Posts Tagged ‘Jacque Chirac’
Cut Out the Crap: Who Killed Rafiq Hariri?
Posted by: adonis49 on: July 13, 2011
Cut Out the Crap: Who Killed Rafiq Hariri?
In March 2005, I wrote in my diary my assessment of the potential assassins (States behind the killing) of Rafiq Hariri, and published it in September 2008 under the title “Cut Out the Crap: Who Killed Rafiq Hariri?” It is a reasonable idea to re-edit this article, as the International Court for Lebanon has issued the individual names of the first batch of suspects.
During the Roman Empire, the legal system targeted “who had vested and vital interest in the elimination of a rival” and not just the hand that executed the order. If we are serious in investigating the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, we must cut-out the crap and analyze the potential various political and group interests behind the decision, planning, financing, and execution of the assassination. I wrote:
“If anyone is still waiting for the results of any kind of investigation into the assassination of Hariri, I suggest that he build himself a shack in Downtown Beirut and wait there for at least twenty years.
If anyone did not get it, that more than two great States, with veto power in the UN, are behind this assassination he better stocks up on Lebanese flags hoping to sell them for another big demonstration with the slogan of “We need the truth. Who killed our martyr Rafiq?”
If anyone is still wondering why a thousand kilograms of TNT explosives are needed to assassinate Hariri, or who can stockpile that amount of explosives, then may be he sincerely wishes that Syria should be behind the assassination.
If anyone is still interested on the mechanisms of this murder by a moving truck, or in a secret underground tunnel, or a suicide bomber, or the detonation technique used or any kind of these stupid details, then he sure will hear a lot of that crap…
Let me ask you, why Yasser Arafat, the symbol of the Palestinian resistance to Zionism, had to be assassinated, in the meanest possible alternatives, by slow poisoning? Why even the meanest British government allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to dictate his memoirs before dying his slow death with arsenic poisoning? Maybe if Arafat was serious about writing his “memoirs”, Sharon would have extended his life: Wonderful juicy stories about rotten Arab dictators and absolute monarchs…
Why Hariri had to be done with in pomp and in grandeur that left dozen killed, a hundred injured and part of Beirut destroyed?
Are the powerful assassins sending an honorable farewell to the overbearing friend, the worthy enemy, the great dealer, and the leader who was much bigger than his tiny country? Apparently the Western Powers have set up a coding style system for eliminating leaders whose time had come and are becoming huge liabilities to the changing political climate.
I would conjecture that the great powers decided on that murdering style because of the number of times the unfortunate bugger Rafiq Hariri was invited officially to visit their leaders, the frequency of public friendship expressions, the many services they mutually profited, and perhaps the quality and number of citizenships he accumulated, and less probably because of the number of honorable degrees which were bestowed on him by universities.
Hariri died on Valentine day. What was his wife Nazek doing in Paris on that day? Was she expecting Rafiq to join her in Paris or was she to return that evening to Beirut, or was she held in Paris on purpose so that she might not be a member of the deadly motorcade? Why Hariri was so happy in the morning of his death? Did he receive the good news from Chirac that Syria will be withdrawing its troops for sure and much sooner than expected, but failed to warn him that his hours were counted in order to efficiently execute that decision?
Jacque Chirac, a President of a proud country, stayed more than six hours with the Hariri’s family to mourn such a great friend of his. Was Chriac so guilt ridden or had he to shift attention to the real culprit somewhere else? How come France was so chummy with Israel, immediately after the assassination of Hariri, as if missing an old friend and could not stop chatting and cuddling with Israel for a long period afterward?
How come the US Administration, that didn’t care about Lebanon at this period, has been moving its behind in and out of Lebanon, and shaking them much more than it did during its Iraq invasion? How come the US Administration has been admonishing Israel to stop its public affirmations of the US agreement on its policies in the Middle East?
I stated in a previous article that the USA and Israel were the sole culprits and I provided the rationales. I stand a little corrected. The 1559 UN resolution that was sponsored by the USA and France was the tip of the iceberg of the package deal between these two States, and among the little secret agreements between them was to contract out Israel to eliminate Hariri with utmost prejudice within specific constraints on when and how.
Israel was overjoyed that the opportunity finally came to erase her enemy number one, off her black list. Hariri not only attempted several times to undermine Israel plans in Lebanon and in the region, but he succeeded hands down in all his political counter offensives against Israel and was still capable of doing Israel great political damages.
Chirac was relieved from an overbearing friend who kept reminding him of what were the right things to do toward Lebanon. Chirac knew better that “doing the right things” is not necessarily the right political decisions at this crucial time of his political career. Chirac was paying dearly from his prestige and France political positions by opposing the persistent pressures from the European Union and the USA to list Hezbollah as one of the terrorist organizations.
Unperturbed, Hariri kept showing at the Elysee’s door and taking photos with Chirac that said “My dearest friend Chirac” as Sadat used to say to Kissinger, the USA Secretary of State during Nixon, “My dear friend Henry”.
The USA and France had already agreed on plans for the Greater Middle East and time was of the essence. These plans could not succeed, for certain and on time, with Hariri still alive and active. France, for now, is winning big: it managed to reaffirm her protectorate rights over Syria and Lebanon like during the colonial times, secured her oil rights in Iraq and removed the American veto to selling military hardware to China.
Israel managed to put the squeeze on Hezbollah and to diligently attempt again to circumvent the rights for the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland with secret deals with, hopefully, the enfeebled new Lebanese governments after the election. The USA is succeeding in destabilizing Syria and weakening any resolve that Syria might still have to counter the plans in the Greater Middle East.
Hariri had done what was expected from him politically, and his worth was much greater as a martyr: Lebanon will disengage from Syria as an enemy, and not as a natural economic and social necessity. Lebanon will continue to remain a weak sectarian Non-State, as was its lot since the colonial status and after its independence, by the agreement of all the regional Arabic States.
The price for Hariri’s life was not certainly worth any stupid friendship that reached the stage of no return on investment, but was becoming a real liability in prestige for Chirac’s France geopolitical interests, the Saudi monarchy, and the plans for a stable Greater Middle East, happy to coexist with Israel while securing the flow of oil at cheap prices.
A practically tarnished and weakening President, Emil Lahoud quickly agreed to an international investigating team without discussing the details of its composition or duration. The wolves in the world community are going to manhandled Lebanon through special investigating teams, a series of additional international resolutions in order to freely investigate whom they already condemned and sidetrack the facts, the deeds, and the witnesses of the real culprits.
Lebanon will be welcoming an international team of investigators, about 60 of them and for 6 months, automatically renewed for another 6 months and another 6 months until the sectarian blocks and militias in Lebanon organize and ready their forces for another round of internal bloodshed.
Citizens, what sort of political and economic stability do you expect for Lebanon in the coming year? Another wave of immigration is already taking place and no noble slogans can undo this trend. Another political instability will set in for years to come, leaving the economic reforms untouched and as irrelevant to the stability of the country.
Syria offered the cynical wolves the perfect excuse by publicly antagonizing itself with Hariri and forcing an extension to Lahoud’s term; the Syrian ruling personalities and State newspapers sounded like enraged fools having personal animosity with the one who actually bought the highest members in the Syrian government and had extensive business deals with ruling power in Syria at the expense of the Lebanese people.
Syria was continuously harasses and threatened by the USA and France in order to commit these unforgivable political blunders. It is a masterful coup at the expense of the damned and impotent people of Lebanon.
Note 1: There are lately links to the extremist Moslem Salafists; well, they do follow higher orders too, although implicitly in executing the dirty States decisions.
Note 2: If Nazek Hariri, second wife of Rafiq, is serious about knowing the truth, it is her responsibility to confront the fast becoming senile Chirac. Nazek has to ask Chirac: “Who killed Rafiq?” Chirac knows exactly who killed Rafiq.
Important Event: June 7, 2009 (Lebanon)
Posted by: adonis49 on: June 5, 2009
What is Legitimate, Temporary, and Necessary? All is Temporary and Necessary in Lebanon and Nothing is Legitimate.
(June 5, 2009)
On June 7, 2009 the Lebanese will vote for a new Parliament. (Another bogus election will be held on May 15, 2022 according to an election law Not fit for the most reactionary political system)
Two groups of citizens will vote: The group constituted of the so-called “patriotic, secular, and reformists” and the group of an amalgam of statue-quo confessionals, feudalists, isolationists, and “colonial cow-towing minded” mentalities.
The “colonial minded” citizens follow leaders who invariably rely on foreign interventions (regional or superpower States) to balance out a broken alliance among the confessional castes system and perpetrate the conditions for weak central governments.
A brief current history might elucidate this drastic splitting among the Lebanese citizens.
In May 24, 2000, Ehud Barak PM of Israel withdrew from most of south Lebanon with no preconditions, the first ever decision of Israel in 61 years history. The joint strategy of Lebanon President Emil Lahoud and Hafiz Assad of Syria enabled Hezbollah a resounding victory, (after neutralizing the amalgam of Lebanese resistance forces to Israel occupation of Lebanon since 1982).
The Arab League decided to hold its annual meeting in Beirut in August 2002 as a good gesture for its acknowledgment of the victory in 2000 of this tiny State.
In 2003, Syria had plans for partial withdrawal to the Bekaa Valley but the vehement rhetoric from the Druze leader Walid Jumblat and the Patriarch of the Maronite Christian sect slowed down the execution process.
Before the assassination of Rafic Hariri in February 14, 2005, the Bush Jr. Administration and Jacque Chirac of France issued the UN resolution 1559 for the retreat of the Syrian forces from Lebanon and the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military wing and the delivery of its heavy armament to the USA.
The withdrawal of the Syrian troops was Not the main objective of this resolution because the international community and the main Arab States wanted and kept high hopes that Syria will ultimately be pressured to do the dirty work of taming Hezbollah, because Syria was only in the field power to do any kinds of pressure .
The Syrian government factored in many variables to oppose the frequent lures and pressures of what is expected of her to do in order to remain in Lebanon.
The targeting of Rafiq Hariri for assassination by the US, France, Saudi Arabia, and Israel was not one of the variables considered by Syria; and Syria strategy was shaken violently.
In fact, Rafic Hariri received so many encouragements and acted in such confidence that the Syrian government forgot to contemplate such an evil and drastic eventuality.
The mass demonstration on February 14, 2005 was Not a threat to Syria: General Aoun was still in exile in France and was pressured by the French government not to return to Lebanon.
What Syria comprehended the loudest was the mass demonstration by Hezbollah on March 8, 2005. Hezbollah thanked Syria for its sacrifices, which meant “Now it is time for your complete withdrawal”: Hezbollah was always nervous of the Syrian presence in Lebanon because it was the only power capable of restraining its activities.
Hezbollah was sending the message to Bashar Assad “We can take care of ourselves and still continue the resistance against Israel if you definitely put an end to the international pressures on you by getting out of Lebanon”
The mass demonstration on March 14, fortified by the supporters of General Aoun (The Tayyar Horr), was not even a threat to Syria. It was the realization of Syria that its continued presence in Lebanon will ultimately confront its army directly as the Lebanese government lost control over events and cowered under uncertainties.
Syria withdrew quickly to the frustration of the US and France who realized that they wasted Hariri on the demand of Israel and for nothing in return: Hariri could still be of greater benefit to their policies in the Middle East region alive, rather than dead.
The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia fell back to plan B: re-kindling the civil war in Lebanon.
They initiated a series of bombing in Christian quarters hoping that the Christian will side en mass with the Sunni/Mustakbal/Hariri clan. Plan B petered out.
They came back with more vigorous scare tactics by assassinating Christian personalities who criticized the Syrian presence like Samir Kassir, George Hawi, and Jubran Tweiny. These journalists were marked as potentially not reliable and could shift sides because they were independent minded and honest characters.
This wave of select assassination backfired because General Aoun signed a pact with Hezbollah and de-activated a potential civil war targeting the Christians.
Plan C also failed and civil war did not flare out.
Thus, direct intervention from outside was considered and Israel trained its forces for incursion into Lebanon with the US total aids and support in all phases of war preparation.
Hezbollah, intentionally or by coincidence, preempted the completion of the plan in June 12, 2006.
Israel launched its offensive for 33 days and failed miserably in all the goals. The attack backfired and the stature of Hezbollah ballooned and overflowed to all the Arab and Moslem populations.
The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia did not desist in their resolve to weaken Hezbollah attraction to the “Arabic” masses.
Plan D was to re-enforce the Sunnis with a military wing of extremist salafists called “Jund Al Sham” and financed by Bandar Bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia.
In the summer of 2007 a few ignorant and violent Sunni extremists preempted the timing of Israel war on Lebanon by slaughtering Lebanese soldiers: the army pride and dignity reacted with an all out attack and crushed this insurrection in the northern Nahr Al Bared Palestinian camp after 6 months and many martyrs.
The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia studied for two years to dismantle Hezbollah’s secured communication lines and to start a mini civil war in Beirut between the Shiaa and Sunnis.
Plan E backfired again on May 8, 2008 and the Lebanese leaders had to meet in Dowha (Qatar) and agreed on the election of a President to the Republic, an election law for the Parliament, and the constitution of a national government.
Lebanon has suffered for 4 years of an incompetent and illegitimate government; the Lebanese lived in a totally insecure political vacuum; the economy was farmed out to the size of the Hariri clan and the financial debt skyrocketed to $60 billions.
This lavish “political” debt was intended to pressure the Lebanese government into accepting the settling of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in return for debt cancellation.
We need to compare 4 categories of leaders along the two dimensions of principled leaders and pragmatists.
In the dimension of principled leaders we can discriminate the hate monger isolationist leaders versus the principled for the public and State good.
In the pragmatic dimension we have the “individual interest oriented” and the public/State pragmatists. For example: Walid Jumblat, Merwan Hamadeh, Amine Gemayel, Samir Geaja, and the Patriarch of the Christian Maronite sect can be categorized in the isolationist, confessional, and personal minded leaders.
Ex-President Emile Lahoud, General Michel Aoun, Suleiman Frangieh, and Hassan Nasr Allah could be classified as the principled and public/State oriented pragmatists.
The classification of the remainder of the semi-leaders I leave it to the readers as exercises.
The Mufti of Beirut is a non entity: he is the bugle of Saad Hariri. Saad Hariri is a non entity: he re-edited the slogan of the chairman of General Motors to say “What is good for the Saudi Monarchs is good for Lebanon”. General Motors has declared bankruptcy; the Hariri/Seniora clan will declare bankruptcy on June 8, 2009.
With the exception of General Aoun who refused any kind of occupation, all leaders welcomed the mandate of Syria for 20 years; they kept repeating the mantra “The presence of Syria in Lebanon is “Legitimate, Temporary, and Necessary”.
Merwan Hamadeh and all the actual ministers were the ones repeating this mantra to the nauseating public.
The Maronite Patriarch Sfeir was against the Syrian presence but was pretty cool regarding Israel’s occupation.
The members of the Seniora PM government (USA agents) did not voice out their refusal of Israel’s occupation of part of south Lebanon and constantly conspired to weaken the resistance forces against the Israeli occupiers on the basis that only international diplomacy can pressure Israel!
Only President Lahoud stood steadfast with Hezbollah and refused to deploy the army in areas of the resistance’s operations.
Thanks to Hassan Nasr Allah and President Lahoud Lebanon managed to secure its integrity and unify of its army. Thanks to Hassan Nasr Allah and General Michel Aoun Lebanon buried any likelihood for the resurgence of a civil war.
My spirit went to statesman General Aoun who said, once the Syrian troops crossed the borders back to Syria, “Syria is now out of Lebanon. I have no qualms with Syria anymore. This is the time to open a new page in our relations”.
This position stands in contrast to those who begged Syria for crumbs and privileges for 20 years and once Syria withdrew they refrained from normalizing relations with Syria; the fictitious excuses to antagonizing Syria were dictated by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. What kind of state leadership is that?
The election results of June 7, 2009 should fortify Lebanon as a Nation and project the image of a solid central government with serious reforms and changes to the archaic political system.
That are my wishes but I know the struggle will be long and protracted. Sweet revolutions need time to mature in this diversified Lebanon.
Legitimate, Temporary, and Necessary
Posted by: adonis49 on: June 5, 2009
Legitimate, Temporary, and Necessary (June 5, 2009)
On June 7, 2009 the Lebanese will vote for a new Parliament. Theo groups of citizens will vote; the group constituted of the patriotic, secular, and reformists and the group of an amalgam of confessionals, feudalists, isolationists, statue quo, and “colonial minded” mentalities. The “colonial minded” citizens follow leaders who invariably rely on foreign interventions to balance a broken alliance among confessional castes system and perpetrate the conditions for weak central governments.
A brief current history might elucidate this drastic splitting among the Lebanese citizens. In May 24, 2000 Ehud Barak PM of Israel withdrew from most of south Lebanon with no preconditions, the first ever in Israel 61 years history. The joint strategy of Lebanon President Lahoud and Bashar Assad of Syria enabled Hezbollah a resounding victory. The Arab League decided to hold its annual meting in Beirut in August 2002 as a god gesture for its acknowledgment of the victory in 2000 of this tiny State.
In 2003, Syria had plans for partial withdrawal to the Bekaa Valley but the vehement rhetoric from the Druze leader Walid Jumblat and the Patriarch of the Maronite Christian sect slowed down the execution process.
Before the assassination of Rafic Hariri in February 14, 2005 the Bush Jr. Administration and Jacque Chirac of France issued the UN resolution 1559 for the retreat of the Syrian forces from Lebanon and the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military wing and the return of its heavy armament. The withdrawal of the Syrian troops was not the main objective because the international community and the main Arab States wanted and kept high hopes that Syria will ultimately be pressured to do the dirty work of taming Hezbollah.
The Syrian government factored in many variables to opposing the frequent lures and pressures of what is expected of her to do in order to remain in Lebanon. The targeting Rafic Hariri for assassination by the US, France, Saudi Arabia, and Israel was not one of the variables considered and Syria strategy was shaken violently. In fact, Rafic Hariri received so many encouragements and acted in such confidence that the Syrian government forgot to contemplate such an evil and drastic eventuality.
The mass demonstration on February 14 was not a threat to Syria; General Aoun was still in exile in France and was pressured by the French government not to return to Lebanon. What Syria comprehended the loudest was the mass demonstration by Hezbollah on March 8, 2005. Hezbollah thanked Syria for its sacrifices, which meant “Now it is time for your complete withdrawal” Hezbollah was always nervous of the Syrian presence in Lebanon because it was the only power capable of restraining its activities. Hezbollah was sending the message to Bashar Assad “We can take care of ourselves and still continue the resistance against Israel if you definitely put an end to the international pressures by getting out of Lebanon”
The mass demonstration in March 14, fortified by the supporters of General Aoun (The Tayyar Horr), was not even a threat to Syria. It was the realization of Syria that its continued presence in Lebanon will ultimately confront its army directly as the Lebanese government lost control over events and cowered under uncertainties.
Syria withdrew quickly to the frustration of the US and France who realized that they wasted Hariri for naught: Hariri could still be of great benefit to their policies in the Middle East region alive rather than dead. The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia fel back to plan B: re-kindling the civil war in Lebanon. They initiated a series of bombing in Christian quarters hoping that the Christian will side en mass with the Sunni/Hariri clan. Plan B petered. They came back with more vigorous scare tactics by assassinating Christian personalities. Samir Kassir, George Hawi, and Jubran Tweiny were marked as potentially not reliable and could shift sides because they were independent minded and honest characters. This wave of select assassination backfired because General Aoun signed a pact with Hezbollah and de-activated a potential civil war targeting the Christians.
Plan C also failed and civil war did not flare out. Thus, direct intervention from outside was considered and Israel trained its forces for incursion into Lebanon with the US total aids and support in all phases. Hezbollah, intentionally or by coincidence, preempted the completion of the plan in June 12, 2006. Israel launched its offensive for 33 days and failed miserably in all the goals. The attack backfired and the stature of Hezbollah ballooned and overflowed to all the Arab and Moslem populations.
The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia did not desist. Plan D was to re-enforce the Sunnis with a military wing of extremist salafists called “Jound Al Sham” and financed by Bandar Bib Sultan of Saudi Arabia. In the summer of 2007 a few ignorant and violent Sunni extremists preempted the timing by slaughtering Lebanese soldiers; the army pride and dignity reacted with an all out attack and crushed this insurrection in Nahr Al Bared Palestinian camp after many months and many martyrs.
The International Community, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia studied for two years to dismantle Hezbollah secured communication lines and to start a mini civil war in Beirut between the Shiaa and Sunnis. Plan E backfired again on May 8, 2008 and the Lebanese leaders had to meet in Dawha and agree on the election of a President to the Republic, an election law for Parliament, and the constitution of a national government. Lebanon has suffered for 4 years of an incompetent and illegitimate government; the Lebanese lived in a totally insecure political vacuum; the economy was farmed out to the size of the Hariri clan and the financial debt skyrocketed to $60 billions. This “political” debt is intended to pressure the Lebanese government into accepting the settling of the 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in return for debt cancellation.
We need to compare four categories of leaders along the two dimensions of principled leaders and pragmatists. In the dimension of principled leaders we can discriminate the hate monger isolationist leaders versus the principled for the public and State good. In the pragmatic dimension we have the individual interest oriented and the public/State pragmatists. For example: Walid Jumblat, Merwan Hamadeh, Amine Gemayel, Samir Geaja, and the Patriarch of the Christian Maronite sect can be categorized in the isolationist, confessional, and personal minded leaders. Ex-President Emile Lahoud, General Michel Aoun, Suleiman Frangieh, and Hassan Nasr Allah could be classified as the principled and public/State object oriented pragmatists. The classification of the remainder of the semi-leaders I leave it to the readers as exercises. The Mufti of Beirut is a non entity: he is the bugle of Saad Hariri. Saad Hariri is a non entity: he re-edited the slogan of the chairman of General Motors to say “What is good for the Saudi Monarchs is good for Lebanon”. General Motors has declared bankruptcy; the Hariri/Seniora clan will declare bankruptcy on June 8, 2009.
With the exception of General Aoun who refused any kind of occupation all leaders welcomed the mandate of Syria for 20 years; they kept repeating the mantra “The presence of Syria in Lebanon is “Legitimate, Temporary, and Necessary”; Merwan Hamadeh and all the actual ministers were the ones repeating this mantra to nauseating public. The Maronite Patriarch Sfeir was against the Syrian presence but was pretty cool regarding Israel’s occupation. The members of the Seniora PM government did not voice out their refusal of Israel’s occupation of part of south Lebanon and constantly conspired to weaken the resistance forces against the Israeli occupiers on the basis that only international diplomacy can pressure Israel!
Only President Lahoud stood steadfast with Hezbollah and refused to deploy the army in areas of the resistance’s operations. Thanks to Hassan Nasr Allah and President Lahoud Lebanon managed to secure its integrity and unify its army. Thanks to Hassan Nasr Allah and General Michel Aoun Lebanon buried any likelihood for the resurgence of a civil war. My spirit went to statesman General Aoun who said once the Syrian troops crossed the borders “Syria is now out of Lebanon. I have no qualms with Syria anymore. This is the time to open a new page in our relations”. This position stands in contrast to those who begged Syria for crumbs and privileges for 20 years and once Syria withdrew they refrained from normalizing relations with Syria; the fictitious excuses to antagonize Syria were dictated by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. What kind of state leadership is that?
The election results of June 7, 2009 should fortify Lebanon as a Nation and project the image of a solid central government with serious reforms and changes to the archaic political system. That are my wishes but I know the struggle will be long and protracted. Sweet revolutions need time to mature in this diversified Lebanon.
Adonis Diaries 