Beirut, and its suburbs, along with the whole of Lebanon are again in the spotlight of the Anglo-American agenda in the Middle East, which is part of a broader U.S. sponsored geopolitical agenda entitled the Project for a “New Middle East.”
As a result of the political crisis following the Israeli siege last Summer, both Christians and Shia Muslims are no longer properly represented within the current Future Movement-dominated Lebanese government in violation of the country’s constitution. The representation of all of Lebanon’s religious groups is a constitutional requirment and legally mandatory. Thus the current government is illegitimate.
The largest and most representative Christian political party, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Christian political grouping it belongs to are also not represented within the government and six cabinet ministers, five Shia Muslims and one Eastern Orthodox Christian have also resigned, demanding for a national unity government. There is at present no Shia Muslim representation within the government. Former Lebanese presidents (Maronite Christians) and former Lebanese prime ministers (Sunni Muslims) have also disapproved of the current government and its policies.
The U.S.-sponsored Lebanese government has no solid hope of maintaining power unless it uses force or if there is foreign intervention on its behalf. There are growing indications that both these options are being considered. Lebanon is being militarized once again, primarily at the expense of its people.
It seems that Lebanon is possibly on the verge of erupting into an Anglo-American sponsored civil war, something that the Israeli siege against Lebanon, as planned, failed to initiate during the summer of 2006.
Saudi Arabia has also played a major role in creating divisions both in Lebanon and the Middle East between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Reports have also suggested that pro-government/government controlled militias, including Walid Jumblatt’s PSP (Progressive Socialist Party) and Samir Geagea’s LF (Lebanese Forces) are arming themselves in various areas of Lebanon:
“The sources stressed this ongoing campaign includes the distribution of individual weapons to every home, and that the receiver signs a receipt. MP Jumblatt, a key figure in the ruling bloc, brought back to memory the language of civil war saying: ‘Nasrallah has his own army, and he is capable of occupying the country. He can come to Mokhtara and launch his rockets and shells, so what can I do about this? Nothing.’ Even when Jumblatt was backing the arms of the resistance, Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah sought on many occasions to reassure the Lebanese that the sole use of the arms of the resistance is to confront the Israeli enemy adding that these weapons will not be used internally.
Jumblatt’s PSP is in the final stages of distributing arms to its members and supporters in its regions of influence, particularly in Chuweifat, Batlou-Barouk and Aley. Where did Jumblatt receive this large stock of weapons? On who’s expense? And for what reason is he seeking to reform his militias?
Jumblatt’s ally, MP Walid Ido of MP Saad Hariri’s Future Movement told the New York Times that ‘if the ruling block found itself obliged to take to the street, it will take to the street’ adding that peaceful ‘confrontations’ will be met with peaceful confrontations and ‘we will sell our blood to buy weapons to confront them and we will never let them control the country.’”
Moreover, the Lebanese government has—since the Israeli siege last Summer—been upgrading its forces and increasing its manpower. The current government has also entered into military cooperation agreements (including the supply of weapons) with several European NATO members/countries as well as with Arab countries, such as the U.A.E., which are members of the NATO sponsored Mediterranean Dialogue and the expanding NATO initiative into the Persian Gulf.
The bitter irony of the political crisis in Lebanon is that the opposition parties taking to the streets are using the same tactics as those of the Hariri-led Future Movement (following the political assassination of Rafiq Hariri in February 2005), namely street protests. Also, ironically those 2005 protests that helped create the current government were called democratic and progressive, but these December 2006 protests are being labeled by the United States and its allies as an attempted Iranian-Syrian coup in Beirut.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is in an independent writer based in Ottawa specializing in Middle Eastern and Central Asian affairs. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).
Emphasis Added
For further details see the following reports in annex below.
ANNEX
Ruling bloc sought formation of loyal armed militia with western backing to fight Hezbollah!
Al-Manar TV
December 4, 2006
Translated from Arabic by Ali Hashem
Surprising was the announcement of former Acting Interior Minister and current Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Fatfat, that Internal Security Forces (ISF) are being equipped to limit the influence of Hezbollah. Fatfat was signaling that the ISF was being transformed from a national security body for all the Lebanese to a private security service, with a primary goal to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon. In an interview with the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper, Fatfat said that there are ongoing efforts to support ISF with more than 8,000 additional troops to block what he called “an expected coup attempt by Hezbollah and its allies”.
According to the newspaper, the West backs the so called majority in forming an armed militia to face Hezbollah, through aids presented by many countries. Indications that these militias are already functioning in Beirut are the incidents that took place Sunday in the capital’s Qasqas region as well as other areas, in which Future Movement armed militias opened fire at people heading to down town Beirut to take part in the peaceful sit-in organized by the National Opposition, and killed and injured a number of people. Moreover, a minister in Saniora’s unconstitutional government, Michel Faraon, warned in an interview with the Sharq Al-Awsat daily that loyalists to the ruling bloc will attempt to cut off roads leading to south Lebanon and the Bekaa region, in retaliation of the sit-in outside the Grand Serail, where Saniora and his political bloc are entrenched.
(Emphasis Added)
Jumblatt distributes weapons in own territories; Walid Ido ready to sell blood to buy weapons to confront opposition
Al-Manar TV
November 28, 2006
Translated from Arabic by Manar Sabbagh
Well informed sources said that MP Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party has nearly completed distributing individual arms in large areas under its influences, particularly Mount Lebanon. The sources stressed this ongoing campaign includes the distribution of individual weapons to every home, and that the receiver signs a receipt. MP Jumblatt, a key figure in the ruling bloc, brought back to memory the language of civil war saying: “Nasrallah has his own army, and he is capable of occupying the country. He can come to Mokhtara and launch his rockets and shells, so what can I do about this? Nothing.” Even when Jumblatt was backing the arms of the resistance, Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah sought on many occasions to reassure the Lebanese that the sole use of the arms of the resistance is to confront the Israeli enemy adding that these weapons will not be used internally.
But MP Jumblatt, as usual, came up with an illusion of his own and based his speech on it, for a new incitement. Despite acknowledging the function of Hezbollah’s arms and the party’s performance internally, Jumblatt’s attempt came once again to instigate baseless obsessions. Al-Manar TV station received documented information that reversed his accusations. According to sources, Jumblatt’s PSP is in the final stages of distributing arms to its members and supporters in its regions of influence, particularly in Chuweifat, Batlou-Barouk and Aley. Where did Jumblatt receive this large stock of weapons? On who’s expense? And for what reason is he seeking to reform his militias?
Jumblatt’s ally, MP Walid Ido of MP Saad Hariri’s Future Movement told the New York Times that “if the ruling bloc found itself obliged to take to the street, it will take to the street” adding that peaceful “confrontations” will be met with peaceful confrontations and “we will sell our blood to buy weapons to confront them and we will never let them control the country.”
(Emphasis Added )
