Beirut in close-down mode

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=251722

Lebanon has been shocked by bomb attacks and nearly four days of deadly battles.

Panic is spreading with the number of bomb scares across the capital, Beirut.

Beirut is being described as a virtual ghost town after string of bomb attacks and deadly battles between army and Islamists. Shops and cafes are deserted.

Schools closed earlier this week, and those still open have reported large absences.
more...
Poor Lebanon

[mloutre]

1. I said a lot about it here. As did a particular senator there. And it's all still true.

http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2007/05/some_pictures_a_1.html

http://blog.johnkerry.com/2007/01/a_crucial_time_for_saving_leba.html

[globalvillage]

2. The Senator's warning wasn't heeded

So sad.

A crucial time for saving Lebanon's fragile democracy
By John F. Kerry | January 4, 2007

EVERYWHERE I traveled throughout the Middle East this winter, the feeling was inescapable that the region could explode at any time. The threat of three simultaneous civil wars that King Abdullah of Jordan spoke of is real, and perhaps the most imminent danger -- in Lebanon -- is the least understood.

...

Lebanon teeters on the brink of disaster -- but its leaders refuse to surrender. As Amine Gemayel, the former president of Lebanon, said in explaining why he is running to replace his son in Parliament, "We keep going. We keep fighting. We keep struggling." The question is whether we will be a real partner in this struggle.




http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/01/04/a_crucial_time_for_saving_lebanons_fragile_democracy/

[dave_p]

8. Nice friends

Amin Gemayel's family militia was the side that initiated Lebanon's 1975 civil war. His brother Bashir ordered the murder of rival Christian politician Tony Frangieh, whose own son Suleiman is now an ally of Hezbollah. With friends like the Gemayels, you don't need enemies.

[dave_p]

7. Attacking the wrong target

The Kerry piece is a grotesque misrepresentation of Lebanese affairs. The Siniora government's a pro-White House rump of the 2005 movement, terrified to hold a general election because it'll lose. And Hezbollah's not involved in the present fighting, it's defended the army and condemned the government's failure to act earlier against Fatah al-Islam. Hezbollah's not the problem: Siniora amd his foreign friends are the problem. As for Syria, it wasn't the neighbor that killed 1000 Lebanese and pounded much of the country to rubble last year.

[bonito]

3. Its crazy I've been following it loosely

A bank robbery, they flee into a 40 yr old Palestine refugee camp where the law of the camp is self imposed by the Palestinians who by the way cant work in lebanon and are treated as second hand humans, ah UN help us out here, and an armed camp as well.:wtf:

Ok lets find these people a place they can call home, dignity, and hope for themselves and their children's future, how much $ I don't give a damn.

Right now I'm thankful Israel wasn't directly involved with this recent insanity.

[Robbien]

4. Where ever there are Muslims, there will the the defense industry

making a ton of money.

The US delivered plane loads of ammunition to Beirut on Friday as Congress agreed on $770 million in new funds for Lebanon

[dave_p]

5. Beirut's seen worse

"Panic" isn't the impression I'm getting from there - rather, people taking precautions and avoiding locations that might be the next target. Beirut's had three bombings, none apparently intended to cause massive loss of life. The fighting's far to the north near Tripoli, where Fatah al-Islam's concentrated. After what they suffered last summer, Lebanese aren't about to panic over this.

[mloutre]

6. And yes, see also, for much more detail:

http://blog.johnkerry.com/2006/12/21st_century_security.html

http://blog.johnkerry.com/2006/12/a_focus_on_lebanon.html

[dave_p]

9. I'll stick to the Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb

[ProSense]

10. You seem to have a

deep interest in this issue. From the link it indeed sound like there is a lot of panic and concern. Refugees are usually a troubling sign.

[dave_p]

12. Er, it's a refugee camp. Been one since 1949

That's Nahr al-Bared, though, the scene of what remains a very localized conflict. Lebanon as a whole remains calm since nobody else seems to have a good word for Fatah al-Islam, and Beirut is quiet but hardly the ghost town panic headlines suggest. The group doubtless has cells elsewhere, but I think it'll find it picked the wrong people to mess with.

[ProSense]

13. Er, the refugees are fleeing the refugee camp.

The situation is not good.

[dave_p]

14. Well wouldn't you?

Most of them don't look too panicked to me. I've seen what panic-stricken Palestinian refugee camps look like - the news from Lebanon was full of them in the 70s & 80s when everyone from Israel & the Falange to the occasional Shia militia was taking turns at attacking them. This time it's a local clash involving at most a few hundred fighters against the Lebanese Army. That there's been a truce at all seems a good sign. Lebanon lost 160,000 people in 1975-90 when Beirut looked like hell on earth. That this even makes the headlines shows how far the country's come since.

[ProSense]

15. Look again!

Exodus from Nahr al-Bared soaks up resources at Beddawi camp

[EFerrari]

11. Poor Lebanon

:(