Lebanon's army commander calls for efforts to end political crisis

The Hizbollah cancer cost Lebanon 1000 innocent lives, billions in damage and threw Lebanon`s economy back 20 years. Now the cancer is getting stronger again and it won`t be long before it overtakes ALL of its host. Just like real cancer, if you remove it from the body in its early stages you can defeat it. But if you do nothing it spreads until it kills you. If Lebanon would have disarmed Hizbollah after Israel withdrew in 2000 it wouldn`t be on the verge of collapse. But Lebanese cowardice prevented that. First Lebanon was occupied by the French. Then Israel. After that, Syria. Next on the list: Iran. But I don`t pity the Lebanese - they have no one to blame but themselves. You`re now going to pay for your cowardice. Get used to your new title: "The Islamic Republic of Lebanon". The mullahs in Tehran will be pulling your puppet strings. Lebanon is a JOKE!

What's the matter with your analysis? It's true that Hizbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, but they did not start the war. It was the hasty Israeli response that started the war trusting its traditionally strong air force. It was already agreed by all the investigative committees that the war was ill conceived and could not be won. Even the army generals agree with this assessment. I have a great respect towards the Lebanese people. It's a country almost impossible tobe ruled becuse of its complex population composition, and in spite of it it still is a democracy, and the most prosperous of the Near Eastern nations. Believe me, most of them would be glad to get rid of Hezbollah, but they don't know how to do it without a civil war. Maybe you can suggest to them a reasonable solution.

Dave, you are coming to rash conclusions. Even though supported by Iran, Hezbollah is a Lebanese body within the Shiite sect. They are first and foremost Lebanese. Most Shiites don't want a civil war in Lebanon; even Nassralah made this point clear in his announcements. Suleiman made it also clear. It's also not true that Hezbollah has all the weapons they need to force a solution. They may have miisiles and katyushas but no heavy equipment. In weapons they are no match to the Lebanese army, particularly after its rearmament by the Americans after the Lebanon War. Dave, you are too much of a believer in force as a solution. In our days very little can be achieved by force. Take Vietnam and Iraq as an example. It's not that the Americans bungled in these two countries; they had no chance to win the war with the local population to begin with. Equally Israel CANNOT win a war against Hizbollah and Palestinians without wiping them out nuclearly. Is that a reasonable option in your mind?

It is easy to spew abuse at an institution, but maybe some pre-reflection could help. The Lebanese army is a product of a divided society. Just like the country, some officers are Shiites, others Sunis, Druzes and Christians. It is very difficult, rather imposssible, to charge such an army with disarming a major component of the population. The Shiite officers will not raise their weapons against the Shiites, and to force a civil war would mean chaos and suffering and dissolution of the army. Will this help anyone? Like in most conflicts, the way to go is not by force, but by political compromise. The Shiites (with the followers of Aoun) deserve numerically a larger representation in the parliament, but they cannot obtain a veto, since that would paralyze the political process. So the compromise that looms on the horizon is giving them larger representation without a veto and hopefully splitting off the Christians.

Yours is an emotional response but is it doable? How exactly do you propose to do it? Who should do it? Hezbollah is entrenched in the population as an intrinsical part of the Shiite sect that includes 40% of all Lebanese. They live in their homes which are undistinguishable from other Lebanese homes so that nobody can find every piece of weapon they possess. Also, they are allied with the Christian section of Gen. Aoun which gives them a parliamentary majority if democratic elections would take place. As expressed by the Lebanese army comander, the conflict can be resolved only by negotiations. The alternative would be that Siniora lures Aoun into a senior government post and isolates him from Hizbollah and the Shiites in general.

The article quotes General Michel Suleiman as saying: "True the army is suffering from pressure. That does not prevent it from performing its duty," Wrong, General. The Lebanese army is suffering from COWARDICE. They are so scared to confront Hizbollah, they're just shaking in their boots and want to go home to mommy. Only a bunch of cowards like the Lebanese army would have obeyed Hizbollah's orders and stay out of the south OF THEIR OWN COUNTRY for 20 years! After the Iranian-ordered war last summer the Lebanese army finally entered the south and headlines said this was after a 20 year absence!! The Lebanese army will go down in history as the most cowardly army ever.

The article says: "the opposition is demanding veto power in the government" A veto isn't democracy. We see that at the UN. Is there democracy in the Security Council? Of course not. A Shiite veto in the government is analogous to total control by the Shiites. And that's analogous to total control by Iran. Hizbollah works completely in Iran's interests, not Lebanon's. Iran's goal is to turn Lebanon into a puppet of Tehran at which time they will be able to wage war on Israel from up close. And what are the cowardly chickenshit Lebanese army doing during all this? What they always do, nothing!! But the Lebanese people should be used to this by now: being pawns of foreign countries, be it Iran, Syria, France or whoever. Lebanon would be better off joining Syria. It really belongs to Syria anyway.

As long as hundreds of millions of dollars are coming in from Iran to boost Nasrallah and his blind faithful, there will be no stability in Lebanon

I've tried to defend a cookie jar against a 2 year old. They are very very clever. LOL!

The article says: "The clashes this week between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims loyal to rival factions and Christians whose leaders are also split were Lebanon's worst since its 1975-1990 civil war. In that conflict, Lebanon's army split along sectarian lines." The above says it all about Lebanon. It is an utterly hopeless country. Lebanon is doomed to endless civil strive, sectarian violence and never-ending war and hatred. The 15 year civil war wasn't by accident. It's instability and self-hatred is a danger not only to itself but to the Middle East and the world as a whole. It's too bad the Lebanese people are too cowardly to face up to what their country is really about and try to take concrete steps to remedy their problems. Instead, they take the "politically correct" way out and blame Israel for everything. Blame yourselves you chickenshit scum of a people.

The Hizbollah cancer cost Lebanon 1000 innocent lives, billions in damage and threw Lebanon`s economy back 20 years. Now the cancer has spread to Beirut and it won`t be long before it overtakes it. We're almost there now. Just like real cancer, if you remove it from the body in its early stages you can defeat it. But if you do nothing it spreads until it kills you. If Lebanon would have disarmed Hizbollah after Israel withdrew in 2000 it wouldn`t be on the verge of collapse. But Lebanese cowardice prevented that. First Lebanon was controlled by Syria. Next on the list: Iran. But I don`t pity Lebanon - it has no one to blame but themselves. You`re now going to pay for your cowardice.

The article says: "There must be a political desire to search for a political solution to the crisis," Suleiman said, warning against sectarian divisions in the country. "Everyone should build one building on one land," he said. He's got to be kidding. The only political solution the Iranian-backed Hizbollah side wants is the overthrow of the democratically elected gvt. in Beirut and the installation of a shiite-dominated Islamic government. Does Suleiman actually think the shiites are going to compromise on this? Why should they? Hizbollah has all the weaponry they need from Iran to overthrow democracy in Lebanon. It's only a matter of time. Either a coup or civil war is coming. Recent events, including 4 dead, point to one or the other.

Lebanon cant be in bed with Hizbullah and democratic nations at the same time. Pick one or the other.

The headline says: "Lebanon's army commander calls for efforts to end political crisis" If the Lebanese "army" would have done its duty this political crisis may never have happened. It began in 2000 after Israels (justified) occupation ended. If this chickenshit army would have done its job it would have taken up positions Israel vacated. Instead, it took orders from Hizbollah - Iran's armed militia in Lebanon - to stay out of the south and these army idiots obeyed!! THEY SHOULD HAVE DISARMED HIZBOLLAH INSTEAD! Is this not the biggest act of cowardice from an army you have ever seen? The death and suffering from the war last summer was the army's fault as well. Why didn't they intervene? Why did they just stand there? If they would have at least tried to stop the war they could have saved some or all of the 1000 innocent Lebanese who died. They did nothing because they're afraid of Hizbollah. They're afraid of everything. The Lebanese army are nothing but a bunch of cowards.

""The army has been bearing above its load for months . . ." - General Michel Suleiman of the alleged Lebanese Army The Lebanese army is the worlds most useless organization. It is capable of nothing. The entire Lebanese Army could not defend a cookie jar against a single 2 year old.