him, "If you do not stop this Lebanese Army from killing our brothers and our sisters we are going to start launching bombing operations all over Lebanon. And we're going to drive all the Crusaders out." ...[followed by a prayer, by Bakri Mohammed, for Muslim victory]

Bakri Mohammed in the IHT:

Bakri says that the violence was needless and that it violated Islam. He has worked to prod clerics in the area to persuade Fatah al Islam to end the confrontation.

"They keep saying the army is a force of apostates," Bakri said of Fatah al Islam. "We say, both of you, sort it out between you, but don't you dare try to apply the case of Iraq here."

But somehow, I think the Lebanese Army has breeched the truce. ...

It was their own advance warning, and when nobody take them [Fatah al Islam] seriously they take over, and there is a big fight, and obviously the Lebanese casualties beyond the imagination. But when they [Lebanese Army] start to lose so many so-called "chocolate Muslims", so-called Sunni muhaji, and the muftis, and the others [inaudible] who have not to do with Islam, nothing to do with this nothing to do with that....

Bearing in mind many people stand together from the Palestinians and from the so-called Sunni Muslims against Fatah al-Islam. And unfortunately people denounce them. And they [Fatah al Islam] are true practice Muslims. Through their own sharia courts, that is all of them have the Koran, have the Hadith [sayings of Mohammed]....

Some of them are from students of [Arabic], these were known scholars of supporting al Qaeda, and his students from al Qassim, and from Berada, they came there [Lebanon] and some people came from Iraq and joined them [Fatah al Islam] and some people came from Yemen and joined them. Some people inside the camp from Bangladesh as well.

The reason I didn't publish this conversation previously is because this recording is so absolutely damning of Bakri Mohammed that I thought it best to pass it along to law enforcement in Lebanon. So, I sent it to Michael Totten to see if he could pass it along to his contacts there. We talked about maybe running a story together on it, but unfortunately both of us got distracted by other pressing matter. Totten is back in Iraq, I had kid #4, and then simply forgot about the recording. Until I saw the IHT piece, which AllahP knew would goad me into writing something. Well, he was right.

A more complete, yet still partial transcript below. Unfortunately even as an MP3 the audio file is still over a megabyte, so I don't have the bandwidth to host it. Hopefully Charles will find the time between debugging to put it up. Charles has put up the audio of Bakri Muhammad here. But since Bakri Mohammed claims he's being taken out of context when people claim he supports al Qaeda, I'll make the audio available to any one that wants it. If anything, the complete audio makes him look even worse.

Transcript follows:

There is a global campaign against Islam and the Muslims. And USA now sending the weapon and forces in order to help the Lebanese Army in their own fighting against Fatah al Islam, another Islamic organization, launched in al Barad camp, got with it all, or most of the student of [Arabic?] many of sharia [Islamic law] student from Arabia and other countries.

However, it seem to me there is a conspiracy against [Arabic?], in particular amongst all other Muslims. That's why when they see there is attack against the Muslims there with mass bombing, al Qaeda decide to launch its body. This is why I think the situation become so difficult.....

[Description of fighting between Fatah al-Islam and Lebanese]

My views about Fatah al Islam? I believe they are an Islamic movement. Have the [Arabic?], and got many sharia student which has joined them, and they are sincerely...was established in order to prepare Muslims for the fight in Palestine, or in Iraq, or to defend the Sunnis in general and to balance because they are the only people who got weapon.

And because of the situation inside the Palestinian camps, as agreement with the Lebanese authority, for years now, that is the Palestinians have a right within their own camps, of their own autonomy there, and to have their own weapon, etc. On condition not to fight the Lebanese or Syrian Army.

But somehow, I think the Lebanese Army has breeched the truce. And this is why they put up a siege. Certain people who are belong to Fatah al Islam, and those other people who do not belong to Fatah al-Islam support them and protect them, because apparently they was building themselves to be al Qaeda in Lebanon, and then the security has discovered some of them.

So when they tried to raid their own building...so they sent Fatah al-Islam, sent them immediately to the Lebanese security saying, "If you do not release them [captured Fatah al-Islam members claiming to be "al Qaeda in Lebanon"] and fulfill the truce with us and come safely to the camp then we have to attack the Lebanese Army at their own checkpoints."

It was their own advance warning, and when nobody take them seriously they take over, and there is a big fight, and obviously the Lebanese casualties beyond the imagination. But when they [Lebanese Army] start to lose so many so-called "chocolate Muslim", so-called Sunni muhaji, and the muftis, and the others [inaudible] who have not to do with Islam, nothing to do with this nothing to do with that....

[History of Fatah al-Islam as pro-Syrian movement started by Syrian government as "Fatah" and then "sold out to America" and then becoming Islamists, also a note on the establishment on that day of "al Qaeda in Lebanon" as real group not connected to Fatah al-Islam]

I think people were not sympathize with Fatah al Islam in the beginning, and they was accusing them of a lot of accusations out of hatred toward Islam and Muslims, or out of jealousy of them. However, after the bombing of al Barad camp and many civilian people suffer--no electricity, no water, people start to be killed. And obviously Fatah al-Islam until now got at least 17 of their own people been killed and they declared them a shahid [martyr].

What is the casualties of the Army is become over 70 and whereas the casualties of the civilian people was become very high....

Bearing in mind many people stand together from the Palestinians and from the so-called Sunni Muslims against Fatah al-Islam. And unfortunately people denounce them. And they [Fatah al Islam] are true practice Muslims. Through their own sharia courts, that is all of them have the Koran, have the Hadith [sayings of Mohammed].

Some of them are from students of [Arabic], these were known scholars of supporting al Qaeda, and his students from al Qassim, and from Berada, they came there [Lebanon] and some people came from Iraq and joined them [Fatah al Islam] and some people came from Yemen and joined them. Some people inside the camp from Bangladesh as well. It is quite serious issue.

So we don't know yet what going to be the response of al Qaeda's message, because he was very tough. Al Qaeda's message declared takfir [unbelievers], obviously on the Lebanese Army.
He declared condemnation on the head of the Christian Bishop in Lebanon, like the Pope of the Christians, he condemn him physically, and condemn him verbally and said to him, "If you do not stop this Lebanese Army from killing our brothers and our sisters we are going to start launching bombing operations all over Lebanon. And we're going to drive all the Crusaders out." ...

February 22, 2007

The Zionists are coming!!

Taking bets that the UN will blame Israel.

February 02, 2007

Fred Fry thinks giving aid to prop up the faltering anti-Syrian government in Lebanon is a good idea, but.....:

before we make the money transfer, there is at least one open issue that Lebanon needs to clean up first. That is extraditing terrorist and convicted TWA flight 847 hijacker Mohammed Ali Hamadei who is currently hiding in Lebanon.

January 23, 2007

Chalk up another embarassment to appeasement and the UN's remarkable ability to fail at virtually everything it claims to do.

Via Ha'aretz:

A gunman fired on Lebanese protesters in the ancient Christian town of Byblos, wounding three people, security sources said. Soldiers arrested the gunman and seized weapons from his house.

Thousands of Lebanese protesters blocked main roads in Beirut and around the country with rubble and burning tires on Tuesday at the start of a general strike called by the opposition to try to topple the government.

No other gunfire was reported during the demonstrations across Lebanon, but some scuffles broke out between protesters and pro-government loyalists, especially in Christian areas.

The strike escalates a campaign by the Hezbollah-led opposition to dislodge the pro-Western government, install a new unity administration and hold early parliamentary elections.

January 12, 2007

Michael Totten reports from a Christian village in Southern Lebanon. Great read. It evens makes fun of the French. With pics.

Make sure to check out the UN propaganda poster blaming Israel for leaving behind landmines. A theme emerges of the the fighters from 'the Party of Allah' choosing firing position from inside the Christian village, when much better positions would have been outside. The reason? Use the civilians as human shields.

But here is the most damning part:

He told me that 18 days after the start of the war a large group of civilians decided it was time to leave Ain Ebel and flee to the north. They were no longer willing to stay while Israel fired back at Hezbollah’s rocket launchers. It was too dangerous, and Hezbollah insisted on staying and endangering those who lived there.

So they fled the area in a convoy of civilian vehicles. It was safer, they figured, to travel in a group than alone.

On their way out of the village, Hezbollah fighters stood on the side of the road and opened fire with machine guns on the fleeing civilians....

"Why?" I had an idea, but I wanted a local person to say it.

Because, Alan said, Hezbollah wanted to use the civilians of Ain Ebel as “human shields.” I did not use the phrase “human shields.” These were Alan’s own words.