Shock video from Tripoli as Lebanese army battles Syria supported Palestinian Islamist terrorists from the Fattah al-Islam. So once again a secular Baath regime is working with Islamist radicals,……sound familar? *L* KGS
Update: Walid Phares has a detailed analysis of what’s what in Lebanon. The Iran/Syrian axis is showing the first signs of creating an “Emirate” on the shores of the Mediterranean.
“Fatah al Islam’s aim is at creating an “Emirate” (an Islamist principality, as in the Taliban model) in the Sunni areas of Lebanon, and is planning on conducting operations similar to the ones in the Sunni Triangle of Iraq.”
“The Fatah al Islam is one of the latest marriages of convenience between a group of committed Jihadists, rotating in al-Qaeda’s constellation but gravitating around Damascus influence. The group accepts Bashar’s support and the Syrian regime tolerates the organization’s “Sunni” outlook: Both have a common enemy, even though they may come at each other’s throats in the future.”
“The men of Bashar Assad and Mahmoud Ahmedinijad have converging goals, bring down the democratically elected government in Lebanon and replace it with a Hizbollah-Syrian dominated regime, as was the case before 2005. Thus, both “axis” have one objective in Lebanon: crush the Seniora Government. They will take all their time to fight each other after”
“The United States and the West are now faced with a new development which they cannot allow to grow unchecked: an al-Qaeda base on the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Walid Phares offers advice on what needs to be done in order to contain and defeat the plans of the Iran/Syrian and al-Qaida axis:
“The strategic responses are only two: Reshape the Lebanese Army to face off with the Jihadists and deploy multinational forces on the Syrian Lebanese borders as soon it is possible. The Seniora Government also has work to do: It must without hesitation call on the UN Security Council to deploy forces on the borders, in application of UNSCR 1559 and under Chapter 7.”
All of the above can be linked to what Iran has in store for Iraq. The Iranians are planning a big upsurge in violence for Iraq in order to help sway US public opinion against the continuation of the war. The only way for them to win –they have yet to win a military victory– is in the battle field of public opinion.
They have already swayed most –if not all– of Europe and most of the US Democrats against the war, so they think that all is needed now, ….is an extra push.
No one to date –advocating an immediate end to the US military presence inside Iraq– has come up with a plan that would deny any future role in Iraq for the jihadi Islamists and other totalitarianists, who are intent on filling the void that a US withdrawal would create.
Any other plans out there from those who disagree with me, on how to contain the spill over if the US fails in Iraq, or is a US failure the only important goal? How will a US failure in Iraq help to moderate Islamist pathological fanaticism and dictatorial hegemony? *L* KGS
