Sunday, May 08, 2005

So Much for Lebanese Unity: After two month of fake images of Lebanese unity (promoted by Hariri, Inc and shallow US media) the reality of the deep divisions of Lebanon are now apparent for all to see. The other day, four Muslim and Christian Lebanese deputies came to blows inside the Lebanese parliament and the Parliament's police had to intervene to end the scuffle. Hassan Fattah of the New York Times is now in Beirut covering the return of Michel `Awn ton Lebanon, and he should be soon interviewing his friend, fellow right-wing Michael Young, or fellow right-wing fanatic Jubran Tuwayni. Fattah almost waved the Lebanese flag in his article today, and did not forget to interview--as he always does--at least two members of the right-wing opposition. He also makes a fantastic claim about the defeat of Gen. `Awn after a Syrian military attack in 1990 and dubbed it as "one of the bloodiest battles of the 15-year civil war." It was not even a battle. As soon as Syrian jets flew over the presidential palace, `Awn fled in his pajamas to the French embassy where he hid for months. Furthermore, Fattah says that `Awn has a plan for the full secularization of Lebanon, while no such plan exists, and `Awn does not ever talk about "full secularization." Also, Fattah did not mention that `Awn's parliamentary candidate in Western Biqa` is none other than Ilyas Frizli, the pro-Saddam hard core Ba`thist, who was a messenger between Saddam's regime and `Awn, when `Awn--in a well known farce--acted as the Napoleon of Lebanon, a Hummus version for sure. Frizli was in charge of keeping Saddam's supply of money and weapons coming. And this fan of Saddam is supposed to "free" Lebanon"? Only in Bush's doctrine.