Rice reveals that Hizbullah helps Syria

 

"U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told the U.N. Security Council's monthly meeting on the Mideast that Hezbollah leaders are also continuing to plot new measures with Iran to keep Assad in power.       

Rice's comments — and those of Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor — gave the clearest indication that Hezbollah, which fought a war against Israel in 2006 and is a major political and military force in Lebanon, is sending an increasing number of fighters to help the embattled Syrian regime.       

Syria's ruling Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shiite Islam and has had close ties to Iran and Hezbollah which are Shiite-dominated. Assad has long helped Iran aid Hezbollah and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, in destabilizing Lebanon and threatening Israel's security and U.S. interests in the Middle East. "  NY Times

-----------------------------------------

This is truly comic.  Susan "Meet the Press" Rice is still riding high.

Hizbullah is a major component of a stable government in Lebanon.  It was elected to the number of seats in parliament that give it that power a number of years ago and the political science seminar crowd that makes up the US foreign policy establishment has resolutely opposed the Lebanese government ever since.  BTW, when did Hizbullah last fire rockets or anything else into Israel?  If memory serves, it was in 2006.

In Syria the US seeks regime change without UN authority.   The allies of the US in this endeavor are; Turkey (Sunni ruled), Egypt (Sunni ruled), Saudi Arabia (Sunni ruled), Qatar (Sunni ruled) Al-Qa'ida (Sunni fanatics) and NATO.

On the other side, the government of Syria (Alawi, Druze, Shia, Sunni and Christian in orientation), Iran (Shia ruled), Iraq (Shia ruled) and now apparently Hizbullah (a Shia militia)

So, the US has become the ally of Al-Qa'ida and the Wahhabi Saudis against a multi-confessional government and its Shia allies.

How clever we are!  pl

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/ap-un-un-mideast.html?ref=world&_r=0

Comments

[Charles I]

Well, at least for the tinfoil hat crowd, of which I am a member emeritus-no-longer-caretus, the non-stop incompetence and blowback ensure continuous turmoil impervious to Peace Dividends, Arab Springs or Peace Processes, or whatever else is trotted out for the masses.

[mo]

Also, Hassan Nasrallah only a few days ago stated categorically that Hizballah is not aiding the Syrian government because a. They haven't asked and b.They dont need it. He continued to say that were they to do so they would be happy to help and would not deny it because, after all, what consequence would their admitting that they are helping Assad would worry them.

[Jose]

I'm suprised, Shia helping Shia and Sunnis helping Sunnis is impossible to imagine.

How clever we are! pl

I love irony!

Off topic: The drone that IAF shot over Israeli airspace down has been claimed by Hizzbullah, do they have the capacity to drop bombs? Apparent target was Dimona even more irony.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Well, Washington's alliance with Wahhabism, Salafism, and alQaeda-ism, not to mention Zionism, is because of all those "values" we "share" with them. Sharing these "values" we join together to support the jihad against Syria.

Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Mrs. Clinton all have "moral clarity" about this. And, of course, Senator McCain, and Lieberman, and Lindsay Graham share these values and the "moral clarity" of the aforementioned three at their foreign policy cauldron in which Syrian women and children are simmered in their own blood.

Wahhabi values as expressed by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia:

"The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region,” following Kuwait’s moves to ban their construction.

Speaking to a delegation in Kuwait, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, stressed that since the tiny Gulf state was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was necessary to destroy all of the churches in the country, Arabic media have reported.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric made the comment in view of an age-old rule that only Islam can be practiced in the region.

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is the highest official of religious law in the Sunni Muslim kingdom. He is also the head of the Supreme Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) and of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas."

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/destroy-all-churches-in-gulf-says-saudi-grand-mufti-450002.html

And the Grand Mufti of Qatar is Muslim Brotherhood one hears.

And the "values" of the Libya Islamic Fighting Group which is a leading force in the jihad against Syria can be admired by all Americans because they stand for freedom as shown by their good deeds in Syria helping to topple Assad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Islamic_Fighting_Group

When you have "moral clarity" like the Neocons and the Humanitarian Interventionists it's all so simple to do the right thing and make the right policy. The pro-Israel news media will praise you to the skies and AIPAC will thrown money your way.

Very clever indeed. And it is so nice to be able to feel good about "shared values" and not to have to worry about national interests.

[The beaver]

Poor Rice (after her fiasco about Benghazi) still there hoping and working hard to replace Hillary @ Foggy Bottom should Obama wins on November 6th!!!!
I guess USG Jeffrey Feltman and his friend Israeli Ambassador @ Turtle Bay Ron Prosor know which button to press :( whilst the musical chair game is going between Luxembourg, Finland and Australia for the two seats at the UNSC. How to bribe to get those vote during a UNSC session on the Palestien or Syria.

[Fred]

How nice of the Kuwaiti government since it was that US Army that saved their country from Saddam.

To quote the Grand Mufti: "...since the tiny Gulf state was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was necessary to destroy all of the churches in the country,..."

Since the peninsula is located on planet Earth how long until he makes this world wide?

[turcopolier]

Fred

I have been to Mass several times in Kuwait City. The congregation was almost altogether made up of catholics from the Phillippines and the sub-continent; Kerala, Goa, etc. I wonder what Saladin and his dynasty would have thought of this Wahhabi b-----d? He and his get were quite willing to live with Christians. Al-Kamil gave the Holy Sepulchre back to the RCC within 30 years of the surrender of al-quds by Balian of Ibelin. pl

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Yes, continuous turmoil...say a Hundred Years War or whatever....

[Tyler]

Honestly, the thought of HA"s world class light infantry kicking the everloving SHIT out of some Salafists playing at jihad has had me smiling for the past hour.

[r whitman]

We seem to be very good on this blog in criticising the current US foreign policy (if there really is a policy.) What should the US policy in the region be?? Should we kiss and make up with the Shi'ites and throw the Sunnis under the bus?? Should we distance ourslves from Zionism.

Lets see if we on this blog can come up with a comprehensive plan, none of this piecemeal or ad-hoc crap.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Fred,

Yup. They are already making all this world wide.

What goes unreported and unanalyzed is precisely the global Wahhabi jihad: Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia, AFghanistan, South Asia, South East Asia, Xinjiang and on and on.

Remember the days of the Soviet Union and the Komintern? Think of Riyadh as "Moscow Centre." Then as you gaze around the planet you will beghin to note the Wahhabintern.

Back in the Cold War days, some (in London, Washington, and elsewhere) thought it clever to link to the Wahhabi Saudi regime to fight communism and nationalism. The Saudis created several global front orgs to carry on that jihad. The old machinery and a lot more is in place and ongoing today. "Seemed like a good idea at the time"....right...note the blowback, including 911.

As for Syria, clever policymakers some time back figured that Lebanon could be run by a Saudi-Syrian condominium. Hence, many things. Of course today Assad, Jr. is inconveniently in the way so....he's got to go.

The late zillionaire Hariri was "made" by the Saudis. His son, Little Hariri, continues the Saudi vector in Lebanon, complete with the fashionable Saudi style beard. Little Hariri's auntie is said to rule the roost, though. One part of the Christian community, under Gen. Aoun, made a political alignment with Hizbullah. This is of course blacked out in the US press.

I always felt Lebanon should be an independent country where multiconfessionalism was protected. Maybe I missed something.

Just after 911 for a little while there was a spate of news articles about Wahhabism and al Qaeda. The Islamic charity front orgs were in the news and linked to terrorism. Then, all of a sudden, this line of inquiry stopped. Guess it was the "shared values" thing.

So today Washington is aligned with al Qaeda against Assad and aligned with Wahhabism and Zionism against Christian and other historic minorities in the Middle East.

Great American foreign policy, say what?

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Some say she's toast for the job now if O wins. Sen. Kerry is the other big wannabee.

Notice how Kerry was quick to slither to the defense of the White House per Benghazi?

Bad enough for any Senator but for the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this is disgraceful. The committee of course exercises oversight over the State Department and related. The lives of American citizens abroad and our diplomats should be the first consideration.

[Fred]

That is an interesting question. I believe a few years back you posted a copy of a medieval painting of Mohammad praying at the Kaaba? (sp?) I wonder what those in now Kuwait would think of that? Perhaps they prefer all the high rise hotels and neon signs - surely are flood of 'Western' culture - that surround such a sacred site?

[turcopolier]

r. whitman

Life is not fair but IMO you are really being unfair. I have made my position clear a number times.

- We should disengage from Israel except for continuing to guarantee the country's existence behind its 1967 borders.

- We should insist on fair treatment for the Palestinians.

- We should learn to live with an Iranian nuclear capability on the basis that if they ever use it we will destroy the country.

- We should favor secular governmenst based on human rights rather than theology.

- We should insist that peoples in the region respect our rights, most specifically freedom of navigation.

- Other than these things we should mind our own business. pl

[petrous]

Mr. Lang
As always your insight into the chess board currently being played in Syria is the most assertive I have read anywhere. Clear, sharp and expressed in a concise manner.
Thank you.

[walrus]

1. Jettison Israel.

2. Confront Wahabism.

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Folks in Iraq are concerned about their brethren, and shrines, in Syria:

..."Another Mehdi Army defector, Abu Mujahid, who recently returned from Syria to visit his family in the Iraqi city of Najaf said his group's mission in Syria was restricted to securing the famed Sayyida Zeinab Shi'ite shrine and its nearby Shi'ite neighborhoods.

But sometimes, he said, they carry out pre-emptive raids on Free Syrian Army rebel fighters, whenever they get information rebels will attack the shrine, offices of Shi'ite religious leaders, known as Marjaiya, and Shi'ite neighbourhoods.

"Our mission is securing the shrine, the Shi'ite areas and the Marjaiya offices," Abu Mujahid said. "We have no clear battlefield, but, from time to time, we carry out raids with the army on the sites of the Free Syrian Army."
....
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/16/syria-crisis-iraq-militias-idUSL6E8L4KX920121016

And about the weapons for our jihadi friends, months after the fact the pro-Israel NYT says:

"WASHINGTON — Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats. ....
The opposition groups that are receiving the most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we don’t want to have it,” said one American official familiar with the outlines of those findings, commenting on an operation that in American eyes has increasingly gone awry.

The United States is not sending arms directly to the Syrian opposition. Instead, it is providing intelligence and other support for shipments of secondhand light weapons like rifles and grenades into Syria, mainly orchestrated from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The reports indicate that the shipments organized from Qatar, in particular, are largely going to hard-line Islamists.
..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all

Of course this is no secret in the region or anywhere else.

Because the Republicans are led around by the nose by Neocons, their policy is equally as bad as the Dems on Syria...bipartisan after all. Yes? No?

Romney's VMI comments on Syria were Neocon. Time he drops the Neocon advice and adopts a sensible and realistic policy such as Col. Lang succinctly outlined on this thread.

Romney has a couple weeks before the Foreign Policy debate to get adult advice from Non-Neocons. The whole world will be watching...

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Yes, I saw a report relating to that saying the FSA people were circulating some false claims on this so HB clarified their position. In the clarification I saw, HB stated that their statute focuses on defending against Israel. Logically, as the war spills over into Lebanon they will inevitably be involved defending their community and then involvement in Syrian situation could occur as a result.

[Jose]

There are several churches in Bahrain and several of the Gulf States for mass. Rather than defy the Grand Mufti, they are simply located on island off the Arabian Peninsula.

PL - I will send WMR an email putting your name up for SOS, because if we continue to follow the Dragons America will need to issue an SOS.

Dr. Kiracofe, remember American foreign policy is to be the defenders of Zionism and Wahhabism.

[mo]

Colonel,
Hassan Nasrallah is to many of us the first leader in the Arab world in nearly a millenium that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Salaheddine. Hizballah's attitude towards co-existence on a fair and equal level with all the confessions of Lebanon is unique in the Arab world considering the strength, numbers and support at his disposal. It is also what drives their opponents mad with frustration.

So if ever there were a clear case of putting Israels needs above the US then the situation in Syria must surely be it. Here we have the US siding with people who do not and will not ever share an iota of the values and belief systems in the West, who have made it clear that wiping out of all those who do not accept their ideology is their "God given mission" and whose mindset is what led to 9-11 against people far more closely aligned to Western values and beliefs and all because the latter will not play nice with Israel.

As some one recently said to me in Lebanon, the US seems intent on just cutting its nose off to spite its face but is willing to gouge out its eyes aswell.

[r whitman]

I am in general agreement with you. Do you favor the US acting as policeman in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediteranean? I would favor that only with the consent of all interested parties and at least a token payment to the US in the form of an oil transit fee.

[mo]

Tyler,
As loudly as your comment made me laugh, short of these guys trying to actually invade the southern suburbs of Beirut, it wont happen. Reason being is that this is in fact what many "people" would like. Extending the secterian war to Hizballah would be seen as a win for many who oppose it as it would set them in anti-Sunni light and distract them from the southern borders and allow them to be cast as a militia dragging Lebanon into another civil war. It is in fact a replay of what was attempted in 2007 and 2008 using local Sunnis. Many Shia were killed but it wasnt until the govt. at the time tried to take over its communications network that HA came out to play and at that point no one could paint it as secterian.

As long as they dont play the game the game cant be played.

[FB Ali]

Not only would such a policy be morally sound, it would also be highly advantageous to the US and the West.

Just removing the pressure on Iran would rock back the Salafi/Wahabi jihadis far more than any US or client military moves. In any case, US military intervention in the region (eg, Afghanistan) has been nothing but a boon to the jihadis. Ending that would take a lot of the wind out of their sails.

[The beaver]

Mr Kiracofe

Wait for the Tlass family to be like the Hariri if or once Asad is forced out.
The father Mustapha was a good friend of Hafez Al-Assad and the sons, friends of Bachar and his brothers.
Scuttlebutt, Manaf Tlass is p'd at Bachar because he was not given a promotion and so he defected last August with the help of his sister, Nahed Ojjeh, widow of the former Saudi arms dealer Akram Ojjeh.
Like Hariri's aunt who is a very good friend of Chirac ( after his term at the Elysée, he is living in their hotel particulier , Quai Voltaire in Paris), Nahed O knows how to twist the French politicos in between her little fingers.

[JohnH]

I couldn't agree more.