Huge Beirut protest backs Syria

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4329201.stm

Huge Beirut protest backs Syria
** Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, to applaud Syria’s role in the country and reject Western “interference”. ** “We are here to thank Syria which has stayed by our side for many years,” the head of the Syrian-allied Hezbollah group told cheering supporters.
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       The crowd dwarfed previous opposition protests urging Syrian troops to leave.
news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/v3_back_button.gif
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40904000/jpg/_40904793_prorally_ap300.jpg
 
No matter how you cut it, 500,000 people is a LOT of people!
 
SPOTTED at a Hezbollah rally in Beirut:

*Large cranes hoisted two giant red-and-white flags bearing Lebanon’s cedar tree. On one, the words, “Thank you Syria,” were written in English (why English?); on the other, “No to foreign interference.”*No irony here. Move along.

Hat Tip

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One wonders how many in the croud were Syrian and Palestinian ???

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/capt.sge.rap81.080305192351.photo04.photo.default-384x257.jpg

It will be interesting to see how many voters they can turn out for the elections in May.
 
This clearly shows that what is going on in Lebanon is more complicated than the simplistic ‘democracy vs tyranny’ spin we’ve been getting from the Bush Administration.

The danger is that Lebanon will spiral into a bloody civil war once again; a war that could destabilize the whole region.
 
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gnjsdad:
This clearly shows that what is going on in Lebanon is more complicated than the simplistic ‘democracy vs tyranny’ spin we’ve been getting from the Bush Administration.

The danger is that Lebanon will spiral into a bloody civil war once again; a war that could destabilize the whole region.
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Destabilize? When was it ever stable to begin with?
 
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gnjsdad:
This clearly shows that what is going on in Lebanon is more complicated than the simplistic ‘democracy vs tyranny’ spin we’ve been getting from the Bush Administration.

The danger is that Lebanon will spiral into a bloody civil war once again; a war that could destabilize the whole region.
Click to expand...
We are not that stupid, gnjsdad. But things are moving. We are not getting ahead of ourselves.

The whole idea about the Bush Doctrine was ALSO about “shaking it, and seeing what happens” as opposed to business-as-usual-status-quo-appease-dictatorships-for-oil-bow-at-the-UN kind of foreign policy we’ve had for far too long THAT LED TO 9/11!!
 
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gnjsdad:
This clearly shows that what is going on in Lebanon is more complicated than the simplistic ‘democracy vs tyranny’ spin we’ve been getting from the Bush Administration.

The danger is that Lebanon will spiral into a bloody civil war once again; a war that could destabilize the whole region.
Click to expand...
So far I have not seen any indication of that.

Have faith in the Arabs, they too are capable of democracy.
 
**Pressure **

Future TV reports from eyewitnesses that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agents have been conscripting participants for today’s pro-Syria protest from villages in the north of Lebanon. Residents who have evaded pressure have also been pursued by units of the Lebanese army and handed over to Lebanese or Syrian intelligence, according to these reports. The village that Future TV focused on was Akkar (near the border with Syria), but eyewitnesses from other villages are reporting similar stories as well. As part of the same story, Future TV also reports busloads of Syrian nationals coming across the northern border to attend the Hizbullah-organized demonstration to be held in downtown Beirut alongside opposition protests.

Akkar, like Tripoli and Zharta, is one of the more pro-Syrian areas in Lebanon, so it seems a bit unusual that the government should be using such measures to convince people to attend a pro-Syria rally. If the people there are so enamoured with Syria, they should just feel that it is their patriotic duty to attend, and that should be the end of it. If this story is true, it means that there may exist substantial resistance even within the pro-Syria community in Lebanon regarding the government’s chosen tactics for self-preservation. Today will indeed be a very interesting day in Lebanon.

blissstreetjournal.blogspot.com/2005/03/pressure.html

Figured as much…
 
Future TV reports from eyewitnesses that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence agents have been conscripting participants for today’s pro-Syria protest from villages in the north of Lebanon.
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Let’s see. Pictures of Lebanese beauties (taken very close-up, by the way - no way to judge the real size of the crowd; no estimate of size; this made me suspicious) waving flags means the democratic revolution is in full bloom. Pictures of a very large crowd of pro-Syrian demonstrators (estimated at 500,000) is evidence of conscription???

It is more advantageous to look at the world as it is, not the way I wish it was. The fact is, a large number of Lebanese support the Syrian presence, whether we like it or not.
 
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gnjsdad:
. The fact is, a large number of Lebanese support the Syrian presence, whether we like it or not.
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Not if these were Syrians or Palestinians (or both) and not Lebanese. And not if the people were forced to be there. There are about 750,000 Syrians living in Lebanon, and I don’t know how many Palestinians. There are only 1.5 million Lebanese Shiites. So either the number is off (which it doesn’t look like) or the type of people at the protest was not what it seemed.

This, as you know, was an organized rally. Organized rallies from dictators have usually been large. Especially when they thought that was to their advantage.

Spontanious rallies, like we saw prior to today, are a completely different story and show motivation.

Again, time will tell.

http://members.aol.com/sallongodds/herbie.jpg
 
Starting to hit the main stream press now:

“At least one opposition leader said the pro-Syrian government pressured people to turn out Tuesday and some reports said Syria bused in people from across the border.”

also see:
Walid Jumblatt made some remarks saying, “It is necessary and important to have a dialogue with Hizbullah and (we) wish they would join us, our ranks … as defenders of Lebanon, a democratic Lebanon,” while calling for a “clear-cut timetable” for Syrian withdrawal.
 
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jlw:
We are not that stupid, gnjsdad. But things are moving. We are not getting ahead of ourselves.

The whole idea about the Bush Doctrine was ALSO about “shaking it, and seeing what happens” as opposed to business-as-usual-status-quo-appease-dictatorships-for-oil-bow-at-the-UN kind of foreign policy we’ve had for far too long THAT LED TO 9/11!!
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Which dictatorship was involved in the 9/11 attacks?
 
Michel Aoun, former Lebanon PM: “This was not a Lebanese showing, and many of those who actually were Lebanese were not there because they support Syria. We know that at least three Palestinian camps were present. And there are 700,000 Syrian workers inside Lebanon, many of whom are not even supposed to be there. They were urged by Syria to attend so it looks like many Lebanese are protesting. Plus Syria bused in their own citizens from Syria through the border into Lebanon to join the rally.”

Check out the article
 
Even if none of the half a million people in Beirut were Lebanese, and much of this downplaying of numbers looks suspiciously like wish fulfillment, the fact that half a million people turn out in the streets in a tiny country not many years after a bitter civil war does not inspire one with confidence in the peaceful nature of that regions future.

BTW, don’t people living in a country have a legitimate stake in its future. Syrians or Palestinians living in Lebanon are surely free to express an opinion about the future of their adopted country. After all American and European immigrants in illegal settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan have a big say in the future of that region. Or is it different for Arabs?
 
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gilliam:
The Taliban
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Really, in what way? I thought the 9/11 Commission cleared them of involvement in the attacks. Their country was invaded supposedly because they refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. Of course if you believe George Bush was lying when he told us that I can understand your distrust of him.
 
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Matt25:
Really, in what way?.
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Giving aid and comfort to the enemy, money, a state funded shelter, etc. They were co-conspirators if you will. You don’t have to send an agent on one of the flights to be part of the overall plan for Jihad.
 
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gilliam:
Giving aid and comfort to the enemy, money, a state funded shelter, etc. They were co-conspirators if you will. You don’t have to send an agent on one of the flights to be part of the overall plan for Jihad.
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I remember the cover story for the invasion of Afghanistan. It was a ‘failed state’. Because it was a failed state it lacked the power or desire to act against al Qaeda. Also the subsidy went the other way. al Qaeda were better off than the Taliban, still are.
 
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Matt25:
I remember the cover story for the invasion of Afghanistan. It was a ‘failed state’. Because it was a failed state it lacked the power or desire to act against al Qaeda. Also the subsidy went the other way. al Qaeda were better off than the Taliban, still are.
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The Taliban supported al Qaeda, they made that clear themselves a number of times.
 
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