Tag Archives: Lebanon

Lebanon’s Chief Threat: Hezbollah

19 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Regions

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Lebanon deserves better than the war sustaining and warmongering of Moscow and Tehran.

For Israel, Moscow has had to be delicately handled, but BackChannels has over many years relayed some sense of Moscow’s endemic and deeply entrenched history of animus toward the Jews. Credit Stalin with picking up the relationships that Hitler and the Nazis could not hold at the end of World War II; credit Yuri Andropov with the airline hijacking of the 1970s beneath the banner of communist revolution on behalf of the Palestinian Cause; credit successive Soviet Era regimes with the abuse and captivity of Russia’s Jews yearning by the tens of thousands for freedom beyond Russia’s borders; credit Moscow today with the continuing diplomatic defense of Hamas and Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, among others, that appear event intent on bringing chaos and death to their own people as well as sustained impoverishment and political repression.

Tehran’s role in the stoking of anti-Semitic / anti-Zionist hate needs little introduction. It’s deadly political rhetoric keeps spilling into related “field operations”. Not only Hamas has been building “terror tunnels”.

Posted to YouTube December 6, 2018.
Posted to YouTube December 18, 2018.


However, he said,  “the fact that the Lebanese army is doing nothing means that they are either unable, or unwilling, or both. It doesn’t absolve Lebanon’s culpability. Their territory is being used to attack our territory. Therefore, we hold Lebanon accountable.”

Netanyahu spoke immediately after IDF Spokesman Jonathan Conricus announced the discovery of another tunnel.

https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/announcing-new-tunnel-netanyahu-says-lebanon-responsible-for-hezbollahs-actions – 12/19/2018


“There is a clear line of communication between LAF elements and the terrorist organization; those elements help Hezbollah destabilize the region,” Danon said on Tuesday. “Under the Lebanese government’s watch, Hezbollah has created an entire network of tunnels and factories for precision-guided missiles; this is a brazen violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution but also endangers the lives of the residents of southern Lebanon, who are being used as human shields.”
Danon vowed that “Israel will act with force against Hezbollah and any other entity that tries to undermine its sovereignty.”

https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/world_news/israel-to-present-evidence-proving-lebanese-army-is-helping-hezbollah/article_6f90cb89-4135-5d2c-8b91-248709548a8a.html – 12/19/2018


An examination of Security Council Resolution 1701 twelve years later indicates that the key paragraphs, whose objective was to give full sovereignty over the country to the Lebanese government and to prevent the reconstruction of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, were not enforced by the Lebanese government and army. To replace the infrastructure damaged during the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah has constructed an upgraded, improved, more extensive infrastructure, centering around an arsenal of more than 130,000 rockets and dozens of precise missiles. Hezbollah’s arsenal threatens Israeli population centers and strategic sites. Hezbollah built its military infrastructure in the region south of the Litani River, embedded within the local Shi’ite population. Hezbollah’s weapons were smuggled from Iran through Syria to Lebanon, in direct violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/security-council-resolution-1701-systematic-violation-hezbollah-iran/ – 12/19/2018

Lebanon and its defense forces remain weak before Hezbollah, its sponsor in Tehran, and its armorer in Moscow.

While the Lebanese may prefer peace, this criminal rogue — see https://www.jns.org/justice-department-designates-hezbollah-as-transnational-crime-group/ from October of this year — has positioned the same for arms caches and slaughter.

Nice people.

Again, it appears today that Hezbollah fairly “owns” the Lebanese Army, which has become too weak to defend the better interests of the state.

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FTAC: Lebanon – Iran: Cash – Arms – Trade

01 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Lebanon, Middle East, Russia

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Inspiration:

The Iranians, with their crashing rial economy, have been offering Beirut even more cash – from where, exactly, we don’t know – than the Americans, along with guns, agricultural and industrial assistance.

Fisk, Robert. “Lebanon is on a tightrope, balancing Saudi, Iranian and Western interests — its position is precarious.” The Independent, August 31, 2018.

I’d assign the delusional surrealism to the narcissism involved in most politics middle east but may also note that the transnational narcotics and other smuggling businesses may be doing well for Hezbollah and whatever else Iran has going “behind the curtains” and “under the table”. The main player in pressuring up illicit funds from all sources has to be Moscow — and Moscow loves frozen conflicts as well as unsettled and weak governments. It doesn’t seem to know how to create much good, but it sure knows how to gin up a lot of cash ready for the laundry.

Back to something like observable reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_equipment_manufactured_in_Iran

Iran has the industry; the west has the addicts and coke heads — and there may be the cash for the arms. I do wonder how that might actually look in numbers.

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UAE Sentences Hezbollah Cell – Moscow-Tehran Promote Hezbollah

02 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Journalism, Lebanon, Middle East, Politics, Russia, United Arab Emirates

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The State Security Circuit of the Federal Supreme Court on Monday handed out varying jail terms to seven people for setting up a UAE cell of the banned Hezbollah group.

Three defendants were sentenced to life in jail, two got 15-year jail terms and two others were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The court chaired by Judge Falah Al Hajiri also sentenced leader of Egypt’s banned Muslim Brotherhood group Esam Al Din Al Erian to five years in jail, in absentia.

Al Zarooni, Mustafa.  “Group jailed for setting up Hezbollah branch in UAE.”  Khaleej Times, November 1, 2016.

According to political commentator with Russia’s Kommersant publishing house Sergei Strokan, there now exists a “Russia, Iran, Hezbollah military triangle” in Syria.

In a telephone interview with Al-Monitor, Strokan said, “Hezbollah can do some things that Russia can’t afford to do itself,” as putting “Russian boots on the ground [in Syria] is a subject of heated debate [within Russia].”

Rizk, Ali.  “The Russian, Iranian, Hezbollah military triangle.”  November 2, 2015.

Hezbollah can and has done more than put “boots on the ground” for Bashar al-Assad in Syria with the blessing of Moscow and Tehran.

Read the headlines (along with BackChannels):

USA Today – “Lebanon chooses a president supported by Hezbollah” – November 1, 2016.

The National Interest – “Lebanon’s New Hezbollah-Led Political Order” – October 31, 2016.

“Hezbollah-Led Political Order”?

Try again: Moscow-Tehran.

BackChannels knows the public, generally speaking, “sees” ISIL, not “Assad OR The Terrorists” AKA “Assad vs The Terrorist“.

And the public may read about Hezbollah in Lebanon with the shadow of the Ayatollah moving about in the background, but it may take more work to grasp how Moscow works with Tehran to elevate Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon while channeling its fighters into action in Syria.

Again, on general terms, the KGB Era catch-all “Active Measures” may preoccupy wonks — enthused amateurs and professionals in intelligence and foreign affairs — while barely signaling up through the background clamor set by the entertainment and sports industries.  As much — specifically, public ignorance of the mechanisms involved in the KGB-style sustaining of “political absolutism” (try using that one down at the bar) by way of a totalitarian approach to a political theater of realpolitik —  moves this chatter into more specialized but also open circles.

Related Reference

Fadel, Leith.  “Syrian Army, Hezbollah begin counter-attack in west Aleppo”.  AMN News, November 2, 2016.

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Also in Media – “Israel’s Next Hezbollah War” – Philos Project – 8-12-2016

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, Also in Media, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East

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Shaharabani said that the July 2006 Lebanon War “was the longest Israel had experienced since its War of Independence in 1948,” but any future clash with Hezbollah will make those destructive 34 days pale by comparison. According to his FDD coauthors, the Israeli government estimates that Hezbollah has approximately 150,000 rockets today as opposed to the mere 14,000 it possessed prior to the 2006 conflict. Writing for the Weekly Standard, Vanderbilt University law professor Willy Stern said that this gives Hezbollah a “bigger arsenal than all NATO countries – except the United States – combined.”

Source: Israel’s Next Hezbollah War – Philos Project

Tfeil and Brital Village, Lebanon – A Glance at Syria’s ‘Hot Pursuit’ Spillover

03 Saturday May 2014

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Lebanon, Middle East, Politics, Regions, Syria

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BEIRUT – Syrian militants attacked a military point manned by members of the Shiite Hezbollah movement in eastern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source said Saturday.

Takeen, Hamza.  “Syrian militants attack Hezbollah point in Lebanon.”  Turkish Press, May 3, 2014.

Hezbolla’s Spring 2013 entry into the Syrian Civil War brought criticism from Lebanese preferring to stay out of the fray; now, about a year later, anti-Assad insurgents in Hezbollah’s backyard appear to have drawn to their presence — but probably not their precise location — Assad Hezbollah-support attacks in the villages of Tfeil and Brital, Lebanon.

Tfeil, an isolated village of about 4,000 souls has been especially punished between armies as it has been hosting some 10,000 Syrian refugees with some association with anti-Assad forces.  This version of possible “human shielding’ — or simply swimming in the population (good ol’ Mao) — has led to siege interrupted only by a so far one-time relief stop by Lebanese Defense Forces.

The scenario promoted by the Assad regime to justify bombing in Lebanon appears problematic:

Local officials have denied reports that the town harbors armed Syrian rebels and smugglers supplying opposition forces across the border. “A void accusation,” said Ramadan Asaad Dekkou, the town’s mukhtar. “There is no presence of armed men in the town. We have… set up civilian checkpoints along the border carrying Lebanese flags to assure that only civilians enter the village for refuge,” he told NOW.

Elali, Nadine.  “Tfeil: A Lebanese village under siege.”  NOW.  April 17, 2014.

Be that as it may for Tfeil, this quote has been published recently in relation to fighting in Brital, Lebanon:

“The day in which we will raise the banner of Islam in Brital is nearing, and our battle against Hizbullah is open-ended until we clear the Islamic Emirate of the Bekaa of the party,”

Naharnet.  “Syrian Gunmen, ‘Hizbullah Fighters’ Clash in Brital Plains, ISF Denies Corporal Arrested.” May 3, 2014.

How is Lebanon to defend its border town against Syrian barrel bomb attacks where Hezbollah is the primary political power in the space, fully aligned with the Syrian government and the related Putin-Assad-Khamenei axis, and disinclined or unable itself to eject interlopers or enforce Lebanese neutrality?

Additional Reference

Syrian Freedom.  “Tfeil residents: “They made fools of us.”  May 2, 2014.

NOW.  “Medicine sent to besieged town of Tfeil.”  April 29, 2014.

Al Aribiya.  “Lebanon secures aid to village trapped in Syria war.”  April 22, 2014.

NOW.  “Mashnouq: Tfeil resuce plan to start Tuesday.”  April 21, 2014.

Filkins, Dexter.  “Hezbollah Widens the Syrian War.”  The New Yorker, May 26, 2013.

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FTAC – Syria’s Agony and Related Misperception

19 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, FTAC - From The Awesome Conversation, Islamic Small Wars, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Politics, Psychology, Syria

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No. It’s a mess. Back in 2007, by prior agreement with the Arab League, Lebanese Defense Forces were denied entry into the Nahr al-Bared camp to suppress the presence of an independent but al-Qaeda-minded force that had infiltrated the camp. Instead, it bombarded the camp with tank fire, corralled the entire residential population through the main gates, and the bused them to other camps. The LDF then razed Nahr al-Bared. Toward the very end, a handful of family members surrendered, and escaped, and the remnant fighters holed up in tunnels were, finally, bombed from the air.

My impression is the wealthy enjoy extraordinary wealth in the middle east and the equivalent of fellaheen live primarily at the mercy of the powerful. The common thread of “malignant narcissism” that binds both despot and mad revolutionaries into one recognizable category applies well to the tragedy unfolding in the Yarmouk camp. If anyone has ever been sickened by the historic photographs of starving Nazi concentration camp residents, the same outrage should apply in light of starvation in the Palestinian camp, even thought in their confined minds they may blame the Jews for what’s being done to them by Assad’s army and the infiltration and partial control of the opposed al-Qaeda affiliates. To the warring parties, the humanity trapped in the camp is but a useful poker chip. These kids may one day understand that it hasn’t been the Jews of the west that has been killing them but rather the divided powers most identified with them but equally callous toward them and careless of them.

The prompt for the comment had to do with the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp and its being made to starve between armies.

There has been some relief: Besieged Yarmouk camp in Syria finally gets some food – Middle East Israel News | Haaretz – 1/18/2014: “The delivery was made possible after an agreement was reached on Friday between representatives of Palestinian factions and Syrian rebels in the camp.”

One may imagine the leverage involved in those negotiations.

In the surface rhetoric, the rebels may claim having been merciful, but the public would do well to keep in mind that get to this point, they had had to have been unmerciful, and that neither better nor worse than Assad’s forces attempting to subdue the infiltration within the camp by starvation in the first place.

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To another correspondent asking about the fate of Hamas in Gaza given the mixed ambitions and messages carried forward by its membership, some, I hear, who have joined the rebels against Assad, I suggested the perception of the axis needs to shift in the middle east, maintaining that the fighting-minded on several sides are more similar to one another in their ambitions and expectations — in their essential psychology — than those who have had the misfortune of being caught between armies or of having been trapped in time by regional powers who, indeed, manipulate and treat them primarily as servants unto themselves.

Related Reference

Iran cuts Hamas’ funding for backing Syrian opposition – Washington Times – 6/2/2013.

Egypt to Hamas: We’re Coming for You – Israel Today | Israel News – 1/19/2014.

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FTAC – A Bomb Explodes in the Heart of Beirut

27 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Politics, Religion

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There’s nothing murky about it [the region] — just Human Language Programming (HLP!) in action PLUS a sub-state basis for relationship in private matters involving friendship and kinship, honor and greed. The evil deed doers, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to Kenya to Syria to Lebanon are rolling out the programming (and scripts) in their heads. They really believe that theirs is the Kingdom of God and God has only asked them to fight for it. Probably, there’s other politics involving fear and greed, humiliation and honor, but the sectarian legends and lines serve for a cover.

The next reader on the thread wrote, “That’s a fanciful explanation.  This is about the rivalry between KSA and Iran for dominance of the ME.”

My response: “Dominance on behalf of what?  Topside and underside, please.”

Power and wealth on the underside — and power becomes the power to make people do your will and best demonstrated by their doing things they’ve no wish to do nor much reward for doing.  In that way, every “suicide bomber” becomes peon to the powerful, an exploding poem to their powerful will and accompanying political acumen, cruelty, and ruthlessness; and topside, well, the keys to Sunni or Shiite heaven, proven in glorious battle, just the same as it was 1,400 years ago.

If any such as those weep over the wars they have brought out of their dreams and to their doorsteps, they will weep again when the wake from them.

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Raw: Beirut Car Bomb Kills Politician, Others – YouTube – 12/27/2013.

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The motives behind the assassination of Mr Chatah, a moderate, remain a mystery. But there seems to be a general belief that he was killed for what he represented more than for his own profile.

Carine Torbey in her brief analysis next to BBC News – Beirut blast kills Sunni ex-minister Mohamad Chatah – 12/27/2013.

Incidental bombings may be liked to blasting caps next to dynamite: we don’t know which event will set off the larger explosion — for Beirut, a return to fighting in the streets — but we know the effect is to encourage sectarian animosity and force action on the side of the aggrieved — and all sides become aggrieved.

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“The first thing I saw was half of a woman in the garden next to the trees, and then a man who had a piece of metal in his head, dead on the ground” . . . .

Powerful explosion rocks downtown Beirut; former ambassador to U.S., 4 others killed – The Washington Post – 12/27/2013.

Downtown Beirut.

Rebuilt, commercial, bustlin’ and hustlin’ — and boom!

While we’re aware of the Hariri facet, shocked by the attack taking place in the heart of Beirut’s central business district, and tuned to sectarian Sunni vs. Shiite animosity region-wide, we have yet to experience the wrath of the Beirut Landlordians but may expect that the same, their insurers, and their army have been enraged at this affront to their security powers.

Unleash the investigators! says I, for this latest version of warfare in which the evildoers, the aggressors, the transgressors, disappear with their actions and keep their mouths shut afterward.

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Chatah was known as a staunch critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he accused of meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs. Hezbollah has sent fighters to help al-Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil war.

Lebanon’s Mohamad Chatah, a Hezbollah foe, killed in blast – CNN.com – 12/27/2013.

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Related: Special Tribunal for Lebanon

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Lebanon – Cruelty Arrives With Two Bombs

23 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Lebanon, Middle East, Regions

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One of the bombs exploded near the Taqwa mosque as worshippers spilled out of the religious center following Friday prayers. Minutes later a second explosion struck the Salam mosque in the Mina area near the waterfront.

Al Akhbar.  “Twin bombing hits Lebanon’s Tripoli.”  August 23, 2013.

Address it, air it, channel it, deal with it, work with it: the “passions” — the underlying programming in social grammar — that surfaces in the sadism implied in the above-quoted description arrives without conscience or humanity.  Throughout the range of the Islamic Small Wars, the same would seem to serve as its most familiar motif.

What could be more cruel, more of the devil, more evil, and more inhuman than to deploy a weapon among innocents away from the field of battle and close by the sanctuary afforded by a space built and sustained on faith in God and the human relationship with the All?  Casualties of a war alive inside the hearts of killers — truly, the “warfare” of interest leaks from poisoned minds obsessed alternatively with power and hiding — today’s dead and injured in Tripoli had gone into their mosques for prayers and been made to come out at the Gates of Hell.

Additional Reference

AFP/Reuters.  “Tripoli bomb blasts ‘kill at least 27 and injure hundreds more’.”  ABC News, August 23, 2013.

AP and Times of Israel Staff.  “Twin blasts kill 27 in Lebanese city of Tripoli.”  The Times of Israel, August 23, 2013.

Charara, Nasser.  “From Tripoli to Saida, a Map of Lebanon’s Battlegrounds.”  Al Akhbar, June 24, 2013.

From earlier this year:

Jawad, Rana.  “Tripoli: French embassy in Libya hit by car bomb.”  BBC News, April 23, 2013.

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