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Thread: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

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    Default Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    One would think that after the recent assassination incident involving the popular Lebanese leader, followed by a massive showing of opposition against Syria by the Lebanese people, that Syria would lay low for awhile. No chance ...



    Stand by for a Syrian invasion !

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    One of my friends in Lebanon happened to live pretty close to where the bombing took place and wrote an account of it:

    Yesterday was the trippiest day ever. The bomb was a few hundred metres away from me. I was having lunch with 2 friends across the street of my uni. It was around 1 pm, maybe a few minutes before and all of a sudden we here this huge blast. Much louder than the sonic booms we hear from the occasional (once or twice a year) Israeli fly-by. The whole place shakes and the electricity flutters for a couple of seconds. My sister works close to that area, so she heard it too, she called me within 5 seconds of the blast. My mother after that...



    If I had to bet money on who is doing the bombing I would say Mossad killed Hariri and Mossad's puppet Hamas did the recent event in Palestine.

    When Israel blames somebody it is usually projecting.

    In any event, the US should stay as far away from possible.

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    the drama factor rises ...

    and



    ... laying the groundwork for an 'invitation' to the US Military to 'liberate' the oppressed Lebanese people !

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    Syria will be scared off very soon. They might need a minor shock since they didn't accede to the Taif Accord. that required them to push back out of Beirut to the Beqaa Valley and set a definite timetable for complete removal.

    The days of their being needed there for self-protection or fears of Israeli annexation of Lebanon are long over. I think Syria is there now only for protracted spoils of war. But it can be forced out without significant actual bloodshed.

    Let us pray....
    Last edited by threlayer; 03-03-2005 at 02:12 AM.
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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    It would appear that both Syria and Palestine are starting to show their 'true colors'

    "MAR. 2, 2005: WHAT NEXT?

    Dennis Ross of the Washington Institute attributes the surge of democratic feeling in Lebanon to a "disappearance of fear." Nice phrase - and one that suggests what Syria's next move is very likely to be: the restoration of that fear.

    Restoring fear has been the goal of the insurgents in post-Saddam Iraq: every time they kill, they hope to show Iraqis that it is they and not the new government of Iraq who control life and death. (Today they have served another such notice, by murdering a judge on the tribunal that will judge Saddam.)

    So expect more terror in Lebanon - and of course in Israel as well, as Syria's terrorist proxies seek to destabilize the Abbas government in the Palestinian Authority and to warn Israel against lending its support to Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

    Will terror work? A fierce confrontation is already emerging in Lebanon, powered by these contending facts:

    1) Syria cannot afford to set Lebanon free. Lebanon is by far the wealthiest portion of the Assad family domains, thanks in part to the Syrian-approved drug trade. Possession of Lebanon, which Syrian nationalists regard as a natural part of greater Syria, is also essential ideologically. Finally - and maybe most important - a retreat from Lebanon under American pressure would be interpreted in Syria and throughout the region as a confession of weakness: which is fatal to any dictatorship.

    2) On the other hand, if Syria does not now withdraw after the joint American-French demand, it will be the United States that will have confessed weakness - repeating past mistakes in the region and inviting further attacks on American interests and American friends, like Rafiq Hariri.

    3) The Syrian policy of covert war against the United States has failed. The Syrian-backed insurgency in Iraq did not drive US troops out of the country or defeat George W. Bush. Instead, it has provoked the US into intensifying its pressure on Syria itself.

    4) Syria accordingly now faces a choice of options: Find some way to appease the United States short of true withdrawal from Lebanon - or else move from covert war to an all-out anti-American terror campaign.

    5) Appeasement is the logical first strategy. Syria is full of terrorist operatives who can be handed over to the US. As well, Syria can in a pinch agree to withdraw its 15,000 troops from Lebanon. A Syrian troop withdrawal would look like a big concession, but would not much alter the power-dynamic in Lebanon, since Syria controls Lebanon through its intelligence agencies and its penetration of the Lebanese government and cabinet. Better still, a troop withdrawal might give France an excuse to end its uncomfortable association with the Bush administration - short of actually changing anything important in Lebanon.

    6) The Bush administration is unlikely to be fooled by an appeasement policy. The joint US-French demand for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon followed the surrender of Saddam's half-brother. And Condoleezza Rice made clear that both the Syrian troops and Syrian intelligence services must go.

    But will the Bush administration press the point if the Syrians seem to meet them half-way? That will be a real moment of testing for the Bush policy. Will the Bush administration hold firm? Will it insist on total withdrawal, including the spy services, on the full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty, and on genuinely free elections in May? If so, expect a furious response from Syria, from its ally Iran, and from the terrorist militias they control inside Lebanon. Make no mistake: For the Syrians, Lebanese democracy means war. It's a war the United States can and must win - but only if the US is as tough, as determined, and as clear-eyed as its new Syrian enemy.

    A reader from Mansfield Ohio notes that the authors of II Chronicles foretold the predicament 2500 years ago:

    16:7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said
    unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on
    the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of
    thine hand.
    16:8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many
    chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he
    delivered them into thine hand.
    16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to
    show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
    Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have
    wars.
    07:49 AM



    MAR. 1, 2005: TIME'S UP

    The Syrian handover of Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, was a higher-profile version of a maneuver that the Syrians have repeatedly and profitably executed since 9/11: give the Americans just enough information to hold them at bay. Until now, the maneuver has worked well: Colin Powell visited Damascus after 9/11 to assure the Syrians that the United States would not target their terrorist groups.

    But let’s not be suckers here. Let’s remember:

    1) The Syrian ability to hand over Sabawi Ibrahim this opportune moment for them indicates that they had the ability to hand him over at many other times since April 2003 – and chose not to exercise that power.

    2) Syria is waging a proxy war against the United States in Iraq by underwriting and protecting not only the insurgency but also the money and weapons that sustain the insurgency.

    3) Syria is the likeliest culprit in the murder of Rafiq Hariri – which seems to have been meant as a death warning to all potential American friends in the region.

    Over the coming days, expect to hear a great deal from the pro-Syrian lobby inside State and CIA. (For a clear statement of that lobby’s point of view, see this
    piece by Seymour Hersh.)

    But the Bush administration, thankfully, is taking a “won’t be fooled again” view. The pressure on Syria to quit Lebanon will intensify – as will the warnings to them of the consequences of continued support for enemies of the United States, the new Iraq, and Middle Eastern democracy."

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    I predict Syria will back down...because it is weak and because there really is not enough
    reason for it to stay in Lebanon. Syria should have been given a push out many years ago.

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    looks like it's feces hitting the fan time ...



    March 4, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — President Bush told the New York Post yesterday that Syria must pull all of its troops out of Lebanon by May so that the now-occupied nation can have free elections.

    "The subject that is most on my mind right now is getting Syria out of Lebanon, and I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon, I mean all of them out of Lebanon, particularly the secret service out of Lebanon — the intelligence services," he said.

    "This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out . . . I think we've got a good chance to achieve that objective and to make sure that the May elections [in Lebanon] are fair. I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there," the president said in a wide-ranging Oval Office interview with The Post's editorial board.

    Asked if there is a threat of military action as an "or else" if they don't, Bush replied, "No. The 'or else' is further isolation from the world. You know, the president should never take any options off the table, [but] my last choice is military." (snip)

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    This situation is now turning downright dangerous ...

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    I cannot say I disagree with the sentiment...but doesn't he have better things to do than throwing military might around the world while serious problems exist that are non-military in nature (here at home, and globally). We were not elected the world's police force or political body. That's the UN.

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    Even the UN itself knows that Israel is not going to roll over and play dead on this issue, and that there is no way that the UN could exert enough pre-emptive pressure to stop Israel from starting world war 3 if sufficiently threatened.

    it just keeps getting worse and worse ...

    "Russian-Iranian military cooperation reaches into space. DEBKAfile’s military sources report Russia will next month launch on Iran’s behalf two satellites. Kosmos-3 will loft Mesbah (Dawn) military surveillance probe and Sinah-1 (Sinai-1) into space.

    Iran claims resolution of Mesbah’s instruments high enough to pick up valuable military and strategic data for attacks on Israel. Launching put forward from summer to April at Tehran’s insistence.

    Lebanese defense minister Abdul Rahim Mrad says Syrian redeployment to Beqaa Valley starts Monday, when also Syrian and Lebanese presidents meet in Damascus.

    Nasrallah summons mass pro-Syrian, anti-foreign intervention rally Tuesday in central Beirut. Its venue is dangerously close to square where anti-Syrian protesters gathered for three weeks."

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese flooded central Beirut Tuesday for a pro-Syrian rally called by Hizbollah that dwarfed previous protests demanding that Syrian troops quit Lebanon.

    Hizbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah urged the Lebanese opposition to join a national unity government and to reject a U.N. resolution demanding Syrian troops leave Lebanon.



    1.5 Million Pro-Syria Demonstrators Gather In Beirut

    3/8/2005 2:00:00 PM GMT



    Following a nationwide call by the head of Hezbollah for a pro-Syria demonstration, 1.5 million Lebanese gathered in a central Beirut square Tuesday to counter weeks of massive rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon.

    Resistance songs blared out of loudspeakers as organizers handed out Lebanese flags and directed the men and women to separate sections of the square. Hezbollah guards handled security, lining the perimeter of the square and taking position on rooftops, while trained dogs sniffed for bombs.

    Large cranes hoisted two giant white and red flags bearing Lebanon's cedar tree. On one, the words "Thank you Syria" were written in English; on the other, "No to foreign interference."

    Hezbollah has been mobilizing its followers from across the country for the protest which is also meant to denounce a UN resolution which in addition to its demand for Syrian withdrawal calls for the dismantling of groups - a point which Hezbollah sees as being aimed at its well-armed military wing.

    Previously, Hezbollah warned that disorder could erupt in Lebanon if Syrian troops were to leave the country, where the 15-year-long civil war ended with a fragile balance between the country's diverse main religious groups.
    I wonder if this will get front page and prime time coverage on our "news" outlets here.

    Just because some(a minority) Lebanese want Syria out, doesn't mean any of them want westerners in(politically).

    Direct source:


    I could hear people in Lebanon laughing all the way here in San Diego from this one.

    It is scary that the government of the World's most ignorant population is telling other people what to do with their own country.

    Israel still has designs on South Lebanon. I wonder if the White House is willing to sacrifice more American young adults in pursuit of that goal for Tel Aviv.

    Some Lebanonese may dislike Syria. But their hatred for Israel is pretty universal(and for good reason) and most in the Middle East see the US as a puppet for Israel(in some cases anyway).

    I still think Mossad killed Hariri.

    It wouldn't be a unique opinion in the Middle East methinks.




    Good luck to the Cedar

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    that was just one chapter in a much larger book ...

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    I really doubt Mossad killed Hariri. I think they have enough on their hands, e.g. the threat from Iran. The Lebanese situation is (was) one of the quietest of their many problems, and Hariri wasn't anti-Israel. I would be shocked if they thought they could predict or engineer an ouster of the Syrians based on his assassination--if they had that much influence in Lebanon, things would be very different on the ground there to begin with.

    Debka is basically a propaganda website. Go back and review their material from the post-9/11 period. That site has a very high "miss rate" for news/information it breaks or reports as exclusive to them from "sources". I would be very skeptical of anything I read there.
    "All this time you were pretending
    So much for my happy ending."
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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    I never meant to imply that Debka was an 'objective' source. However, they do raise a number of interesting questions. But they also have a knack for pointing out some newsworthy item today which eventually winds up appearing in the 'mainstream' media days or weeks or months later !

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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    I agree that they have lots of interesting stuff there and a good finger on the pulse of the events in the ME.
    "All this time you were pretending
    So much for my happy ending."
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    Default Re: Syria just keeps asking for it ...

    It is a pro-Israel rag. But I will take a closer look to evaluate your recommendation.
    I loved going to strip clubs; I actually made some friends there. Now things are different for the clubs and for me. As a result I am not as happy.

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