More on Lebanon

I am down with a resurgence of the January crud (cold).  This WP editorial and the piece on Jumblatt bego for commentary.  I appeal for this on both.  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012005513.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_politics

 

Comments

[Jane]

I'll join the nanny brigade -- the advice about Vitamin D is good. If you take it in pill form you need to get D3 --not D2. More fun to get it from sunshine or herring however. You can have your Doc test your levels.

Short term relief from a stuffed head is a teaspoon of lemon juice or pickle juice.

[Charles I]

WAPO:

"Neither Mr. Hariri nor the United States has the capacity to disarm Hezbollah or to end the threat it poses to Lebanon, Israel and the broader Middle East. By insisting that the tribunal proceed, however, the United States and its allies have the opportunity to expose the movement's homicidal terrorism, directed at fellow Arabs and Muslims, and its dependence on the Syrian and Iranian dictatorships. That's an outcome worth taking risks for."

Well, unlike the WAPO, Jumblatt has to live there, and he didn't reach old age by inflexible stands for Pyrrhic victories to satisfy the Post. And the role of political kingmaker, what pol could refuse?

Who would be the first volunteer to be the canvas to "expose the movement's homicidal terrorism" prior to attending to local sectarian politics? What exactly does "insist on. . . whatever the risks" entail, metaphysically and in the real world?

Could we insist in anyone else doing something - suicidal or merely a touch risky - "whatever the risks?" Pick a country.

Gibberish.

Same as it ever was there, constitutionally, politically, geographically. Ditto for Washington

[Norbert M. Salamon]

WP is an Israeli /neocon propaganda sheet, thus the article may be thrown into the garbage can.

I do not know the Druze leader's politics, however, I can not see Mr Hariri regainig power, as he crossed his protector, the Saudi King, and has put his own desire for power ahead of Lebanon's peace.

It does appear from the distance that the STL has not done an impartial analysis of the evidence - if any, aside from relying on manufactrured non-truths for the first years of its life.

However this runs, it will bode ill for USA and ISrael, and any other power which supports this travesty.

[The Twisted Genius]

Everytime I think of Lebanon, I think of Walid Jumblatt. I got to know several Druze PSP militia members back in 1983. Walid has fought with and been allied with almost every other faction in Lebanon at one time or another. Of course, that can also be said of most every Lebanese leader of his age. Opportunistic? Probably. If one wanted to survive in Lebanon over the past few decades, one better have been willing to seize every opportunity that presented itself. I think he acts more from his heart than his head. My hope is that, after all the heartache he has seen, he is trying to prevent events from spinning into another civil war.

The WaPo editorial on the tribunal is crap. The tribunal is 100% political. Every player in this "search for truth and justice" has an agenda and is using the tribunal to push those agendas. The process was flawed beyond hope.

[Fred]

Of course the US needs to take action based on the report out of the UN:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11333496/ns/us_news-security/

Sorry, wrong UN report, this one just gets ignored, at least in the US.

[swerv21]

talk about drinking the cool aid! what is the wapo editorial board smoking? what planet do these people live on?

homicidal terrorism? these people are ministers with portfolios in the lebanese government.

"Hezbollah, which lost Lebanon's past two elections, often gets it way through the threat of force"

Since when does being elected to parliament by your constituency amount to threat of force? And are these not the same people who lead the way to the use of force in iraq? and now iran?

it beggars belief. i don't see how the U.S. can expect to continue to be taken seriously in lebanon or anywhere else in the middle east.

outrageous.

[Alison McGandy]

The Post editorial conflates too many issues with too much emotion- especially using the term "homicidal terrorism" which is just like saying "bad guys." Whatever.
The tribunal may or may not be a good idea, but I don't know many Arabs- (or Phoenicians) who think this is the most direct way to work with Hezbullah. In fact it's by far the most roundabout.
Meanwhile, nasal irrigation- a la NeilMed Nasal Rinse may cause The Crud to retreat. Salamtak.
Al the Arabist

[J]

Ok, here we go 'again' with 'another' Anonymous editorial by the Wapo. It is interesting how gonads challenged the Wapo are. It's easy to pen an article using 'Anonymous', it's another to put one's name to the penmanship. The 'Anonymous' author of the article fails to include a party that is at the very top of the suspect list regarding Rafik Hariri's demise, I'm referring to the Israeli goon squad known as the Mossad. There are a lot of finger both inside Lebanon and outside that are pointing their fingers at the Mossad as the killers of Rafik Hariri, and at the least the Mossad were larger-than-life players in Hariri's murder.

[mo]

Colonel,
Re the WP editorial. I really have to start at the end with this one. "That's an outcome worth taking risks for". I'm guessing the writer does not live in Lebanon so what risks is he/she actually taking? Yet again, a MSM conduit that promotes the killing of others so that the neo-con fantasy can be fulfilled.

But then when a writer drops phrases like "threat to Lebanon" and "homicidal terrorism" you know there is little objectivity anyway.

In regards to Mr Jumblatt, well what can one say? He has gone from a politician who hated Hizballah and who had the honor of being the only Lebanese politician that Nasrallah has personally vilified in a live speech to being a an ally of the opposition.
There are those that say he has done this with a gun to his head. But there is also talk that his son (and successor) is a staunch supporter of HA.

The question now becomes how many votes does he bring with him - The opposition will need at least 8 votes in addition to the 57 they have to have a majority. Most people in Lebanon are finding it hard to believe that he can get more than 5. On the other hand, the opposition is claiming they have the votes they need.

The big question really is what happens next. If Hariri gets back in will the repercussions planned for the Chp 7 resolution come into effect after the verdict which could be years away? Can Lebanon survive the tension for that long?

And if the opposition takes over and as expected withdraws its support for the STL, will there be an international movement against Lebanon or will the Israeli attack dog be called on?

I think it was a couple of years ago that I said on here that there were plans for Lebanon. I think we are beginning to see those plans come to fruition.

[confusedponderer]

News:

Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry officials announced today that they are formally abandoning all mediation efforts in Lebanon, insisting that they can do no more in that regard and that the situation is getting more and more dangerous.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the Saudi King decided on the pullout after their efforts to broker a “compromise” deal with the Syrian government did not yield a result. Reports have suggested the two sides did actually come to a deal, but it was rejected by Lebanese PM Saad Hariri, under pressure from the US ... the differences between the blocs appear entirely to be built around the UN Tribunal ...

Heaven forbid the Lebanese come to a compromise! It would be unacceptable! It appears the question really is whether to have the tribunal indicting Hezbullah or not. While the Lebanese are not so keen, it appears the US and Israel are the only ones to insist.

The US, abusing the tribunal to whack Hezbullhah? It wouldn't be the first time for the US instrumentalise some international instrument, say, for the goal of 'regime change'.

[confusedponderer]

Oh yes, and get well. Cruds are never nice things to endure. In my experience a Laphroaigh at the fireplace helps, if not for the health then for morale.

[Patrick Lang]

CP

Danke. pl

[Bart]

I liked this phrase from the first paragraph:

"...the United States and its allies in a crucial power struggle with Syria and Iran..."

If we are to invade just one, I suggest Syria.

[Grimgrin]

My boss swore by a concoction made of fresh lime juice, tea made by boiling black tea and ginger together, sweetened with honey and followed up with a glass of brandy. I was never sure if it was a cold remedy or a cocktail myself.

The line that jumped out for me in the WaPo article was "Hezbollah has lost the last 2 elections". It's an interesting synecdoche because if it's an honest statement, it suggests that that anyone in the March 8th coalition is assumed to be interchangeable with Hizbullah from the perspective of the US and Israel. More likely it's just abusing ignorance of Lebanon's multi-confessional multi-party parliamentary system to portray Hizbullah as aggrieved losers trying to achieve their goals by force.

[Patrick Lang]

Bart

I suggest Saudi Arabia. I never liked them much and it would be easier. pl

[walrus]

Last sentence of the Op - Ed gives the game away:"That's an outcome worth taking risks for." I'm not sure which Israeli firster penned the piece, Condi Rice? Dershowitz?

"Taking risks for peace" is a time-worn Israeli theme. Not sure if they lifted it from elsewhere.

It's traceable at least as far back as a 1993 Yitzak Rabin speech.

"It's not a simple mission. But we are determined to continue with the peace negotiations. I was more than pleased that when I said to President Clinton that we are ready to take risks, calculated risks, for the achievement of peace, his answer was, "When you take risks to peace, it's our responsibility, the United States' responsibility, to minimize your risk by assisting you militarily and economically."

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Foreign%20Relations/Israels%20Foreign%20Relations%20since%201947/1992-1994/63%20Address%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Rabin%20to%20AIPAC%20Conven

[different clue]

I am on lunch break so I don't have time to read the WaPo article the way I should. But I will just guess that the risk and the goal Rabin talked about was different from the sort of risk and the goal the WaPo is egging on various Lebanese players to take.

When I get crudsick enough that I have to stay home from work, here is what I do for it; so I can at least feel like I am doing something. I drink 4-6 quarts of water through the day in addition to any soup I may eat. I dissolve a partial teaspoon of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) powder in each glass of water so I am drinking huge amounts of ascorbic acid. If
there is any lung involvement I add grated raw onion to my chicken soup with garlic and tabasco sauce. I put on layers of winter clothing and turn the thermostat up to 80 degrees or so and sleep under blankets to try and "burn out the virus".
Also, I have cut the bottom out of a plastic 1-gallon milk-jug and cut the plastic to fit around my face. I stick the screw-threaded pour-spout end into
the spout of a teakettle of just-barely-boiling water and put my face into the cut-out bottom of the jug. I breathe in the steam as hot as I can stand it being careful not to burn myself. Since the rhinovirus is supposed to be very heat sensitive, I feel as though that may help kill it faster.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Bart and pl,

Well yes, the Eastern Province would be what we want. Although there is a nice quaint old district in Jedda we could keep after razing the rest. Vaporize Riyad to tidy things up and then give the Holy Places to the Hashemites.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

"As things stand, the March 14 Alliance led by now-caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, has 60 seats in the legislature while the Hezbollah-led opposition has 57. Mr. Jumblatt’s MPs hold the balance of power as it takes 65 seats to form a majority. It is believed that the five Druze MPs will vote with their leader, but the PSP’s five Christians and one Sunni Muslim MP may vote differently.

While Hezbollah is considered the inspiration of the opposition faction, it is not the largest party. The Free Patriotic Movement of former military chief of staff Michel Aoun holds 19 seats, while the Shia Hezbollah has 13, as does the other major Shia party Amal.

Mr. Aoun, a controversial Christian leader, has divided the country’s Christians with the Maronite Patriarch calling on Christians not to support him or the opposition faction. The Hezbollah/Aoun opposition is believed to favour as the head of a new government Omar Karami, a two-time former prime minister, known to be friendly to Syria, and the man who was in power when Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005.

In Lebanon's power-sharing political system, the prime minister is a Sunni, the president a Christian Maronite, and the speaker a Shiite. President Michel Suleiman has summoned parliamentarians for consultations on Monday. But negotiations are expected to last a long time. "
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/potential-kingmaker-in-lebanon-backs-hezbollah/article1879488/

[Cal]

Col.
Per my friendly doctor next door.
If it's a regular cold nothing much you can do but wait it out....rest is the best treatment.
The body's response to a cold; sneezing, coughing, blowing noses, fever, etc, causes inflammation of the sinus and respiratory system.
Anything that acts on inflammation and fever, like plain old aspirin and a nasal spray is as good as you can do for the common cold.
"If" it is something else or turns into something like an bronchial infection then get to the doctor and ask for a shot of penicillin....that will clear it up in about 48 hours. If you see anything green (gross as it sounds) you've got an infection.

[Charles I]

A big fatty'd have you coughing and blowing all that crud out, its a bronchiodilator, fall asleep by the fire, mind your drinkl. . . get well.

[jonst]

Anyone with a sense of Lebanese history has to love this sentence: ""The party will stand firm in support of Syria...."

Indeed! Jumblatt "standing firm"?

[J]

The Increasingly Volatile Pre-Trial Phase of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
By Franklin Lamb

http://www.almanar.com.lb/newssite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=171031&language=en

[J]

Jumblatt Decides, Meets Sayyed Nasrallah

http://www.almanar.com.lb/newssite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=171044&language=en

[rjj]

WRT January crud -

I am taking a zoo-/anthropopharmagnosic approach. Indulging all cravings - mostly for eye-watering curry or chili and (of all things!) grapefruit. Also inhaling fresh grated ginger steam. Am getting good symptomatic relief. Tomorrow will try Krispy Kreme overdose (9-12) as control.