Friday, March 11, 2005
Initial Response To Witch Doctor
There is a difference between a freely elected parliament and one that was put in power by an invading army from another country. You would have exploded with incredulity if the Provisional Governing Authority in Iraq had dared state that their actions were a result of the will of the people of Iraq.
Also, you seem to make a lot out of the fact that there were anywhere from 250,000 to half a million people in the street, and that this is proof of what the Lebanese people support. That’s ridiculous on its face. There are, according to a 2004 estimate, approximately 3.7 million people in Lebanon. Those protesting represented anywhere from 6.7% to 13.5% of the population (an impressive turnout, but it was organized – more on that later). When is the appearance of an organized protest proof of anything other than the fact that those people there at the time support the issue at hand? If I recall correctly there were approximately one million protestors in New York for the Republican National Convention. Most were virulent anti-war protestors, but either way, they obviously did not represent the opinion of this country’s majority.
And if you want to compare the sizes of the respective protests in Lebanon (the prior one and this one), then you should, in all fairness, understand one important thing: The first protest (against Syria and its puppet in Lebanon) was accomplished at grave risk to the protestors because they were challenging the government of Syria, with Syrian troops infesting the whole country and Syrian intelligence agents darn near everywhere in Lebanon.
The second protest was organized by Hezbollah, which is an agent organization funded in part by Syria’s regime. The leader of Hezbollah was the primary speaker at the protest (Link to a Washington Post story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16165-2005Mar8.html )
So, let’s look a little closer at Hezbollah. Who are they? Well, according to the US State Department (which is tasked by law to categorize and evaluate terrorist organizations), Hezbollah is under the direct control of Syria’s intelligence organization and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. They receive funding and weaponry from both countries. They have a variety of aliases: Islamic Jihad, The Revolutionary Justice Organization, The Islamic Resistance, Organization for the Oppressed on Earth.
And they’ve been active terrorists. Perhaps you may remember some of their work. I’ll quote from the February 6, 2004 Congressional Research Service report (Link: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32223.pdf ):
So, that’s Hezbollah. A terrorist organization responsible for killing as many as 259 American service people. Those were the organizers of that rally. Those are the people who support Syria’s invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation. And that they were able to gin up a protest is supposed to represent what?
How about we hold an election that isn’t influenced (i.e. threatened) by foreign forces and find out what Lebanon really wants?
There is a difference between a freely elected parliament and one that was put in power by an invading army from another country. You would have exploded with incredulity if the Provisional Governing Authority in Iraq had dared state that their actions were a result of the will of the people of Iraq.
Also, you seem to make a lot out of the fact that there were anywhere from 250,000 to half a million people in the street, and that this is proof of what the Lebanese people support. That’s ridiculous on its face. There are, according to a 2004 estimate, approximately 3.7 million people in Lebanon. Those protesting represented anywhere from 6.7% to 13.5% of the population (an impressive turnout, but it was organized – more on that later). When is the appearance of an organized protest proof of anything other than the fact that those people there at the time support the issue at hand? If I recall correctly there were approximately one million protestors in New York for the Republican National Convention. Most were virulent anti-war protestors, but either way, they obviously did not represent the opinion of this country’s majority.
And if you want to compare the sizes of the respective protests in Lebanon (the prior one and this one), then you should, in all fairness, understand one important thing: The first protest (against Syria and its puppet in Lebanon) was accomplished at grave risk to the protestors because they were challenging the government of Syria, with Syrian troops infesting the whole country and Syrian intelligence agents darn near everywhere in Lebanon.
The second protest was organized by Hezbollah, which is an agent organization funded in part by Syria’s regime. The leader of Hezbollah was the primary speaker at the protest (Link to a Washington Post story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16165-2005Mar8.html )
So, let’s look a little closer at Hezbollah. Who are they? Well, according to the US State Department (which is tasked by law to categorize and evaluate terrorist organizations), Hezbollah is under the direct control of Syria’s intelligence organization and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. They receive funding and weaponry from both countries. They have a variety of aliases: Islamic Jihad, The Revolutionary Justice Organization, The Islamic Resistance, Organization for the Oppressed on Earth.
And they’ve been active terrorists. Perhaps you may remember some of their work. I’ll quote from the February 6, 2004 Congressional Research Service report (Link: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32223.pdf ):
Hizballah’s most active period of anti-American targeting occurred during the 1980’s and resulted in a very large number of U.S. casualties. Under the alias Islamic Jihad, Hizballah has been implicated in or is known to have carried out the truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut (April 1983), the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut (October 1983, killing 220 Marine, 18 Navy, and 3 Army personnel), and the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut (September 1984). Hizballah also claimed responsibility for an April 1984 bombing that killed 18 U.S. service members in Torrejon, Spain.Note for clarification: Islamic Jihad actually claimed “credit” for the barracks bombing, and Islamic Jihad is (as pointed out above) an alias of Hezbollah.
So, that’s Hezbollah. A terrorist organization responsible for killing as many as 259 American service people. Those were the organizers of that rally. Those are the people who support Syria’s invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation. And that they were able to gin up a protest is supposed to represent what?
How about we hold an election that isn’t influenced (i.e. threatened) by foreign forces and find out what Lebanon really wants?
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