Obama's weak leadership leads to the release of lead Hezbollah terrorist

[TheGreatGatsby]

Sad; but true; and not at all unexpected.

Administration struggling to prevent release of Hezbollah commander in Iraq | The Cable

 

[waltky]

Hey, things are tough all over - `bout time Hezbollah suffered...

Tough times for Hezbollah in fast changing region
Feb 6,`13: These are tough times for Hezbollah. The Shiite militant group's uncompromising support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and allegations that it attacked Israeli tourists in Bulgaria are both unpopular in Lebanon, where it is increasingly accused of putting the interests of longtime patrons Iran and Syria over those of its home country.

For many in the deeply polarized and war-weary nation, Hezbollah's involvement in last year's bus attack that killed five Israelis, if confirmed, constitutes further proof that the group is willing to compromise the country's security for external agendas. "Hezbollah uses the Lebanese people like sandbags, they don't care about the people," complained Michel Zeidan, echoing the views of others who called in to a talk radio show Wednesday. "These are very serious accusations which would demonstrate once again that Hezbollah is completely driven by foreign agendas," Ahmad Fatfat, a Lebanese lawmaker in the pro-Western camp opposed to Hezbollah, told The Associated Press.

Hezbollah has denied involvement in the Bulgaria attack and has not made any direct comments since the findings of an investigation were announced Tuesday. Asked to comment at a cabinet meeting Wednesday, Hezbollah minister Mohammed Fneish said: "Israel has been pointing fingers at Hezbollah from the first moment of the explosion took place." The group's deputy chief, Sheik Naim Kassem, said Israel is conducting an international terror campaign against Hezbollah because it failed to defeat it militarily. "All these accusations against Hezbollah will have no effect, and do not change the facts or realities on the ground," Kassem told supporters Wednesday, without referring to the Bulgarian charges directly.

Bulgarian officials said Tuesday that the Lebanese group has been linked to the sophisticated bombing carried out by a terrorist cell that included Canadian and Australian citizens. They said the two living suspects have been identified and are in Lebanon. The announcement put pressure on European countries such as France and Germany, which haven't designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization despite the urgings of Israel and the U.S. "If the evidence proves to be true, that Hezbollah is indeed responsible for this despicable attack, then consequences will have to follow," said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He didn't say what those consequences could be. But a ban on Hezbollah's activities in Germany, where authorities believe it has almost 1,000 members, could limit its ability to collect funds for the group's main branch in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, there were calls for Hezbollah to come out with a clear statement outlining and responding to the accusations. "We are waiting for Hezbollah's response," said Fatfat, the lawmaker. The Bulgaria accusations come less than a week after an Israeli airstrike in Syria that U.S. officials said targeted a convoy of sophisticated weapons bound for Hezbollah. A Lebanese radio talk show host on Wednesday morning fielded calls from people commenting on the fallout for the country from the airstrike in Syria and the Bulgarian findings. "The economic repercussions on Lebanon will be disastrous," said Zeidan.

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[waltky]

Hezbollah backin' Assad...

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah vows victory in Syria
25 May 2013 - The leader of the Lebanese Shia militant Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, has promised his supporters they will prevail in Syria, where they are backing President Bashar al-Assad.

"This battle is ours... and I promise you victory," he said in a TV address. Syrian rebels in the besieged town of Qusair say they are under heavy bombardment from Hezbollah combatants. The town is close to the Lebanese border, a conduit for both the government and rebels to get weapons. In the speech from an undisclosed location, Mr Hasrallah said if Sunni Islamists took over in Syria, they would pose a threat to the entire Lebanese population - Shia and Sunni Muslims, as well as Christians. He said his movement could never be aligned with Syrian rebels who, in his view, were supported by the United States and Israel.

Offensive intensified

Dozens of Hezbollah militants are said to have been killed fighting alongside Syrian troops in Qusair since 19 May, when government forces launched an offensive to recapture the rebel-held town. Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said thousands of Hezbollah fighters were contributing significantly to the violence in Syria. He added that Iran was actively supporting Hezbollah's involvement - a claim denied by Tehran. Iran and Hezbollah are predominantly Shia, while Mr Assad's Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam.

The week-long fighting in Qusair intensified early on Saturday, when activists reported heavy bombardments, including two ground-to-ground missiles and an air strike as well as artillery and rocket fire. Syrian state media said the army had launched a three-pronged offensive in the north, centre and south of Qusair, and was making big advances after "killing large numbers" of fighters.

Qusair is important for the Syrian government because it links the capital, Damascus, with the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast. However, official media made no mention of the part played by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group is also known to have lost a number of fighters in Qusair, prompting Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to warn the Shia militia against getting "bogged down in the sands of discord". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group that monitors the conflict, said at least 22 people including 18 rebels had been killed in the latest fighting in Qusair. Dozens had been wounded, it added.

BBC News - Hezbollah leader Nasrallah vows victory in Syria

See also:

Hezbollah chief commits to victory in Syria
May 25,`13 -- The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group vowed to help propel President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria's bloody civil war, warning that the fall of the Damascus regime would give rise to extremists and plunge the Middle East into a "dark period."

In a televised address, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also said Hezbollah members are fighting in Syria against Islamic radicals who pose a danger to Lebanon, and pledged that his group will not allow Syrian militants to control areas along the Lebanese border. He pledged that Hezbollah will turn the tide of the conflict in Assad's favor, and stay as long as necessary to do so. "We will continue this road until the end, we will take the responsibility and we will make all the sacrifices," he said. "We will be victorious." The Hezbollah leader's comments offered the clearest public confirmation yet that the Iranian-backed group is directly involved in Syria's war. They also were Nasrallah's first remarks since Hezbollah fighters have pushed to the front lines of the battle for the strategic Syrian town of Qusair near the Lebanese frontier.

The fighting in Qusair, which government troops backed by Hezbollah pounded with artillery on Saturday, has laid bare the Lebanese Shiite group's growing role in the Syrian conflict. Hezbollah initially tried to play down its involvement, but could no longer do so after dozens of its fighters were killed in the town and buried in large funerals in Lebanon. Nasrallah, who was speaking on the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, used his speech in part to brace the community for the possibility of more of its men returning home in coffins. The fight in Qusair has proven a deadly grind for both sides. On Saturday, government forces backed by Hezbollah militants shelled the town in the heaviest barrage yet of a week-long assault to dislodge rebels from the opposition stronghold, activists said.

Since the regime offensive began Wednesday, Syrian state media has said government forces have steadily gained ground. Local activists deny that pro-Assad forces have made headway and say rebel fighters are defending their positions. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 30 people, including 27 rebels, were killed and dozens wounded Saturday in the town, which holds strategic importance for both the regime and the opposition.

For Assad, Qusair's value lies in its location along a land corridor linking two of his strongholds, the capital of Damascus and towns on the Mediterranean coast, the heartland of his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. For the rebels, holding Qusair means protecting a supply line to Lebanon, 10 kilometers (six miles) away. Saturday's barrage of rockets, mortar rounds and tank shells began after daybreak, said Qusair activist Hadi Abdullah and the pro-opposition Observatory. Both said it was the most intense shelling since the regime launched its offensive there a week ago.

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[J.E.D]

Your weak thread leads to the release of more gas from your bag.

 

[Gracie]

Is it weakness of the president...or the whole world knowing how divded we are and acting on that little bit of space to drive a bigger wedge? I think the latter is the main cause..and effect.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Your weak thread leads to the release of more gas from your bag.

So, no counterpoint? Just more gas from your bag, J.E.D.?

 

[waltky]

Hezbollah fueling sectarian sentiment across the volatile region...

Hezbollah Provokes Sunni Anger by Joining Syrian Conflict
June 7, 2013 – Hezbollah has hailed the retaking of a strategic rebel stronghold in Syria as a blow to the U.S. and Israel, but behind the bluster, the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist group has taken a huge gamble in providing open and substantial military support to the Assad regime, fueling sectarian sentiment across the volatile region.

In the process of helping President Bashar Assad recapture the town of al-Qusayr, Iranian-backed Hezbollah has attracted the anger of Arabs including the leaders of the Gulf states, prominent Sunni sheikhs and commentators, and radical jihadists, including those affiliated with al-Qaeda. Al-Qusayr fell to Hezbollah-backed Syrian forces on Wednesday after weeks of fierce fighting. The town near the Lebanese border had been controlled by rebels for more than a year. Amid celebrations in Hezbollah’s support base in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem hailed the outcome as a victory over the “America-Israeli scheme.”

The picture looked very different in the Gulf, however, where the governments of the six Gulf states early this week agreed to blacklist Hezbollah and take measures against it. Bahrain’s foreign minister told reporters that all six countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait – “are convinced that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization.” Both within and beyond Syria’s borders, the conflict is both spotlighting and evidently widening the Sunni-Shi’ite divide that dates back to a succession rift after the death of Mohammed in the seventh century. Hezbollah and its patron, Iran, are Shi’ite and Assad belongs to the Alawite sect of Shi’ite Islam. U.S. officials said Iranian and Iraqi Shi’ites were also involved in the fighting in al-Qusayr.

Arrayed against the Assad regime and its Shi’ite allies are mostly Sunni rebel groups, among them Salafist jihadists including the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. The opposition is supported by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – all Sunni countries. In a speech almost two weeks ago, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah lashed out against jihadists including al-Qaeda, whom he said were “dominating” the anti-Assad opposition. Jihadists subsequently answered the challenge. A leader of the Jordanian Salafist movement, Mohammed Shalabi, told the al-Hayat newspaper this week that fighting Hezbollah was now a top priority for his group, which he characterized as closely allied to the al-Nusra Front. A group of Egyptian Sunni radicals, including the brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, also issued a call for Sunnis everywhere to take up arms against Hezbollah and its allies.

Last weekend prominent Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi – a Qatar-based Egyptian who is president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and regarded as the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader – said every Muslim trained and capable of fighting should make himself available for jihad against Assad and Hezbollah. Addressing a rally in Doha, Qaradawi raised the sectarian rhetoric to a new level by labeling Hezbollah (which means Party of Allah), the “Party of Satan.” “The leader of the party of Satan comes to fight the Sunnis,” he was quoted as saying, adding that Iran wants “continued massacres to kill Sunnis.” “Iran is pushing forward arms and men, so why do we stand idle?”

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See also:

Lebanon Moves To Avoid Syria War Spillover
June 07, 2013 — The military command issued a strong warning Friday that Lebanese should be “wary of plots” that could turn the nation into a battlefield like next door in Syria.

“In recent days, some groups have seemed determined to stoke security tensions against the backdrop of the political divisions in Lebanon over military developments in Syria,” the command said in an unusually blunt statement. Military commanders have been “trying for several months to work firmly, determinedly and patiently to prevent Lebanon being turned into a battlefield for regional conflicts and to prevent any spillover of the events in Syria,” the command said. The military then urged Lebanese “to express their political views on events in Lebanon and Syria by peaceful and democratic means, and not to be driven by groups wanting to use violence as a means to achieve their ends".

The warning came as the French government, through its ambassador, urged all Lebanese to abide by the self-avowed “dissociation policy” set out in 2012 by the nation’s key sectarian leaders. The policy was designed to keep Lebanon neutral in the Syrian civil war and aloof from the strife raging next door. French Ambassador Patrice Paoli stressed to a delegation from the Maronite Christian community the need for the Lebanon to avoid getting entangled in the Syrian crisis. The Lebanese government officially is neutral in Syria’s civil war, but the country’s militant Shia movement, Hezbollah, has become deeply involved in the fighting. Hezbollah is anxious to prevent the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime patron of the group and ally of its main paymaster and arms supplier, Iran.

Lebanon’s official neutrality is challenged

On Wednesday, as a result of Hezbollah’s increased military intervention, Syrian government forces were able to deal a sharp blow to mainly Sunni Muslim rebels by retaking the strategic town of Qusair near the Lebanon frontier. Hezbollah fighters were considered key in the government victory. But Lebanon’s Sunni leaders reacted with fury at Hezbollah’s actions and called for a jihad against the Shia movement. A day before Qusair fell, General Selim Idriss, leader of the main rebel umbrella group, the Free Syrian Army, warned that his fighters were prepared to take the conflict into Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah militiamen. Hezbollah, he said, was “invading” Syria and Lebanon was doing nothing to stop them. Rocket attacks on Hezbollah villages in the Bekaa Valley this week suggests that Syrian rebels or their Lebanese supporters were making good on Idriss’ threat.

Prominent Lebanese are targeted

 

[Sallow]

Your weak thread leads to the release of more gas from your bag.

So, no counterpoint? Just more gas from your bag, J.E.D.?

What counterpoint is needed?

Isn't Iraq supposed to be free and independent?

There's not much an American President can do. Being that Iraq is free and independent.

 

[JoeB131]

Not paying for a subscription to this stupid linke, but it's not like we have a lot of influence with Iraq at this point.

We toppled Saddam and put the Shi'ites in power. You can thank your boy Bush for that.

 

[JoeB131]

Your weak thread leads to the release of more gas from your bag.

So, no counterpoint? Just more gas from your bag, J.E.D.?

What counterpoint is needed?

Isn't Iraq supposed to be free and independent?

There's not much an American President can do. Being that Iraq is free and independent.

You know, exactly the point. The NeoCons screamed all day about how we needed "Freedom" and "Democracy" in the middle east to counter terrorism.

And when the free and democratically elected government over there does something we don't like, but is popular with their electorate, we wring our hands? Really?

 

[Zarius]

The President only shows restraint when dealing with the right. I wish he would come at them with all the force of the USA.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Sad; but true; and not at all unexpected.

Administration struggling to prevent release of Hezbollah commander in Iraq | The Cable

there is another video out of our friends the rebels in Syria

beheading a Syrian troop

 

[J.E.D]

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

Considering the NSA program began in 2007, shouldn't you be throwing some blame Bush's way?

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Sad; but true; and not at all unexpected.

Administration struggling to prevent release of Hezbollah commander in Iraq | The Cable

there is another video out of our friends the rebels in Syria

beheading a Syrian troop

They're not my friends. Nice try, dick weed.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

Considering the NSA program began in 2007, shouldn't you be throwing some blame Bush's way?

Who said that I'm not? Oh, I guess you're just deflecting. I'll let you be an apologist then. As you were.

 

[Seawytch]

So, no counterpoint? Just more gas from your bag, J.E.D.?

What counterpoint is needed?

Isn't Iraq supposed to be free and independent?

There's not much an American President can do. Being that Iraq is free and independent.

You know, exactly the point. The NeoCons screamed all day about how we needed "Freedom" and "Democracy" in the middle east to counter terrorism.

And when the free and democratically elected government over there does something we don't like, but is popular with their electorate, we wring our hands? Really?

No...we orchastrate a coup with MI6...

 

[J.E.D]

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

Considering the NSA program began in 2007, shouldn't you be throwing some blame Bush's way?

Who said that I'm not? Oh, I guess you're just deflecting. I'll let you be an apologist then. As you were.

Right. I must have missed it. Let's look at your post again:

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

You have a funny way of spelling Bush.

 

[Sallow]

Considering the NSA program began in 2007, shouldn't you be throwing some blame Bush's way?

Who said that I'm not? Oh, I guess you're just deflecting. I'll let you be an apologist then. As you were.

Right. I must have missed it. Let's look at your post again:

We all know who's side Obama is on. That's why it's coming out that he's mass spying on innocent American citizens.

You have a funny way of spelling Bush.

Notice most right wing pundits and politicians are not calling for repeals of the Patriot Act or the AUMF.

Right?

They just want Obama out.

 

[Zarius]

I would support ANY and ALL action against the rightwing entertainment complex.