[News] Lebanon - Hezbollah Eases Up and Beirut Opens Its Shutters
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Sat May 10 12:22:41 EDT 2008
Weekend Edition
May 10 / 11, 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb05102008.html
Street Notes from the Hamra District
Hezbollah Eases Up and Beirut Opens Its Shutters
By FRANKLIN LAMB
Saturday Afternoon May 10 2008 witnessed a pronounced easing of tension.
Based on a US Congressional source, the Siniora
government is reportedly able, with US approval,
to offer the following face-saving proposal to
Hezbollah to end the current crisis:
1. Hezbollah can keep its landline optic
telecommunication cables for use in its
Resistance struggle against Israel. But they
should be put under "State Control".
Translation: Hezbollah controls them exclusively
same as now and no one else will touch them. But
'officially' they will be under 'State' control, i.e. not State control.
2. Concerning the other major issue regarding the
head of Beirut Airport Security, General Wafiq
Shouqair gets reassigned but Hezbollah gets to name his replacement.
Translation: Wafiq stays in office, keeps his
authority and puts his deputy's name card slipped
over his on the office nameplate.
The public version of the proposal above reads a
bit differently as offered this afternoon by
Siniora. It does not mention to the public "due
to sectarian sensitivities" points one and two
above. It also includes the formation of a
national unity government in which the minority
cannot block decisions and the majority cannot impose them.
Siniora has also proposed a five-point
introduction to a settlement, including placing
the two government decisions in the hands of the
army but will withdraw these quietly.
Hezbollah has issued no comment on this report as of press time.
The current situation in Hamra
Many Hezbollah fighters left the streets of Hamra
and turned them over to the Lebanese Army which
had been largely absent on Friday.
Some of Hezbollah's withdrawing 'regulars' were replaced by 'reserves'.
"Its good for their training", one fellow who was
obviously in charge outside of Starbucks on Hamra
Street, explained through an interpreter. Some
Hezbollah and Amal forces seemed quite willing to
speak with the media about their mission.
Some pro-opposition commentators wandered around
Hamra trying to assure returning residents.
"This was not a coup! Think of it as a protest
and message to Bush and Olmert. If we wanted a
coup we could surround the Serail. Mr. Siniora
would perhaps hand us the keys. We don't want
them. Let's all prepare for elections and let the
people decide who sits in Parliament and makes up Cabinet."
Hezbollah reportedly has excellent relations with
the Lebanese Army and wants to maintain them.
Evidence of this is apparent today as Hezbollah's
forces made a point of politely and almost
paternally yielding some of their street corner
locations to the Army with handshakes and sometimes kisses.
Outside Costa Coffee down from the Bristol Hotel,
one seasoned Hezbollah fighter spoke to some
obviously younger and 'greener' Party members and
instructed them on their duties as they relieved
him and he headed south for rest. He explained
that things went fairly smoothly yesterday and
that they would likely see residents start
returning to Hamra. "Be helpful to those who need
help. Assure them their neighborhood is secure
and safe. We will start no violence and if
someone else wants to we can assure those in who
live in Hamra that we will quickly deal with troublemakers".
A few isolated acts of vandalism were reported
yesterday and an internal joint Hezbollah-Amal
investigation is underway to find out about what
happened and insure that there is no recurrence.
"No bad behavior by our fighters or any of our
allies will be tolerated and bad behavior (from
our side) will be severely punished and if
vandalism occurred, Hezbollah will pay for it!
Lebanon knows our standards. Remember during the
July 2006 War. When our fighters had to use food
and water that belonged to absent owners we left
IOUs on the table. Everyone was later paid."
Some Amal guys were looking for an open sandwich
shop but doubted that "people here in Hamra make
sandwiches as great as we have in Ouzai. Our area
has the best kebabs in all of Lebanon!!" (this
observer did not have the heart to ask the young
man if this was his first time outside of his "area").
"We will be magnanimous toward our adversaries in
the small victory we achieved the past couple of
days", explained 'Ali' an acquaintance of this
observer who also lives in Haret Hreik.
"If the "ruling team" wants to claim victory that
is fine with us. They can attack us verbally all
they want. We are used to this. This situation
was forced on us and we defended ourselves. Now
we should seek a just and quick solution and heal
any wounds", one young woman, obviously a
Hezbollah supporter explained as she chatted with
some fighters and journalists. She added, "We
want dialogue and a fair peaceful solution. We
are a Resistance movement and will not participate in a civil war".
As of this afternoon the losers and winners appear as follows:
The main losers obviously are the Bush
administration, Israel and their Welch Club
allies. Personal losers are Amin Gemayel, barely
still the "leader" of the Phalange Party, as he
talks tough and tries to rally his 'forces'
from
Paris. Samir Geagea has pretty much nudged him
aside and is reportedly casting his dark gaze
toward Saad Hariri who may be planning to retire
from politics and help with the very big family
business. After the parties meet with President
Bush next week, a 'shaking out' process may begin.
Walid Jumblatt is another loser since his
provocations, taunts, and Welch Club cheerleader
role to take on Hezbollah left him at its mercy
both in the Mountains and in his Beirut home.
Whatever credibility he had has evaporated. Among
the Druze there is discord and inter-party
fisticuffs as there was last night in Choufeit
when Jumblatt asked the army to occupy and secure
his Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) HQ but some
of the younger members threatened violence, as
the villagers watched beneath a huge a poster of
party founder Kamal Jumblatt and the army and
Jumblatt jr. backed off. PSP problems will
require Walid's sustained attention for some
while party members explained last evening to this observer.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora loses more of his
waning influence and status. One of his main
problems is that he is increasingly seen as a
Bush administration puppet. Not least of his
worries this morning, as he prepares to avoid
being dumped by Bush next week, is the ringing
endorsement he received yesterday from Secretary
of State Rice, without bringing herself to mention Siniora by name:
"Our support for the legitimate Lebanese
government, its democratic institutions, and its
security services is unwavering. This support is
a reflection of our unshakable commitment to the
Lebanese people and their hope for democratic
change, economic prosperity, and confessional
harmony. We will stand by the Lebanese government
and peaceful citizens of Lebanon through this
crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm."
She would not even mention his name as she
employed the standard State Department verbiage
just before a US puppet is dumped. It was dusted
off from Vietnam days when JFK (Diem) and LBJ
(Thieu) used almost identical language before switching horses.
The rest of Rice's analysis seemed to many in
Lebanon, whose population is among the most
politically sophisticated in many ways, as simply
obtuse: "No one has a right to deprive Lebanese
citizens of their political and economic freedom,
their right to move freely within their country,
or their sense of safety and security".
State Department officials said this morning that
the international coalition supporting the
Lebanese state against Hezbollah has never been
stronger. Washington believes Hezbollah has
"bitten off a bit too much" and now risks
alienating the rest of Lebanon's population,
including Hezbollah's important Christian allies, an official said.
The Bush administration reminded the World that
it has spent $1.3 billion over the past two years
to prop up Siniora's government, with about $400
million dedicated to boosting Lebanon's security
forces. This statement constitutes a hoax
according to some informed observers in Lebanon:
"The money the Bush administration has spent has
been to create a Sunni 'Internal Security Force'
not for the Lebanese but for the 'ruling team'
(the name the oppositions and its allies call the
current government of Lebanon) which is no more
than a militia run by pro-American officers.
Hezbollah could defeat and disband this Bush
militia in three hours of less", according to one
long time UNIFIL program administrator.
One frustrated US Senate Intelligence Committee
staffer emailed this morning with a tinge of irony and cynicism:
Referring to President Bush: "Now this loser has
really done it. Having effectively delivered Iraq
and Afghanistan to Iran, he has now handed them
Lebanon. Mark my words, Saudi Arabia is next and
the Saudis know it and will make a deal with Iran."
The major winners are obvious: Lebanon's
Christian population allied with General Michel
Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Hezbollah,
Amal and their Sunni, Druze and international supporters.
Hassan Nasrallah's position is probably the
strongest it has ever been, not just in Lebanon
but throughout the region. If he wanted to be a
dictator of all of Lebanon, which he eschews, he
could have the position today.
Rami Khoury, writing in Beirut's Daily Star this
morning got it right in this observer's view when he wrote:
Nasrallah's task now is to create an inclusive
environment conducive to the answering of these
and other challenges. He and his party cannot be
expected to come up with all of the solutions,
and nor should they want to: If they cannot draw
other players - and not just their closest allies
- into the process, Nasrallah runs the risk of
being cast as a dictator by default.
Hizbullah and its partners have frequently argued
that their counterparts in the March 14 Forces
coalition were not interested in true
partnership, only in dictating terms. Now
Nasrallah has to prove that his side is ready,
willing and able to live up to its own
expectations, and speed is of the essence: After
15 years of civil war, 15 of diluted sovereignty,
and three of limbo, the Lebanese deserve at last
to have a level of politics commensurate with
their talents and energies. If Nasrallah is the
man who makes this happen, history will judge his
actions to have been a revolution, not a coup, and a long-overdue one at that.
Late news is that the airport may open by Monday but this is not certain.
Franklin Lamb can be reached at <mailto:fplamb at gmail.com>fplamb at gmail.com
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